Age: 8 years
"… Kylia, keep up the good work, okay? Listen to what Del and the other adults say." Julia stroked Kylia's head while advising her.
This is Julia's monthly routine visit to the Flower Garden Orphanage. She was about to leave for Blume's mansion and was bidding farewell to Kylia and Del at the orphanage gate. A black limousine was waiting for her at the gate with a patient driver.
"Ah.. Del, I have talked to Madam Yeva about postponing your adoption until Kylia finishes her studies." Julia hesitated and glanced at the young boy with black hair and black eyes who never let go of Kylia's hand.
As a mother, Julia actually had the right to forbid their intimate relationship, which seemed too close. Kylia was only 7 years old and still needed a few more months until her eighth birthday. So, the close relationship between these two children, which looked like an old married couple, was not normal.
However, she did not dare to forbid Del from being close to Kylia. Even Julia felt lucky that Del still let her visit Kylia once a month, despite their relationship as mother and child.
"Thank you, Mrs. Blume," said Del, without any hint of gratitude in his words.
Julia could only nod with a grim smile on her face. Then she remembered something. Before her mind could fully digest it, her mouth had already spoken her idea, "If you have a problem with your adoption, why don't you just get adopted by the Blume family?"
But after saying that, Julia regretted her words deeply. Unfortunately, Del had heard Julia's words clearly and asked, "As what will the Blume family adopt me?"
Reluctantly, Julia had to answer Del's question, "Uh… a butler? Heheh."
"Butler?" Del only smiled.
However, his smile made Julia's throat feel choked. Cold sweat ran down her forehead, and her body began to tremble in fear.
"Ah.. eh.. I cannot possibly adopt you as my child. If I do, then the gossip that will attack us will be dangerous for both of our positions," Julia tried to grab the last rope for her safety.
Nevertheless, Del remained unmoved, his smile getting wider every second. And the wider Del's smile, the closer Julia felt death approaching her. Like a sharp sword that began to touch her neck. Before she could scream in fear, a hoarse voice saved her.
"Del, don't scare my mom!" Kylia jerked Del's arm.
Del erased his killer aura and laughed, "hehehe... I was just kidding, Kylia. You don't really think I would kill Julia, do you?"
"I did think so," Kylia snorted.
"Well... hahahaha."
Julia almost lost her footing, she could only steady her trembling knees and hold her body from collapsing. One of the reasons why Julia really didn't want to visit the Flower Garden Orphanage was Del's hatred towards her.
Julia understood that the hatred arose from jealousy due to the mother-and-daughter bond that Julia had with Kylia. Del was very possessive and a control freak, he had set that Kylia was his and his alone.
That's why every relationship that Kylia had had to be approved and determined by him. Like Willie whom Del approved to have a pet-like relationship with Kylia. Unfortunately, Julia was very lucky to have a relationship with Kylia without Del's approval.
Although Del was number one in Kylia's heart, he still could not displace Julia's position in her heart. As a result, Del often vented his frustration in the form of a killer aura to intimidate Julia. Nevertheless, Julia was very sure that someday, when Kylia no longer cared about her, Del would be more than happy to make Julia disappear from this world.
"Mother, don't be afraid, Del was just kidding," Kylia helped Julia stand up.
'As if I didn't hear your conversation earlier,' Julia could only snort in her heart.
"I'm fine, Kylia. I know Del won't hurt me," Julia said while glancing at Del.
"That's right, for now, I won't hurt you, and I apologize, Mrs. Blume, but I cannot be the Blume family's butler," Del said while stroking Kylia's head.
'For now?'
"Why not? Won't we be able to stay together if you become the Blume family's butler?" Kylia asked.
"If I become your family's butler, then when you become the head of the Blume family later, we will have difficulty getting married. There won't be any physical barriers, but I don't want you to be the subject of ridicule by others. Don't worry, in a few years, I will achieve a status in this world that is equivalent to the Blume family," Del replied calmly.
"Ah... why do I have to become the head of the Blume family?"
"I don't like your family, so I've decided to devour it," Del answered nonchalantly.
"Oh... okay," Kylia nodded as if becoming the head of the Blume family was the same as her desire to eat cookies for lunch later.
