61 Wait

The trio returned to Vittoria Country the next day and went their separate ways. Uncle Liam went to the company, Dean dropped Bella at the Tang's then went to the hospital. Adelle and Bella drove together to the warehouse and store the deliveries. While she's busy, her Uncle Belden is having a headache.

Sitting in his office, he rubs his aching head just looking at his guests.

"You can continue to ignore me, but I will never stop you so might as well give in. What do you say?"

Her lovely red lips smirked but her eyes seemed longing.

"What do you want from me?" He asked while covering his face comically.

"Yah buddy, don't talk like that. We missed you. If we didn't threaten your secretary, we would never catch you. Don't fire her by the way." Aubrey was sitting on the armrest looking at her well-maintained nails.

"Why didn't you tell us when you were in trouble? You disappeared for months, but it was too late when we found out you were jailed. We have no connections in Shoda but..."

His face darkened, the softness in his eyes disappeared. "But what? You'll pull me out forcefully? Risking your lives? No, I didn't want to, plus you had your share of problems at that time, I don't want you to bear mine."

"Did you know how much we…." , " Enough, Aubrey." She signed. "Can you give us a minute?" Pouting, Aubrey went out of the room.

Sitting elegantly, pick up the cup of tea. She rubs the edge of the cup. The silence was a little awkward.

"I'm sorry about your dad." She only nods.

"How is aunty?"

"She's fine, same old hard head. But she often asks you."

"I will visit when I'm not busy. Do the oldies still give you a hard time?"

"Yeah, my uncle is still holding, but they can't win anyway, so all they can do is lurk in the dark and wait for an opportunity to strike." Thinking about something.

"Listen, I heard a rumor that a war could break out. We started to store food, water, seeds, and other stuff. It's best if you could...." He was interrupted.

"Was it worth it?" There was sadness in her voice, trying to hold her tears.

Belden softened his gaze but still focused. "Yes, it was."

"Even if he doesn't return your feelings?"

"Lola, you know we're only friends. I owe him my life so I want to protect his family."

"Then why don't you accept mine?" He signed.

"Lola, you're my little sister, you know that and I like…. men."

"I know, it doesn't matter...I will wait for you."

"No, I don't want to hurt you, please don't w…." She cuts him.

"It's not your choice. But please, don't push me away." She wipes her tears. His heart aches for her, but he only thinks of her as a sibling. Giving her hope is wrong, so he said the truth even if it hurts. But he doesn't know what to do now that she doesn't want to give up.

"I….I want us to be like in the past, like...like hanging out sometimes." Her tough, cold facade crawls down, sobbing like a teenager in love.

He sighs, "Okay." She wipes her tears with a handkerchief but her makeup is still intact then looks at him with puppy red eyes.

"Can we have lunch together?"

"Sure! Hey, what brand of makeup are you using?" he asked curiously.

"It's a new waterproof product from Galvin Country, I will send you some later." She smiled proudly. She rummaged something from her bag.

"Great! Give me half an hour then we can….go…. What is that?"

"Oh this, it's an ice eye mask. I have a meeting later. I can't have puffy eyes and ruin my hard-earned image." She talks while arranging pillows on the sofa and looking for a comfy spot to lay down.

"Tsk, what image?" He murmured, "Crybaby." But she heard it.

"Yes, your baby." She smiled brightly with a blue eye mask. He facepalmed.

Ring-ring-ring

"Speak."

"Boss, the people guarding the mountain are leaving."

"Stay there but be careful and make preparations three days from now."

"Yes, boss."

Dean grips his phone, takes his bag and goes inside the villa. It's been months since he sent his men to search for her parents, but this is the first time he felt the urge to go himself. It will be a blessing if they could be found before the apocalypse because crossing the ocean might be a big problem. In her heart, it's a knot that's waiting to be untied. Of all the things in her mind, this is the biggest worry she has that remained unsolved even in her past life. He's willing to help and will give everything he has to make her worries disappear.

The problem he has right now is convincing wifey to stay at home. He's not willing to bring her on this dangerous mission. He could go there secretly, but if she finds out...No, his heart can't bear it. Even if he can coax her later, hurting her feelings is not in his vocabulary, not even a bit. Even before they got married, he made a lot of promises like respecting her decisions, not keeping secrets, and always say their thoughts. But the weight is between protecting and doting on her. With personality, she would do everything to change his mind and she always wins. He signed while massaging his headache.

Everybody went to space after dinner. The roads are finished and they can now arrange the houses. As agreed in the initial phase of the construction, the first row of houses will be given to Grandpa Jin and Grandma Daisy, Grandpa Lei and Grandma Meihui, Bella's parents, Dean's parents, Uncle Desmond and Aunt Mia and Uncle Liam and Aunt Deborah. The second row starts with Drake, Adelle, and Devyn. When the teens get married, Dawn, Desiree, Devan, and Danika's houses would follow. When they heard it, all of their faces turned red.

There are also special requests like Danika, she wants a floating house in the sea and Devan wants to build a treehouse. Bella of course agreed, these were small matters anyway. This reminded her of the yachts, so she also made a mental note about the convenience of having a dock.

The rest of the family went out of the space, the couple stayed in their new house at the foot of the mountain in the south. After hours of 'ehem' exercise, they cuddled together, catching their breaths.

"Wifey, I will go to Aster Continent three days from now."

"You mean….?"

"No, I want to investigate something. I don't know if it's related to your parents. We mobilized our people months ago, but none had good results. Although we solve some missing person cases, we can say it's not worthless. This time I want to go personally, alone."

"No, I want to go."

"It's dangerous."

"I'm not weak." She pouts. He laughs.

"I didn't say you were. Although I can protect you, but I feel at ease knowing you're safe."

"I know you worry, but I've been through hell, remember? I don't think there's more danger than living among the undead. Plus, I need to practice my skills and I can also hide here in case. Please! Preeetty please hubbyyy." She bats her eyes cutely while pouting and embracing him.

"Please don't give me that puppy eyes, I don't want you to take the risk. There will be more opportunities but this time….." She retracts from their embrace, sits down, and wraps her hand on her chest.

"Wife, please don't ignore me, I won't change my mind." He tried to embrace her, but she stood up and went to sit on a round table where her laptop was.

"Bellaaaa, pleeasssee!"

He stood up and went to hug her, but she evaded, took a book, and went to sit on her side of the bed to read. He crawled from the other side and hugged her thighs without looking at her. Bella grinned for a second, then it disappeared, looking serious again when he turned his head to look at her. He sat down beside and caressed her cheeks. She didn't move and continued fake reading.

He laughs, "Okay, but you need to be with me at all times and listen to me without asking questions, can you do that?" He knew he couldn't resist, but he wanted to tease her for hours, but it didn't even last a minute!

She dropped her book, kissed him deeply. Then they tossed and turned again and went to sleep at dawn. The couple doesn't know why, but this time it's even more passionate.

Even having slept a little, the couple ate breakfast with everybody. Dean stayed at the base to make preparations for the mission while she goes with his uncles' villas to move things to their new houses in space.

First was Uncle Desmond's villa, then Uncle Liam's. The houses dismissed their employees for the day. Most of their important belongings are already packed, saving a lot of time. It was finished before lunch, so she drove to the warehouse. They went to the base to train, ate dinner, did some work in space, then went to bed at midnight.

They did the same routine yesterday, and she's on her way to the warehouse. She was in a good mood when her phone rang.