The young man looked like he'd just come from some fancy event-slick suit and all, giving off a surprisingly mature vibe.

Compared to their last quick run-in at the bar, Eira suddenly realized Ethan had really grown up.

She raised an eyebrow, caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"

Ethan glanced down at her wrist, giving it a gentle rub. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," Eira said, lips pulling into a faint smile. She spotted his collar sticking out and immediately reached out to fix it, driven by her usual pickiness.

To Alexander watching from not far away, this scene was like a slap in the face.

In just a few days, Eira had managed to reel in not one, but two men?

The guy wasn't just some average guy either - from his getup alone, Alexander could tell he came from money. No wonder Eira had been acting especially smug lately.

His brows knitted tightly, and he spoke with rare ice in his voice, "Where'd you dig up this new toy?"

"You don't mess around, huh? Already juggling guys like it's a game."

Before Eira could reply, Ethan turned on him. "Watch your mouth. Did you really think she had no one to back her up?"

Eira nudged Ethan's arm and said lightly, "No need to bother with the crazy. Anyway, what brought you here?"

Ethan took a deep breath, clearly trying to hold back his temper. His voice came out a bit hoarse. "Saw your post in John's Facebook. I happened to be around for an event."

"Good thing I showed up when I did."

He placed a steady hand on her shoulder as he spoke. From behind, it almost looked like he was holding her close.

When Eira didn't pull away, Ethan grew bolder and draped his arm fully over her shoulders. Together, they walked away.

Just before reaching the stairwell, Ethan looked back at Alexander with a faint smirk - one that carried a hint of provocation.

Outside, Eira said something under her breath, and Ethan's smile slipped away, quickly schooling his expression.

Meanwhile, Alexander stood frozen, watching them walk off like everything was peachy between them.

But his face told a different story - anything but calm.

In the dim stairwell lit faintly by flashes of music and lights from the party, red and green shadows flickered across his features, sharpening his already cold look.

His hand clamped around the railing, knuckles turning white as a sharp crack echoed in the stillness.

After a long pause, he shut his eyes briefly, then pulled out his phone and dialed Daniel.

"Come now."

It wasn't until Edward and Christopher realized Alexander had been gone too long that they started calling him. It took several tries before he finally picked up.

"Where the hell did you disappear to? You've been gone for ages," Edward said, alarmed.

"Something came up," Alexander answered calmly. "Tonight's on me."

And with that, he ended the call, eyes fixed out the window. The red marks on his cheek looked even starker in the dark.

In the passenger seat, Daniel was staring at him, jaw practically on the floor.

Someone actually took a swing at Mr. Brooks?

He glanced into the rearview mirror - only to meet Alexander's gaze dead on.

He flinched and quickly looked away, pretending like he'd seen nothing.

Still, he couldn't help thinking: Ever since the divorce, nothing in Mr. Brooks' life had been going the way he wanted.

*****

A little later, Eira and Ethan ran into a flustered John, clearly on the hunt.

He rushed over. "Boss, where have you been? You were gone forever!"

Then he eyed Ethan from head to toe, clearly not thrilled.

"Oh wow, what a nice 'coincidence' running into him, huh?"

He dragged out the sarcasm in "coincidence," clearly trying to call Ethan out.But Eira didn't bother responding to his childish tone. Still annoyed from running into Alexander earlier, she really had no energy left to deal with the situation, so she brushed him off half-heartedly.

She sighed, "I'm kinda tired. Let's just head back."

John didn't press her, just nodded. "Cool, driver's already here. I'll take you home."

Eira agreed, but right as she stepped forward, she noticed Ethan wasn't following. She turned around, puzzled. "What's up?"

John stopped too, eyes wary as he glanced at Ethan.

Ethan scratched the back of his head and avoided her gaze, looking like a lost puppy as he muttered, "I came to this event last-minute... didn't get the chance to book a hotel."

"Most places are probably booked by now, and the event's gonna last a few days..."

After saying that, he gave her a pitiful look, stepped closer, then bent down slightly and said, "Mind if I crash at your place for a few days, sis?"

Without thinking twice, Eira nodded, "Sure. There's plenty of spare rooms back at the villa, pick whichever you like."

She tugged at his sleeve with a laugh, teasing, "You really dragged it out for this? What, you think I'm gonna say no or something?"

"Of course not!" Ethan quickly replied, tagging along beside her.

John, however, trailed behind them, annoyed enough to stomp his foot where he stood.

