Glenca's presence amid the chaos of Greynard's life was like an anchor keeping a ship from being battered by the storm. Greynard's new status as a single parent came with an unbearably heavy invisible burden. Yet tonight, with the girl by his side, the air inside the luxurious penthouse felt a little easier to breathe.
“Baby Kenzo can sleep with Papi for now, okay? I want to put away the rest of the clothes in the suitcase.”
Glenca placed the tiny, already-sleeping child in the middle of the enormous bed. With gentle hands, she arranged pillows around Kenzo to keep him from rolling off.
“Go to sleep, Grey. Your eyes are red and sunken. You haven’t closed them once since yesterday afternoon. Call me if this little hero suddenly gets fussy.”
Glenca pulled the thick monochrome blanket up to Greynard’s chest. Her voice was soft, muffling her exhaustion.
“You should rest too. We’re both completely wiped out today.”
Greynard’s head sank into the pillow. His dark eyes gazed at Glenca with deep gratitude.
Glenca answered with a faint smile. Her footsteps made no sound as she left the dimly lit master bedroom.
Glenca’s steps toward the guest room stopped at the end of the marble hallway. Three tall men were still sitting in a circle in the TV room.
“You guys are staying the night here?”
Glenca sat at the end of the long sofa. Her eyes moved between Greynard’s three older cousins.
“No, Ca. I have an important dinner engagement with a business associate right now. Since you’re still awake, please say goodbye to Greynard for us.”
Reon briefly glanced at his silver watch. His face had already returned to its stiff professional mode.
“Please pass that along, Ca. We deliberately didn’t say goodbye in his room because we didn’t want to disturb his rest. That guy must already be dead tired.”
Felix straightened his shirt collar.
“I’ll tell him, of course. Don’t worry.”
Jarvis stepped closer. His large hand landed on top of Glenca’s head, giving her a light, deeply familiar stroke.
“You need to close your eyes soon too, you little troublemaker. You look awfully pale. Don’t push yourself so hard that you collapse.”
“Yes, I will. I’ll go straight to sleep as soon as I finish organizing the suitcase, Jarvis.”
Glenca rested her head against Jarvis’s arm for a moment. The warmth of the past slowly began weaving together the thread that had once been severed. In the eyes of the three men, Glenca became the little sister who needed their protection once again. The conflict and deeply rooted misunderstandings of all those years seemed to evaporate tonight.
“Caca.” Felix leaned forward. “Thank you so much for swallowing your pride and agreeing to help Greynard take care of his son. That stiff guy really needs someone to lean on right now.”
“Greynard needs the three of you just as much, too. He always keeps his mouth shut and refuses to complain. But that doesn’t mean he can stand on his own. I can see the huge emptiness in his eyes ever since Uncle and Aunt passed away. His life is just too lonely.”
Glenca stared intently at Reon, Felix, and Jarvis.
“This might sound presumptuous, but please make time to visit this house more often.”
The three men fell silent for a moment. Their eyes softened. Their synchronized nods gave Glenca a definite answer to her heartfelt request.
Glenca knew every side of the man named Greynard Levano Wardhana. Losing his way after the deaths of both his parents had turned that warm man into someone cold as ice. Greynard’s mistakes in the past had certainly left a deep wound in Glenca’s heart. However, Glenca knew very well that Greynard had never intended to hurt her maliciously. Young Greynard had simply been a coward who lost his way when confronted with a major problem.
“We’re heading home now. Lock your bedroom door tight and take good care of yourself.”
Reon patted Glenca’s shoulder twice before turning and walking away. Felix and Jarvis followed behind him, waving goodbye.
“You be careful on the way home too.”
Glenca watched the backs of the three men until they disappeared behind the private elevator doors.
The antique wall clock in the corner of the room pointed to one in the morning. The silence suddenly shattered.
Kenzo’s piercing cries echoed through every corner of the penthouse. Glenca paced back and forth, rocking the little body in her arms with a panicked expression. Greynard sat on the edge of the bed, his hair a tangled mess as he fought off overwhelming exhaustion. Winda, the nanny, had been forced to ask for the afternoon off because her mother had been rushed to the emergency room. Panic now swallowed the two adults whole as they fumbled helplessly with a fussy baby.
The nipple of the baby bottle failed completely to silence Kenzo’s crying. The toddler kept squirming and refusing the white liquid.
“Grey.” Glenca stopped walking. She sniffed the air around her several times. “Don’t you smell something really strong in this room?”
“Of course I do. Did you just fart?”
Greynard’s eyes opened slightly. His large hand waved the air in front of his own nose. The sharp-tongued man had absolutely no sense of urgency.
“Watch your mouth, Greynard. I did not fart!”
Glenca glared at him. Her foot lightly kicked Greynard in the shin.
“The bad smell is centered right next to your body, Caca. Stop denying it. Or was it Baby Kenzo who just passed gas?”
“That’s a very logical theory. Let me check.”
Glenca lowered her head deeply. Her pointed nose sniffed toward Kenzo’s lower body.
“Oh, my God…”
Glenca quickly pulled her face away. Her left hand clamped tightly over her nose and mouth.
“What’s wrong with your stomach? Did you catch a chill? Or are you hiding a pregnancy from your affair with your boyfriend? Oh, my God.”
