Beep... beep...

Lucian drove slowly with Primo in the front passenger seat while Red, Vodka, and Rum occupied the back.

All five of them turned toward the source of the short honk and spotted a van behind them.

Raka.

Unlike before, Raka wasn’t blaring his horn at them. Instead, he was honking at another vehicle trying to overtake him. A moment later, he pulled closer to Lucian’s car as though he were part of the escort detail.

"Hehe."

Raka grinned at them as if they had known each other for years and waved proudly.

"Papa?" Sammy looked up at his father. "Are we friends with them now?"

Raka smirked.

"Of course!" he declared proudly. "That’s my goal now, son. To become that man’s best friend. The kind of friend he won’t be able to live without."

Sammy blinked. "They’re not leeches anymore?"

Raka nearly choked on his own saliva.

Turning to his son, he let out an awkward chuckle.

"Son," he said, lowering his voice, "those people aren’t leeches. And don’t tell anyone I ever said that, okay? Just forget it."

"But why?"

Raka winced.

After all, he had raised Sammy to stay away from people who might use him. He never wanted his son to experience what he had gone through because of trusting the wrong people.

"Just forget it, alright?" Raka nodded. "They’re good people."

He pointed ahead. "If anything, you should become best friends for life with Primo!"

Sammy puffed out his cheeks.

"But Primo is already friends with Chantal and Elliot."

"No!" Raka shook his head before quickly calming himself down. "I mean... Primo and his uncle stayed at our place before, right?"

Sammy nodded.

"So just be friends with him!" Raka insisted. "You’ll be friends with Primo, and I’ll be friends with his dad."

The mere thought made him laugh out loud.

Sammy studied his father before a smug smile slowly spread across his face.

Just like Raka, he began laughing wickedly.

The father and son looked like two villains who had finally discovered the perfect recipe for world domination.

"Wahaha!"

*****

Completely unaware of the Jeans family’s "evil" schemes, Lucian pulled over.

"Primo," Lucian called as his son climbed out of the car. "Tank or Nolan will pick you up early today."

Primo nodded and smiled before signing.

[Are we meeting Grandmama Liza and Grandpapa Tommy later?]

Lucian read the signs and let out a defeated chuckle.

"You like them that much?"

[They like Mama very much, and they make Mama happy. So Primo likes them too.]

Lucian nodded.

"They do," he hummed.

One of the reasons he felt comfortable around the old couple was because they were more family to Ashley than the Di Carpios had ever been.

"Go on now."

Primo nodded.

But just as he turned around, another child suddenly appeared beside him.

"Hello, best friend!"

Sammy casually hooked an arm around Primo’s shoulder.

Primo froze. He slowly turned toward Sammy and immediately caught the suspicious glint in the boy’s eyes.

"..."

Primo pursed his lips and looked back at his father.

The moment their eyes met, Primo narrowed his gaze.

Lucian, before he could even explain himself, heard a knock on the driver’s side window.

Just like Sammy, Raka was wearing a smug grin.

A shallow sigh escaped Lucian. He looked back at Primo helplessly.

Seeing that his father appeared to be suffering just as much as he was, Primo shook his head before turning back to Sammy.

"Let’s go?" Sammy squinted. "Best friend?"

"..."

And just like that, Primo found himself being dragged away while Sammy somehow managed to emphasize the words "best friend" in every sentence.

As for Lucian, he lowered the window and looked at the man outside.

"Hey there." Raka rested an arm atop the window frame. "So? How’d it go? Did you put the plan into motion?"

Lucian blinked and nodded.

"Right, right!" Raka leaned closer. "Then what happened?"

Lucian opened his mouth to answer.

HOOONK!

A horn suddenly blared behind Raka’s van.

"Tsk."

Raka clicked his tongue and glared at the vehicles maneuvering around his illegally parked van.

"These useless people. Can’t they see I’m doing something important here?"

Ironically, not long ago, Raka had been the very person scolding Lucian for spending too much time in the drop-off area.

Now he was the one trying to start a lengthy conversation.

"I’ll tell you later," Lucian said once Raka’s attention returned to him. "I’ll see you in your office."

With that, he awkwardly rolled the window back up.

"Ah, of course! Of course!" Raka laughed loudly. "Sure! I’ll see you later!"

He jumped away from the car and watched it pull away.

"See you later, friend!" he shouted, waving enthusiastically. "Let’s play some golf or something!"

HOOONK!

His smile instantly vanished.

This time, he whipped his head around and found Julius stopping nearby.

Julius lowered his window.

The moment Raka saw him, his expression soured.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Raka barked. "Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something important?"

"Important?" Julius frowned. "Huh. Weird."

Then he shrugged.

"You should probably move your van, though. The other parents aren’t exactly thrilled that you’re blocking the drop-off area."

Raka clicked his tongue.

"Just letting you know," Julius added casually. "Your campaign to become Parent Council President might suffer because of this."

With that, he slowly drove away.

Raka paused. "Shit!" Then he hissed and immediately ran back to his van.

After all, he had spent years dreaming of becoming president of the parents’ association in Sammy’s class.

Meanwhile, Julius shook his head as he glanced at Raka through the side mirror.

"He’s acting weird," he muttered.

Julius knew Lucian had recovered thanks to Raka and that the illness had been a misdiagnosis.

But somehow, Raka was behaving as though he were the one indebted to Lucian.

And whenever Raka acted like this, it was usually because he saw some sort of benefit.

"Strange."

His brows rose as he spotted Lucian’s car farther ahead.

A smile touched his face.

He was genuinely happy to see Lucian looking more like himself again.

But moments later, he noticed Lucian turning in a different direction.

"Hm?" Julius frowned. "Isn’t he supposed to be heading the other way?"

As far as Julius knew, Lucian was supposed to be resting. And the way to Lucian’s home was on the different direction.

Still, he didn’t think much of it.

Coincidentally, he was heading in the same direction.

At first, he ignored it.

But as they continued through the city, Lucian’s car remained ahead of him. Eventually, Lucian slowed near a shopping mall.

Julius slowed as well.

He wasn’t turning anymore, so his attention naturally drifted toward the parked vehicle.

There were several people nearby. However, one particular man seemed to be approaching Lucian’s car.

Tommy.

"Is that his dad?" Julius wondered.

Then he shook his head and refocused on the road.

"Why does that man look familiar, though?" His brows furrowed. "I wonder where I’ve seen him before."