My Dreamy Old Husband
Chapter 394

Dropping the pretense, Mark stood up and stared at Natasha with a fiery gaze in his eyes, a hugecontrast to his old and haggard face. “I'm not meddling in the Mitchells’ affairs, but Cooper was mygodson and my friendship with Woody has lasted for almost a lifetime. That amulet is the lastmemento left behind by Cooper, so I'm begging you humbly today to let him keep it!"

Stunned at his words, Natasha wasn't expecting Mark, the old sly fox, to use this trick—taking onestep back in order to take two steps forward.

He even made the Mitchells seem like such unreasonable people who wouldn't even let go of adead man's item! In spite of that, that amulet held the key to Cooper's huge properties, so shecouldn't let it slip through her hands! Now that she knew where it was, it made everything easier.After coldly bidding her goodbye, Joel sent her out of the military compound. Turning back, shestared at the solemn place, a sneer flashing across her face. Sophia, what belongs to my family cannever be taken away so easily!

After driving Natasha away, the atmosphere became harmonious in a split second. Holding Sophia“shand, Woody praised her with a smile, “My son, everything you said earlier was right!”

Returning his smile, Sophia wondered if she was pretending to be Cooper in front of Woody orwanted to question the Mitchells on behalf of Cooper. But it didn't matter anymore now...

Mark was sure that Woody would have to suffer for today after returning, but there was nothingmuch that he could do as he was an outsider. This was a matter which concerned their familyinternally, after all.

But as Woody's good friend, he had to do something about it so he said to him, “Old man, just livein this military compound from now on. I'll get you a permit and it will be easier for Cooper to visityou in the future. Staying at the beach by yourself is simply too far away!”

Sophia thought that this was a feasible idea as well. Although there were people looking after himat the beach, it was hard to tell whether Alex's men would make things difficult for him afterreturning. He still had a large amount of savings left behind by Cooper and the Mitchells had theireyes fixed on it.

Thinking along the same lines, Sean persuaded Woody, “Old Master, just live in the militarycompound from now on; Uncle Cooper can even come and visit you often after work.” The Imperial,where Sophia was living, was only a few stations away from here and she could easily come to visitWoody.

That house by the beach was filled with memories of Cooper and even though Woody was a littlereluctant to leave it behind, his “son’ had now returned alive and kicking, which was much betterthan those dead items. Thus, he agreed readily, “Alright then; I'll live here.”

When he was younger, Woody had made many contributions to Cethos and the country hadremembered all his acts. Adding on to the fact that it was Old Master Fletcher who had made therequest, it didn't take long for Woody to move into the military compound for his retirement.Besides having other elderlies here and being a convenient location for Sophia to drop by, therewas also a military hospital around which made living here much better than at the beach forWoody.

During this period, Sophia didn't go anywhere else. Usually, she would be studying at home andgoing to the company occasionally. More often than not, she would be at the military compoundvisiting Mark and Woody.

Probably due to the return of his son, Woody's condition stabilized a lot and he didn’t push peoplewithout reason anymore. Even his complexion was much better and with a group of elderly ascompanions, he seemed more energetic.

Every few days, Sophia would visit the Fletchers and Old Master Fletcher would treat her with asmuch enthusiasm as ever before. Guessing that he must know something, she silently accepted hiskindness. For more than a decade, Mark had sealed away his enthusiasm for Cooper after his death,which he now poured all over Sophia.

On this day, Sophia paid another visit to Woody at the compound. Seeing how happy he was withthe other elderlies made her equally delighted.

Out of the blue, Mark came over and told her in a secretive manner that he had something to showher and so she followed him into the study.

Mark didn't come from a scholarly family and he was a soldier when he was young, so it did seem alittle odd that he had such a huge study in his home. After instructing his security officers to bringout a chest, he sent everyone away, leaving only Sophia behind.

Taking out a key, he opened the chest, in which there were many things in it. “Here, take a look atthis. These are all left behind by your father,” he explained.

Sophia was not surprised that he knew about her background and she stared at the things in thechest with joy and excitement. “Are all of these left behind by my father?”

"Yes, your father used to come here often and left behind many things! Ever since he was gone, I'velocked away all these stuff.”

Every word Cooper had written when he was at the Fletchers’ was carefully stored and kept away byMark, even if it was just a piece of waste paper used to practice calligraphy. The calligraphy pen andink he had used, as well as some photographs, were also kept away carefully.

After Cooper's death, Mark was afraid that he would be sad, so he locked away all of Cooper'sthings. In the box were a huge amount of Cooper's photographs and there were so many that it wasa significant stack.

Taking out stacks of photographs, he said, “Cooper loved to come to my place ever since he wasyoung, and he loved to play with the kids in my family besides taking pictures. Every time he cameover, I got someone to take pictures of him! Look at this.”

Then, he showed Sophia the pictures one by one. Indeed, those were all pictures of Cooper fromwhen he was a baby all the way till he became a man.

"He would spend a week here every summer break. Woody was too strict with his upbringing andwas always sending him for various classes without leaving him any time for fun. So whenever hecame over, I would secretly give him a break!” Pointing at a picture cheerfully, “Look!

This is the first time your father used a slingshot to hit a bird, which was something Woody wouldnot allow him to do. He was so happy that day!”

In the picture, a small boy was holding a slingshot and was looking so overjoyed that his featureswere all crinkled up from his smile. Nevertheless, she could still tell that that boy was Cooper and hissmile back then was so innocent and carefree.

Picking out another photo, Mark said, “When he was seven and came over for a summer break, Isent him for a camping trip with my kids. This was his first time catching a fish in the river. Look howhandsome he was with his smile!"

Sophia took the picture from him in surprise and saw Cooper fishing in the river with his trousersrolled up, revealing his fair calves. His smile was as joyful as ever and even a little unrefined. As ascholarly and rich family, the Mitchells had strict requirements for members of its family and theyhad to always carry themselves in a superior manner.

The photos she saw of Cooper in Woody's place were all aristocratic looking, a contrast to thepictures here, where a different side of him was portrayed—his true side.

Back then, Mark let Cooper join his children for fishing, bird-shooting and practice, and it seemedlike he was happier than ever during this period compared to any other. There were also photos ofCooper with the Fletchers kids—Joel, Michael and even Stanley and Caleb.