A few days later, on Sunday, Ellie, Maya, and Lena went to the supermarket for groceries, while Amy went to the bank and then to the bookstore with Dylan, which was not far from the supermarket. They planned to do their monthly shopping and restock the thinning food supplies. Ellie checked the list Noah had given her, while Maya grabbed a shopping cart and pushed it inside. After that, the three of them walked together, but when they reached the vegetable section,

"Wait... is that you guys... Ellie, Maya, and Lena?"

The three of them turned around and saw Connor standing behind them, carrying a basket on his arm. Connor's eyes immediately focused on the three large bellies in front of him, and he instantly smiled.

"Wow... Dylan is truly something, hehehe," he muttered.

"Hi Connor, why are you in this city?" Ellie asked.

"He goes to college here. Sharon told me," Maya answered.

"Oh yeah, Sharon mentioned she ran into you and Dylan at the hospital; she works there, you know," Connor replied.

"Yes, that's right, we chatted briefly. Congratulations, you two are engaged now, aren't you?" Maya asked, smiling.

"Huh... really?" Lena asked, staring at Connor.

"Hehe... that's right. Sharon's at my apartment now; I came here to shop because we plan to cook ourselves afterward. Thank you. You all... look healthy. Where's Dylan?" Connor answered.

"Dylan is accompanying Amy to the bookstore and the bank. We were asked to wait here," Ellie said.

"Hmm... I see. Well, since I ran into you, there's something I need to tell you," Connor said, looking a bit serious.

Connor then took out his smartphone, unlocked it, and tapped the screen a few times. After that, he showed his smartphone to Ellie, Maya, and Lena, even handing it over so the three could read it. Connor's smartphone screen displayed the chat history of the alumni class group chat that Dylan, Ellie, Maya, Lena, and Amy were not part of. A new name had stood out over the past week, having been added to the group chat by one of their classmates.

That name was Charles, who immediately started bragging about his achievement of inheriting something from his grandfather as soon as he joined. In the chat, Charles also stated that he would find Ellie and settle the score with Dylan for supposedly slandering him, although none of their classmates believed Dylan had done such a thing and defended Dylan, including Connor and Sharon. The faces of Ellie, Maya, and Lena changed; the color drained from their complexions, and their eyebrows furrowed in unison.

"Can I get a screenshot of this chat history?" Ellie asked.

"Sure, here, let me send it via email," Connor replied.

Ellie returned the smartphone. Connor then captured several chat histories, starting from when Charles rejoined the group, from the beginning until today. After that, he asked Ellie to put her email address into his smartphone and sent it. Once sent, Connor deleted Ellie's email address from his smartphone, then put it away again.

"I ask you to be careful. He seems really hateful toward Dylan," Connor said.

"We understand," Lena replied.

"Alright, I'm heading to the checkout. I don't want Sharon waiting too long at my apartment. See you later," Connor said, smiling.

"Sure, see you later," Lena replied.

Connor turned around and left toward the checkout through the kitchenware aisle. Lena turned to look at Ellie, who looked angry but also scared at the same time, and Maya, who was just quiet.

"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?" Lena asked.

"It's nothing, let's go shopping," Maya answered.

"Ellie?" Lena asked.

"I'm fine. You guys go ahead. I just need to send Connor's email to Dylan first," Ellie said.

"Okay, we'll go on ahead then," Lena replied.

Lena and Maya, pushing the shopping cart, walked off while Ellie paused briefly to send the message to Dylan. After that, she walked to catch up with Maya and Lena, who had already gone ahead. Meanwhile, at the bank, Dylan guided Amy toward the exit door after they finished with customer service and handled their business.

"Dling," a notification popped up on Dylan's smartphone. He immediately picked it up and saw Ellie had sent him an email. He opened it and read the entire chat history Connor had sent him. As Dylan read it, his face immediately turned serious, his eyebrows furrowed, and his jaw tightened. The further he read, the angrier his face became. Amy, watching from the side, finally asked,

"What is it, babe?" Amy asked.

