BXBX NOVEL Chapter 403 - Nice To Know That!
"Nice to see you again, bro!" Graven said.
"Thanks God, you\'re safe!" Cooper said. "Let\'s talk outside for a few minutes," he said.
"Okay," Graven replied.
The men left the living room and went to the veranda and settled on the couch.
"Horace didn\'t tell me much about your condition, the only thing he told me is pray to my God for your safety and survival. I can\'t bring myself to inform our Father the bad news. So I kind of make an alibi that you went on a fishing expedition on a whim and will return one year later..." Cooper explained.
"It\'s okay, bro. I understand that Father might get worried about my condition and he will get sick of worry if he will know about my real situation. I already explained to him that I ditched my fishing expedition because the ocean is not my thing. Good thing he believe everything that I\'ve told him," Graven said.
"That\'s good! I\'m glad you\'re back safe and sound. What happened to you? Was it really bad? Horace told me that you were captured by the enemy and you were on a comatose state, like a living dead. I told him that I want to visit you, but he explained to me that you were under the physicians care and you\'re still under medication. Even your men were not allowed to visit. So, I realized that you\'re situation is pretty bad. I\'m glad that you\'re back alive!" Cooper said happily.
"Yeah, it\'s my second life now. I\'m glad to be back here," Graven said cheerfully. "By the way, Horace told me that you have managed the family\'s business so well with little supervision from him. Congratulation for you successful management of our businesses, brother! I\'m so proud of you!" Graven gushes.
Cooper laughed. "Ah, I was anxious at first, because you know... all I know is spending money and I don\'t know how to earn money. When Horace explain to me everything, I was feeling overwhelmed. But he was very patient in teaching me, so, I was able to learn to manage every aspect of the business step by step. In the end, it\'s not so hard at all. I even find it challenging, enjoyable and very rewarding. I was able to gain self respect for the first time. Thanks to you, to our father and for Horace for my transformation. You guys, rock!" he said animatedly, beaming proudly with his accomplishment.
Graven patted his brother\'s shoulder. "I\'m amazed and proud of your transformation into a successful businessman, bro! I wish you more success in the future. If you need my help with anything, you can always ask for my assistance anytime. Horace and I will help you all the way," he said.
"Thank you so much for everything, brother!" Cooper said thoughtfully.
Graven cleared his throat. "Um... I want to tell you something important. I hope you won\'t get mad at me..." he said.
Cooper looked at his brother in the eyes. "Oh, you did something wrong... to me?" he asked with furrowed brows. "I can\'t remember you did something wrong to me. Let me hear it first, let me be the one to decide if it\'s wrong or not..." he said.
Graven released a deep sigh. He finds it hard to confess the truth about him and Laura because Cooper used to have genuine feelings towards Laura way back.
Cooper noticed the distress on his brother\'s face. He\'s now getting more curious about what his brother has done? Why he was hoping that he won\'t get mad at him. "Bro, spill the beans! I\'m ready to listen. Don\'t worry, I won\'t punch you..." he said reassuringly.
"Um... Did you still remember when Laura went home and I\'m the one who escorted her home. Did you still remember it?" Graven asked him.
"Yeah, I did remember it. What about it?" Cooper asked, confused.
"During our journey... Laura and I have fallen in love with each other," Graven dropped the bomb.
Cooper\'s eyes widened in shock and surprised at first. He was silent for a moment and finally spoke a few seconds later. "Oh, I didn\'t expect that..."
"Laura and I married each other in their farm, officiated by a priest and now Laura is carrying our first child," Graven added another revelation.
Suddenly, Cooper broke into a bright smile. "Wow! What can I say? Except that I\'m happy for you and Laura. It\'s good to know that she didn\'t end up with another guy. I would rather prefer that she will end up with you so that our father\'s wish still materialize through you and Laura\'s union. Our family will be officially joined together as one family through the marriage between children. And it\'s finally happening! I\'m happy for you, bro! I honestly do!"
"You\'re not mad at me? You\'re not jealous at all?" Graven asked again. Cooper\'s ready acceptance of his and Laura\'s relationship is too good to be true.
