Episode 19

"So, this is your place?" Rayden asked as they arrived at a rather upscale housing development.

"Yes, Dad! Come on in, so Luci can show you her new room."

Lucia eagerly invited her father inside their home.

"Yeah, Dad! Come on, Luca also wants to show you something."

Luca joined in, urging his father to enter.

Zhia remained silent, observing. She really wanted to send Rayden away right then and there. Yet, she couldn't because the twins were insisting that Rayden stay.

"Ehhhmmm, forgive me, darlings! I have to leave now, as there is something important I must attend to. But I promise, as soon as I'm done, I will come to visit you both," Rayden promised his twin children.

"Oh, Luci still misses daddy so much."

Lucia was visibly disappointed by her father's departure.

"Daddy prefers his work over us," Luca remarked, feeling the same disappointment as Lucia.

"That's not true, my loves!"

Rayden felt torn between his children's evident disappointment and the pressing matter he had to deal with immediately.

"Luca! Lucia, don't be that way. Let your father go for now. Once he has finished his business, he will surely come here again to spend all the time you want with both of you."

Zhia had to intervene to help Rayden convince the twins to let their father leave.

"Alright! But you have to pinkie promise Luci that you will come back as soon as you're done," demanded Lucia, asking her father to make a pinkie promise.

"Okay, I promise!"

Rayden linked his pinkie with Lucia's tiny finger.

"And with Luca too, Dad!" requested Luca, wanting to do the same as his sister.

"Well then, I promise you both right now."

Rayden gladly did what Luca asked of him.

"Well then, I'll go now, my loves! Mmuachh... Mmuacchh..." Rayden bid farewell to his twins, kissing Luca and Lucia's cheeks before leaving.

"Bye, daddy! Be careful on the road, dad!" Luca and Lucia said in unison.

"Okay, my loves!" Rayden replied with a beaming smile.

"I'm leaving now! Please take good care of our children."

Rayden turned to take his leave from Zhia, as if they were a harmoniously married couple.

Zhia felt strange at Rayden's behavior, responding in her typically tart tone, "Even without your asking, I've always taken very good care of them."

"Alright, I know that! Take care of yourself too. Mmuachh..."

Rayden quickly gave Zhia a peck on the lips, leaving her glaring in shock.

"You..."

Zhia almost cursed at the arrogant man for daring to kiss her lips without her consent.

But unfortunately, Rayden quickly ran away to his car, smiling contentedly, for he had finally succeeded in kissing the lips that so tempted him.

There was Will, already waiting by the car. Will immediately opened the door as soon as he saw his master arrive.

"Please, Sir!" said Will, allowing Rayden to get into the car.

As usual, Rayden didn't respond; he just got in and sat down. Once he made sure his master was comfortably seated, Will shut the car door and hastened to the driver's seat.

"Have you found those responsible for killing our men at the border?" Rayden asked with his usual cold expression.

"Just as you anticipated, it was the Tiger Dark clan members who did it. Their movements have become more noticeable since the news about your twins surfaced," Will explained, concentrating on the road ahead.

"I didn't expect them to see the kids as my weakness. They're gravely mistaken if they think to provoke me this way." Rayden murmured with a devilish smile.

"Sir, should we head to the office now?"

Will inquired about their next destination.

"We're going to the headquarters now," Rayden ordered coldly.

"Yes, Sir!"

Will accelerated towards the BlackSky clan's headquarters.

As the luxury car entered a building, numerous people were ready to greet their leader, Rayden Cano Xavier.

"Welcome back to headquarters, Mr. Cano! It's been a while since your last visit here." Zaen Levi, Rayden's trusted man and left hand in the BlackSky clan, greeted him.

"Welcome, Boss!" the clan members present there hailed.

They bowed their heads as Ryaden walked past them.

He was the one who would assume the role of clan leader whenever Rayden and Will were absent. Though only 17 years old, he had unsurpassed martial skills; Rayden himself had been defeated by him once.

Levi had a sweet face, but not his personality. He only behaved like a puppy around Rayden, becoming a wild wolf when facing their enemies.

"How's the situation at headquarters in my absence?" Rayden asked Levi, who kept following him, along with Will and the others.

"The situation isn't too bad, Sir! And we've also managed to capture a member of the Tiger Dark clan from the border," Levi reported without any concealment.