Damn kid moved fast-already knew Eira was back?

'Poor guy, his competition was everywhere.'

On the way back to the villa, John ended up in the front seat, having fallen a step behind.

Eira leaned back in the rear seat, occasionally rubbing at her wrist in discomfort, trying to ease the throbbing pain.

That jerk really hadn't held back earlier-almost crushed her damn wrist.

She stared out the window, the scenery flying by, thinking she'd tell the driver to stop if they passed a pharmacy.

But before long, her drowsiness kicked in. Holding her wrist, she slowly closed her eyes.

Ethan noticed the way she kept touching that wrist, and his gaze fell on the red, swollen area.

He glanced down at his phone. "Take a left at the next turn. Gonna grab something real quick."

As soon as the car stopped, he dashed out and ran into a small clinic nearby. He came back with several ointments for bruises and swelling.

Once back in the car, he gently lifted Eira's hand. "Let me put some cream on it. Or it's gonna swell up worse."

Eira slowly opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep away, and saw the tubes of ointment in his hand, a little surprised. "You went and bought medicine?"

Ethan hummed softly, squeezing a bit onto his fingertip and gently spreading it across the swollen spot on her wrist.

He handled it like it was glass, super careful not to hurt her.

She winced a little at the first touch, but soon the cooling sensation spread, easing the burning pain bit by bit.

With a soft smile, she said, "You've changed a lot these past few years."

Ethan paused, then muttered, "I've always been like this... you just never noticed."

After that, he gently blew on her wrist. "There, that should help."

Eira chuckled at his childish little move. Yep, still a kid at heart.

As the discomfort faded, sleep took over again. She leaned her head against the window and dozed off.

Hearing her even breathing next to him, Ethan carefully shifted her head so it rested on his shoulder instead. He adjusted how he sat, making things more comfortable for her.

He could hear each soft breath she took, and the corner of his lips lifted just a little. "You really don't remember, huh..."

Back at the villa, John stared at the backs of Ethan and Eira as they walked off, looking like he was about to start brooding on the spot.

Neither of them noticed. Eira casually told him to do whatever he liked, then headed straight to her room.

Lately, she'd just been feeling... completely exhausted. No clue why.

Early in the morning, still half-asleep, Eira rolled over instinctively - only to press down on her injured wrist. A sharp jolt of pain shot through her, snapping her fully awake.

She gasped quietly. The swelling had gone down a bit, but the bruise was still very much there.

Thinking back to what happened last night, she cursed under her breath. Alexander, that bastard-why did she go soft on him again?

She mentally kicked herself. How had she not seen the walking red flag that was Alexander before?

With sleep thoroughly kicked out the window and plans to visit the old family estate later, she sat up and got moving. Picked out a bright, stand-out dress and headed into the bathroom.

By the time she came out, the smell of chicken soup had floated up from downstairs. Hair half-tied, she followed her nose to the kitchen.

And there was Ethan-apron on, standing by the stove.

She blinked, surprised. "When did you learn how to cook?"

Still focused on the soup, Ethan leaned half out and said, "Living abroad made me learn the hard way. My stomach refuses to settle for anything but hometown's food."

Eira nodded like that made total sense. She haphazardly tied her hair up, grabbed her coffee and leaned by the door, eyeing him up and down.

The little apron was meant for the housekeeper. On Ethan, it looked kinda ridiculously cute.

She smirked. "Your fans would lose their minds if they saw you like this."

Ethan gave a sheepish smile and glanced down at the apron he was wearing, clearly a little self-conscious. He quickly changed the subject.

"Why don't you go sit down? I'll bring the soup over - it's ready."

He pulled out two bowls, carefully poured the soup, and as he turned, his gaze flicked over to Eira, just in time to catch her awkwardly holding her wrist again.

Putting the bowls down, he frowned. "Where's the first aid kit?"

But Eira was already distracted by the smell of the soup and just waved a hand in a vague direction before grabbing a spoonful.

One sip in, her brows lifted. "Whoa. You could totally open a restaurant with skills like this."

She set the bowl down with some difficulty, wincing slightly as her injured hand protested. She gave it a quick shake, then turned to look for him-only to realize Ethan was preparing something for the swelling.

Eira saw him crouched there, clearly unsure of what to grab, and called out, "Just get an anti-inflammatory one. It's on the far left."

Ethan grabbed a bottle, eyed the label, and tossed it into the trash with a frown. "Not this one - it has penicillin. You're allergic."

