"Two days?" Surprised by the length of her sleep, Margaret wondered what had transpired after she fainted.

"Alex..."

"He's downstairs and hasn't left. Would you like to see him? I'll get him."

"There's no hurry," Margaret replied. "I must have troubled you these past two days."

Lily shook her head. "No trouble at all. Aunt Celine has been taking care of you."

"Ah, Celine..." Sighing, Margaret gazed ahead, still holding Lily's hand. She hesitated, unable to complete a question.

The silence grew awkward. Lily wanted to summon help, but Margaret clung to her hand. Lily felt she should speak, but feared upsetting Margaret.

After a time, Margaret looked back at Lily. Her lips moved, as if to speak, then faltered. Lily, however, anticipated her question. Seeing Margaret seemed calmer, she asked tentatively, "You wanted to ask about Uncle Ralph, didn't you?"

Margaret was astonished. "You're still willing to call him 'Uncle'?"

Lily smiled gently. "Alexander calls him that, so I do too." She patted Margaret's hand. "You must be hungry. We can talk after you eat, okay?"

Margaret, reassured by Lily's sincerity, nodded and released her hand. Lily smiled and went downstairs.

Alexander, having just finished breakfast, was about to leave when he saw Lily. "Has Grandma woken up?"

"Yes. I'm getting someone to prepare food for her."

Alexander was surprised. "Really? I'll see her."

"Wait," Lily said. "Grandma's still weak. But she wanted to ask about Ralph. Should we tell her we haven't found him?"

Alexander shook his head. "Better not. The doctor said not to agitate her. Let's wait until we find him."

Lily nodded. "Agreed. We'll say he needs time to cool down, and that we have someone watching him. He'll return to Grandma in two days."

"That's the best we can do," he said.

Initially, they assumed Ralph had simply gone to compose himself. However, after two nights, he remained missing, with no hotel check-in records.

Finally, they learned he'd had a roadside altercation with Sean and his men. Only his abandoned car was found.

Alexander, perplexed, dispatched his men to locate Ralph.