“Aaahk!”
A vicious pinch landed hard on Greynard’s waist. He groaned in pain, clutching his throbbing side.
“Get that dirty thought out of your head. There’s no way I could be pregnant, Greynard. I’ve never even been kissed in my entire life. Don’t make insane accusations in the middle of the night.”
Glenca’s face flushed as her irritation reached its peak.
Greynard’s sleepy eyes flew wide open. The pain in his waist vanished without a trace.
“Wait a second. You’ve never been kissed at all?”
There was a heavy note of disbelief in Greynard’s voice. He studied Glenca’s pink lips.
“No.”
“Not once? I always assumed the two of you had gone much further than ordinary kissing. You’d been dating for a long time.”
“I’m not some cheap woman anyone can touch whenever they feel like it, Grey. Unlike you. A man with a hobby of collecting kisses from all kinds of girls in the capital.”
Glenca folded her arms across her chest. Her cutting jab came out effortlessly.
Greynard’s face grew slightly hot. He was fully awake now. He knew exactly what her sarcasm was aimed at: his messy past. The man cleared his throat softly, avoiding Glenca’s accusatory stare.
“Give me Kenzo. I’ll check his diaper.”
Greynard changed the subject with remarkable speed. He reached for Kenzo and slowly laid him down on the soft mattress.
Greynard’s long fingers carefully undid the diaper fasteners. The pungent smell immediately wafted up and slapped both of them in the face.
“Your guess was right, Ca. My little hero pooped.”
“No wonder he’s been so restless. His stomach must be uncomfortable.”
Glenca sat beside the bed. Her hand reached out to stroke Kenzo’s flushed cheek, reddened from the exhaustion of crying.
Greynard’s hands suddenly stopped moving. He froze, staring at the mound of filth in front of him. He made no further move to clean the poor baby.
“What is it now, Grey?”
Glenca knitted her brows in confusion.
“This situation is completely beyond my control, Ca.”
Greynard let out a heavy sigh. The normally handsome, dignified man now looked deathly pale.
“What do you mean? Don’t speak in riddles at this hour.”
“I don’t have the nerve to touch this. The skin around it still looks so red and vulnerable. My hands are too rough. If he gets an infection from my touch, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Glenca exhaled wearily. A sudden headache began throbbing in her head.
“Then who’s going to clean him? I’ve never even bathed a newborn before.”
Silence took over. The two highly educated adults were now utterly helpless, staring at the dirty diaper of a baby only a few days old.
“Grey.”
“Yes?”
“Please list everyone who lives in your penthouse.”
Glenca straightened in her seat. Her eyes fixed sharply on the side of Greynard’s face.
“Why are you taking attendance in the middle of the night?”
Greynard turned toward her, looking utterly confused.
“Just answer my question.”
“There’s only me, you, this little hero, Winda, who’s on leave, the guards at the front post, my personal driver, and Bi Minah along with the other housekeepers.”
“THERE!”
Glenca’s shriek exploded right beside Greynard’s ear.
Greynard jumped in shock. His hand instinctively covered his right ear, which was ringing loudly.
“Oh, my God, Caca. Were you trying to burst my eardrum on purpose?”
“Your ear deserved the wake-up call.” Glenca laughed behind her hand. “Sorry. I was deliberately responding to your stupidity, Grey.”
Glenca pointed at Greynard’s forehead with her index finger.
“I’m seriously starting to question your intelligence test score, Greynard.”
Greynard furrowed his brow deeply. His pride was slightly stung.
“What makes you suddenly attack my intelligence?”
“The obvious facts right in front of me.”
Glenca rolled her eyes lazily.
“Your business brain is so slow to function. If Bi Minah has decades of experience in this house, why didn’t it occur to you to call her in here right now?”
Greynard’s mouth fell slightly open. His large hand smacked his own forehead hard enough to make a sound.
“My brain really is still at the office. Why hasn’t such an easy solution crossed my mind this whole time?”
“Because your intelligence evaporated and was replaced by ridiculous panic.”
Glenca sneered with utterly natural, infuriating relish.
Greynard snorted irritably, embarrassed. His face twisted into a sour expression. He took long strides out of the room to wake his housekeeper before Glenca could hurl another insult at him. Glenca’s victorious laughter followed his annoyed footsteps.
Three days passed.
The atmosphere at the upscale restaurant in the heart of the capital was the complete opposite of the chaos at Greynard’s house. Soft jazz played beneath the hum of conversation among the elite patrons. Impeccably uniformed servers cut through the crowd with trays carrying dishes worth millions of rupiah.
In the restaurant’s most private corner, the atmosphere was suffocating. There was no casual conversation. The air around the round table felt frozen.
Glenca sat perfectly still, holding her breath. Her hand gripped the edge of the white tablecloth in her lap.
Three sharp pairs of eyes belonging to three formally dressed men stared straight at her. There were no smiles. No small talk. Their gazes were like executioners’ swords poised to sever her head.
The jaw muscle of the hard-faced man across from Glenca visibly throbbed. His rough fingers tapped the glass tabletop in a slow, deadly rhythm.
“So you’ve been staying at that big rabbit house for three days?!”
The man’s baritone voice echoed, shattering the deadly silence at their table. His cold eyes gleamed viciously as they stripped away Glenca’s defenses.