"What?" Eira pointed at herself with a puzzled face. "I'm allergic to penicillin?"

She knew her own medical history - there's no way she wouldn't remember that, right?

Totally confused, she asked, "How do you know I'm allergic to penicillin?"

The room fell into a weird silence.

After a moment, Ethan stood up a little dramatically with another bottle in hand. "Did you really forget how awful you felt after you took it a couple years ago?"He waved his hands way too dramatically, and when he saw Eira's confused face, he quickly tried to smooth things over. "You were in so much pain you passed out. Doubt you caught what the doctor was saying."

Eira tilted her head, trying to recall based on what Ethan said, but her mind was completely blank. She couldn't remember being in that much pain at all.

"You serious?" she asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

Ethan handed her a cup of warm water and dropped two pills into her palm. "Of course. Why would I lie about something like that?"

Once she took the meds, he sat opposite her, sipping his soup a little anxiously while sneaking glances at her.

Truth be told, he hadn't known about the penicillin issue at first.

If someone hadn't tipped him off, he wouldn't have found out at all...

He lowered his head, aimlessly stirring his soup until it splashed up onto his hand, snapping him out of his daze.

Trying to sound casual, he said, "This project still has a few more days to go. I'll be in Oceanvein for a bit longer. It's kind of a hassle staying elsewhere... think I could crash here a few more days?"

Eira chuckled. "Didn't we already settle this last night? You can stay as long as you want. I could even keep this room just for you."

Ethan barely had time to be happy when she followed up with, "I've always seen you as my little brother. Staying at your sister's place doesn't count as freeloading, right?"

His smile faltered-worse than crying. Any trace of excitement vanished.

No matter how grown-up he was now, Eira still looked at him like he was a kid. Not a man, just a kid.

Even if she'd lost her memory, she still instinctively treated him the same. And there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

But at least he got the green light to stay. He pulled out the ointment he'd bought the day before and crouched down in front of her to reapply it to her wrist.

While applying the cream, he asked casually, "Got any plans for today?"

Eira paused, then her voice dropped a little. "Heading back to the old house to sort some stuff."

A moment later, she pulled out her phone and opened an email, then handed it to Ethan. "Check out this script. Think it fits your style?"

She'd skimmed it after leaving Johnson Corp and thought the male lead-warm, upbeat, healing type-actually lined up perfectly with Ethan's real personality.

But it didn't really match how the public saw him, so she wanted his take on it before deciding anything.

Ethan glanced through the script quickly, eyes lighting up. "Not a lot of stuff like this on the market. If it's done right, could really blow up."

His gaze paused on the production info. "Though, this genre needs solid editing. Might be worth switching the post-prod team."

Eira leaned her cheek against her hand. "Got someone in mind?"

"My own team should work. Just tell me the timeline and I can rearrange my schedule."

Since things were moving fast, she didn't hesitate. Smiling, she said, "Sounds good. And I'll make sure you don't work for free-we'll count you in as a co-producer. Once the show starts pulling numbers, you'll get your share."

Ethan looked like he wanted to refuse, lips parted-but Eira cut him off.

"You say no, I'll just find someone else."

She knew how stubborn he could be, so all he could do was nod.

After breakfast, Eira hopped into the car with a few bodyguards, listening quietly as the driver gave her a rundown of what had gone on at the old house these past few years.

The Johnson estate was a traditional-style manor, with several buildings spread across the grounds-it was practically a self-contained world where you didn't have to step outside for anything.

Back then, after giving birth to Eira, her mom's health took a hit, so her dad had this whole place built just to keep her company at home. Even the backyard had a vegetable garden to give her a little taste of peaceful retirement life.

Eira used to think that simple, happy life would last. But then, right before everything went down...

Screech-

The sudden brake jolted her forward, caught off guard. She frowned, raising her brow. "What's going on?"

The driver was sweating, quick to explain. "Security said we can't go in."

Not allowed in?

Eira slowly rolled down the window, her flawless face coming into view. She threw the guard a cool glance. "So now you don't even recognize the owner of the house?"

The guard's eyes widened in shock, stumbling back a few steps. "You-you're..."

Eira's face stayed calm, lips pressed into a straight line. She ignored his dramatic reaction. "Open the gate."

The guard fumbled to unlock it, still stealing glances at the license plate in disbelief.

It really was her old car. She really was back. Alive.

The car stopped outside the main villa. Eira pulled off her sunglasses and tilted her head up, eyes landing on the familiar building. A tightness crept into her chest as emotion stung her nose.