Cooper smiled brightly. "Of course not! I\'m not mad at you and not jealous. When Laura went home, Sara and my kids move in here in the mansion. That\'s the time when I realized that Sarah is the one for me and not Laura. I love my wife so much, bro. I\'m glad I did not end up marrying Laura because my beloved Sarah will suffer so much if the wedding push through. So, you have nothing to worry about me, I\'m truly happy for you and Laura..." he said sincerely.
"Thank you so much, bro! I can finally rest my mind at peace and no longer have to worry about this issue. By the way, Laura and her family will visit our family next week for dinner. It\'s about time to meet both families," he said cheerfully.
"Good! It\'s going to be a happy occasion for sure! I\'m looking forward meeting the rest of my sister-in-laws family," Cooper said.
Nicholas exited the door and joined them in the veranda. "What are my two sons discussing right now?" he asked merrily.
Graven and Cooper smiled at their father.
"We\'re done talking, Father," Cooper said.
"Let\'s go to the dining room now. Sarah and the kids are already waiting for our presence there..." Nicolas said.
The men left the veranda and proceed to the dining room.
The family gathered around the dining table laden with delicious foods.
Nicholas looked at his family members\' faces happily. "Let\'s eat!" he said.
They began eating in comfortable silence.
After eating, the men retired to the veranda to enjoy the lovely night outside.
Sarah brought the kids upstairs to ready them for bedtime.
The father and sons enjoy the evening drinking red wine and discussing the upcoming wedding of Graven and Laura that will be held in a make-shift chapel that will be erected at the back of the mansion.
It was already 9:00 in the evening when Nicholas bid his two sons goodnight and went upstairs assisted by Graven.
Cooper also retired to his bedroom, while Graven went to his house located at the back of the mansion. Horace was already waiting for him there.
"Horace, have you eaten well?" Graven asked.
"Yes, my lord. My stomach is very much full. I have eaten so much food tonight! I can barely walk!" Horace replied with a smile.
Graven chuckled.
"What is our itinerary tomorrow, my lord?" Horace asked.
"After breakfast, we\'ll be going to the headquarter and join the feast with our men. I want to see them again and reinforce their low spirit. Then afterward, you and I will tour my businesses all day long, that will last till the next day," Graven said.
"Noted, my lord!" Horace replied.
"I\'ll go now to visit my wife and sleep there for tonight. I will return here before the break of dawn," Graven said. "If something comes up that is urgent or important regarding my family, teleport right away to my manor and knocked on the master\'s bedroom. Okay?"
"Copy, my lord!" Horace said. "My lord, before you go, can I drink the bottle of red wine in the cupboard?" he asked.
"Sure! Enjoy it. Drink moderately!" Graven said. "I\'ll go now..."
Horace walked to the cupboard, reached for the bottle of red wine, and grinned happily. When he turned around, Graven was no longer inside the room. He went to the table, sat on the chair, and began pouring red wine into the glass. He sipped the wine to his heart\'s content.
Meanwhile...
Graven landed in the hallway outside the bedroom of his manor. He knocked softly on the door.
Laura was the one who opened the door. A bright smile broke on her lovely face. "You come! I thought you won\'t sleep here today?" she asked and opened the door wide.
Graven planted a kiss on her lips and stepped inside the room. "I miss you so much, that\'s why I will sleep her with you tonight and return to my father\'s mansion tomorrow morning," he said.
"I was about to go to sleep. I\'m just waiting for my mother to come here to sleep with me," Laura said.
"Ah, okay," Graven said and went to bed.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knocking on the door.
When Laura opened the door, it was her mother. "Mom, my husband is already here. He will sleep here tonight," she said.
"That\'s good! Goodnight then," Rosa said and walked away, going back to the room she shared with her husband.
Laura closed the door and joined her husband in the bed.
The couple cuddled on the bed, kissing each other on the lips.
"I love you so much, wife!" Graven said.
"I love you too, husband!" Laura replied sweetly.
"I will wake up before the break of dawn to go back to my father\'s mansion. I promised him that I will join them on breakfast. I hope it\'s okay with you," he said.
"No problem," Laura replied with a bright smile.
The couple continues cuddling on the bed, enjoying each other\'s company.
Two hours later, they drifted into a slumber and sleep peacefully through the night.