Chapter 242


    Chapter 242


    To my surprise, the sun paid a visit to Bryxton after the storm was over. I sat under the sun on the


    swing that Joseph had moved outside for me as I flipped through the Xenos Family''s map of influence


    that Anthony had brought over to me. This was the first time I properly explored the Xenos Family''s


    influence on the rest of the world. The more I flipped through the information, the more afraid I felt.


    Shawn had no idea about the existence of this map.


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    As I thought about it, I realized how my biological father had held such a strong sense of caution


    toward his son. I was flipping through the map when I saw a few children ying around in the garden


    of the vi down the road. The eldest child was seven or eight years old at most, while the youngest


    one was about three or four years old. I thought that they were pretty lucky to enjoy their childhood


    away from the hustle and bustle of the city.


    I lowered the map of influence and watched the children fool around for a while. To my surprise, I felt a


    lot calmer after that. Perhaps I felt more intrigued by children after having had my own children.


    A while after that, Roxane walked out with a baby that looked about six to seven months old in her


    arms. There were two bodyguards following behind her, and one of them, too, was carrying another


    baby who looked about the same age as the first baby. The Yates sure are baby-generating machines,


    I thought.


    Roxane left the babies on the mat in the garden before she headed out of the house. The eight children


    were left at home to y among themselves. Joseph noticed that I had been watching the children for


    a long time, so he came up with a suggestion. "You can always pay them a visit, Miss."


    I shot him a sideways nce. "Do you think Old Master Yates would want me over after what I did to


    Alice?" Joseph nodded sincerely. "They wouldn''t reject someone from the Xenos Family. The benefits


    they could gain from the Xenos Family would outweigh any resentments they hold toward you."


    I couldn''t agree with him entirely—I didn''t think that every single person was that intrigued by power. "I''ll


    stroll over." I finally got to my feet as I agreed with his idea. Joseph threw a coat over me, and we had


    just headed out of the vi when we bumped into a dirty-looking ginger cat. I recalled how this cat used


    to sneak into Nichs'' house for food—it used to bring another ck cat along with it.


    I squatted down to stroke the cat''s head before I turned to look at Joseph. "Do we have any fish snacks


    at home?"


    "We have actual fish," he replied.


    "Get someone to slice the fish and feed the cats," I ordered. "Alright," he replied before turning around


    to head back to the vi. I walked on my own for a while before Joseph caught up with me again. I felt


    rather hesitant by the time I reached Nichs'' vi. Before I could ring the bell, the nanny spotted me,


    and she walked over with a child in her arms. "Who are you looking for, youngdy?"


    The child in the nanny''s arms was beautiful—the child had thick eyshes and eyes that twinkled as


    bright as the stars! Furthermore, the child''s hair was long, so I figured that it was a girl. "I live in the vi


    up ahead, and I thought that I''d drop by to take a look because I saw a lot of kids ying in the yard," I


    exined with a smile.


    The way I dressed and spoke didn''t make me seem like I was a bad person, but the nanny was


    extremely cautious, so she didn''t open the doors to let us in.


    Instead, the nanny introduced all the children from behind the gates. "This is Leo, Old Master Yates''


    granddaughter. That''s Leonard, Leo''s brother. They''re twins. The one ying with blocks is the eighth


    child. The sixth child there is about three years old, while the fifth child is slightly older. That''s the fourth


    child beside the fifth and the third beside the fourth. The eldest one here is the second child, and the


    firstborn is in town with some friends. Madam Yates is heading over to town to pick him up." The nanny


    told me all the children''s names, but the only ones I was interested in were the twins.


    My children were twins, too. The baby in the nanny''s arms giggled as she looked at me, and I reached


    a finger out to y with her as I responded to the nanny. "Why is it that Leo and Leonard seem to have


    names that are different from the rest?" I asked. The nanny hadn''t introduced Leo and Leonard as part


    of the sequence that she listed the rest of the children in. If she had arranged them in terms of age, Leo


    and Leonard would''ve been the ninth and tenth children.


    "There are too many kids in the family, so Old Master Yates decided to name the kids by their


    horoscopes after the eighth child. In a few days, another child will join us, and Old Master Yates has


    already decided to name the child Scorpio. Madam Yates teased him for being toozy toe up with


    a proper name, but they eventually decided that it was fine since these were all just nicknames," the


    nanny exined with a smile.


    "Oh…" I mumbled thoughtfully. "We''ll be going to Ashere tomorrow to celebrate the new year, and we''ll


    only be back next year. You can drop by to y with the kids then. You cane in when Madam


    Yates is around—I''m a nanny, so I don''t have the right to open the doors for you," she exined in a


    hearty tone. I was expressing my gratitude toward her when Leo suddenly held onto my finger while


    letting out a babble. "Mom…my…" she mumbled in her soft voice. I felt my heart skipping a beat at that


    moment!


    Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared at the child. "What did you say, Leo?" I asked gently. "Leo


    identally called you Mommy just now. She''s only six months old, and she doesn''t know how to


    speak yet, but she asionally mumbles some random words. You''ll know what it''s like when you have


    kids of your own," the nanny exined.


    Hold on. Did she just say that this kid is six months old? Leo… The twins are Leos? Twins… Six


    months old… Leos… That fits the profile of the two children I lost, I thought. Furthermore, Leo had just


    called me her mother. But they''re kids from the Yates Family, and they carry the blood of the Yates


    Family. They can''t be rted to me!


    "Where are her parents?" I asked as I fought back the tears in my eyes. "They''re working in Ashere


    now. They''ll drop by to pick the kids up tomorrow," the nanny said.


    "Oh…" I mumbled half-heartedly. The nanny asked if I was okay, so I nodded and reassured her. "I''m


    fine." After that, I hurried off as if I were a fugitive on the run. Joseph could tell what was going on in my


    mind, so he returned with new updates after a while. "Miss, both the twins haveplete birth


    certificates that were issued by the hospital they were born in. The details of their parents are stated


    clearly on there as well," he reported.


    Joseph was trying to tell me that those two children weren''t rted to me. Yet, if that were the case,


    then why did Leo call me her mother? I shut my eyes to feel the sun pouring over my face.


    The next morning, after I woke up, Iy in the armchair for a while before I saw the whole of the Yates


    Family arriving at the vi.


    Each one of the adults was holding hands with or carrying their children. Leo and her brother were


    carried in the arms of a young couple who looked rather familiar to me. They seemed to be a part of the


    Yates'' extended family. I shut my eyes dejectedly, and the next time I opened them, I saw that the


    Yates'' vi was empty.


    The next thing I knew, I saw a man standing outside my house.


    My face fell immediately. The man was standing by the tree outside my vi and sitting beside his leg


    was the dirty ginger cat from the day before. The cat seemed attached to him—it kept rubbing its face


    against his ankle. I counted the days since thest time I met the man, and I realized that it had almost


    been six months. He hadn''t bothered me once in the past six months.


    Our gazes met for a moment. Then, he spread his lips into a smile. He pulled his phone out and tapped


    on the screen a few times. Right after that, my phone began to ring.


    I picked my phone up as I watched him waving his arm. When I pressed my phone against my ear, I


    heard his harsh voiceing from the other end of the line. "Are you reminded of your own children


    when you see thes