The figure that suddenly appeared before Jane was a monstrous doll almost half the size of a normal person. The doll bore its teeth mischievously and the body was decorated with musical notes."What on earth is this??" Jane screamed in her mind. She was so frightened that she was actually in tears.Aino, who was holding the doll with an innocent and proud expression, looked at her and asked, "Aunt Jane, are...are you scared?"Jane tried her best to ignore her fear upon hearing Aino's sweet innocent voice, and looked down to find the child holding the doll up as though she was showing it off to Jane."Auntie, this doll is for you."Jane wasn't sure how to respond."You little thing, if Aunt Jane gets sick because you scared her, Uncle Alex is going to teach you a lesson!" Alex reached out and pinched Aino on the nose.Jane immediately felt bad for the child and stopped him. "Alex, don't scare the child!""Auntie, this is for you. Do you like it?" Aino asked with her head tilting
"Pretty Aunt Ruth...!" Upon seeing Ruth, Aino wiggled her way out of Jane's arms immediately and ran towards Ruth. “Pretty Aunt Ruth, I have something fo-"Before Aino could finish, Sabrina scooped her up and covered her mouth. "Stop it. You are going to scare Aunt Ruth in broad daylight!"Aino paused for a moment before nodding. "Ohhh, roger, Mother!"Aino then continued to hurry her way towards Ruth.Ryan, too, was shouting enthusiastically. "Uncle Sebastian, Aunt Sabrina, little sis Aino! I wanted to pick you guys up from the airport but Ruth wouldn't let me, so we have no choice but to come meet you guys here instead."Ruth punched Ryan lightly. "Aino calls me pretty Aunt Ruth, and you call Aino little sis. So what should you be calling me then?"Ryan casted an evil smirk her way. "Ruth, do you believe me if I say I'm going to tame you tonight?""Sabrina, Sabrina!" Ruth immediately shouted. "Look at him, get Mr. Ford to teach him a lesson. He calls Mr. Ford uncle anyways."
The sound of Emma's chilling sneer immediately came through the other side of the line. "Dad! Of course I did everything you told me to!""That's my girl!" Axel gritted out."Aren't uncle and my cousin trying to cut us out?" Emma deadpanned, her voice cold. "Didn't Sebastian take over most of your weapons? Isn't he all about protecting that skank of a wife he has? We are going to sink our teeth into them even if it means death! Let them all catch rabies! That woman will be heading back as soon as possible! Soon, we can sit and enjoy all the drama!""Well, then, daddy can be assured. That's all for now!" Axel chuckled casually and hung up. After that, Axel left from the side door without announcing himself to his nephew and grandnephew.Over on the other side, no one noticed when Axel took his leave or that he made such a malicious phone call, Sebastian and the others remained cheerful in their conversations. The past two weeks in Star Island had been a complete success to Sebastian
Ruth was bending down and talking to Aino. "My beautiful Aino, your mom interrupted you earlier when you were about to say something to pretty Aunt Ruth, which got me thinking, did you bring a gift from Star Island for me?"Though Ruth was an honest-to-god person and could sometimes be a bit slow, though at times she could be rather sly as well. When dealing with people her age, she was hardly as thoughtful as others, but when she communicated with children like Aino, her wittiness shone through. Ruth saw the monstrous doll in Alex's hand earlier and found it horrendous and dark with a sense of humor. The doll was huge and awkward-looking, with its teeth being musical keys. It didn't take much for Ruth to figure out that Alex wasn't the type of person who would buy something like that. None of the others would either. Even Sabrina, who was closest to Ruth, couldn't possibly buy such oddly-fashioned toys that were likely used in pranks, because she was a serious person who rarely joked
Ruth didn't respond immediately, as she thought to herself, ‘Me? Beating you up? I wouldn't even have a chance to raise my hand at you before your dad, your mom, your bodyguard Kingston and probably Yvonne, too, beat me up first instead. How do I even beat you up?’"Of course I won't beat you up! Just give me my gift already! If you don't do it right now, let's see if I'm going to beat you up right now and here," Ruth glared at Aino sternly.Aino flinched. "Alright, then." She ran off to the back of the car and took her gift for Ruth out."Here you go, pretty Aunt Ruth." Aino cocked her little head to the side and held her gift up high towards Ruth."Ah...!" Startled, Ruth immediately jumped into Ryan's arms.Jane, who was next to them, was amused and glad to realize that Aino loved her after all. Jane found her gift beautiful and heart-warming, in comparison to Ruth's gift."You...! Aino Scott! Our friendship is over! You...what on earth is this thing you are giving me?""It's
Aino sighed. "I'll show you now, then.""No! Just pass it to your Aunt Yvonne, Aunt Ruth won't look at it for now." Ruth grinned mischievously. She had been scared to obliviation and so she wanted Yvonne to experience the same.‘Hehe! I'm sorry, Yvonne, but it's your fault for not coming here to see Sabrina!’ she thought.Aino ceased hurrying towards her gifts at Ruth's words. She didn't want to show Ruth her gift to Yvonne to begin with, because she wanted to keep it mysterious for the surprise.After handing out all the gifts, it was time for Sabrina, Aino and Sebastian to head home. Kingston drove them home and when the three sat in the car, they were all overwhelmed with the feeling of returning home after a lifetime. Familiar streets, familiar roads, even the street lights felt like home. Sabrina gazed out the window.The car went towards their residential area and before they reached the gates, Sabrina accidentally saw those long-lost eyes, only that this time, she saw it di
Sebastian pulled Sabrina into his arms, his heart heavy with guilt."Mom, I miss you so much. Is it really you, mom?" Sabrina sobbed uncontrollably. "Why won't you come out and see me? Mom, Aino, Aino's dad, and I, we all miss you. Mom, could you please come out? Mom..." Her wailing started catching the attention of passersby and even Aino was shocked by the sight."Sabrina, you are scaring Aino. Don't cry," Sebastian whispered gently.Sabrina tried her best to calm down and turned around to find Aino, who was at the brink of crying as well."Mommy..." Aino stepped towards Sabrina and said, "Mommy, don't be sad, okay?""Baby..." Sabrina muttered."Actually, I bought you a gift as well. I wanted to wait until we get home to surprise you, but mommy, I want to tell you what I bought for you right now," Aino reached out to her to offer her comfort.Sabrina wrapped her arms around Aino. "I'm sorry, baby, did mommy scared you?"Aino wiped the tears off Sabrina's face like a miniature
That reminded Sabrina of her mother again. Those eyes she found outside their area were dazed, and even though Sabrina couldn't see her face, she was certain that those were the eyes of her mother. The thought of what her mother had been going through pierced through her heart like a sharp blade. She went off the shower in silent sorrow, not even bathing Aino could help brighten up her mood. The child noticed her mother's struggle and decided to remain quiet as well. After they had showered, Sabrina tucked Aino in for a short nap and she slowly drifted off to sleep after Aino. She was exhausted, but couldn't seem to find peace in sleep.Sebastian, too, was tired but he had no time to rest. After seeing that Sabrina and Aino had gone to sleep, he went to his study to work. It's been half a month since he showed up at the office. Everything was operating as per usual, with only the documents that were pending to be approved piling up in an electronic drive. After handling them all, it w