“Uncle? Why are you here?” she asked, surprised.


    “I thought your habit of feeling sick after smelling perfume was gone. You seemed fine yesterday when you shared a car with Phoebe.” dwin said again. via just smiled and walked away from dwin towards the kitchen.


    “I’m just not feeling well, Uncle. It’s not the perfume’s fault,” she gracefully deflected. She did feel unwell due tock of sleep, not because of excessive work. It was a result of constantly thinking about her conversation with Abigail earlier,bined with the tension of waiting for her mother’s delivery.


    dwin stood in front of her and ced the back of his hand on via’s forehead. via widened her eyes, surprised by her uncle’s impulsive gesture. “Uncle?” She looked up at him.


    “You’re a bit warm,” he said casually. “What do you feel? Headache? Nausea?” via tried to gently push away her uncle’s hand.


    “I’m fine, Uncle. Just caught a bit of a chill. Drinking warm sweet tea and getting some rest will be enough.” via grabbed a ss, intending to make sweet tea.


    “I’m worried about you,” he said softly. Then, after a long pause, he added, “I have no connection with…” His statement left via momentarily stunned. Her chest felt tight for no apparent reason. Why did her uncle say that? What did he mean by his words?


    “Don’t worry, Uncle. I’m okay,” via finally said. She tried to calm her racing heart andpose her facial expression before turning to face her uncle, who had been behind her all this time. “And whether you have a connection with Dr. Madsen or not, that’s not my concern,” she replied with a smile on her face.


    “Of course, it concerns you, Via.” dwin looked at her with a touch of sadness. “I don’t want you to misunderstand.”


    via stirred her sweet tea, trying to disguise her now trembling hands. “Uncle, I didn’t misunderstand. And there’s nothing for me to misunderstand. You’re just peculiar.” via chuckled softly. She turned around, facing away from dwin. She ced the spoon in the sink and set the ss on the table. Her small hands gripped the ss, hoping the warmth of the water would somehow spread through her body, which suddenly felt chilly.


    via could sense her uncle approaching. She closed her eyes. Not envisioning anything beyond reason, just wanting to center herself and feel her uncle’s presence.


    Her uncle’s warmth enveloped her. Then, unexpectedly, dwin stood right behind her. So close, covering via’s petite body with his. His chest felt against her back, hisrge hands on both sides of via’s hands, cupping the back of her hand that still faithfully held the ss. His chin rested on her right shoulder. via tensed momentarily as dwin’s breath brushed against her neck.


    “I don’t want you to misunderstand and think I have a rtionship with Phoebe,” he whispered in via’s ear. “Because I want you to know that I want to be in a rtionship with you,” he continued.


    via was startled. She turned to the right just as her uncle turned to the left. Their faces were so close; their noses were barely an inch apart. via could smell the aroma of opor in his breath. This was the closest distance she had ever been with dwin in their eleven years of knowing each other. “Wh-what do you mean, Uncle?” she asked, stuttering.


    dwin released via’s grip on the ss. He joined both of via’s small hands and still cradled them with hisrge, warm hands. “I don’t want to lie about my feelings anymore. I don’t want to avoid it anymore. I like you. Even more than that, I love you, via Quirino,” he whispered in via’s ear with a tone full of conviction.


    via fell silent. Her eyes stared at dwin’s hands covering hers. The warmth from her uncle’s body seemed to flow into hers. Her chest throbbed wildly; her breathing became rapid. She felt hot, cold, and trembling all at once. Her eyes welled up, and tears streamed down her slowly reddening cheeks. Was this a dream? Oh God, could her dream be this beautiful? via covered her face with both hands, her body shaking from the sobs she tried to hold back.


    dwin also crouched behind the girl. He gently turned via around and embraced her in his broad chest. “Don’t cry,” he softly pleaded. dwin gently stroked via’s head. “Please, don’t cry,” he whispered softly. His hands didn’t let go, embracing and caressing via’s back.


    “dwin?” Phoebe’s voice made dwin look up. “What are you two doing?” she asked, looking at dwin and via, who were still in dwin’s embrace, with a puzzled expression.


    “Via!” Another voice sounded nearby and seemed panicked. Without hesitation, Abigail crouched down beside via, knowing that the one currently rubbing her back was Abigail. via threw herself onto Abigail. Abigail almost stumbled. Fortunately, her hand managed to hold theirbined weight by supporting it on the floor. “What’s wrong, Via?”


    “My head hurts,” she whispered between her hands still covering her entire face.


    “Let’s go to the room, okay?” Abigail suggested, met with via’s nod. Abigail guided via to stand, signaling to her uncle to step back. dwin understood and allowed Abigail to lead via upstairs without attracting too much attention.


    “What happen with via?” Phoebe asked again.


    “You heard her just now, right? Her head hurts,” dwin replied tly.Content ? provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    “Tsk, being so spoiled just because of a headache.” Phoebe mocked.


    dwin didn’t respond; he chose to make another warm sweet tea for via. dwin walked back to the family room, intending to bring via’s te, but then Altezza asked, “Where’s via?” The question slipped naturally from Altezza.


    “Upstairs, with Abigail. She said she’s not feeling well,” he answered. Altezza, seeing the ss and te in dwin’s hands, only responded with a vague nod. “I’ll go upstairs first,” he said and received another nod from Altezza.


    Phoebe still followed him from behind, making dwin annoyed. Eventually, he stopped and turned half of his body, staring at the woman coldly. “Where are you going?” he asked, with a furrowed brow.


    “I want to check on via. She’s not feeling well, right?” she replied with a curt tone. It was just an excuse because Phoebe didn’t want to be far from dwin and wanted to limit the space between dwin and via.


    dwin was about to answer, but ire, who appeared out of nowhere, suddenly stood in front of them. “I’m sorry, but the rule in this house is that the second floor is only for family.” She said with a warm smile. dwin always feared when his sister behaved like this, but this time he was grateful to avoid a confrontation and chose to proceed upstairs.


    “I just want to make sure that via is okay,” Phoebe reasoned.


    “No need to worry. Via is not in bad condition. Even if she needs medical attention, there’s dwin who can help.” ire embraced Phoebe’s shoulder, despite being no less tall than her. She guided Phoebe back to where their mother was. “It’s fortunate to have a doctor as a sibling. If you’re sick, you don’t need to spend money on medical bills.” ire gently squeezed Phoebe’s upper arm and put on her artificially friendly smile.