Andromeda sipped on the expensive wine that she brought to her ace’s penthouse. She peered at the window like she used to and turned to him. He’s busy on his computer at the moment while fixing his eyeglasses. She looked at Freya who was busy tapping on the sofa. 

“Okay, so what now?” Andromeda asked. “We already have time to show them the president for his campaign… then we disabled the bombs. What are other threats?” 

​​

“I just checked something,” The man spoke and he clicked the enter key. Andromeda and Freya’s phone chimed. They both checked it at the same time. “They are up for distribution. How about let’s sabotage that?” 

“So, Ilya doesn’t have the energy to take care of business and Jacob is the one facilitating it?” Andromeda asked.

“Yes,” 

“But, dude, we can always dethrone them most easily.” 

“Lady Freya, we are doing this to torture them and drain them.” The man said. Freya rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t know why we should trust you,” Freya mumbled. “Let’s say that you helped us in advance, but what do you want?” 

“The Eagle Empire. Christian is supposed to sit there. Ilya isn’t a real Lebedov. He’s a bastard.” 

“So, Christian isn’t a pure Lebedov?” Freya frowned. 

“Christian is a pure Lebedov.” He said as he leaned on his seat. “Lady Freya, it will take five years for us to bring down everything that is part of the Eagle Empire. It rises quickly because of loyal dogs that have an underground business. De la Fontaine is part of it. That one is quite heavy,” 

“So, you wanted them to be washed out completely?” Freya asked. 

“Yes,” He smiled. “Don’t worry, I am only doing this for my son, Christian.” 

 Freya creased her brows. 

“Christian’s mother died in our hands.” She added. Andromeda just leaned on the wall and watched them talk back at each other. 

“I am aware of that. Lady Freya, I assure you. I only care about is Christian. His safety and that’s all. I will do everything to repay the debts of the Eagle Empire.” 

“Hmm,” Freya thought for a while. “Then, can we make a contract? Stating that you don’t want any war from us but to be one with us?” 

“Yes, if that would make you satisfied.” 

“I will make a contract. And if you break it, I’ll kill Christian.” 

“I promise that I won’t break it.” 

 Freya found out that Christian is something important to this man. Andromeda found it out first. 

“Since Christian is your son, wouldn’t you tell him?” 

“No. Not yet. I want to bring them down first.” 

“Okay, it’ll be a win-win situation for us.” Andromeda raised her wine glass. 

<><><><>

 Four months later, Andromeda is satisfied with the outcome. In the election, they showed everyone about the bad things that the Former Vice President did including assassinating the Former President. They completely throw him in jail. For four months, they managed to keep Christina and Wallace from danger. They survived without anyone getting hurt for those months. 

“Glad that you are back,” She told her daughter who finally came home after two months of staying at Tucker’s farm and two months staying in the hidden laboratory. “I almost don’t recognize you.” She spread her arms and her daughter hugged her. 

“Miss you too, mom.” 

“So,” Andromeda gently pushed her and held her hands. “How did it go with Tucker?” 

 She sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“I think this guy wants us to get married first before we could have sex. The actual one.” She said. Andromeda laughed and turned to her husband who looked so excited for Cyra’s come back. But instead of hugging her, he ran to Tucker behind Cyra and hugged him. They hugged each other and Cyra cringed. 

“I think dad forgot that I was his daughter.” She said, shaking her head. 

“Hey, Cy!” Her father only patted her head. “Okay, so you can use the other room upstairs,” Zach said touring Tucker around. 

“I’m off to my room, mom. I need a good bath. There’s no bathtub back in the lab.” 

 Andromeda nodded and kissed her forehead. While Cyra is bathing, Tucker played video games with Luke, Logan, and Zachary. At that time, she is in the kitchen with Wynter as they prepare dinner. Zendaya and Timothy are also their visitors. At the moment, Andromeda wanted to cook for her family. Everyone was having fun around and she missed her kids so much. 

