Welcome to the New World.

Elena and David parked in front of the house and were pleasantly surprised to see Daniel's car pulling up next.

"Oh, I see everybody's here?" Daniel stepped out of his Mercedes with a respectable look, and rearranged his sunglasses, waved his hand.

"You just came back? I thought you were at home a long time ago already," Elena opened the door of the passenger seat of her car and picked up two bottles of Mr. Lee's favorite wine, which she and David took on the way home.

"We would have returned earlier, only these two," Daniel pointed to Nick and Sean, both of them casting displeased glances at each other, like fierce rivals in love or business, "In general, these two had a debate about who will last longer in the haunted house and we were stuck in the amusement park an hour and a half longer." The man ran a hand through his hair, his expression reminiscent of an exhausted wanderer who crossed the Gobi Desert.

"Well, and who won in the end?" David gave an appreciative look to the two younger Andersons, none of them radiated the winner's euphoric mood.

At that moment, two dozen balloons got out of the back seat of Daniel's car, then a big teddy bear showed up, and Ashley crawled out in triumph, with a huge colored lollipop that no adult would refuse to feast on.

Elena and David looked at each other. The question of who won the dispute was now a rhetorical one. It would not be news to them that this little girl, looking like an angel with her blonde curls, could easily beat Sean, but so that even Nick would be defeated by her? It was beyond fantasy.

"Uncle David, look! Look what I won!" Ashley, with a beaming smile, dragged the bear toward David, ignoring the frowning faces of the other two guys.

"Well done, princess! It looks like you have to give a master class not only to Sean but also to Nick. Who would have thought that such a big boy would lose to such a little girl, heh, Nick?" David grinned sarcastically, this situation seemed extremely funny to him.

"Ugh, I'm just afraid of ghosts, but that doesn't mean it's easy to beat me, okay?" Nick pouted his lips like a little kid. At this moment, Elena thought that this young man in his childhood could be like her little Sean, who pouted his lips in the same way when he did not want to admit his weaknesses.

"So, take your reward for the lost nerves and my patience," Daniel handed each of the younger Andersons a packet of popcorn, was given to them as a sign of pity at the exit from the haunted house. The attraction worker took pity on two visitors, he had not heard such screams for a long time, so he hoped to somehow compensate for the stress they experienced.

"By the way, what do I see? Isn't it the wine that has been carefully stored in your father's cellar for a couple of decades?" Daniel's eyes lit up when he saw two treasured bottles in Elena's hands. No matter how much he persuaded Chen, Mr. Lee refused to treat Daniel with this drink.

Elena playfully squinted her eyes, understanding the train of thought of her brother-in-law, "Exactly! You're absolutely right! We drove home to dad on the way here, because I needed to pick up something from my old room, and at the same time grabbed them," the woman raised the bottles, the sun's rays glittered across the dark glass with alluring overflows, "We have a wonderful occasion today, so let's get inside, quickly."

"Hmm, sister, in that case, let me free your tender and fragile hands from this heavy burden," Daniel took the wine from Elena's hands and, whistling a funny tune, went to the entrance to the house.

Elena took Sean's hand, Ashley hung in David's hands, and Nick only had to drag a bunch of prizes of the young princess, who had conquered almost all the attractions of the amusement park.

"Um, it seems to me, or am I in some kind of parallel reality? Why are there so many pink cupids in the air?" Daniel's face twisted, either in surprise or in confusion, when the first thing he saw were two love couples who had secluded themselves in different parts of the room.

Mr. Lee and his wife were sitting on the couch and discussing something in each other's arms; Armand, like a diligent bee, was reeling around Lina, as around a beautiful flower, while the girl was laying the table. Everyone froze on their spots, exchanging glances between each other.

"I said that today we have a great occasion, and, as you see, wonderful guests," Elena pushed the man with her elbow so that he wouldn't just stand on the threshold and went forward gracefully.

"Sean, Ashley, my kids! Come here, I want to introduce you to someone," Mr. Lee called the children to him, he knew that Liu Yang was awaiting to meet these little tykes. They managed to review more than two hundred photographs on Chen and Jun's phones while they waited for Elena to return.

"Hmm, I don't mind getting to know our second guest either," Daniel bowed to Lina and held out his hand in greeting, "Daniel Anderson."

