"Traitors."

There was deathly silence in the room, but everyone had an expression on their faces as if they had just witnessed an atomic bomb explosion. The information that Armand so easily laid out was too shocking for an ordinary person to understand.

Although, to call those present in the room ordinary people was also not entirely correct.

Everyone was trying to understand the new information, and no one dared to speak first.

The extravagant melody that broke the hanging tension was like a sudden rap during a concert of classical music.

"They call me Cuban Pete / I'm the king of the Rumba beat / When I play the Maracas I go / Chick chicky boom / Chick chicky boom..."

The electric song from the movie "The Mask" performed by Jim Carrey made the people sitting at the table look at each other with even more misunderstanding on their faces.

"Ahaha, sorry, sorry, it's for me," Nick got up from the table with an apologetic smile and walked quickly to the sofa where his backpack was. Repeating the same steps as before, he finally got to his cell phone, persistently ringing at the very bottom of the bag.

He glanced at the icon of an incoming call, the caller's name blinked to the beat of his blinking eyes. The young man turned his gaze to the clock hanging on the wall, then back to the phone. Horror appeared on his face.

"Oh shit! I forgot to call her that I landed!" Nick looked at the company at the table with an imploring look, but no one understood his signal for help. The young man took a deep breath and picked up the phone, "Ahaha, hello. Linlin, my love, good morning..."

A strict female voice interrupted his uncertain greeting, Nick began to nod his head, silently agreeing with everything that was flying at him at that moment, after which he sighed and plodded on outside without taking his phone from his ear.

Everyone looked at the young man with sympathy, it turns out that his girlfriend was really scary in anger.

"Well, since now there are definitely no strangers here, I think we can continue our conversation," Armand grinned and took a sip of tea.

"I understand correctly, Elena's mother comes from an ancient family with special inherited abilities?" Daniel asked the man.

"Exactly. The skills of clairvoyance, telepathy and mind control have been passed on to the Teser family for many centuries. Some of the descendants have great talent, some less, but even it is enough to make a family prosperous," confirmed Armand.

"The name of this family is not known in wide circles, even among the elite and large clans, few know about it. But those who know perceive the members of Teser as mentors and consult with them when making important decisions."

"I remember that in childhood unknown people often came to my mother and she talked with them about something," Elena added, "Wherever we went, no matter what country we were in, she always had guests."

"That's right," Armand said, "These guests were big businessmen or politicians, they could be the members of the shadow market. Thanks to these connections, she was able to hide her identity and location from Marcus for a long time. Otherwise, where would she get fake passports to escape with you to America?"

"Why didn't you tell me about this before? I have asked you so many times about this," Elena said with resentment. Armand was the only person who personally knew her mother, but did not utter a word over the past five years.

"Because Amelia herself asked me about this, I could not break her promise. More precisely, it was even an agreement," the man sighed. He would gladly share everything he knew, but the situation was much more serious than it seemed from the outside.

"Your mother was the strongest of the descendants of Teser, who have been in the family for the last several hundred years. She could see fate not only in one version, but in many others, and she knew how to change it," Armand explained. "And if a person wanted to radically change his fate or get what he wanted, he made an agreement with her. And one of the prices of this agreement was silence."

"You want to say that you asked Amelia to fulfill your desire, and in order not to jinx you had to hide such important information from us?" Daniel asked his old friend with genuine disappointment in his voice.

Armand turned to him, there was no shame on the man's face, "Yes, everything is exactly as you said. You may think what you want, but you do not know how I lived and what I felt all these years. If what Amelia promised me is fulfilled, my soul will finally be able to find freedom."

He turned to the girl, "Elena, listen. If I didn't tell you something, it means that your mother wanted so. I trust her and I am sure that she knew what she was doing. The only thing you can have no doubt about is that she loved you with all her heart. Remember this no matter what."

Armand's words aroused a feeling of warmth in the girl's chest, she wanted to believe that everything was just like that.

David gripped his wife's hand tightly in his palm, "I will always be there, no matter what happens," he whispered. Elena smiled.

After Sean appeared, she realized what the true meaning of happiness is, and even the thought that she could lose it was equivalent to the worst nightmare for the woman. If her mom left her alone that time, in that shelter, then she had serious reasons for that. And someday, Elena will definitely find out about them.

"Any news on the location of Marcus?" David asked, he knew that Armand was supposed to meet with Jason, and the latter, as the son of the Minister of Defense and a member of the special group, was one of their main informants.

