"You should be by his side. Not here."

Throughout the entire concert, Raka’s words replayed in Ashley’s mind over and over again.

She tried to drown them out, but she couldn’t.

All she could think in response was: Did he think she didn’t want to be beside Lucian?

It wasn’t like she didn’t have a choice.

Ashley could stay with Lucian and never leave him. But she could not afford the cost of it.

She could not afford to stay beside Lucian when Primo was here.

She could not afford to stay by his side, knowing that if she did, her entire life would never be the same.

Ashley might not have had high hopes when seeking out Raka, but she had hoped he could offer even the tiniest alternative.

For someone as arrogant as him, she hadn’t expected him to give her the same answer as everyone else.

"Hmm?"

Ashley snapped out of her thoughts when Primo tugged at her hand.

Primo was looking up at her as they carefully walked out of the concert hall toward the parking area where her car was.

She smiled. "Did you have fun?"

He nodded. [It was fun. I liked it.]

"Good," she nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

But as Ashley lifted her head, a call from behind made her stop.

Looking back, her brows knitted together when she spotted Raka jogging toward her from his van.

"Hey!" Raka raised a hand and stopped in front of her. "Send me his... uh... chart."

Confused, Ashley furrowed her brows. "Huh?"

"The chart," he stressed, deliberately shooting Primo a look. "I’m not saying there’s anything else I can do, but who knows? I’m the best, but don’t get your hopes up too much—"

Before he could finish, Ashley suddenly grabbed his hand with both of hers.

"Thank you," she breathed, her eyes almost twinkling. "Really. Thank you."

"Hey, don’t thank me—I said don’t get your hopes up!" he protested, trying to pull his hand away. But she clung to him tighter. "I’m just going to check, okay?"

Ashley nodded repeatedly, her grip trembling slightly. "I know. Still, thank you."

Primo blinked as he studied his mother and the man she had been irritated with not long ago.

He tilted his head, a little confused as to why they were suddenly getting along.

As if allergic to her gratitude, Raka tried pulling his hand free again. "Okay, now, let — let go, okay?"

But until Ashley loosened her grip, he couldn’t just retrieve his hand.

"What kind of strength training are you doing?" he mumbled while rubbing the hand she had grabbed.

Then he paused when he noticed a police mobile van pulling up nearby.

"Huh?"

Ashley, who still wanted to express her gratitude even though Raka was only offering to check Lucian’s medical records, stopped as well.

She turned and instantly frowned at the sight of police insignias on several people around the vehicle.

Then a familiar figure approached them.

Julius.

"Huh?" Ashley and Primo tilted their heads. "Is he getting arrested?"

The answer came in the form of a snort.

"Are you serious?"

They turned to Raka, who was staring at them with judgmental eyes.

"You guys spent all that time with him and never even asked what he does for a living?" He scrunched up his nose. "Then again, his job isn’t that interesting."

Raka smacked his lips arrogantly as he watched Julius speak with the officers.

"Catching bad guys isn’t nearly as interesting as my research."

"He’s a cop?" Ashley gasped.

"A cop?" Raka arched a brow. "Well, more or less. From what I know, he works for Interpol, and his wife works in forensics."

He shook his head, clearly judging Ashley.

"Even if you’re not ambitious, asking other parents what they do and how they can benefit you is practically the norm. Gee!"

Having said his piece, he sauntered off. He had already agreed to look into Lucian’s records out of curiosity, so there was no point in acting friendly with her.

After all, Raka was simply puzzled by some of the details Ashley had told him.

At first, he assumed Lucian’s symptoms just weren’t the visible type. But there were certain details—especially since Raka knew Lucian personally—that struck him as odd.

Meanwhile, Ashley stared at Raka’s retreating figure before instinctively looking down at Primo.

Primo blinked.

The mother and son then turned toward Julius, who was waving at the officers in the mobile van while carrying Elliot toward his car.

"Primo, did you know he’s a cop?" Ashley’s expression soured slightly.

Primo shook his head.

Elliot had never mentioned it. Or perhaps he had, and Primo simply hadn’t paid attention.

"And to make it worse, he’s with Interpol," she murmured.

The mother and son made matching faces, both knowing that Interpol had been one of Dominion’s biggest problems for years.

Who would have thought someone from that agency would end up becoming so close to them?

I wonder if Lucian knew about this, she thought.

Then she blinked when she noticed Julius pause and turn in their direction.

"Uh..." She cleared her throat while Primo instinctively took a step back.

"Hey," Julius stopped in front of them with a smile. "You guys heading home now?"

Ashley and Primo smiled back. "Do you want to ride with us?"

"You mean..." Ashley trailed off while Primo pointed toward the police van. "There?"

"Huh?"

Before Julius could even turn around to check, the mother and son were already shaking their heads.

Primo wasn’t heavily involved in Dominion’s affairs—that was mostly Lucian. But he knew his mother could end up in trouble if Julius found out the truth.

As for Ashley, she knew—not just in theory—that she would be in serious trouble if Julius discovered who she really was.

"Ah, no! Haha!" Julius laughed and shook his head. "I have my own car."

"It’s alright." Ashley waved dismissively.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Red.

The moment she noticed him standing there in a Dominion suit, her eyes widened in warning.

Red in shabby clothes and messy hair was easy to overlook.

Red in a Dominion suit was not.

Red paused and narrowed his eyes before noticing the police van in the distance.

"Shit," he breathed. He jumped into the car almost instantly.

Ashley flashed Julius a smile.

"It’s okay. Our home is near here, so we can just... walk."

"Walk? Are you sure?" Julius frowned. "We can drive you home."

He meant well. In his mind, Ashley was already going through enough. Julius couldn’t do much, but perhaps driving her home would make things a little easier.

Even if only by a fraction.

"No, it’s okay—"

"Auntie, just come with us!" Elliot cheered from Julius’s arms. "Don’t worry! My daddy is the best! He’s the best police officer, and he’ll make sure you’re safe!"

Hearing that, Ashley and Primo shared a look. They were thinking exactly the same thing.

That was precisely why they were drawing the line right now... because Julius was a cop.

Worried, Primo looked up at Ashley and tightened his grip on her hand.

Her brows twitched slightly at the gesture, and she looked down at him.

Then she smiled and gave him a reassuring nod.

"Sure!" she hummed. "I mean... thanks."

She glanced at Primo and winked.

Her eyes told him only one thing: It’s going to be okay.

It took Primo a moment to understand, but when he did, he nodded.

And with that, Red and Tank could only watch as Ashley followed Julius to his car.

"The hell is going on?" Red muttered.

Then he paused when Tank pulled out his phone and showed him a profile.

Red leaned closer and saw Julius’s face on the screen.

"Holy shit." He looked up at Tank. "That guy’s the Mad Dog of Interpol? He is the Mad Dog?!"