“Mommy, can I able to study abroad?” Wynter suddenly asked while they were decorating the plate. 

“Hmm, yes, sure.” Andromeda was so closed to Wynter since she’s the baby Princess. And if she would want to study abroad, she and Zachary would move abroad too to make sure that she’s taken care of. 

“Oh, nice.” 

“Are you that excited to leave me and your dad?” 

“No. Mom, I just wanted to see different places…” 

“Hmm, okay.”

“But, before you go out of the country… Mommy will need to fix things first so I’ll be competent.” 

“Sure,” She smiled at her. 

“Uh, call your brothers and your sisters. I think Zendy is here.” 

“I will.” 

 She put away the towel tissue and left the kitchen. Days go so fast and her children are grown up. She still remembered staying up all night to take care of them. Her little loves…

<><><><><> 

 Esme stared at the mirror. She’s going to sing tonight. She exhaled slowly. There have been ups and downs and lots of threats toward her. But she let it go and be strong. Her bodyguard is always there right in time before they even try to ruin her career. They tried swapping her drink, but Esme made sure that her drink wouldn’t get any poison or would ruin her voice. She kept her bottle close to her and it has a fingerprint scanner. Laurence sent it to her and he said that he asked Luke and Logan to make something like that for her. She didn’t drink anywhere but to her very own flask. 

“Lady Esme,” her bodyguard knocked. They set up a dressing room for her and her bodyguard is always there to protect her. She cleared her throat and told him to come in. “Your parents and siblings are here.” 

 She immediately turned to them. 

“Laurence?”

“I didn’t see him around.” 

 Her phone chimes and she checked it. Laurence sent her a photo of a stage and a message. 

“Break a leg!” 

 She pressed her lips and exhaled. 

 The director entered the room and greeted her. 

“So, everything is ready, I’ll call you up when it’s your turn.” The director said. 

“Thank you, Mr. Gibson.” 

“You are amazing, Esme. I can give you more spotlight than this.” 

 Esme pressed her lips. 

“I’m doing this for the family that takes me in and for my love. I won’t fail you and I fail them.” 

“That’s the good girl. I love your attitude too. Keep it up.” 

 Esme nodded. The first thing in music is discipline. If you have a beautiful voice but you lack discipline, then it’s nothing. You won’t become a star. Esme learned it in a hard way and in a good way. She remained kind to the people who wanted to do bad things to her because of the role. The play started and she sang and acted like the character in The Phantom of the Opera. She didn’t miss any notes and she sang with all of her heart. Winston isn’t bad at singing at all. But she learned dark things about him. Her bodyguard even took out the notes that Winston stole from her that contained her compositions. Then, at that time, Laurence gave her a notebook that could only get accessed by her. It’s not digital but a notebook that has high-tech locks. 

 The play goes on and she made sure that her voice wouldn’t be strained. She even spotted her parents on the VIP seats on the balcony. She sang the songs that are meant for Laurence and there, she could feel the melody through her. Their play ended two hours and thirty minutes, they also had a curtain call and etcetera. 

 The backstage, Esme hugged her parents and the little ones. Rosie was wearing a white outfit akin to Christine’s dress. Then, Zayne is wearing a tuxedo with The Phantom’s mask. 

“You are splendid!” Percy told and kissed her forehead. “I’m proud of you.” 

“Thank you, Daddy.” 

“Okay, so we will set up a banquet… you can invite anyone.” 

“Uh, no, they already have a party back at Winston’s.” 

“The Raoul guy?” 

“Yeah,” She nodded. “But I just want to share dinner with you all…” 

“Lady Esme,” her bodyguard came up with bouquets. She smiled at the three roses in there, and she looked around for Laurence. But the two of them know the rule. They have to be apart, and they can’t see each other. 

“I’m sorry, dear,” Percy said softly. “He needs to go back to Chicago.” 

“I understand… but I am happy that he saw me sing.” 

“You did well.”