unexpected presence.

Just as Elaine was about to reply by to bae, Just then, a boy's voice sliced through the air, calling out to Elaine.

"Great Granny!"

Bae's breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened in shock. "Great Granny?" The words echoed in her mind, disbelief overtaking her.

Slowly, she turned toward the door, her gaze locking onto a boy standing at the entrance, his face a haunting reflection of Zanier's. Next to the boy, standing like a shadow, was the man she loathed—Zanier himself.

Her gaze flickered between the boy and Zanier, her heart racing. The boy dashed toward Granny Elaine with innocent energy, his youthful voice filling the room.

Bae barely registered his presence as she felt a pit form in her stomach.

"This child. " Her thoughts churned as memories she'd buried deep threatened to resurface, bringing a rush of emotions she wasn't prepared for.

Behind the boy, Latina's voice trembled as she spoke, "Welcome back, Bae."

The words hit Bae like a slow wave. Latina, her Frankford first daughter-in-law, stood in the doorway, guilt etched on her face.

She couldn't even meet Bae's eyes, her shoulders slumping with the weight of unspoken apologies.

"Oh, another one,"

Bae thought, bitterness twisting inside her as she caught Latina's hesitant gaze.

Her attention snapped back to Zanier, who stood coldly, his expression indifferent as ever.

But there was something different in his eyes—something she couldn't quite place, and yet it made her sick to her core.

Bae forced a smile, her voice dripping with forced warmth, a mask she had perfected long ago.

"Hello, Lady Latina, and Uncle Zanier!" she said, her tone unnervingly sweet, like the Bae of the past—obedient, soft, harmless.

But beneath the surface, her anger simmered, each glance at Zanier fueling the fire of rage she'd buried deep.

The room seemed to shrink as her gaze settled icily on Zanier. The memories of her past with him—his betrayal, the pain he caused her—came rushing back.

Her nails dug into her palms, but she maintained her composure, the smile never leaving her face, though her eyes blazed with cold fury.

Then, she spotted a woman standing beside them.

"A new face. Oh?"

Bae's eyes flickered with curiosity before sharpening with suspicion.

"Are you perhaps Uncle Zanier's sister?" she asked, the same feigned friendliness in her voice as she directed her attention toward the woman.

Her smile was bright, but her thoughts were dark, boiling with hatred beneath the surface.

"Looking at him makes me angrier by the second," she thought, her gaze lingering on Zanier. His once ethereal appearance, which had captivated her so deeply in the past, now meant nothing.

The beauty she once admired had long been replaced with disgust, a cold hatred that threatened to consume her with every passing moment.

"The past is dead," she reminded herself, but the fire of her rage was very much alive.

Meanwhile, Zanier stood rigid, his stoic mask barely holding against the storm of guilt tearing him apart from within.

His mind churned with cold thoughts, each one harder to suppress than the last.

"Can't blame you for the hatred you feel toward me..."

he mused bitterly, his eyes fixed on Bae.

He longed to speak, to say something—anything—but the words died in his throat.

Part of him wished for an ocean of distance between them, to never face the reality of what he'd done.

Just then, another voice cut through the thick tension.

"Great Granny, I'm here!"

Tate's voice rang out, snapping everyone's attention. The young boy darted forward, his eyes widening as they landed on Aiden.

Both boys froze, standing under the watchful eye of Granny Elaine, who had been silently observing the drama unfolding in her home.

"Him!" Aiden's thoughts raced as he stared at Tate, shock rippling through him.

His mind scrambled to process the sight of the boy who had claimed to be his second cousin earlier at school.

"Could it really be true?" His confusion was written plainly on his face, but before he could form a coherent thought, Bae's voice sliced through his mental fog.

"And I'm guessing you're Uncle Brag's son, huh?" Bae's tone was unsettlingly casual as she turned her attention toward Tate, as if she already knew everything, or at least pretended to. Her question hung in the air, thick with tension.

Just then, Penny, who had been silently fuming, finally snapped.

"Get your hands off him! And stop acting like you know everything about everyone here already!" Penny's words came out like venom as she glared at Bae, her voice trembling with barely concealed rage.

"Uhh?" Bae responded with an unnerving smile, her eyes narrowing as she stared back at Penny.

The quiet fury in her eyes glinted like shards of broken glass, dangerous and sharp. Penny's hostility was palpable, and though Bae played it cool, she knew full well the source of her anger—her illicit relationship with Brag.

"Well, I'm sorry if I offended you by touching your son," Bae's words rang through the room like a bell, her voice sweetly laced with mockery.

The shocked expressions on everyone's faces showed that her calculated strike had hit its mark.

Penny stood frozen, her face paling as the words sank in, her grip on her emotions faltering.

The tension in the room thickened, suffocating. Every gaze was fixed on Bae, her presence commanding and unnerving.

Even Zanier, who had tried to remain indifferent, couldn't ignore the ripple of dread her words caused.

"We're just getting started," Bae thought, a sly smile tugging at her lips as she eyed everyone in the room. 

Bae walked toward the door, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor, the sound echoing through the grand hallway like a countdown.

Her icy gaze locked onto Zanier, eyes piercing through him as if she could see every inch of guilt and regret he tried to hide.

Then, without warning, she smiled—an eerie, unsettling smile that barely touched her lips but sent a chill through the room.

"As for you," she thought, her smile growing wider but more hollow, "your punishment is already reserved."

Her mind danced with dark thoughts as she added silently, Slowly boiling to your demise sounds like a very good one.

She tore her gaze away from him, the coldness in her eyes deepening as she neared the door.

"Since I'm not familiar with everyone yet, as dear sister Penny kindly pointed out, I'll head to my house," she announced, her voice cool and detached, cutting through the thick tension.

She turned briefly, her eyes sweeping over the stunned faces, then resting on Zanier again for a split second longer than necessary.

"Until I'm fully familiar with my family," she continued, her words deliberate, "I can't stay here."

Her eyes flickered over everyone again, pausing briefly on Silva's pained expression, Penny's simmering fury, and Cody's smirk.

The atmosphere was suffocating, heavy with unspoken words and hidden motives. Bae's smile returned, a thin, sharp curve of her lips, and yet there was nothing kind in it.

"Hope to see everyone soon," she added, the sweetness in her tone contrasting with the cold calculation in her gaze.

But then, her eyes fell on Aiden, standing silently in the corner. For a moment, time seemed to freeze.

A wave of emotion swept over her—a fleeting, buried memory of her first child with Zanier, the one she had lost.

Her heart clenched, but her expression never wavered. She stared at Aiden a second longer, her mind racing with thoughts she couldn't quite place.

"Don't worry, dear," she thought, reassuring herself as much as him, "you're not on my list."

But even as she turned to leave, something about Aiden lingered in her mind—a strange, almost haunting familiarity.

There was something off about him, something that tugged at the edges of her thoughts. She pushed it aside for now, a problem for another day.

With a final glance at the room behind her, Bae stepped out, her presence leaving a cold void in the air, like the eye of a storm passing through but promising to return.