Staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, he smiled. Looking at the bump through the mirror, Gun sighed inwardly. Rubbing the bump, he looked down at it. ‘You’re getting big.’ Buttoning his shirt, he bent over and washed his face.

  Moon knocked on the door. “She’s here. Are you ready?”

  Looking at his brother, he sighed. Turning around, he leaned against the sink and shook his head. “It’s been so long. What does she want from us? Dad’s just about to get married, too.”

  Moon threw him a towel, shaking his head, “I’ve been thinking about it and it’s just strange, especially how she just showed up at Sheng’s school. Just think what would happen if Dean didn’t arrive on time.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I hope it’s nothing bad.”

  “Maybe she wants to come home?”

  He shrugged. “Let’s go find out. Bouncing questions back and forth isn’t helping us.”

  Reaching the living room area, he saw his mother, who walked out on them. Sitting down beside his father, Gun continued staring at her as she stared back at him.

  Clearing her throat, Pattranite smiled. “It’s good to see you all. Gun, I’ve spoken to your brothers. How are you doing?”

  He shrugged, “I’ve been good. Just stressed with everything that’s happened, but I’ll be good. What about you? What have you been up to since leaving us?”

  Her smile faltered, but she kept it in pce. “I’ve been good, son. I’ve gone back to studying. I have an office job too and my future is looking bright.”

  Light scoffed, “So your future wasn’t all that bright when you were here with us? All that came out of your mouth was about you. Not even once did you mention us?”

  Gun looked at his brother, then his other brothers. He sighed inwardly, fighting the tears. He disliked her; he disliked her so much that it was nearing hate and he never wanted to hate anyone.

  Marwin squeezed Gun’s hand. Looking down at their hands, then at his father, he shook his head. This pregnancy was getting to him. His emotions were imbanced and just the idea of him carrying a little King—Prince inside the artificial womb.

  Pcing a hand under his shirt, he rubbed his stomach, whispering, “I don’t feel well. Can I leave?”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to speak, just listen.”

  “Pear, look. The boys and I aren’t happy about your sudden arrival. If you have something to say, then I think you should say it because I can only see this conversation going in the wrong direction.”

  She looked at her ex and nodded her head. “I understand everyone is angry at me. You have every right to be, but I’m not the same as I was when I left. I love all of you and I won’t stop. But I was tired, terribly tired and Marwin, you know. I love my boys just as much as you do, but if I stayed, we would have had more kids, and we both wanted a daughter. What if we had more sons? I couldn’t take it anymore.”

  Holding his anger back, Marwin asked, “So, what do you want now? It’s not like you have anything left here.”

  She sighed and looked at Gun. Shaking her head, she said, “I saw you on the news. I know I haven’t been a good mother, but I still care about you. I care about all of you and if what the papers are saying is true, then that means you lost someone you loved, Gun.”

  Squeezing his father’s hand, he shook his head. “No, I’m not good, but I’m trying to keep myself from breaking apart. I’m gd you still care and have the heart to show your face after all these years. I’m not good, mom, and I won’t be for a very long time and you showing up won’t make me feel any better. I lied. I don’t care how you are doing. I never did after you left and I won’t in the future, so don’t do this again. If you want to see your other sons, feel free to, but I don’t need you, nor do I need your sympathy—I don’t need your closure.”

  Looking at his father as he stood up, he said, “I’m leaving dad, I’ll call you when I get home.”

  Marwin nodded his head. “I won’t walk you out.”

  Moon rushed after his brother. Reaching the car, he was gd to see that Gun wasn’t driving. “That was pretty harsh. Last time I checked, you were team mom.”

  He sighed, “I was never team mom. Sheng always had the hope that she would return, but now that she’s here, I’d rather she keep her distance from me. I’ll head home, okay? I need to sleep.”

  He hugged his brother, “Take it easy okay, don’t stress yourself out or the baby.”

  *

  In the car ride back home, Gun stared out the window with tears rolling down his cheeks. Releasing a sigh, he said, “This is too much for me. When am I going to get over his death?”

  Troy looked over at him from the screen of his tab. Locking it, he smiled. “I heard good news st night.”

  Gun turned to him, “Yeah, what is it?”

  “Lovely’s pregnant again, but because of the miscarriage, his parents want to meet me. According to him, they can’t allow me to keep getting him pregnant and still not know who I am.”

  Gun sighed. Wiping his tears with the handkerchief he gave him, he said, “I’m happy for you, but didn’t you say they don’t like King?”

  “He’s dead now, but with you around, I think they’ll try to arrange a meeting once they know who I work with.”

  “What would King do in this case?”

  “He’d meet them just to see how he can benefit from this so, let’s look ahead, maybe you’ll benefit from my affair.”

  Gun shook his head, amused. “Does she know about my pregnancy?”

  “Who?”

  “His sister?”

  “Oh, no she doesn’t. Do you want to inform her?”

  He shook his head. Thinking back to when he first met Sandie, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Is she still seeking counsel from wyers?”

  Troy’s body shivered. “What are you talking about?”

  Gun gave him a thoughtful look, then turned to look out the window, saying, “I know she’s trying to find out how much she owns of the company. I thought you said that Sandie doesn’t care about money and just wanted children.”

  Troy swallowed. His gaze darted around quickly, finding an answer, “I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d be upset.”

  “What doesn’t she understand about being under the radar? Does she want to cause me problems?”

  “When I found out, I asked her about it and she has some doubts about your capabilities.”

  Turning to him, Gun asked, “Doubts about my capabilities?”

  He nodded. “More so that you might want to keep everything to yourself.”

  Gun stared at him questingly, then nodded.