Julia could only pretend not to hear the dangerous conversation between the two children in front of her. If she joined in with their crazy plan, her sanity, which was already on the verge of breaking, would truly plummet into the abyss.
"I should go home now. See you next month, Kylia," Julia said as she opened the black limousine door behind her.
"Be careful on the road, Mom," Kylia waved.
"Be careful on the road, lucky girl," Del also waved.
Julia only nodded and closed the car door. The black limousine's wheels turned and began to move away from the Flower Garden Orphanage gate.
Just as Julia was about to open a bottle of water to calm her still-mixed-up thoughts, her smartphone rang. The screen read "My Stupid Husband," and Julia answered the call while drinking.
"Have you met Kylia yet?" a man's voice sounded from the phone.
Julia didn't immediately answer and took a long sigh first, "If you're really worried, why didn't you come with me to visit Kylia?"
"..." There was silence for a few seconds before the man's voice was heard again. "I can't."
"Why can't you? Temedius, My stupid husband, you're her father. What law in the country prohibits a father from visiting his daughter?" Julia snorted.
"Kylia doesn't want to see me," said Temedius flatly, but Julia could read the sadness in his words.
Julia could only smile bitterly. Temedius Blume, her husband, was known for his commanding presence like a king and an iron fist. He led the Blume empire to grow rapidly and dominate half of the commerce in Teduh City. He was considered a genius, with his birth being the only one in a hundred years.
However, behind all of this, Julia knows that Temedius is a man with a problematic Emotional Quotient. He cannot show emotions properly and always misjudges the true feelings of others.
At times, Julia doesn't understand how a man who is known to have the ability to read other people's minds cannot understand the feelings of his own child. Nevertheless, Julia used to think the same as others about Temedius. She thought her husband was a cold and indifferent person.
She thought their marriage was just a business arrangement without love. Julia needed a protector for her music studio and Temedius needed a wife who could elevate his name. But the reality was not like that.
Temedius had long held a special place in his heart for Julia, starting from the art exhibition held on a talent search TV show. At that time, Julia was not yet a famous star like she is now, her voice was not yet trained and her singing ability was only average. But the young Temedius fell in love at first sight with Julia.
In order to get Julia's attention, Temedius worked hard to become the heir of the Blume family. He defeated all of his competitors and successfully obtained the leadership position in the Blume family. After that, he secretly helped Julia in her career and protected her from behind the scenes.
That's why Julia never got caught up in the dark side of the entertainment world. She thought she was a lucky woman, but she never imagined that her luck came from her influential and powerful secret admirer.
Even when they got married, Temedius was never able to show his love for Julia. He always protected Julia from behind the scenes without ever showing his hand. This is the main reason why the Blume family was unable to kick Julia out when she gave birth to Kylia.
To make matters worse, the reason why Temedius never visited after Kylia's birth was that he felt guilty. He believed that Kylia's condition was caused by his sin of trapping Julia into marrying him.
Julia only knew about this because of Temedius' personal secretary who leaked everything to her. At first, she thought that the personal secretary was Temedius' mistress, but she never expected that Temedius had never looked at another woman besides her.
When she found out the truth, she couldn't imagine how angry she was at Temedius. She felt that Temedius was so foolish; there was no woman in this world who would reject the sincere love of a handsome, brave, rich, smart, and influential man like Temedius. The same applied to Julia.
However, her newfound trust made Julia feel that all of this was destined to be this way. Without their misunderstanding, Julia would never have found her true master. She would still be a conceited woman who looked down on everything.
"Honey, where are you now?" Julia asked in a coquettish tone.
"..." Temedius was late to respond, and Julia knew that he was currently surprised and blushing.
'How cute!'
"I'm still at the office," he replied shortly.
"Wait for me there."
"You don't have to do that. You should go home and rest."
If Julia didn't know the truth, she would have thought that her husband was hiding something at the office. But in reality, Temedius was just worried that Julia was too tired after visiting Kylia and wanted her to rest.
'How cute!'
"No. I want to see you.. I miss you already, let's go home together," Julia's voice sounded even more coquettish.
"..."
"Okay," Temedius said flatly and hung up the phone immediately.
Julia imagined the wide smile that was currently on her husband's face. She couldn't understand how a powerful man like him could be so cute.
"Does Del also act like this in front of Kylia?" she asked herself while imagining the scary little boy.