"Lina Jones, nice to meet you," the girl smiled and shook Daniel's hand in response. The man with a sarcastic grin looked at his old friend; who would have thought that today he would have one more reason to tease Armand? Seeing the latter's slightly displeased expression, it was obvious to Daniel that something interesting and cunning was happening here.

"Miss Jones, do you mind if I just call you Lina?" Elder Anderson continued with his professionally bewitching voice, "Lina, if not a secret, what is your relationship with this strange person behind you? It seems to me, or is he really panting for you?" Daniel leaned over to the girl's ear and asked in a whisper.

Armand's hand instantly slid forward, and the man pressed the girl's back to his chest, ignoring Daniel's smirk, "I advise you to keep a personal distance, otherwise I will help you visit the dentist ahead of time, little boy Anderson."

"Tks, such an owner. Lina, I advise you to think carefully before dealing with this person. He clearly doesn't get the jokes," Daniel shook his head and shrugged, radiating complete innocence.

At that moment, none other than Nick squeezed into the living room with a rustle of heaps of balloons and a huge teddy bear under his arm, "Fuh, I will never go to this park again," the young man moaned doomly, drawing attention to his comical figure.

He lowered the toy to the floor, released a bunch of balls and looked around, his eyes fell on a young girl standing next to two men. Lina and Nick looked at each other.

'Oh no, don't even dare,' the girl viciously narrowed her eyes when she noticed how the corners of Nick's lips turned up.

'Oh yes, of course, I will dare,' Nick understood her mental signal but noticed Armand's tense look. The young man could not deprive himself of such a fantastic opportunity, so as not to tease the latter.

Nick winked at Lina and opened his mouth.

"Oh my god, LinLin, what are you doing here?! My love, what a surprise! I didn't know that you knew David and Elena! How happy I am!" The young man, as in love with a woman blinded by feelings, jumped up to the girl and lifted her in a strong hug.

"What are you doing? What the hell is with 'My Love'?!" Lina hissed through gritted teeth, but Nick completely ignored her.

"Friends, get acquainted, this is the one I told you about!" He turned towards Armand and added with a triumphant look, "This is LinLin - my girlfriend!"

"What the hell?!" Armand growled.

"Your who?!" Lina shouted from confusion.

"Hey, hey, Sean, pass the popcorn, now there will be something interesting," Daniel waved a hand to his nephew. Sean looked at a bunch of strange adults with a misunderstanding but obediently held out the popcorn to his uncle.

"Yes, we've been together for two years and really love each other --- Ay!" Lina quickly brought Nick's hand behind him, the girl's knee was right in his stomach area, and in a blink of an eye, the young man was lying on his face, curving from pains.

"What did you say, 'my love'? Together for two years, huh? Nick Anderson, as I see, you are tired of living?" The girl pressed on a pressure point on the young man's back making him immediately regret his words.

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding, you're not my girlfriend! And anyway, I love exquisite and cute blondes like Corey or Ashley, so I'm sorry dear, I am way out of your league --- Ay!"

"No, you are still looking for a meeting with death, as I see it," Lina pressed the pressure point even harder.

"Ah, well, I'm sorry, I was just joking. It's just that you were so worried about your meeting with this man; you were saying, and what if he didn't like you or something. You've been so damn obsessed with this guy for so many years, and he absolutely had no clue, so I decided to tease him a little!" Nick didn't notice how he added more fuel to the fire.

Lina's cheeks flashed fire, this little dumbbell hung her out to dry, she hesitantly turned her face towards Armand. The man, hearing Nick's words, shone with happiness like a Christmas tree,

"Khem, I do not mind learning more about this," he winked at the girl and regretted it, now her murderous look was directed at him.

"Ahaha, Mr. Taubert, I advise you not to tease her. This lady has a very sensitive nature and she is terrible in anger," Nick laughed, but his triumph quickly came to an end.

Lina gracefully got up from her knees, straightened her long, silk-smooth hair, and froze in an attractive pose, "Hmm, my friend, since you had the good fortune to publicly reveal one of my secrets, how about the fact that I will reveal yours in return?"

