At night, Oddey was in the auditorium to continue working on the set all by herself. It was very quiet there, and it was not because no theatre club members were practicing. Even though Gage was at home to be with his parents for just a few days, she could not help but miss him and even wanted him beside her to help rehearse some lines while she did the set.

Also, she could not shake the feeling of guilt, that all these terrible things were happening to his family because of her father, and she could not even tell him. Suddenly, her phone rang. She ran to it and saw that it was her Romeo calling again, so she excitedly answered it, "Hey," she greeted in a giddy tone.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't call sooner, I'm here now in my parent's house," he said to her.

"That's okay. I understand."

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, I'm painting a wooden plank, so how's everything there? how's your parents?" she asked.

"Not good. My parents can't get out without being attacked or insulted," Gage replied.

"Oh, my God. That's terrible. Are they safe, at least?"

"Mom said that there's gonna be a cop patrolling around our house."

"That's good to hear," Oddey said, as she put down the brush and wiped some paint off her hands.

"I just wish it stops soon. This Leon Magnum gone too far," the Romeo groaned, while his lady could hear the anger in his voice.

The Juliet began feeling very bad that he was feeling that way since her father was causing all this but she could not tell him, "I wish I could do something to help," she whimpered accidentally.

"No, don't worry about it," he responded. His mother came in and noticed that he was on the phone, so he just signaled Gage to go down to the kitchen. "Knowing that you're right by my side is more than enough for me. Anyway, I have to go, I'm just gonna help my mom to set up the table for dinner."

"Oh, okay. You guys be careful, okay?"

"We will. You should take a break too," he told her, Marie could not help but grin that Gage was also looking out for someone else. "Don'toverworkk."

"I'm just about to get back to my dorm," Oddey said.

"Bye, talk to you again tomorrow, my Juliet."

"Alright, bye, Romeo." She put down the phone, and as happy as she was to hear his voice, Oddey still felt guilt-ridden about it. "Gosh, I'm so sorry."

Suddenly she got a text from her father, so she read the message.

'I hope you are not busy today. Do you want to have lunch together?'

----

After fifteen minutes inside the car, Adrian entered his home with the fear that his dirty deeds would be revealed to his family, and that was when he saw Marie asleep on the couch with the television still turned on, so he turned it off. He gazed around the framed family photo, and then tears began to roll down on his cheek.

Gage got down the stairs and saw his father. "Dad?"

The man jolted as he quickly wiped the tears from his face and turned to his son, "Gage," he gasped. "You're here."

"Yeah, I'm here for you, Dad," his son said. "You okay?"

"Yes... I will be."

Gage gazed over at his mother, Wow! Mom fell asleep to wait for you. Where were you anyway? And why are you coming in now?"

"I... I was in the bar with Uncle Henry. I lost track of time... that's all," Adrian stammered. He did not want his son to know that he got into an altercation with the man who ruined his life.

The caring son hugged his father, "it's gonna be okay, Dad," Gage assured him. "We'll get through this."

At that moment, he felt the love of this family, the wife who stayed up to wait for him, and this son who idolized him so much. It was painful to know that these two people who were the most important in his life had his back no matter what, yet that one night stand could lose them if they knew his past.

"Uhm... thanks, Son," he said to him with his voice cracking slightly as he pulled away from Gage. "I'm the luckiest dad in the world to have you as my child."

"Well, I'm the luckiest son in the world to have you as my father," Gage said with pride. "Anyway, do you need help with mom?"

"No, no, there's still some strength in me." Adrian joking flexed his strong arms even though there was no muscle, then noticed the young man's hand. "What happened there?"

"Oh, this?" The son put up his bruised knuckles. "Some guy is calling mom... well, pretty nasty names. I got mad and beat him up."

"I see. He deserves it anyway. You go back to bed now."

"Sure, Dad. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Gage said as he went back to his room.

Adrian carried his wife over his threshold and then went up the stairs. When he got to their bedroom, Adrian carefully put Marie in their bed and put a blanket on her. He gazed at her sweet face and stroked her hair. "I will fix everything for our family," the man whispered. "I got this far to get where I am now. I'm not gonna lose them all because of you, Hal."

----

It was early in the morning, Marie woke up and went down to the kitchen to breakfast for her family. Little did she know that she didn't have to because she smelled eggs. and heard this sizzling sound, which was unexpected since usually, Marie did all the cooking.

When Marie got to the kitchen, she was surprised to see that it was her husband preparing food for his family, "Adrian?" she agaped.

Adrian turned to his wife, Morning," he said to her with a gentle smile on his face.

Marie was stunned to see there were pancakes, slices of bacon, and a pot of coffee on the table, "you did all this?" she questioned.

"Yup," he confirmed as he lowered the heat on the stove to talk to his wife. "Don't act all surprise."

"What's the occasion?"

"Can't a man cook for his family?" Adrian wrapped his arm around Marie.

The woman became suspicious, and it showed in her face, especially after getting irate from being the topic of the season. "Did you do something? what time did you come home last night?"

