A few days have passed since the day they received news that his younger brother and sister-in-law got into an accident.
It was at nighttime. The two of them were attending a company dinner. Adam Mo was driving back to their house when they met a group of youngsters racing on the highway. In the end, one of the racers hit his brother's vehicle, causing his car to hid the divider before it to turn around a few times.
When the authorities arrived at the site, the two vehicles were in bad shape.
The youngsters died on the spot, and his friends escaped from the site.
His brother and sister-in-law were brought to the hospital and was given treatment. But after two days of struggling in the ICU, his younger brother passed away, and his sister-in-law followed five minutes after, leaving their five years old daughter, Hazel Mo.
Neil glanced at the girl with the corner of his eyes. As if sensing that he was staring at her, the little girl inched away and tightened her hand into a fist.
It was then that Neil noticed the way her shoulders were shaking. It did not take him a long time to guess that the little girl was crying. Seeing the way she reacted, Neil lifted his hand to pat the girl on her head and paused.
Suddenly, he realized that he didn't know how to comfort the little girl. He… was never close to his niece.
Hazel Mo, or Hazel as how her parents would call her, was born prematurely. The first time that Neil saw him in the incubator, he could see how she appeared smaller than other babies. Because of her small size, Neil had never carried or played with her as he was afraid that he would hurt her.
As she grew up, he noticed how the little girl would avoid him as if she was scared of him. He remembered how the little girl would always stick to her mother, hugging her thigh, and following her wherever she goes.
Neil let out a soft sigh as the memories came into his mind. He tried to peek at the girl again and began to notice a few things. The rim of her eyes was red and there were stains of tears on her cheek. Even though he could see that the girl was crying, Neil could not help but think that the kid had hidden her emotion well in front of others.
He suddenly realized that he had only seen the little girl bawled once. At that time, they had to explain to her that her parents have passed away and that she cannot see her parents again. That was the only time that she cried her heart out and threw a tantrum.
Ever since that one time, Hazel had only cried silently, as she did now.
Neil could guess how his niece was missing her parents tremendously.
Even he missed his brother terribly. As siblings, they were close despite their difference in personality. When he heard the news of his death, Neil could feel that a part of him went missing.
But he couldn't show his sorrow. For his parents, he had to be strong. For the company, he had to show that this loss doesn't, and will not affect his thought and emotion. Or else, their enemy will find a crack to attack them.
Neil snapped out of his trance when he noticed the girl beside him swayed and almost fell on the floor. But once she noticed that her body had almost fallen on the floor, Hazel straightened up her body immediately and fought her drowsiness away.
"If you're sleepy, you can lean on me for a little while. I'll wake you up later," Neil said, as he inched closer to his niece.
To his surprise, Hazel glanced at him once before she obediently leaned on his side and closed her eyes.
A small smile curved on his lips. He lifted his hand and patted her hair gently, coaxing her to fall deeper into sleep. "Adam," his lips moved into a whisper after a while. "Don't worry. I'll look after our parents and your daughter."
…
The Mo family went back home as the funeral ended. When they arrived back at the residence, the maids were almost done cleaning up.
Neil Mo walked into the house carrying the sleepy girl in his arms.
Earlier today, just as the funeral ended, she had fallen asleep in the car just beside her grandma. Instead of letting the others carry her, Neil had volunteered to carry her inside. He headed towards the stairs, wanting to let her sleep in her room, but then he noticed the way her small fist tightened on his shirt and changed his mind.
The corner of his lips lifted upwards a little bit. It seemed like the little girl has woken up from her slumber and was only pretending to be asleep.
Neil laid the little girl on the sofa and covered her with his coat. He watched her turned around to find a comfortable position and sighed.
Ever since he chose to sit beside her and coax her to sleep, Hazel had loosened up whenever she was around him. She would no longer shy away from him but will follow him closely, silently behind.
Seeing the way she followed him around, Neil wondered if it was because he looked like her to her father.
When Neil looked up, he noticed that his friend, Henry Wu, had shown up beside him.
"Neil, I—"
Neil put his forefinger on his lips and signaled his friend not to say anything. His niece was pretending to be sleeping and he did not want her to listen to anything that she was not supposed to listen to. "Whatever it is, let's discuss it next Monday at my office." He said to his friend and smiled. "Henry, thank you for coming."
"Adam is my friend too. How can I not be here." Henry sighed.
Previously, Neil had sent his assistant to inform him to come over and meet him.
Henry knew that his friend has some doubts regarding his younger brother's death. As the CEO of the Iron Hawk Security, he had heard a few things regarding Adam's accident. But since Neil had refused to speak anything about it at the moment, Henry could only choose to keep his mouth shut.