Cinthia was livestreaming the family event from home on her Instagram page, her front camera angled perfectly as she moved through the mansion with the confidence of someone born for attention.
"Hey, guys! As promised, I wasn't going to let you miss the Shikongo family event." She turned the camera toward an elegant elderly woman seated like royalty in the middle of it all. "Let me introduce my family. This is my favorite person in the world, Kuku Veronica, the head of the Shikongos. She's the sweetest woman alive and somehow manages to span every generation."
Kuku Veronica waved at the camera with a dignified smile.
"Hello, gu—" She paused and looked at Cinthia. "What do you call your followers?"
Cinthia laughed. "Don't worry, Kuku Vero, they heard you."
She turned the camera again.
"This is my twin cousin, Daniels—a total mama's boy. And next to him is our bride, Mrs. Betty Shikongo. Isn't she beautiful?"
Betty smiled shyly, while Daniels gave the camera a grin.
"Hi, guys," they said almost at the same time.
Cinthia swung the phone back toward herself.
"Guys, you're still yet to meet the groom, but... where is he?"
Her eyes scanned the room just as she spotted Catherine walking past.
"Hold on, guys. Meet my friend Catherine. She recently moved back to the country after studying in South Africa, and she is very much single and ready to mingle."
Catty burst into laughter. "Don't believe her. I'm taken. Keep searching."
Then her expression shifted.
"Did you see Alexander?"
Cinthia rolled her eyes dramatically. "He probably won't come home."
But just then, movement behind her caught her attention.
Alexander entered the frame.
Cinthia's face lit up with the wicked delight of a sister about to cause trouble.
"See that guy hurrying away? That's my brother Alex. He's handsome, rich, and somehow still not interested in relationships. He could get any girl he wants, but he chooses not to." She lowered her voice teasingly. "Anyway, if any of you want to be embarrassed publicly, I can drop his number."
A comment flashed across the screen.
Get closer to him. We can't see enough of his cuteness.
Cinthia laughed.
"I just got this phone, and I don't want it smashed to pieces, so I'll keep my distance. But don't worry, I'll film the whole event... and maybe catch more of Alex by accident."
She moved on smoothly, the camera already hunting for her next target.
"And here is the man of the hour—Mr. Adam Shikongo, the groom and my very special uncle."
Adam waved at the camera with practiced charm.
Cinthia turned once more.
"And finally, meet my favorite people: Mr. and Mrs. Joel—my parents. Dad is a businessman, and Mom is a doctor, so yes, I hit the jackpot with my bloodline."
Damien and Sofia smiled at the camera at once.
Sofia's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Would you like to tell them what fusion we made, sweety?"
Cinthia nearly choked on her own breath.
"Mom. I'm alive."
Sofia laughed while Cinthia, now mildly traumatized, aimed the camera elsewhere.
"Okay, that's enough, guys. I've shown you most of the family members. Oh—there's still one stubborn girl left. Monica." She turned toward Daniels. "Daniels, where is Monica?"
As if summoned by irritation itself, Monica came downstairs.
She looked stunning in a fitted outfit that clung to her like it had been designed by someone obsessed with detail—which, in fairness, it had. She had made it herself.
Cinthia turned the camera on her with immediate excitement.
"This is Monica, an upcoming fashion designer, and yes, she made what she's wearing with her own hands. Remember her name now so you don't pretend later that you discovered her first."
Monica barely acknowledged the camera.
"Cinthy, did you see Alex anywhere?"
"He went to his room," Cinthia replied.
Monica was gone before the sentence even fully landed.
Upstairs, Alexander stood at the bar giving a distracted order for a drink when something suddenly wrapped around his leg.
"Papa!"
Children. Several of them.
He looked down and smiled in spite of himself as they clung to him from every angle.
"Oh, my sweet children," he said, bending to lift one into his arms. "You missed me, didn't you?"
He signaled the waiter to cancel his order.
"Yes, Papa, and we love you! " one of the children said.
"Mr. Alexander, Mommy said you wouldn't come home today. I was so angry," another complained.
Alexander let out a quiet laugh.
"I had to come; otherwise you'd stay angry forever. Enough now. Let's go."
The children surrounded him like a tiny, noisy escort as he led them upstairs toward his room.
From across the hall, Adam discreetly signalled to a waiter.
The waiter followed Alexander and the children without drawing attention.
The moment Alexander entered the room, the waiter quietly shut the door.
Then, just as quietly, he locked it from the outside.
Alexander never noticed.
Inside, the children were already all over the room with excitement.
"I have something for you," Alexander said, smiling now. "Just as I promised."
He handed out gifts—toys, each child receiving theirs with the kind of joy only children could produce without restraint.
While they unwrapped them, Alexander headed into his walk-in closet to change.
Elsewhere in the mansion, Ruben caught sight of the mysterious man again.
The man stopped the instant he saw Ruben.
Then, without hesitation, he pulled out a gun and moved toward the staircase.
Ruben reacted immediately and lunged to stop him, but the man twisted away with surprising speed and disappeared upstairs.
Ruben's heartbeat slammed hard against his ribs. He took off after him.
Back downstairs, Kuku Veronica's gaze kept drifting across the room.
She had waited long enough.
"Adam," she called.
Adam turned to her at once. "Yes, Mom?"
"Where is Alexander?"
A flicker of tension crossed Adam's face.
"Mom, Alexander isn't coming. He's probably still at the office by now."
Kuku Veronica frowned and reached for her phone.
"Let me call him again."
As she dialed, Damien appeared nearby.
"Damien, my dear," she said, "where is Alexander?"
"He'll come, Kuku. Don't worry," Damien said gently. "I spoke to him."
Upstairs, Alexander's phone vibrated on the bed.
One of the children reached for it and answered without hesitation.
"Hello?"
Downstairs, Kuku Veronica blinked.
"Ai! A child picked up Alexander's phone." She looked around, puzzled. "Then he must be home."
Adam jumped in immediately.
"Or maybe he left his phone at the orphanage!" he said too quickly.
Damien turned and frowned at him.
Kuku Veronica considered it. "Oh. If that's so, then maybe he might still make it here on time."
"Kuku," Damien said carefully, "I personally came with Alexander. He's probably in his room with the children. You know how they are when they see him."
Adam shot him a sharp glare.
He did not want Alexander getting that marriage flag. In Adam's mind, Alexander was stubborn enough to accept it out of irritation and do something reckless out of pure defiance. That was exactly the kind of chaos Adam wanted to avoid.
At that same moment, Monica reached Alexander's room.
She stopped. The door was locked.
Her brows pulled together.
"Where's Alex...?"
She turned as if to leave, then paused. There were sounds coming from inside.
Children laughing. Movement. Voices.
Monica slowly looked back at the door, suspicion rising.
"Mmm... smart man," she muttered to herself. "So he locked himself inside with the kids to get some peace and make everyone think he's not home."
She moved closer and knocked.
"Alex?"
Inside, Alexander didn't hear a thing.
"Alex..." Monica called again.
Still nothing.
Inside the room, Alexander was fully caught up in the children's chaos, moving too fast, laughing too little, and noticing absolutely none of the danger tightening itself around the house.