[Dominion New Neighborhood]

"Ah?" Ashley blinked several times, her face blank.

Lucian’s brows furrowed with the same confusion.

Both of them stared at Primo, who stood before them while they sat on the living room couch. Primo held a piece of paper in front of him, looking at it curiously.

Then he produced another paper from behind the first one — this one with a prewritten question.

[Can you come?]

Ashley leaned back and instinctively turned to Lucian. He turned to her at the same moment, and then the couple looked back at Primo together.

"Are both of us required to attend this school event?" Lucian asked. "If not, I can go. She’s busy."

She shook her head. "No, I’m not busy at all!" Her quick answer earned her a confused look from Lucian. "Baby, what is this event? Is it like a parent-teacher meeting?"

Primo looked up and thought about it. When he looked back at them, all he gave was a shrug.

All the boy had heard from his teacher was that the school would be celebrating its anniversary — a three-day event, like a festival. Aside from sports and games, there would be booths and other activities, including concerts for the older students.

It was Primo’s first time experiencing something like this, having been homeschooled his entire life. But seeing the excitement among his classmates ever since the announcement had intrigued him.

"A school anniversary — a foundation day, huh?" Ashley tilted her head and looked at Lucian curiously. "Lucian, do you know what happens at those things?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Lucian leaned back, glancing between his wife and son with a serious expression. And in the same neutral tone, he answered almost proudly,

"No."

"Didn’t you go to school?" Ashley asked. "Don’t they have those things?"

"I didn’t have time for the extracurriculars."

Her face twisted as she assessed him, not really doubting his reasoning. Lucian was an heir to Dominion — she could believe he had more important matters to attend to. Or perhaps school had simply been a formality for him.

As for Ashley, she had started school late.

She was nearly a teenager when she first enrolled. Had it not been for a special program — one that allowed her to enter a grade appropriate for her age, as Scott had explained — she would have been the oldest first grader in the room. She only passed the placement because a certain maid had secretly taught her to read and helped her study.

But even after enrolling in that public school, nowhere near where Isabella attended, Ashley barely had time to go. She was already too busy surviving, and she was "lucky" enough to pass her exams and make it through high school with that chaotic schedule.

"Let’s go together," Lucian said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Ashley looked up, only then realizing she had been drifting. Lucian and Primo were both watching her.

"It’ll be a first for Primo and me as well," Lucian added. "We’ll find out then."

Primo nodded with a wide smile.

Ashley looked between them before her lips stretched from ear to ear, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Right?" she giggled. "That just makes it more exciting. I wonder what a foundation day is actually like."

She crossed her arms and leaned back. Lucian and Primo exchanged a quick glance. Neither of them asked why she didn’t know — for different reasons. Primo’s were simple: he understood there must be a reason. Lucian, on the other hand, didn’t need to ask.

Having Marshal as a father was the worst thing that could happen to any person. Lucian already knew Marshal had never been a real parent to her.

Had I found her sooner... he thought, his jaw tightening. He concealed the quiet displeasure the thought stirred with a small smile.

"Baby, when is it?" Moving on, Ashley guided Primo to the couch and settled him between herself and Lucian. "Should we at least look it up first?"

Primo rubbed his chin thoughtfully and signed, [Okay, Mama!]

Excited, the two reached for Primo’s tablet and began searching for what to expect. But as they did, a notification from Emma appeared at the top of the screen.

[Primo, how are you? Have you been eating well? How was school? I went out today and thought about buying you some toys, but I don’t know which ones you like.]

Ashley paused, brows lifting as she read the notification. Her lips curled upward as she glanced at Primo, who read the message and looked back at her.

"Maybe... she’d know," Ashley hummed, and Primo nodded.

[I heard she was very smart when she was young.]

"Yeah?" Ashley tilted her head. "She does seem like a smart person. Before."

Before Emma’s life had been upended by her own father and stepmother — the late Madam of Dominion — and had fallen into addiction.

Even so, when Emma left the country, Ashley had given her her own number. When she found the right moment, she told Primo about it. Only after Primo agreed, and Lucian said he didn’t mind, did Ashley pass along a way for Emma to reach Primo.

Primo had yet to save her contact name, but that was something Ashley didn’t want to interfere with.

"Can we call her?" Ashley asked Lucian.

Lucian, who had been quietly watching them both, studied their faces. He shrugged.

"Up to you."

Ashley and Primo lit up instantly, sending Emma a message together.

[Hey, it’s me, Ash. Can we call you?]

The message was read almost immediately. Emma replied, [Sure!]

The two settled comfortably on the couch — Primo nearly in Ashley’s lap — and rang Emma. The call connected right away, revealing her face on the screen.

"Hey," she said softly, smiling as soon as she saw them. "How are you two? Ashley, it’s good to see you."

Lucian leaned back from his end of the couch and watched quietly. He listened as Ashley talked — both for herself and as Primo’s spokesperson.

He couldn’t help but feel an inward laugh at the scene: Ashley and Primo consulting Emma about something so ordinary. And rather than making them feel embarrassed, Emma cheerfully explained what a foundation day was like and what they could expect.

It was something Lucian had never considered before.

He had taken Primo from Emma’s care to protect the boy from her. Returning him to her had never once crossed his mind — and even when Lucian had made the mistake of inviting her back so Primo could see what his birth mother was like, he’d still had his doubts about her claims of having changed. It was Ashley’s choice to give Emma the benefit of the doubt that had created this strange addition to their family dynamic.

It wasn’t a bad dynamic. Strange, perhaps — but pleasant.

As he listened to the conversation, Lucian caught his phone lighting up from the corner of his eye. He picked it up, brows furrowing at an unregistered number on the screen.

Opening the message, he found several that had been sent before it.

[Are you just going to ignore me?! Don’t you plan on paying for the damage you caused to my van?]

[Even at school, you were avoiding me. Hah! Why don’t you just tell me, man to man, that you don’t have the means?]

Lucian tilted his head, wondering if the person had the wrong number. It took him a moment to realize that a certain matter had completely slipped his mind.

It was the parent of one of Primo’s classmates.