A few days later, Dylan, Ellie, Maya, Amy, Aaron, Clara, Fiona, and Iris held a barbecue in Ellie's backyard to celebrate their graduations, Clara officially joining the family, and the court marriage between Dylan and Maya that took place yesterday.

Once the marriage certificate was finalized, Robert immediately began processing the release of Maya's inheritance. They invited Robert, Connor, and Sharon, as well as a few neighbors who were close to them, who also brought food to liven up the party.

Dylan invited his restaurant supervisor (who grumbled about still being single even as he offered congratulations), Sebastian the bookstore owner, and George, the project manager from construction. Lena also invited Doctor Lucas, Rosa, and her husband, Paul, the detective.

George, who was like a father figure to Dylan, immediately helped him in the back, grilling the meat, sausages, and burgers, and Connor also came over to help. The party went smoothly; everyone seemed to be having fun and relaxing.

But an hour later, suddenly, "ding... dong," Ellie's doorbell rang. Maya walked to the door to open it, thinking perhaps another neighbor had arrived with food. "Click," as soon as the door opened, Maya froze, seeing the person on the other side and standing on the porch.

"Um... hi Maya, how are you?"

"What do you want here, Big Brother?" Maya shouted angrily, seeing that the person who had arrived was Mike and his fiancée, Carla, whose wedding was only a week away.

Hearing Maya's shout, of course, Ellie, Amy, and Lena immediately ran to the door. They also froze, shocked to see Mike standing there. Dylan, seeing them, immediately handed his tongs to Connor and ran to the door. He instantly stood behind the four girls, who were frozen in the doorway.

"Mike, why are you here?" Dylan asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to congratulate you all on your graduation," Mike replied.

Dylan stepped out and closed the door behind him. He then stood facing Mike with his arms crossed.

"Congratulations on the graduation? Didn't both of you come to that disastrous ceremony that ended up only using email? You came along with the person who harmed Maya's mom, right? I wonder why you still dare to show up here," Dylan cut straight to the point.

Mike and Carla's faces immediately looked embarrassed and guilty. The atmosphere became silent again. Dylan stayed quiet, just staring at Mike, waiting for an explanation to come out of Mike's mouth. Then Carla took Mike's hand.

"Babe, maybe we should just go. Don't ruin their party," Carla said politely.

"Okay... sorry, Dylan. Back then, I was only thinking about keeping the family whole, like Mom wanted, but... Maya is apparently too sensitive and dramatic. Please tell Maya I apologize," Mike said.

Dylan remained silent. He continued to stare at Mike without saying anything. Then Mike and Carla turned and walked back to their car. Dylan immediately used his Search Area skill to check around the house, just in case Mike had brought backup to attack them, because he didn't trust Mike at all. After finishing the search,

"Hey,"

Mike and Carla stopped. Dylan walked up to them and immediately placed his hands on both of their shoulders. He instantly used his Hypnosis skill.

"Even if you are tortured to death, you will not tell anyone that Maya is in this house, including your stepfather. Do you understand?" Dylan asked.

"Yes," Mike and Carla replied.

Dylan immediately teleported back to the porch, and "snap," he snapped his fingers and saw Mike and Carla look confused as to why they had stopped. Mike turned to look at Dylan, who was still leaning against the door, and then turned back, pulling Carla to walk to his car at the curb. After Mike's car drove off and turned the corner, Dylan was still leaning against the door.

"CATS, please temporarily secure this house. Put up your protective dome to cover this entire residential lane," Dylan muttered in his head.

[Understood, sir.]

"I can see Mike has changed. He wasn't like that before. Does this have something to do with CROWS?" Dylan asked.

[Yes, it is clear that he and his future wife have changed drastically since we met them at the cafe. This definitely has something to do with CROWS.]

"Do you know what Maya's grandfather bequeathed to Maya? I don't want to ask Mr. Robert," Dylan replied.

[Money, a house, and a samurai sword with a piece of Dark Eye stone in the hilt.]

"I suspected as much. No wonder CROWS sent Mike here. Their goal was to influence Maya, and it's clear they know Maya and I are married," Dylan said.

[That is absolutely correct, sir.]

"Let's go inside," Dylan invited.

[Understood, sir.]

Dylan stepped inside. As soon as the door was closed, "swoosh," a transparent holographic dome immediately enveloped the house and the entire residential lane where the house was located. Inside, Maya, Ellie, Lena, and Amy were already waiting for Dylan.

"What did my brother say?" Maya asked, annoyed.

"Congrats on graduating," Dylan replied briefly.

"Huh... lame. He showed up at the graduation ceremony with that scumbag," Maya said, exasperated.

"Yeah, exactly. He must have had another motive for coming," Lena added.

"Hmm... does he know that you two got married in court yesterday?" Ellie asked.

"Probably," Dylan answered.

"This is bad. Who told him?" Amy wondered.

"Sorry, that was a mistake in my office process,"

Dylan immediately looked past the four girls, and all four turned around. Robert was standing behind them, holding a soda bottle and looking uncomfortable.

"Mr. Robert told him?" Dylan asked.

"My assistant. Yesterday, when you were at the courthouse with me, Mike called the office asking about the procedure for releasing the inheritance after the marriage. My assistant accidentally told him that Maya and Dylan were already married, making them a family, and that the disbursement process had begun," Robert explained.

"I see. The assistant can't really be blamed either. Mike is also Mr. Robert's client, and it's clear he knows Mike and Maya are family," Ellie mumbled.

"True," Amy added curtly.

"But rest assured, according to Maya's grandfather's will, the specifics of what is being divided are not mentioned to each heir, and the heirs are not entitled to ask. My assistant didn't say what exactly was bequeathed when Mike asked yesterday because he was busy calculating the money he would receive to buy a house," Robert replied.

"Oh, that's a relief then, sir, because even I don't know what I'll be receiving," Maya said.

"Yes, that's right. Your grandfather's message was specific. The goal was to prevent you from being jealous and fighting with each other," Robert responded.

"Alright, in that case, everything's safe," Amy replied.

"Come on, Mr. Robert, let's eat some more," Lena invited, leading Robert away.

Everyone walked inside to continue their barbecue party. Dylan remained standing by the door.

"Just as I suspected, CATS," Dylan thought to himself.

[Correct, sir.]

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