The school bell has been ringing for twenty minutes now, but Lana still can't leave the school because one of her students hasn't been picked up yet. The bespectacled boy is named Peter, and he's playing on the swings while waiting for his older brother, Andrean.

"Is your brother late again?" Lana asked as she pushed Peter on the swing.

"Hm. He's always like that," Peter grumbled.

Lana chuckled softly at Peter's annoyed tone. She walked up to him and bent down to be at eye level with the boy.

"Andrean is a very busy person. It's okay. You can wait for him with me," she said.

Peter nodded in agreement. They continued swinging for another ten minutes until a sedan pulled up in the schoolyard. A man in a blue shirt hurriedly got out of the car.

"Oh no, I'm late again. Sorry, Peter," Andrean said as he ruffled Peter's hair.

"It's okay. Miss Lana is still keeping me company," Peter replied.

Andrean smiled with relief and looked at Lana with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment. He had inconvenienced this kindergarten teacher so many times.

"I apologize, Miss. I made you late as well," Andrean said.

"It's not a problem. I'm happy to spend time with Peter today," Lana widened her smile to assure Andrean that waiting for Peter was not an issue.

"But still..." Andrean felt embarrassed about inconveniencing Lana, so an idea crossed his mind. "How about I give you a ride home? I've kept you waiting for so long, so please allow me to take you."

Lana immediately shook her head. "No need. My house is close by from here," she declined.

Andrean had expected Lana to refuse, just as she had in the past. But he wouldn't let her walk home this time.

"For today only, please come home with me," Andrean requested.

"Come on, Miss. Let's go home together with me and my brother," Peter joined in, while he gently rocked Lana's arm.

Lana was always soft-hearted when it came to children—perhaps because her job as a kindergarten teacher suited her so well—so she finally gave in and nodded in agreement to Peter and Andrean's request.

"Alright, just for today," she said.

"Yay!"

Peter jumped with joy. He even held Lana's hand tightly as they got into the car. Happiness was not just felt by Peter; in truth, Andrean was also very happy that Lana agreed to go home with him.

Sometimes, Andrean didn't entirely regret being late to pick up Peter because it allowed him to talk to Lana for a little longer. He had been harboring feelings for her for the past few months, but he wasn't ready to take steps towards approaching Lana. Andrean thought he should approach Lana slowly. Slow and steady love was better for him. He didn't want to be seen as a strange guy by suddenly confessing his feelings to Lana.

"My house is just one block away," Lana said.

Andrean nodded in understanding. Lana's house was really close to the school. They arrived in just five minutes, even though Andrean deliberately drove slowly to prolong his time with Lana.

"Thank you, Mr. Andrean," Lana said as she got out of the car while nodding politely.

Andrean scoffed, "Don't call me that. You can call me Andrean. Just Andrean."

"Okay, then. Thank you, Andrean," Lana repeated.

Andrean couldn't help but smile widely. He bid farewell to Lana and left her house with a racing heart.

"Good first step," Andrean thought to himself.

On the other hand, Lana couldn't stop smiling as she watched Andrean's car drive away. She wasn't a fool; she could clearly sense Andrean's feelings for her. He was easy to read. His blushing face when talking to her had already provided enough explanation if he had feelings for her.

"He's a cute guy too," Lana murmured.

Lana hadn't been in a romantic relationship for a long time. The last time she had dated was five years ago when she was still in college. Neo, her ex-boyfriend, had cheated on her and left her just like that. Since then, Lana had been reluctant to start a new relationship. However, she was beginning to reconsider that decision. At twenty-seven, she needed to prepare herself for a serious relationship.

"Could that person be Andrean?" Lana began to wonder in her heart.

"Lana!"

Lana was startled when her name was suddenly called loudly by her mother. She walked closer to enter the house.

"Why, Mom?" she asked.

"What's with you? Why are you just standing in front of the house daydreaming?" her mother asked in return.

Lana laughed awkwardly because she got caught daydreaming. "Oh, hahaha! I was just looking at the sky. The sky is really beautiful today."

Mrs. Ellie furrowed her brow at her daughter's excuse but let it go because there was something important that needed to be discussed.

"Let's go to the living room. Your father wants to talk to you."

"Dad?"

"Yes."

"Is he home?" Lana asked with sparkling eyes.

"Yes."

Lana dashed to the living room joyfully. It had been two weeks since she last saw her father because he had been busy working out of town.

"Daddy!" Lana exclaimed happily. She hugged her father tightly to express her longing.

"Hi, My Darling," Mr. Arthur Hollander returned the embrace just as tightly. They poured out their feelings of longing in that hug for a few moments.

"What does Daddy want to tell me?" Lana asked after breaking the hug.

Arthur cleared his throat. His initially smiling face turned calmer, even tenser. Lana realized that the conversation they were about to have was serious.

"Lana, you know that Daddy's business has been doing poorly lately, right?" Arthur began with a question. Lana nodded softly in response.

"Daddy thought I could handle it, but it turns out I was wrong. The company's situation is worse than I thought," Arthur said.

Lana tried to guess what her father really wanted to say. Was he going to ask her to quit being a teacher and work for the company? They had made an agreement that he wouldn't pressure her in choosing her career, so did she now have to give up her life choices?

"Daddy has a lot of debts... and I don't think I can pay them off," Arthur sighed heavily.

"So? How can I help, Dad?" Lana asked slowly.

"Mr. Jonas said that I could pay off the debt by marrying our child," Arthur said.

Lana fell silent. So, this was the serious matter her father wanted to discuss. He wasn't asking her to work for the company or give up her career, but he was asking her to get married.

"Dad..."

"I know you want to control your own life, including your career and love life, but please, just this once, please help me."

"But—"

"Mr. Jonas' son is a good man. His name is Sky. You'll be happy with him."

Sky.

Lana loves the sky.

The sky always brought her peace, but she didn't know if someone named Sky could offer her the same feeling.