Dylan didn't answer; he just handed his smartphone to Amy so she could read everything herself. Just like Dylan, Amy's face immediately turned serious, her jaw tight, and her eyebrows knitted. Then she turned to look at Dylan, handing his smartphone back.

"That guy is back, huh," Amy muttered.

"It seems so, but he's in that city, so I don't think it's a problem for us being here," Dylan replied.

"Our friends, besides Connor and Sharon, all think it's just normal high school squabbling... they don't understand," Amy said.

"Let them be. It's better if they don't know anything," Dylan replied.

"You're right. Let's go to the supermarket," Amy suggested.

"Yeah, let's catch up with them," Dylan replied.

They walked out of the bank toward the supermarket, which was not far from the bank. As they walked on the sidewalk, "bwooong," a hologram screen suddenly opened in front of Dylan and Amy. They both watched it while walking. The screen displayed breaking news reporting the death of a renowned businessman and national patriot named Vincent Richmond today due to a heart attack. Dylan's eyes widened immediately when he saw the news. He froze instantly, as did Amy, who was paying more attention to Dylan than the news.

Dylan smiled, thinking Vincent had died on his own without Dylan having to do anything, but when the footage showed the scene at the hospital, Dylan's eyes widened again, and his mouth fell open. He saw Charles among the guests at the hospital who looked genuinely grieving over the loss. Dylan immediately grabbed his smartphone and checked the chat history Ellie had sent him once more. He read the chat entries from yesterday and today. It turned out Charles had written that he inherited something from his grandfather, and he sent that chat yesterday. Dylan looked back at the hologram screen in front of him.

"Hey KATS, don't tell me what Vincent inherited to Charles is that," Dylan thought in his head.

[CROWS.]

"I should have figured it out. That son of a bitch. Apparently Charles is the new host for CROWS now... this is seriously annoying," Dylan said in his head.

[That's right, sir. CROWS will definitely tell Charles about us. From now on, we must be careful.]

Dylan glanced at Amy next to him, then he looked at Amy's already swollen belly. It looked like in two months, or maybe just one month, their child would be born.

[Don't worry, sir. Even if Charles is reckless, CROWS knows that a frontal confrontation with us will end badly. It's unlikely to let Charles act carelessly.]

"I know. Alright, let's get everything ready, KATS, until the time comes. For now, please protect my four wives and my child in their bellies, especially Ellie. From the chat sent to me, it seems my hypnosis effect on Charles has disappeared," Dylan said.

[That's all because CROWS is inside him. It must have been CROWS that broke the hypnosis.]

"That insolent bastard, damn it," Dylan replied.

"Is there something you want to talk about, babe?" Amy asked, looking at Dylan next to her.

Dylan turned to look at Amy, who looked anxious but also ready to get involved in whatever happened and supported Dylan one hundred percent, judging by her expression. Dylan immediately put his arm around Amy and led her forward.

"Let's walk, babe. We'll talk when we get home," Dylan replied.

"Alright, let's pick up the others first," Amy replied.

They continued walking toward the supermarket. The news KATS displayed was apparently the same news that aired on television an hour later. Dylan, Ellie, Maya, Lena, Amy, Aaron, and Clara watched the same news an hour later together. After that, Dylan told everyone everything and prepared them for something that was bound to happen sooner or later in the future. Of course, Ellie, Maya, Lena, and Amy immediately moved to surround Dylan and hugged him together. They promised not to leave the house because their house was the safest place in the world.

Dylan also told Aaron and Clara about his relationship with Charles, what Charles had done, how he approached Ellie, and what Dylan did to get Charles moved abroad. Dylan asked Aaron and Clara to keep an eye on Fiona and Iris and be ready if anything happened.

"I'm ready, big brother. Don't worry," Aaron replied.

"That's right, big brother. From now on, I'll pick up Fiona and Iris from school every day with Megan. Trust us," Clara said.

"Thanks, please do," Dylan replied.

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