At exactly ten in the morning, the doorbell rang.
Aster, who had been watching Finn carefully glue googly eyes on a cardboard dinosaur, wiped his hands and stood to open it.
The woman at the door was in her late 30s, smartly dressed, with her hair in a neat twist and an easy, confident smile.
"Good morning," she said. "Dani Reyes. The nanny Mr. Adrian arranged."
She extended a crisp folder with her credentials. Aster blinked at her and stepped aside.
"You're... right on time."
"I tend to be," she said simply, stepping inside. "Where's the boss?"
Aster frowned. "He's at work."
"I meant the small one."
Finn peeked out from behind the couch, cardboard dinosaur in hand, lips pouted in curiousity.
Dani immediately crouched to eye level. "You must be Finn. I've heard so much about you."
Finn eyed her warily, clutching his dinosaur. "Are you the police?"
Dani laughed. "Nope. I'm the babysitter. But I make amazing pancakes."
Finn's eyes lit up.
"Do you got the dinosaur books?"
"I brought three."
Five minutes later, Finn had plopped himself in Dani's lap and was talking about his "secret dino cave" under the couch.
Aster stood there blinking. "Wow."
"She's good, huh?" came a voice behind him.
He turned to find Jace, the manager Adrian had mentioned, already stepping inside. He looked sharp in a tailored blazer, phone in hand, eyes assessing Aster like he was already planning his schedule for the year.
"Mr. Aster, I'm Jace, your manager. And this—" he gestured to the bright-eyed girl beside him "—is Yanna, your assistant. We're here to pick you up and get things rolling."
Yanna waved enthusiastically. "Hi hi!"
Aster gave a small wave back. "You guys don't waste time, do you?"
"Nope," Jace said. "Boss's orders. Car's waiting."
The black sedan rolled smoothly through the city.
Jace typed away on his tablet, while Yanna was organizing script samples and company orientation materials in a folder.
Aster sat quietly by the window, watching buildings blur past.
He should've felt overwhelmed. Or excited. But all he felt was... grounded. A little heavy.
He was doing this because Adrian had made it possible. Again.
Back then, in their first life, Adrian had come out of nowhere—paid for his brother's hospital bills when no one else would. Aster never even understood why. They weren't close. They barely spoke. He even rejected him.
And yet, in the end, Adrian had been there—quietly steady—when everyone else had abandoned him.
Aster had died with regret in his heart. Not just because of betrayal, or pain. But because he never got the chance to pay that man back.
Now, he had that chance.
But somehow, Adrian was still giving. Still clearing paths. Still handing him opportunities he couldn't have reached alone.
Even now, while Aster told himself he was repaying a debt from a past life, he was already stacking more of it.
Like interest piling up on gratitude.
He looked down at his hands resting on his lap. Calloused from doing every job he could after his brother's death. Steady now. Capable.
Fine.
So what if he didn't understand Adrian's angle?
So what if this was some six-month fantasy of playing house?
He didn't care about the why.
All he knew was that he had a debt to pay—and now, finally, the strength to do it.
I'll make it up to you properly this time.
He'd act. Get good. Build a name. Earn money. Bring returns.
If this whole thing was a business arrangement, then fine—he'd treat it like one.
Adrian was the boss.
And Aster would become his best investment.
He leaned back in the seat, expression calm. Clear.
No fluttering romantic fantasies. No naive hopes.
Just purpose.
"We're almost at the building," Jace said from beside him. "We'll go over the script offers, sign your starter contract, and do a quick brand shoot for the company site. You okay with that?"
Aster nodded. "Yeah. Let's get to work."