The car had barely left the academy grounds when Leo broke the silence.

"Mommy," he asked softly, "don’t you like your mother?"

Ivy turned to look at him in surprise.

Leo had been staring out the window, watching Florine’s shrinking figure until the woman disappeared from view. Now his curious eyes were fixed entirely on Ivy.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck.

Leo leaned back in his seat, folded his arms, and let out a tiny sigh that was far too dramatic for a child his age.

"I don’t like her either."

"Oh?" Ivy raised an eyebrow.

"She tried to lure me with ice cream."

Ivy blinked.

"And that’s bad because...?"

"Because I don’t even like ice cream."

For a second, Ivy simply stared at him.

Then she almost burst into laughter.

*Is there really a child in this world who doesn’t like ice cream?*

"But you ate the one I brought you the other day," she pointed out.

Leo’s expression immediately softened.

"That’s different."

"How?"

"You bought it for me," he replied matter-of-factly. "And Daddy said it tasted good, so I thought I should try it."

His innocent explanation caught Ivy completely off guard.

She remembered that evening on the cliff with Xander and how they had stopped to buy dessert on the way home. Xander had never mentioned that Leo wasn’t particularly fond of ice cream.

*Maybe everything that happened afterward made him forget,* she thought.

Leo tugged gently on her sleeve.

"Mommy, you still didn’t answer my question."

She looked down at him.

"Why don’t you like your mother?"

Ivy was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"Because she’s not my mother, Leo."

His eyes widened.

"But... she told me she was."

He frowned deeply, trying to make sense of it.

"If she lied about something that important..."

He puffed out his cheeks in disappointment.

"...then she’s definitely a bad woman."

Ivy couldn’t help smiling.

"You shouldn’t call people bad so quickly," she said gently. "But you were very smart today."

Leo tilted his head.

"I was?"

She nodded.

"You didn’t go anywhere with someone you didn’t know. You didn’t accept gifts or promises, and you didn’t let sweet words convince you. I’m really proud of you."

A small smile spread across Leo’s face.

"Daddy always says that if something feels strange, I should trust my instincts."

"And Daddy gave you good advice."

Leo sat a little taller in his seat, clearly pleased with himself.

"I knew something was weird. She smiled a lot, but her eyes didn’t."

Ivy looked at him with surprise.

"That’s quite observant."

"I learned from watching you and Daddy."

Her heart softened.

Reaching over, she gently ruffled his hair.

"You did exactly the right thing today. No matter who someone claims to be, if you’re ever unsure, you stay with people you trust and call me or your father first. Understand?"

Leo nodded firmly.

"I will."

Then, after a brief pause, he looked up at her in surprise as if he remembered something.

"Mommy can you give me your autograph?"

Ivy blinked as Leo reached for his back and pulled out a book and pen.

"Why do you need my autograph?" Ivy asked with a smile as she signed the small notebook Leo had handed her.

Leo accepted it carefully, making sure the ink didn’t smudge.

"It’s for Mia and John," he explained. "You have no idea how much they like you. They keep talking about you at school, and they really want to meet you."

Ivy couldn’t help but laugh.

"Is that so?"

Leo nodded enthusiastically.

"They think you’re amazing."

For a moment, he looked as though he wanted to say something else, but his expression gradually turned hesitant.

"Actually..." he murmured, "I don’t think I can let them meet you."

Ivy looked at him in surprise.

"Why not? Aren’t I supposed to come to your school’s annual function? I was planning to attend with your father."

Leo slowly shook his head.

"No. I don’t want you to come."

His unexpected refusal caught Ivy completely off guard.

She tilted her head. "And why is that?"

Leo lowered his eyes and nervously chewed on his lower lip before answering.

"Mommy... why didn’t you tell me that some bad people tried to hurt you and Daddy?"

Ivy froze.

A deep frown crossed her face.

"How do you know about that?"

She was certain Leo had been asleep when they returned home after the incident. She hadn’t mentioned it to him, nor had anyone else—at least, she thought so.

Leo looked up at her honestly.