She should've come back sooner.

Over the past two years, her uncle's family had taken over the estate, flipped the entire layout, and worst of all, destroyed her mother's favorite garden. In its place now stood a fancy fountain.

The once-elegant garden had been turned into some over-the-top foreign mess.

Her gaze grew colder. The crisp click of her heels echoed louder as she strode toward the door.

"Who is it? Some random woman again? You've got the wrong place-"

A maid poked her head out from the side entrance, grumbling-until she caught sight of the figure at the door.

The cloth in her hand dropped with a thud. Her voice trembled. "M-Miss Eira?"

She'd heard the whispers in the company-something about the eldest miss coming back from the dead-but seeing her in the flesh was a whole different shock.

Eira's expression stayed unreadable as she slowly walked toward the entrance, voice laced with sarcasm. "What, now I need permission to walk into my own home?"

The maid stiffened, hiding her hands behind her back as she discreetly made a gesture-telling someone to go alert the lady of the house.

But even that subtle move didn't slip past Eira's eyes.

So even the staff here had all been replaced by her uncle's people.

Her steps quickened. Then with no warning, she kicked the door wide open.

Inside, a pair of startled eyes turned toward her. That mother-daughter duo didn't even try to hide their shock.

Eira brushed some dust off her shoulder, her smile icy. "Well, Laura, you sure know how to treat yourself. Sweets first thing in the morning?"

Her eyes flicked to the expensive silverware and those customized pastries laid out neatly on the table. With a slight nod of her chin, she added, "Not sure you're even worthy of eating that stuff though."Laura Smith's hands trembled, the pastries she was holding slipped and hit the floor.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!"

Just a few days ago, William had already gone off on her a couple of times because of the whole scene Eira made at the company. But this estate? Eira never dared to step foot in it before. And now? She walks right in like she owns the place!

Watching the shock on Laura's face, Eira almost burst out laughing. She raised a brow and said with no rush, "Well, if I didn't show up, how would I know my dear aunt's still alive and kicking?"

"You bitch, what did you just say?!"

The young woman sitting across from her, Grace Johnson, stood up angrily and grabbed a nearby wine glass. But before she could even swing it, Eira caught her wrist midair, twisted it around effortlessly, and the wine splashed all over Grace's clothes.

With a loud screech, Grace froze under Eira's steely gaze.

"Watch your mouth when you're talking in my house," Eira snapped coldly.

Laura quickly jumped to her feet, terrified Eira might take it further. She hurriedly gestured to a maid to bring towels for Grace.

The fake smile on Laura's face was hanging by a thread, but she forced herself not to lose it entirely. Trying to play nice, she lowered her voice and said, "We've been looking everywhere for you. It's great that you're back, no need to argue with Grace."

"Maybe we could all just sit and chat calmly?"

"Looking for me?" Eira pulled her hand away with disgust, her eyes frosty. "So you failed to find me, and decided to move into my house, destroy the garden my mom loved most, and act like you belong here?"

Laura's smile stiffened. "Come on now, if we hadn't taken care of this place after your accident, it'd be a ruin by now."

Eira let out a laugh-angry, not amused. She glanced around the unfamiliar setup of the first floor, barely able to match it to the living room she remembered.

She stepped over shards of glass and made a slow circle around the room in front of the two women. "Oh, so I should be grateful, huh? Really got it all figured out, didn't you?"

Grace had finally wiped the sticky wine off her clothes. Seeing Eira so self-assured and cocky, she couldn't hold it in. "You've got some nerve. My mom is still your aunt," she snapped. Then, muttered under her breath, "What a brat."

Eira's heel nudged some glass pieces right at Grace's foot, making her retreat in panic, the insult stuck on her face as she didn't dare say more.

Eira's voice was low and ice-cold, "Being an elder doesn't mean a thing if I don't acknowledge it."

"Now that I'm back, the two of you-get out. ASAP."

At that, Laura's forced smile cracked. Gritting her teeth, she hissed, "We've been living here for years. And no one else was using it anyway."

She took a long breath. "If you want to come back, that's fine. We're here, we can keep you company. Your room's still exactly like you left it. You're always welcome."

The nerve of her nearly made Eira laugh. Arms folded, she looked Laura up and down. "You just moved in like it was your own, huh?"

She let a slow smile creep onto her lips, sharp as a blade. Every word enunciated crystal clear. "You want this estate? Fine."

"Hand over two billion in cash, and it's yours. Deal?"