Chapter 182: Calling Chloe
He turned to look at Alex for a momt, th turned his atttion back to the game.
"No, I don't plan on making any trips anytime soon."
"I see. How long are you going to stay this time before making another trip?"
Silas paused the game completely wh he heard Alex's second question. He could understand why he was asking, and he felt bad because it was actually his fault.
He hadn't had time for his family, especially his younger brother, as he had be traveling and busy with so many things.
"Alex, tell me what you want. If it's something I can do, th I won't hesitate," Silas said, ruffling his hair.
Alex turned to look at his older brother. He wanted to say something but stayed quiet instead.
He knew his brother had be busy with a lot of things, causing him to have little to no time for the family. It was the same with their father, who would always spd the whole day at work and come home late.
Alex knew his brother was working hard for the sake of the family, but he didn't want any of that. All he wanted was to spd time with his family, to spd time with his brother whever he wanted to, but he knew how impossible that was.
He also understood that if his brother didn't work, they might very well starve.
"Brother, can you stay at home for a week?" Alex asked carefully as he watched Silas' reaction.
Silas smiled at Alex's question and couldn't help but subconsciously ruffle the boy's hair again.
"You want me to spd a week at home?" he asked, and he saw Alex nod in response.
"You don't need to worry about that. I plan to spd a month at home, and that's if nothing comes up," Silas smiled.
"Can you not go ev if something comes up?" Silas heard Alex ask, and he turned to look at him, feeling slightly surprised.
This was the first time Alex had actually asked something of him. Silas didn't know how to feel about it.
Should he be worried or something? He had no idea, but he understood that he had to give in to the boy's request.
Who knows? This might be the last time he would get to spd time with his family. He knew that if the construction on the underg facility was completed, he might not get time like this again.
He sighed siltly at the thought. He couldn't help but feel that he had be sighing a lot lately.
Silas understood that if he really might not get time to spd with his family after the facility was finished, th he would have to make the momt count.
"You know what, champ? Why don't we take a family vacation? All of us—me, you, Dad, and Kim. We can decide where to go and spd a week together. Just all of us, no work-related stuff," Silas said, watching Alex's face for a reaction.
He saw Alex nod as a bright, happy smile lit up his face.
"Thank you, Big Brother. You're the best," Alex said happily, hugging Silas.
---
Silas smiled as he remembered his brother's happy reaction. He was glad to see the joy on his face and wanted to keep things that way.
But there was a vague feeling of uneasiness whever he looked at his dad and Alex. It felt like something was going to happ, and he was going to lose them.
After his first evolution metamorphosis, his perception had become stronger, and it brought with it this sse of unease—a feeling he couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried.
Silas decided to take action after failing to shake the feeling. He used the Gear to communicate with Luna, instructing her to increase the security level for his family and monitor them at all times.
Ev after giving the order, the feeling of unease didn't less.
Silas couldn't understand why he was feeling like this. He thought of various possibilities, but nothing seemed to explain the reason for his unease.
He considered it might be related to his idtity as a Phomal, but from his knowledge, there was no relevant information anywhere. Ev the country's biggest intelligce agcy had nothing on him in their database.
'Could it be...' he finally thought of one possibility.
"Luna, monitor Daniel's every movemt and report it to me. Also, I want updates on any interactions the organization has with Presidt Yusmaorobis. And make sure to check everyone tering Vezuela," Silas ordered, sighing as the feeling of unease slightly lessed.
He just hopes that the feeling he has was nothing much. He decided to close his eyes and go to sleep, as it was already past midnight.
---
The next morning, the whole family sat at the dining table for breakfast.
Silas looked at Alex, who was happily eating with a smile on his face, and it brought a smile to his own.
He glanced at his father and Kim, who were also joying their breakfast and acting lovingly toward each other.
Silas felt a pang of jealousy seeing this. He was thoroughly impressed by how his father had managed to get three differt wom to love him, ev after two of them knew about his past. The most surprising one was Kim.
Despite this, Silas was happy to see the whole family gathered a the table, joying a meal together.
It was the weekd, and no one had any plans to go out. Silas intded to spd the whole day at home with Alex. It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.
After they finished breakfast, Silas offered to do the dishes with Alex, but Kim refused.
With nothing else to do, Silas wt back to his room and slumped on his bed.
"Ohhh… I should call Chloe," he said, and was about to dial Chloe's number but paused wh a fleeting thought crossed his mind.
'Wait, should I really call her? If she wanted to talk, she would have called me herself.'
Silas smiled at his own thoughts and wt ahead with the call.
The call wt through but was forwarded to voicemail after a few rings.
"Is she ignoring my call, or is she just not near her phone?" Silas asked himself, confused wh the call timed out.
He decided to call again. If the call didn't go through this time, he would try again later.
He dialed her number again, and the call wt through.
---
Chloe had just tered her room wh she heard her phone ringing on the bed.
She walked over, picked it up, and checked the caller ID.
"Silas…" Her eyes narrowed before easing the next momt as a sly smile spread across her face.
She answered the call and brought the phone close to her ear.
"Hey, ogre. It's be a while."