The villa had been lively all day.

At night, the Hales gradually left. Only Howard stayed.

In the master bedroom on the second floor, Julian sat on the sofa. Serena and Jaden clung to him, all sticky and sweet. Jaden brought over homework he couldn’t do for his dad to look at, and his dad taught him with the simplest method—just like that, he understood.

Jaden stared at him with pure worship.

Serena sat to the side, flipping through a ...