Chapter 163: Chapter 163

"If you don’t send out invitations, I’ll start with serious business."

Anna Thornton said, and then turned to Granny Chandler, "Granny Chandler, could you please ask the kitchen to make some braised spare ribs, crispy fried yellow fish, sweet and sour pork, fried peanuts... basically dishes like these. Make them as fragrant as possible, so just smelling them will make people drool."

Upon hearing this, Granny Chandler was puzzled. Pop hasn’t been found yet, how can Miss Thornton, her biological mother, still have the appetite to eat?

Worried she might have forgotten about the situation, Granny Chandler reminded her, "The little miss has been missing for four or five hours. Shouldn’t we call the police?"

"No need to call the police. Just follow my instructions. Pop will come back on her own soon. Trust me!"

Granny Chandler didn’t understand why Miss Thornton was so certain, but seeing President Sterling didn’t object, she could only doubtfully follow Anna Thornton’s words and instruct the kitchen.

"After the dishes are ready, if there are any culinary cats sneaking around, notify me immediately to catch them."

Hearing this, Granny Chandler didn’t quite understand Anna Thornton’s intention, "Miss Thornton, President Sterling doesn’t like cats, and we don’t have any at home!"

"When I say ’culinary cats,’ I don’t mean real cats, I mean Pop."

Granny Chandler realized she indeed was getting old; Miss Thornton spoke so much, but she didn’t really understand what was going on.

"Granny Chandler, how long does it usually take for you to walk home from the Sterling Residence?" Anna Thornton suddenly asked her.

"Miss Thornton, President Sterling has provided us with company vehicles for commuting. Because the Sterling Residence is so large, it would take us several hours to leave if we didn’t use a vehicle."

"Exactly, even adults find it difficult to walk out, let alone Pop."

Upon hearing Anna Thornton’s analysis, Granny Chandler finally realized.

Indeed, the little miss should still be at home.

Pop’s legs are too short for her to run away from home on her own.

Primarily, the child disappeared under Granny Chandler’s watch, making her panic immediately when she couldn’t find Pop.

Thinking about how cute the little miss is, if she ran into bad people outside, wouldn’t that be dangerous?

Plus, Granny Chandler frequently sees endless news reports about human traffickers on TV...

Now hearing that Pop is still at home, and as long as she’s within the security perimeter of the Sterling Residence, there shouldn’t be any danger.

No wonder President Sterling’s expression softened after watching all the surveillance footage, calmly watching how Anna Thornton was going to lure out the ’culinary cat.’

Pop started planning her runaway after breakfast. Unable to leave the house, she hid herself away, playing hide-and-seek all morning, and must be hungry by now. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoveIＦire.net

However, this little culinary cat was more patient than the adults imagined. Anna Thornton intentionally had the kitchen make some dishes Pop wanted to eat but usually isn’t allowed to, placing them on a table accessible by a three-year-old.

Everyone waited from noon until afternoon, until it was almost dark before they finally saw... a small figure sneaking into the kitchen.

Pop indeed planned to run away from home today, but after all, she’s just a three-year-old.

Carrying a little backpack, walking for half an hour was already her limit.

She thought she had been walking for a really long time, but when she turned back, she could still see her daddy’s big house,

The little one exhaustedly sighed, couldn’t walk anymore, and sat down to rest.

Pop knew she couldn’t successfully run away on her own, so she hid quietly.

The little one was especially clever, knowing how to avoid surveillance and hide, at least making it look like she had really run away from home.

However, she couldn’t resist the hunger in the end.

The candies in her bag were gone, sapping her energy. To appease the stomach that kept singing, Pop had to go to the kitchen, which constantly emitted aroma and made her drool.

She only managed to steal one peanut before being caught by her mommy, who was waiting to ambush.

"Pop, you’re a bit naughty today." Anna Thornton suddenly appeared, along with Conrad Sterling, to catch the little troublemaker, "Why did you want to run away from home? Hiding deliberately, making daddy and mommy so worried."

The little one glanced at her mommy and daddy behind her, her neck shrinking as she tried to run.

But how could she escape? Anna Thornton caught her by the back collar.

"Time to get your tushy spanked!" Anna Thornton threatened her.

Upon hearing this, the little troublemaker immediately covered her tushy and pleaded, "Mommy, no~"

"Then come back obediently and explain what happened? Why did you pack up and plan to run away?"

Anna Thornton checked Pop’s little backpack and found that apart from the little one’s favorite duck toys, there was also a pair of men’s socks inside.

"Huh? Why did you pack daddy’s smelly socks?" Anna Thornton teasingly turned back to toss them to Conrad Sterling.

Conrad Sterling: "..."

Even though they were new socks and not smelly, he didn’t catch them, allowing Anna Thornton to drop them on the ground.

Pop ran over ’tap-tap,’ picking them up like a treasure.

This was prepared by the little troublemaker today, planning to take them along with her other toys when she ran away.

Originally, she didn’t intend to take socks, but the tie cabinet was too high; she could only reach the sock drawer.

"Conrad Sterling, see what you’ve forced your daughter into? That’s because you always have such a stern face, making Pop think you don’t like her, so she wanted to run away."

Conrad Sterling didn’t know how he got blamed for this.

Anna Thornton knelt down and asked Pop, "Tell mommy quietly, why did you hide?"

Pop glanced at Conrad Sterling, leaned over to Anna Thornton’s ear, and whispered something.

Anna Thornton put on a ’knew it’ expression.

Conrad Sterling couldn’t hold back and knelt down too, preparing to listen to the reason.

Just then, Marilyn Ford entered the kitchen.

"Conrad, has the child been found?"

As soon as Marilyn Ford arrived, Conrad Sterling stood up, maintaining his usual serious and aloof image.

He nodded, and Marilyn Ford looked at Pop, then at Anna Thornton.

"So she really hadn’t gone far. No wonder Miss Thornton knows your child well, hence she wasn’t worried at all earlier."

"Miss Ford, your words seem to have a deeper meaning!"

"No, I’m just a bit puzzled."

In Marilyn Ford’s view, a child as young as Pop would definitely not plan to run away on her own; Anna Thornton must have taught her.

The mother and daughter staged this act clearly to try desperately to stay at the Sterling Residence.

"Pop already has her little secrets now. I’m not too comfortable explaining why she wanted to run away," Anna Thornton could only say.

"Miss Thornton, I heard you’ve taken a new movie, soon to join the crew for shooting. By then, leaving the child at the Sterling Residence for Conrad to take care of wouldn’t be convenient, right?" Marilyn Ford offered, "Actually, I have ample real estate in Aethelgard. If you need..."

"No need to trouble Miss Ford, President Sterling has already arranged for us to move out!"

Anna Thornton said, extending her hand to Conrad Sterling, "President Sterling, your fiancée is urging, aren’t you going to give me the keys?"