Aria Grant left the hotel quite early since the banquet wasn't a night feast.
Thinking about it, she decided to go back to Grant's Mansion to catch up on sleep. She had been suffering from insomnia these past few days, so she didn't want to miss this rare chance to sleep.
When she returned to Grant's Mansion, at Malco City's First Primary School...
Ivy Grant, who had just transferred in, quickly become popular among her peers. Her delicate and beautiful features, along with her cool and sassy temperament, made her look like a meticulously crafted porcelain doll.
However, mostly boys liked her. Most of the girls were hostile towards her and felt she had stolen the attention of the entire class as soon as she arrived.
"Ivy, did you bring your notebook? If not, you can use mine."
"Ivy, did you bring a pencil? I can lend you one if you didn't."
"Ivy, where do you live? You're so pretty."
"Ivy, have some candy."
As soon as class was over, Ivy's desk was surrounded by boys who were all chattering away and being especially attentive to her.
A chubby little girl in a pink princess dress, who looked exceptionally cute, glared at Ivy with her big eyes and said with a milky voice, "So what if she's prettier? What's so great about that? You guys are like clingy bugs."
"Lily Moore, you're just jealous," Ivy's deskmate glanced at her and snorted.
"That's right, you're jealous of how pretty Ivy is."
"Ivy, just ignore her."
Lily's face instantly turned red, and she glared at him, "You're talking nonsense! She's not even dressed as nicely as me, and she doesn't even have pretty hairclips. Why would I be jealous of her?"
"If it's not jealousy, then why are you talking so sourly? You should just be called Lily Lemon instead of Serena. It suits you better," one of the boys made a face at her.
Lily's face turned red with anger, and she seemed on the verge of tears. Ivy, who hadn't reacted until now, finally said, "Class is starting, don't gather around me. I don't make friends with students who don't study well."
Upon hearing her words, everyone scattered, hastily taking out their notebooks and focusing on their lessons.
Seeing that no one was arguing with her anymore, Lily patted her chest and glared at Ivy with dissatisfaction, as if to say she wouldn't be grateful for her help.
Ivy threw her a light glance, not saying anything. In her heart, she sighed at how childish people could be.
She completely forgot that she was only five years old, actually younger than the classmates she called childish.
After class, the students who had planned to study hard and be friends with Ivy quickly forgot their intentions and began playing again.
Ivy, on the other hand, sat at her desk, diligently practicing her handwriting.
This was a task her mother had assigned her yesterday - to practice writing a page of characters.
The characters were not many, only about a dozen, and they were all relatively simple.
While Ivy was concentrating on her writing, a fair little hand suddenly reached over from the side and placed two candies in front of her before hastily withdrawing.
Ivy looked up and saw the back of a pink-clad girl who was sitting in front of her, looking straight ahead as if she wasn't the one who had placed the candies on her desk.
Ivy didn't take them right away but observed Lily, who occasionally glanced at her. In her heart, Ivy suddenly found it amusing.
Lily sneaked glances at Ivy, her little hand nervously clenching the hem of her skirt.
Seeing Lily's face turn red with anxiety, Ivy didn't tease her any further. She picked up the candy, accepting the little girl's silent apology.
Upon seeing Ivy's reaction, Lily let out a small sigh of relief, gave Ivy a quick glance, humphed, and ran away.
Ivy shook her head speechlessly, put the candy in her pocket, and continued practicing her writing.
In the evening...
Aria, who had just woken up, came to pick Ivy up from school.
With her small backpack on her back, Ivy climbed into the car seat and sat up straight.
"How was school?" Aria ruffled Ivy's hair and asked casually.
"It was alright." Ivy thought of the amusing little girl and nodded.
Aria looked at her in surprise. It wasn't easy to get two words of acknowledgment from her.
Previously, when she sent Ivy to school, what did she use to say?
Oh right, she called it 'childish.'
She said her classmates and teachers were both childish, and she even asked if Aria could find her a more mature school.
It seemed that the school she found for Ivy this time was mature enough.
"Alright, let's go home." Aria messed up Ivy's hair again, and seeing her speechless face as she fixed her hairstyle, Aria couldn't help but smile.
—
In George Flack's villa, his study...
At the moment, George was looking into Aria's experiences in the past few years. However, strangely enough, after she went abroad five years ago, her traces seemed to have been deliberately erased. Only a few trivial matters could be investigated.
The traces from three years ago were still available, but the strange thing was, two years later, the traces were blank, and no matter what, they couldn't be traced.
Also, three years ago, Aria didn't seem to have changed much. Her personality was still the same, cheerful, optimistic, confident, and gentle.
But what happened to Aria two years later?
George flipped through the information, and as he saw the time of her disappearance two years ago, a flash of inspiration seemed to cross his mind.
However, before he could grasp that thought, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in," George said, putting the information into the desk drawer and speaking.
"Master, there's trouble." A brawny man in a suit with a scar on his face walked in, saying solemnly, "Sam Flack and his team have gone missing in F Continent."
—
Back at Grant's Mansion, after a walk and a meal, Aria and Ivy went for a stroll.
After returning from the walk, they played some video games.
When Ivy went to take a shower, Aria looked at the corner of the room and saw the suitcases. She went over, opened one, and took out two heavy-looking laptops.
One laptop was bigger than the other, and the smaller one had a Peppa Pig sticker on the back.
Aria put the smaller laptop aside, carried the bigger one, told Ivy she was taking it, and went back to her room.
Just as she finished assembling the computer and turned it on, her phone, which was lying beside her, suddenly vibrated violently.
Aria picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number on the screen.
She didn't answer and set the phone aside, focusing on her laptop.
The phone stopped for a moment and then vibrated frantically again. Aria glanced at it, this time recognizing the number.
After thinking for a moment, Aria slid to accept the call. Clearing her throat, her voice changed from a cold female voice to a cold, deep male voice: "Hello?"
As soon as her voice fell, a hurried voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Big bro! Help, I'm in deep trouble!"