"Bye, Mommy~! See you later~!"
"Wait—"
Lola watched the twins rush off with their father and uncle. Even when she hurried to follow, by the time she reached the entryway, they were already gone.
"Why did they..." she trailed off, tilting her head in confusion. "They forgot their snacks."
She wondered about it for a second before eventually shrugging. Atlas would surely notice his kids had forgotten their snacks and buy them something. But as she let go of the thought, Lola caught something—or rather, someone—from the corner of her eye.
Slowly, she turned on her heel and saw Baby walking out of the kitchen area in an apron. Her face twitched as she crossed her arms, staring at him in utter bafflement.
Lola ran her tongue along her inner cheek, thinking. "Seriously. Why are you getting all this screen time?"
Baby blinked innocently and only answered her with a shrug.
*****
Meanwhile...
Atlas’ brows rose, his eyes sliding from left to right. All he could see was the eagerness written across his kids’ and brother’s faces.
"Father Sir, are you bringing Mommy home?" Second asked. "Are we going home with her?"
Chacha’s already twinkling eyes sparkled more. "Did she say yes?"
"Is she going to marry you?" Slater followed up, sharing the twins’ enthusiasm.
Atlas, as usual, didn’t answer immediately. But when he did, all that came out was a cool and indifferent: "She doesn’t believe in the secret society."
The three of them blinked. Then the twins tilted their heads to the side, confusion clear in their eyes.
"Why?" they asked in unison.
As for Slater, he rubbed his chin mildly and nodded in agreement. "Makes sense," he said. "Even I wouldn’t believe those conspiracy theories unless I saw them." He paused, then froze—his eyes widening as they flicked to his brother. "Does this mean you’re really going to get married?!"
"Not now," said Atlas, almost as though he were certain.
"But you already mentioned the secret society to her." Slater furrowed his brows. "Isn’t that... a little too dangerous?"
Atlas didn’t reply, but his silence was already an answer. Of course, telling Lola even the slightest detail of the secret society could put her in danger. However, he didn’t think the amount of information he’d given her was enough to warrant a death threat.
"She’ll be fine," he reassured, this time looking at his kids. "You will protect her, won’t you?"
Chacha and Second stared up at their father with big, round, innocent eyes. A second later, the corners of their eyes squinted, and they grinned from ear to ear.
"Mhm!" they nodded confidently. "Leave it to us!"
"We will protect our Mommy!" Chacha cheered. "She’ll be safe!"
"And I’ll protect Mommy and Chacha!" Second swore, earning a side-eye from his twin. "Don’t worry, Chacha. I’m a big man now. I can protect you and Mommy—even Father Sir and Uncle Baby!"
"Second, so cool~!"
As Chacha clapped for her brave brother, Atlas nodded in satisfaction.
"You should protect your sister," he told Second, resting a hand on top of his son’s head before turning to Slater. "And you too, Slater."
"Aye, aye, Sir!" Slater saluted. "Leave it to me! No one’s going to touch my future sister-in-law under my nose!"
When Atlas called Slater some time ago, he had asked only one thing: help and protect Lola at all costs. Having him around her meant quicker protection, especially with the brewing turmoil and conspiracy Atlas was dipping his foot into.
The twins stared at their father and uncle until Chacha spoke. "Uncle Best, if you’re supposed to protect Mommy, why are you here with us?"
Slater’s proud smile stiffened while Atlas paused. Second, on the other hand, nodded, his mouth forming a round ’O.’ Slowly, the twins—and even Atlas—shifted their gaze toward Slater.
"Why are you here, anyway?" asked Atlas. "You have no business being here."
Slater’s face twitched as he scratched the back of his head. "I got so nervous that I left with you three." Now that he thought about it, he was still in his pajamas and indoor slippers.
*****
Today, Lola knew Atlas would be dropping the twins at school, but she didn’t expect Slater to tag along. The guy, after all, had "finished" his affairs "for sure" this time. Yet somehow, Slater left with the father and twins, and Lola had no plans of asking whether something had changed.
After pushing everything to the back of her mind, Lola started her day and got down to some real work.
"It’s almost done," she muttered, standing in the middle of the small lobby of her company.
The corners of her mouth curled into a wide grin, pleased with the quick renovation progress.
"A few more weeks and this place would be operational."
Of course, the thought thrilled her. Back to where she started her construction company, their office building wasn’t nearly this big.
"Surely... things are going better than I expected," she told herself, her smile widening. "There might have been some unexpected turns, but... it still ended up better than planned."
Or rather, nothing had truly changed in her plans.
Lola’s initial goal was to establish her company in Novera and dip her feet into the entertainment industry. And while she was at it, she would cut ties with the Young family after reclaiming what was rightfully hers.
"Lola!"
Suddenly, Silo’s voice echoed in the empty lobby. She turned and caught him jogging her way.
"Silo?" Lola furrowed her brows, tilting her head. "What are you doing here?"
"I was driving past and saw your car!" he said brightly. "Thought I’d drop by to check on you before heading to Cedrick."
Lola pursed her lips to hide her smile but didn’t answer. Peeling her gaze from him, she looked up at the building.
"Silo, you ready to be back in an office?" she asked. "I picked a nice place for you."
Silo chuckled, rubbing the side of his nose with his finger. "I don’t know," he shrugged, looking around the space. "But it’ll be nice to have somewhere to put all those papers stacked at my place."
She shot him a brief side-eye before they both took in the empty sight in silence. Neither spoke, but their smiles stretched wide.
"Say, Lola," he hummed. "How does it feel? Establishing your office in the same place your grandfather used to have his?"
Her smile softened as she shrugged. "I don’t know, but... for the longest time, I feel grateful and blessed. Silo, my life... feels..." She trailed off, reflecting on how things had been since her return to Novera.
"Better?" he guessed, watching her look up at him.
Her smile didn’t broaden, but it was genuine.
"Not better," she corrected, glancing away as she tried to articulate her thoughts. "Rather, I feel like... I’m falling in love with life again."