Nick's face twitched, "Um, I don't understand what you're talking about. I have no secrets," the young man got up from the floor, straightened his clothes and began to examine the ceiling with interest, pretending that everything that was happening did not concern him at all.

"Oh yeah? What about THAT secret?" Lina raised an eyebrow, it was obvious that she was not joking.

'Oh no, you dare not,' Nick's mental message was also obvious.

'Oh yes, you bet I will dare,' the corners of the girl's lips rose up.

"Lina, don't tease him, he's still little," Liu Yang defended Nick, "Nicky, don't you tease Lina, you yourself know that you will regret it later."

"I got it, aunt," the young man nodded guiltily.

"Wait a second, do you know each other?" Chen looked at his wife in surprise, how many secrets has she kept all these years?

"Yes, we know each other. Thanks to Nick, I was aware of how things are going in your family, he sent me photographs and told about you and Jun and about Elena and the boys. So I felt at least some connection with you," Liu Yang explained.

"I said that David's mother and mine spend hours talking on the phone. To find out such details was not a problem for me at all," Nick spread his hands, by and large, he really didn't do anything special.

"Well, how much do you know?" David asked him.

"Um, what's the best way to say this...," the young man scratched his head and exchanged a glance with Lina, "Everything."

"What exactly is 'everything'?" David asked him again.

"Absolutely everything," Lina replied instead of Nick.

David sighed heavily, in their non-standard family with non-standard problems there was one more non-standard person. Elena squeezed her husband's palm, "Don't worry, he's a big boy and can stand up for himself," she added in a whisper.

The woman knew that David was trying to protect his loved ones from dangers as best as possible, but deep down she was sure that Nick was more serious and stronger than he tried to seem from the side. Although she did not know the reason for such confidence.

"Since everyone is aware what's what, then I don't see any reason to hide the message I just received from my secretary," David pulled out his phone from his pocket and opened his email. "This letter came to our official mailbox of Lenali Enterprise about an hour ago," the man clicked on the letter icon, and a video attachment appeared in the message. David turned on the display in full-screen mode and pressed the play button.

A stylishly dressed man appeared on the video, with a charming smile and bright blue eyes.

"Oh god, it's really Rick!" Elena gasped. She did not immediately believe when she found out that Rick was alive, but now this fact was obvious.

"Just wait, look further," David added, he already watched this video.

"Hello! Perhaps you recognized me, or perhaps not. My name is Rick Stein, a few years ago I had an accident in the mountains and it was officially proclaimed that I was dead. Fortunately, as you see, I am alive and well.

But today I do not want to talk about this. Let me introduce you a person who will change not only the future of your business but also the future of our country. Ladies and gentlemen, please meet, the CEO of Marc Technologies, Mr. Marcus Taubert."

Armand's palm itself clenched into a fist when on the display he saw his reflection, saw a man who was as like him as two peas. A man with whom he had not met since 1945, a man who was his only family. His own brother.

"Hello, my name is Marcus Taubert," the man's voice sounded confidently and calmly as if he were a king addressing his subjects, and this business was his usual routine, "If you see this message, then you are in the circle of favorites. In the circle of those people who by their influence have proved the effectiveness and importance of their work.

Marc Technologies is ready to share with you its revolutionary development, which in the next three months will change the life of not only our country but of the whole humanity. If you are ready to enter a new world with us, come to our official presentation, which will take place a week later in one of the White House rooms with the support of the President of the United States.

Invitations will be emailed to you shortly. I am sure that you all are looking forward to coming to this meeting as much as I am.

Welcome to the new world. I'll be waiting for you."

/ / / / / /

Dear friends, I want to apologize for not being able to make many updates lately, I am emotionally and physically exhausted from the main work, and I do not want to write chapters just for the sake of updates. I want to share the highest possible quality content with you.

I will have such a busy schedule until the end of the month, but I will try to do updates whenever possible. I hope for your understanding, I know that my readers are very patient, so thank you for your support and motivation.

As for the Numbers, we are moving to a new arch, in which Armand and Marcus will finally meet after so many years, we will learn about the brothers' past and the last experiment of the Third Reich, which made them like they are, about the circumstances of Polina's death, and one of the secrets of Amelia's pendant, which Elena will put on when she meets with Marcus.

See you in the Numbers. The world isn't always like it seems to us at the first sight.