Adrian could feel the back of his neck sweating, though he remained calm in front of her. "That's... what I want to talk about."

Just hearing his tone, Marie felt worried. "Why? what's wrong?"

"I... drank too much last night, and..." He looked into his wife's eyes. "I nearly got into an accident."

"Oh my goodness, Honey!"

"But, I'm fine, don't worry about me. However, it made me realize then and there that whatever happens to me, I have my family by my side," Adrian added using some heartfelt words.

"No, Honey, it's alright. I understand it's very stressful for everyone." Marie hugged him and kissed him afterward. "We'll always be here for you as a family. Remember that."

"Thank you."

"I'm just so happy that you're okay and for cooking breakfast too, so thank you for that."

Adrian chuckled. "Well, start eating, I'm almost done cooking the scrambled eggs."

"Oh, I will. I should enjoy it before it lasts." Marie sat down and began pouring coffee into her cup and reached for a strip of bacon, then put it on her plate.

Gage came into the kitchen not long after and saw his father place the eggs on a serving plate, "Wow, Dad, you made all these?" he asked

"Yes," his mother confirmed. "Come, eat with us."

"Don't have to ask me twice. These look delicious, Dad."

"Thanks." Adrian put the plate of eggs in front of them, then ate with his family, then noticed his son's hands. "Anyway, our lawyers called me earlier. He said they'll do anything in his power to make this go away."

"I'm sure of it, Dad," Gage nodded. "I'm not worried. Everything he said is all lies anyway."

However, that made the father nervous, even the mother since not everything about it was lies. "That's right," the man answered. "For now, let's just stay here until we hear some news."

"Okay, Dad."

"I guess we can change the topic," Marie suggested then at a crispy bacon.

"Like what, Mom?" Her son asked.

"And how are you and the girlfriend doing?" The women teased by playfully elbowing Gage.

"Oh! you took my advice," Adrian beamed.

"Yes, I did," Gage said. "Thanks, Dad."

"Wow, son. I'm happy for you. You two went on a date already?"

"We were about to, but I had to cancel to come here."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Son. I..."

"Dad, it's okay. She understands," the college kid assured him. "Besides, we're pretty busy with the play and all."

"Oh, right, when is the play?" His mother asked. "Maybe your Dad and I can find time to watch."

"In less than two months."

"This girl, she sounds great," Adrian expressed. "I'd like to meet her someday."

"Thanks, Dad. I know you guys will like her."

Marie smiled and nodded until she recalled one event. "Honey, didn't we meet her mother in our favorite restaurant with Leon?" she reminded her husband.

Adrian paused as he became somehow alarmed. Even their son was taken aback by that. "You're right. Do you think she's...?"

"No," Gage insisted to his parents since he refused to believe that his girlfriend had any involvement or an idea about Leon's schemes. "Oddey has nothing to do with it, and I'm sure her mother too, especially with that man."

The couple looked at each other. "Gage is right, I don't believe they could be mixed up into this. Her mother seems nice."

"Yeah, she would've told me that her mother is dating the CEO of Magnum Tradings."

The head of the family took a deep breath. "You're right. If you two believe that, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't put our guard down," Adrian told them.

The college kid understood that his parents were just looking out for him. "Okay, Dad."

Everyone just continued eating and being a family, but then Gage could not shake the feeling that Oddey could be lying to him. That was when he remembered Courtney telling him from her unintentional eavesdropping that she heard his Juliet saying she was the daughter of the CEO of Magnum Tradings.

"Honey, are you okay?" his mother asked. "Anything in your mind?"

Gage got back to reality. "Yeah, I was just thinking about school stuff."

"You know, can go back to CarmU if you want. You don't have to stay long."

"But what about those jerks?"

"Don't worry about that, Honey?" Marie assured him.

"Yes, an officer will be here any moment now," Adrian said. "Nothing bad will happen to us. Just focus on your studies."

"Okay, Dad." Gage nodded in response.

"Now that I have some time on my hands, I can finally clean the basement."

"I can help you out, Mom."

"Thanks, Honey."

Later, the architect student gave his mother a hand to assort some items in the basement. While Gage began placing some old things into a box that was labeled 'trash', he stumbled upon a satin box with embroidered flowers. So he took it out and opened it.

Inside, there was a thin red braided string bracelet. "Mom, what's this?" he asked his mother.

Celine shifted to her son to see what it was. "Oh, my goodness," she expressed her nostalgia. "It's a love knot."

"Love knot?"

"It's this bracelet from China."

"Dad, gave you this?"

The woman became nervous. "No, it was from this gentleman I used to date back in college. He went to China to study and gave me this when he returned. He said that it is a bracelet to be given to the person you're destined with. Gosh, I didn't know I still had it."

"You still want it?" Gage quipped.

"Not really, but I don't want to throw it away. Hmm... what can I do about it?" She began thinking.

Suddenly, the only son had a plan in mind, so he let out a smirk on his face. "I think I know what to do with it. I just need to change the parcel."