Caryn and Jas had been in Bayford for a few days since Caryn learned about Serena and Patrik Hunt. She wanted to visit the orphanage—the place where she grew up.
At the sa ti, Jas took it as a chance to bring Caryn to his family ho in Bayford, where the Harpers truly belonged.
After they got married, he brought her to et his relatives and officially introduced her as his wife. Caryn had known these people in the past when she was with Jas. It made her feel a little awkward given the situation, but Jas assured her not to overthink. All the relatives welcod her warmly, which helped her feel at ease.
Everyone had accepted all the changed dynamics—how Justin was not Jas’ real son and the existence of their daughter, Natalie, who was now married to Justin.
Jas and Caryn arrived at the orphanage where Caryn had grown up. Both of them were led to the office of the in-charge, where an elderly man was sitting behind the desk.
Just as they entered the office, the elderly man fixed his spectacles and smiled at the woman. "Caryn, is that really you?"
He was the man who had been taking care of the orphanage after Patrik Hunt disappeared.
"Yes, Mr. Lark," Caryn replied as she walked slowly while holding Jas’ arm for support. She had decided to leave the wheelchair behind and walk.
The man smiled at her. "Good to see you after so long." He was visibly happy to see her. He then looked at Jas. "Mr. Harper, good to see you here finally. Please, have a seat."
The couple settled into the chairs. They talked about the orphanage and then about Patrik Hunt.
"...Even till date, he hasn’t contacted ," Mr. Lark said. "I wonder if he is still alive. He must be just an old man like now, waiting for his last days. I wish I could see him at least once and know that he has been living well."
Caryn had the sa thought. She wanted to et Patric at least once, but...
As the emotional talk ended, Mr. Lark said to Caryn, "Mr. Harper is the biggest supporter of this orphanage but never visited here even once. Thankfully, because of you, we got to see him."
Caryn looked at Jas in surprise, but Jas said nothing.
"There is another mysterious donor we are waiting to et, but they never show up. I wish I could et them and thank them in person," Mr. Lark said with a sigh.
This ti, Jas looked at Caryn, and she looked away.
Jas smiled lightly and said, "Maybe that mysterious donor is sitting just right in front of you, Mr. Lark."
The old man looked at Caryn and realized what he ant. He chuckled, "Old age must have rotten my logical abilities. Of course, it must be you."
Caryn said nothing to that. After a while, both of them left the office and walked around the orphanage, while Caryn reminisced about old mories.
"Are you fine walking this much?" Jas asked.
Caryn humd, "When I can’t, we can just sit sowhere."
After a while, they decided to sit on a bench in the garden so Caryn could rest.
She looked at Jas, who was sitting next to her. "Since when did you start donating here?"
"After you were gone," he corrected, "I an, I thought you were gone. I decided to continue helping this orphanage in your stead. It’s the place that sent you to , so how could I not help it?"
"Didn’t you hate ?" she asked.
"I did," he said, looking into her eyes, "but I loved you more than I hated you."
Caryn had no words to say.
"Natalie and Justin are back," she changed the topic. "She’s pregnant. We should get a gift for her when we return."
Jas humd, "After attending tonight’s business party, we’ll head back to the Imperial City tomorrow morning."
-----
Back in the Imperial City.
Sebastian had returned to Justin’s ho and went straight to find Natalie.
"Sister-in-law, I heard I’m going to be an uncle—not to one, but to two cute little babies," Sebastian said, almost ready to hug her.
Before he could reach her, soone grabbed his shirt collar from behind and yanked him back, as a cold voice rang out, "Stay away from my wife."
Sebastian gulped and turned to see Justin. "B-Brother, I was just expressing my happiness."
Justin let go of him and said, "You’ve just returned from travel, and you dare go near her? Go get yourself cleaned up."
Sebastian sighed and could only nod in defeat.
Just as he left, Julia looked at Justin. "Do you realise that he’s Natalie’s brother? They’re related by blood—Natalie’s cousin."
"Brother or whatever, no one is allowed," Justin declared coldly, then looked at Natalie. "Do you get it?"
She gave a nervous smile and nodded. But then she realized—she now had a real sibling... a younger brother. Though a cousin, still a brother.
’No wonder I felt affectionate towards him. Sebastian is a sweet kid. It’s just that my husband is a Hitler,’ she sighed. ’Have to bear with it anyways.’
"What are you thinking?" Justin asked her.
"Ah! You’re back early from work," she said. "You didn’t have to work extra hours like always?"
"I’ll be returning ho on ti from now on. No more overti," Justin said, only to have Natalie and Julia glance at each other. He was going to take away their freedom by always ordering them around and imposing restrictions.
Julia nudged her to do sothing. Natalie pulled out a sweet smile, walked toward him, and clung to his arm. "Honey, you don’t have to sacrifice your work for . You need to work more now that you have to feed two more people," she said, placing her hand on her belly. "Our babies. You have to earn more for our babies. So work more, alright?"
Justin kept his expression the sa, unaffected by her words. "Even if none of us ever work again, my wealth can feed our next ten generations with a life of top luxury."
Natalie frowned slightly and said, "Having too much wealth is boring," and let go of his hand. She turned to Julia. "I tried."
"It’s alright," the old woman replied, then looked at Justin. "Always a fun spoiler."
Just then, Noah arrived, having worked with Justin.
"Mr. Handrix, I brought the files you asked for," he inford.
Justin humd, and Noah handed the files to the servant to take them to Justin’s study.
As they were talking for a while, just at that mont...
"Ahhhhh!"
A loud scream reached everyone’s ears—the familiar voice. All stunned and about to move toward the other grand door of the drawing room that led to the right part of the estate, ira ran inside, screaming her throat out.
"Ms. ira," Noah said, as he was the closest to the direction from where she was running.
Entirely scared, she grabbed onto the first person she saw—Noah.
She hugged him tightly, her entire body trembling.
Others who were about to reach her stopped and looked at the two.
"Ms. ira, what happened?" Noah asked, his hands just in the air, far from hugging her back.
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