Chapter 963

Elio was startled awake by a phone ringtone early in the morning. He opened his eyes to find Candice still soundly asleep in his arms.

He swiftly reached over to silence the phone, his face souring as he glimpsed Mervyn's name on the caller ID.

He disconnected the call and placed the phone down. Then, he softly kissed Candice on the forehead and pulled her closer, hoping to drift back to sleep.

Moments later, the phone rang once more, thoroughly irritating him. Carefully shifting Candice aside, he grabbed the phone and headed to the balcony to answer it.

Mervyn's voice was gentle as it came through the phone. "Good morning, Candice! Today—"

Elio cut him off, his tone icy. "Candice is still asleep. What do you need?"

There was a moment of silence before Mervyn's tone became distinctly different. He asked with a deep sense of annoyance, "Why are you answering her phone?"

"I didn't want to answer initially, so I ended the call. But you kept ringing back, so I figured it must be ur