Chapter 27

Raph beamed, revealing all his whites as he smiled.

"I will be 20 in a few days," he replied.

"It's my first time seeing you around. When did you arrive?" Nicholas' tone was strangely soft, surprising everyone in the room. Even Marcus was not left out.

"It's been a year, Sir."

Seeing the questioning gaze in Nicholas' eyes, Marcus interrupted in their conversation, "After the incident with my son last year, I asked Raphael to come join me here. You have been mostly out of the mansion in the past year so that's the reason you weren't aware of his presence."

Nicholas gave a curt nod. He could vaguely remember the man taking a long leave in the previous year due to a car accident that took the lives of his son and daughter-in-law. He could guess Raph was Marcus' grandson.

"So, do you have anything to say about what happened while I was away? Anything about the party or whatever you can think of," he asked.

Raph nodded vigorously, ignoring the signal his grandfather was throwing at him.

"S