Damian parked his car in front of the mansion, then leaned down to Daniel sitting on his lap, both fastening their seatbelts simultaneously.
"Now we're going to meet Grandma," he said.
"Mama..." Daniel looked around with a worried expression.
"Come on... We'll see a treasure for you!" Damian unbuckled his seatbelt and carried Daniel out, smiling proudly as if he cherished him.
"Mama... hiks!" Daniel started whimpering, looking at Damian with his trembling lips. "I want mama... Milk..."
"Oh, you want milk?" Damian raised an eyebrow.
Daniel nodded.
"Even Dada has prepared good milk for you!" he smiled enthusiastically, then looked ahead, climbing the stairs towards the terrace and seeing his parents which just come out.
"Oh... Sweetheart!" Elena saw Daniel with sparkling eyes, reaching out her hand. "You are here... I can't believe it!" She immediately held him, gazing at him tenderly and kissing his cheek.
Darius stared flatly at Damian. "You brought him without his mother?"
Damian nodded. "His mother is busy working."
"She's not a good mother..."
"She's good, an independent girl."
"But she neglects her child just to work, even when he's sick, right?" Darius glanced at Daniel, pale with dry lips and a plastered forehead.
Damian sighed heavily. "You don't always have to judge her negatively just because she left me. It's not her fault," he said, approaching his mother to take Daniel.
"It seems I won't leave," Elena said anxiously.
Darius immediately furrowed his brow.
"Honey, you meet Mr. Jackson. I can't leave my grandson here just with his father. I want to play with him, especially since he's still fussy," Elena said, frowning, then turned to Daniel. "I'm sure he'll start crying again when he's bored and remembers his mom," she continued with a melancholic look, then embraced Daniel's head.
Darius sighed heavily. "That boy and his mother are not much different, always thwarting my plans!" he said abruptly and left.
Damian fell silent, glancing at his father slowly moving out of sight as if pondering something.
"Damian," called Elena.
Damian quickly turned to her. "He wants milk; I'll make it for him."
"Are you sure?" Elena seemed doubtful.
Damian paused for a moment and then said, "Just making milk, it's very easy. I still remember how I made milk for Miya and Maxime when they were a baby," he said, entering the mansion.
Elena immediately took Daniel into the living room, continuing to the upper floor, crossing a white staircase complete with a golden carpet, seemingly harmonizing with the luxurious ambiance of the entire room.
Daniel remained silent, looking around until his attention focused on a large photo hanging on the wall near the stairs.
Elena stopped, realizing her grandson was interested in the photo.
"Do you want to know who they are?"
Daniel remained silent, pointing to the photo, precisely at Damian's image standing in the middle wearing navy blue graduation attire, with Elena and Darius on his right and left. There was also a boy and a girl who seemed to be in their teens.
"They are Miya and Maxime. They are your uncle and aunt," explained Elena, glancing at Daniel who kept looking at the photo. "Unfortunately, they're not here now; they had to finish their education in England," she continued.
"Mama..." Once again, Daniel looked for his mother.
"Ah, you'll see your mom's photo in your dad's room..." Elena immediately led Daniel upstairs, somewhat in a hurry, as if she didn't want him to cry and keep searching for his mother.
In his super luxurious and spacious kitchen with modern furniture and golden white wallpaper, Damian prepared milk with a milk-making machine where there might already be prepared milk.
"So, she got a new job and resigned from your company," he said, holding his phone to his ear.
"Yes, now I can't help you anymore," replied a man from the phone.
Damian sighed. "This is bad..."
"If you still want Valerie, make her understand that you also understand her. You don't need to go to great lengths to get rid of Samuel Darin if you're sure she doesn't like him."
"I'll think about it later."
"Alright, good luck!"
Damian ended the call and immediately took a bottle containing warm milk, closed it, and turned off the machine.
"If I approach her now, she'll be angry because she's still very sensitive. But I can't let her be constantly with Samuel... Samuel always manages to attract her attention!" he said angrily, walking towards the food stock cabinet and grabbing some packs of biscuits, bread, and snacks.
He embraced all the packaged food and quickly brought them out of the kitchen.
....
In a dimly lit cafe with white lights and predominantly black and white furniture, Valerie sat with her head resting on her hand on the table, looking at the spaghetti in front of her lazily.
"I'm sure Damian will call you when Daniel cries. Or even he'll still call you even if he doesn't cry," Samuel said, sitting across from her. "He likes always being near you," he continued teasingly.
Valerie shook her head. "But I don't like him being near me."
"Do you also like it if you're near other men, I mean like men who also show interest in you?"
"Maybe not..."
"But you let me be close to you even when I'm not with you for Daniel but for you," Samuel said, then bit his lower lip as if nervous.
Valerie immediately furrowed her brow.
Samuel sighed deeply and then took something from his jacket pocket.
"Maybe you'll be surprised, but I feel like I have to tell you this," he said, taking out a small box from his pocket and opening it, showing it to Valerie.
Valerie lifted her head and slightly leaned back when she saw the diamond ring with a white gem inside the small box.
"I want you to know that I love you very much. Actually, I don't want us to pretend to be a couple, but I want us to be a real couple," Samuel said with a pleading look. "I want to protect you and Daniel... It's all because of love, not just because I pity you both, and I've had these feelings for a long time, but I didn't dare to tell you... Because I know you're focused on Daniel..."
Valerie was stunned, shocked, not expecting Samuel to do this when she had planned to end their charade.
"I know you're afraid Damian will take Daniel if you have a relationship with me, but you don't have to worry... I've found a solution!" Samuel reassured.
Valerie swallowed hard, her throat feeling choked now.
Now Samuel looked at Valerie with fear, as if worried about being rejected.
"Why... Why are you doing this?" Valerie asked.
"Because I love you," Samuel replied. "I don't want you to continue suffering under Damian's pressure. And of course, I want to have you... I want to make you happy because that's the way to make me happy too. Your happiness is my happiness... I even consider Daniel as my son!"
Valerie shook her head. "This is crazy... you're crazy!"