Elena went silent. She stared at Arya with an expression that had emptied itself of everything it had been holding a moment before. His words were still moving through her, and as they did, she began to look back at the years behind her with different eyes. She looked across the table at Evelyn, who sat there quietly, visibly hurting in a way she rarely allowed herself to show, and Elena realized with a slow, uncomfortable clarity that she couldn't remember the last time she had asked her daughter how she was doing. Not about work, not about marriage prospects, not about grandchildren. Just how she was. Evelyn had built her business. Had become someone formidable. Had taken care of everything after her father died, including her mother, without complaint. And what had Elena done in return? Asked when she was getting married. Asked when there would be grandchildren. Decided what she needed and presented it as love. She had never once stopped to ask whether Evelyn was happy. "How

"Pfft..." Aruna and Karina both turned away at the same moment, shoulders shaking, each making a valiant and unsuccessful attempt to disguise their laughter as a cough. But Kiara wasn't finished. She spotted Karina and added, without hesitation, "You too! The quiet skinny auntie!" "Hahaha!" The delivery crew outside broke first, and from there the laughter spread freely across the courtyard, warm and uncontained, the awkwardness of a moment ago dissolving entirely into something cheerful. Kiara had a particular gift for that. Even Arya couldn't hold back a wide smile, looking down at the small person in his arms. But the most surprising response came from Evelyn. She didn't get angry. Where the first meeting had produced an eruption, this time she smiled, genuinely and warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners, completely unbothered by what she had just been called. She clapped her hands lightly and looked at Kiara with the focused warmth of someone who had decided to win this

Arya's expression grew serious as he heard the question. He crouched down to her level and began explaining carefully. "Let me tell you properly. Aruna is not the mother who gave birth to Ara — she is Daddy's younger sister. But because Aruna has taken care of Ara since you were very small and has always loved you, it's perfectly fine to call her mama, as a mother who raised you in place of your birth mother." "But Auntie Eve is different. She has no connection to Ara, so she cannot be called mama. As for Ara's birth mother, the one who actually gave birth to you — her name is Lana Wijaya." "Lana Wijaya?" Kiara's eyes went wide with sudden recognition. "Isn't that the person Daddy mentioned when we first met?" "That's right." Arya smiled and nodded, genuinely glad she remembered. "Lana Wijaya. That is Ara's birth mother." "So Ara has a mother?" "Of course Ara has a mother!" Aruna chimed in. "If you didn't have a mother, how would you have been born?" Kiara smiled at that, and n

"In that case," Thomas turned to his daughter and said, "go straight inside with Ara. Daddy will head home now." "Okay!" Viona understood and took Kiara's hand, saying goodbye to Arya as she went. "Goodbye, Daddy!" Arya gave a light nod and waved, then turned to follow Thomas. "Wait!" Gina, who had been standing there feeling thoroughly ignored, stepped forward to stop them both. "I'm not finished with you!" she said to Arya, then turned to Thomas. "I don't know who you are, but you really shouldn't associate with people like him. It would be a shame for someone as distinguished and successful-looking as you to lower yourself by keeping company with someone this common." Someone this common. Thomas turned to look between Arya and Gina for a moment when he heard that. He didn't know this woman, but the words made him quietly uneasy, and he said quickly, "So I should be associating with people like you instead?" "Exactly!" Gina agreed, visibly pleased, and began introducing he

Ryan nodded slowly, his expression shifting into something serious and respectful. "They truly are no longer ordinary humans. It's said they can live well beyond a hundred years." "A hundred years?" Robert, Thomas, Leonard, and Katheryn looked at one another, the unease moving visibly between them. A living weapon that was nearly impossible to kill and could walk the earth for more than a century. When the four of them let that thought settle, they couldn't help but shake their heads almost simultaneously. That was simply too far beyond them. They didn't even dare think about it too carefully. Only Arya remained completely unmoved, giving the lightest of nods, without surprise or any particular reaction. Because it made sense to him. If Grandmaster corresponded roughly to the sixth level of Qi Training, then naturally there would be higher stages reaching toward the ninth. The limitation on this world was not the ceiling of the system but the resources available to climb it. Int