"No, so far no news. The black market is also suspiciously quiet. Jason said that according to their sources, even drug trafficking channels are temporarily closed as if everyone was waiting for some news. The Pentagon is suspiciously calm, as is the presidential administration. We have the impression that they either turn a blind eye to everything suspicious, either they are not aware of the situation or they act so on purpose," Armand reported on the outcome of the meeting.

"I don't like it," Daniel expressed his opinion, "First, a suspicious fire in the gallery, then this Carter's attack on Elena, Marcus honored us with his presence at the banquet, and most importantly, Rick was alive. To all this, there are also incomprehensible movements in the market on a global scale. I feel that we are pawns in someone else's game and we ourselves do not know about it. And what I don't like the most, so that I'm starting to guess whose game it is."

The eldest of the Andersons looked unusually serious, much to his regret, his intuition had never failed him, which he was always proud of, but at the moment, he would be more than happy to be wrong.

"Regarding the situation in the gallery, Miss Jones promised to call me and tell me about the picture in which my mother was depicted. I'm sure she left that message. And if we solve it, then this may be a clue to understanding what is happening now," Elena suggested.

As soon as the girl finished the sentence, her mobile phone, lying on the table, vibrated.

She looked doubtfully at an unfamiliar number, David noticed his wife's slight confusion, "Turn on the speakerphone," he asked, and Elena picked up the phone, after turning on the speaker.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello, is this Mrs. Anderson?" A pleasant female voice inquired at the other end of the line.

"Yes, it's me."

"Oh Elena, hello. This is Lina Jones. Are you comfortable talking? Am I not distracting you?" Lina sounded very friendly, but at the same time in a businesslike way.

Armand immediately straightened up in his chair and leaned forward, toward the telephone, an open smile on his face. This abrupt change did not go unnoticed by the Anderson brothers, David and Daniel took a look at each other, and without words understood each other's thoughts.

Heh, it seems, the owner of a wonderful voice on that end of the wire captured the attention of the impregnable grandpa Taubert.

"Hello, Miss Jones," Elena answered, "I am free and happy to speak with you. You are calling about the information regarding the author of the picture that you sold?" The girl did not want to mention Carter's name out loud, the investigation into the causes of his death has not yet ended, and the public has not yet been informed. Although, knowing how the media work, by the noon, by the evening time maximum, this will cause a huge commotion. "I mean, the picture that was presented at the exhibition."

"Yes, that's right," Lina replied, "The author confirmed that she was ready to meet with you. If you agree, I will send you a car in fifteen minutes."

"You say, fifteen minutes?" Elena asked, she did not expect the events to get such a quick turnaround, but this opportunity seemed to come specially at the moment when she only thought about it, so the girl immediately agreed, "Well, I'll send you our address then."

"No need, I have it already," Miss Jones carved out and, after a brief pause, added, "Tell Mr. Handsome that he can go too. I have a present for him."

Armand smacked quite a bit, which did not escape the singer's professional ears. Lina smirked and said, "I suppose the execution of the last request is also no longer necessary. See you, Mrs. Anderson. Say hi to your husband," and hung up.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here. Really, the indifferent heart of our grandpa skipped a beat because of the mysterious young lady with a bewitching voice?" Daniel could not resist to tease his friend.

"You better shut your mouth, boy. I haven't asked you yet for waking me up early in the morning," Armand looked down at Daniel as the sensei looked at his careless student.

"I need to go to the office, I'm sure there will be a commotion today because of future news," said David, "Since Elena will go with Armand, I'm calm for her safety. As for you," David looked at his older brother and grinned slyly, "Look after Nick and the children at home."

"Wh-what?! Are you kidding? Corey will go to the cafe today. Do you offer me to sit alone with the children?!" Daniel was very mad and jumped out of the chair.

"Precisely, you will be a baby sitter today, uncle Daniel," David ignored his brother's protest, kissed his wife on the cheek, and went into his room to change for work.

"I'm probably going to change as well, otherwise the car will arrive soon," Elena smiled and left the living room after her husband.

Armand reached out, a contented smile beaming on his face, "I will wait outside," he answered, and also left.

"Are you serious?!" Daniel prayed doomed, "Baby! By the way! How about-" He saw Corey rushing into the living room, but before he could finish the sentence, the girl kissed him on the lips and hurried toward the door.

"I just got a call from a cafe, they have some kind of problem there with today's delivery. I need to go there urgently. Nick is in the yard with the kids. See you!" Corey waved her hand and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Daniel was left standing alone in the living room, with the view of a lone desert traveler, whose only companions were tumbleweeds and sand.

"Traitors," the man muttered under his breath, put the remaining piece of sushi in his mouth, sadly lowered his shoulders and trudged toward the courtyard where the children were playing.