"Daddy told me."

"He did?"

The little boy nodded.

"He said there are dangerous people out there and that we have to be careful. That’s why I don’t want you to come to the annual function. If too many people recognize you, the bad people might find you."

His voice grew quieter.

"I want to go with both of you... but not if it puts you in danger."

Ivy stared at him for a moment before pulling him into a warm hug.

*Xander Emerson...* she thought with exasperation. *Who tells a six-year-old something like that?*

She sighed dramatically.

"I really need to have a talk with your father. How could he scare you with something so serious?"

Leo immediately leaned back and defended Xander.

"It’s not Daddy’s fault!"

"Oh?"

He puffed out his chest proudly.

"It was a man-to-man conversation."

Ivy blinked.

"A man-to-man conversation?"

"Yes."

"You and your father?"

Leo nodded with complete confidence.

"I’m a big boy now."

For a second, Ivy didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

*Right,* she thought to herself. *A six-year-old ’big boy.’*

She gently pinched his cheek.

"You’ll always be my little boy."

Leo wrinkled his nose in protest.

"But I have responsibilities."

"And what responsibilities would those be?"

"I have to protect you and Daddy."

His earnest expression was so sincere that Ivy’s heart melted.

She cupped his face in both hands and smiled.

"Thank you for worrying about us."

Then she added softly, "But protecting this family isn’t your job. That’s for the grown-ups."

Leo considered her words before replying with surprising seriousness.

"Then I’ll help the grown-ups."

Ivy couldn’t suppress a laugh.

"Deal."

She kissed the top of his head and tucked the signed notebook back into his backpack.

"And don’t worry about the annual function just yet. We’ll figure something out together."

Leo’s face brightened.

"As a family?"

"As a family."

Satisfied with that answer, he smiled at last, while Ivy silently made a mental note to have a very long conversation with Xander about what counted as an appropriate "man-to-man talk."

***

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Logan let out a slow, resigned sigh.

He had tried everything he could to persuade Xander to abandon his investigation, but the younger man refused to back down.

Realizing there was no point in keeping the past buried any longer, Logan finally decided to tell him the truth.

He leaned back in his chair, his expression clouded by memories he had spent decades trying to forget.

"It all started years ago," Logan began quietly. "Back when Lucas, Frederick, and I were enrolled in military training."

Xander remained silent, giving him his full attention.

"During one of our missions, our unit was forced into an armed confrontation. In the chaos, we ended up killing a man whose identity couldn’t be verified."

Logan paused, choosing his words carefully.

"At first, we believed he was just another hostile target. But after the operation, things didn’t add up. There were no official records about him, no confirmed nationality, and no family who came forward to claim the body."

Xander’s gaze sharpened.

"So he wasn’t an ordinary enemy."

"No," Logan replied grimly. "The more we looked into it, the clearer it became that he had connections to something far bigger—an organization that operated entirely in the shadows."

The room fell silent.

"That’s when our lives changed," Logan continued. "Without realizing it, we had made enemies of people who never forgave mistakes and never forgot those responsible."

He looked directly at Xander.

"And from that day forward, every tragedy that followed began with that single mission."

Xander remained expressionless, but his fingers tightened ever so slightly around the coffee cup in front of him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"So you’re telling me," he said evenly, "that my parents died because of a mission that took place decades ago?"

Logan shook his head.

"No. They died because they refused to back down after discovering who that man really was."

He let the words sink in before continuing.

"The mission itself was classified. We were ordered to eliminate a target who was believed to be involved in arms trafficking. We followed our orders without asking questions."

"And afterward?"

"Afterward, Frederick became suspicious."

Logan’s eyes grew distant as memories resurfaced.

"He noticed inconsistencies in the intelligence reports. The target had no official identity, no fingerprints in any database, and no records of entering or leaving the country. It was as if he had never existed."

Xander frowned.

"That should have ended the investigation."

"It should have," Logan agreed. "But Lucas couldn’t let it go. The three of us started looking into the man’s background on our own."

"And what did you find?"