CHAPTER 463: DECISION

As Coco stepped through the door and entered the house, she was instantly greeted by the sound of Kairo’s loud voice echoing through the hallway.

His words rang out clearly and the source of his irritation became immediately obvious.

"His stuff isn’t in the room you lent him at all!" Kairo exclaimed, frustration evident in his tone "I looked everywhere! He has nothing in his room!"

"I really don’t know, Kairo." Heiren stated firmly, his eyebrows furrowing.

Coco thought that she walked into an argument between the mediators, but her gaze met Kairo’s hopeful gaze, his face housing a mixture of eagerness and urgency as he asked his question, his words tinged with anticipation.

"Coco!" He exclaimed, his voice filled with hope. "Have you seen Rey? I’ve checked his room, but his clothes aren’t in the closet. Do you know where he could be?"

Kairo moved closer towards Coco, his steps quick and agitated, his heart racing with worry— his words came spilling out in a rush, his voice exposing his anxiety to the woman who stood dumbfounded by the doorway.

"I’m sure you must have noticed." He started, his body language showing his inner turmoil, "Rey generally leaves early in the morning, but I’m certain you observed this morning as well. He was usually the last one to get home, right?"

"Yeah.." Coco answered, realization slowly dawning on her.

"Surely, you know where he went! You two went out of the house this morning at the same time, no?" Kairo inquired, his voice having a lilt of insistence and panic.

Coco nodded, her gaze thoughtful as it occurred to her that perhaps Rey had deliberately kept quiet, knowing that Kairo would likely want to accompany him if given the chance.. He did say that he wants to leave Kairo in her care for the time being.

"Yes." She replied simply, her gaze fixed on Kairo’s eager features that lit up with relief, "It seems to me that Rey didn’t mention anything specifically because he probably knew you’d want to tag along."

The relief on Kairo’s face vanished and got replaced with confusion, his eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean?" He inquired, a lump forming in his throat. "Don’t tell me he left the city without me? Don’t tell me he—"

"Yes, he did." Coco answered, staring the mediator straight in the eyes. "He had been asking me lately to look after you while he was gone because he didn’t want anything to happen to you."

"What?"

"Coco?"

Heiren and Quizen spoke up at the same time, both of them startled at the words they had just heard.

"I don’t get it, Coco! Explain to me what you meant by that." Kairo hissed, his purple irises shaking in fear as he grabbed Coco and shook her. "He can’t leave without me! I’m his butler! I’m his guardian—"

"Baroness Hughes, my mother, is targeting you and Rey." Coco started bluntly. "I’m her only child so the law states that no one can kill me."

"That doesn’t make sense!" Kairo cried out and let go of Coco, his tears falling. "Why would he leave me here? With you and your husbands?! It’s obvious that I don’t fit in here! I would rather go with him than be left alone in a city I’m not familiar with!"

He didn’t let anyone have the chance to say anything and quickly ran to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Coco, Heiren, and Quizen both stared down the hall where Kairo disappeared into before the mediators turned their heads to their wife, their gazes prodding her to speak.

"Rey spoke to me last night and explained to me what he planned." Coco said with a sigh. "But look, it took me a good while before I agreed with what he wanted.. However, I couldn’t ignore his plea for help."

"Why didn’t you ask us?" Heiren frowned, averting his gaze from Coco’s face.

"You usually ask for our thoughts regarding this kind of thing, Coco.." The fourth husband mumbled, biting his lower lip as he showed his displeasure.

"I’m sorry." Coco apologized almost immediately and dropped the bag of coins to the floor which caused the mediators to jump in their spot before turning their heads to look at her.

Both of them simultaneously let out a terrified gasp when they saw Coco kneeling on the floor, her forehead touching the floorboards.

"Coco!" Heiren exclaimed, hurriedly running to her side. "You don’t have to kneel or apologize, okay?! Just explaining to us why you did it would have been enough for me and Quizen!"

"Please lift your head up!" Quizen cried out, kneeling in front of Coco and slid his fingers under her forehead.

"But I made you two upset with my decision.. And I’m sure Zaque as well as Alhai would be, too, if they heard it." Coco stated, letting Quizen raise her head off the floor.

"I already heard it." Came a monotonous voice from the living room couch. "And frankly, I don’t care what you do or what you want to do, as long as you’re not planning to throw me or any of my friends away."

Coco shifted her gaze away from Quizen’s blue eyes to the direction of the voice and saw Alhai emerging from the couch.

"He’s right, Coco!" Heiren agreed with Alhai’s statement. "It doesn’t matter what kind of decision you make.. Because at the end of the day, the four of us are still living in the same house as you as your husbands."

"What?" Coco frowned, not getting what Heiren meant with what he said.

"It means that you shouldn’t separate yourself from us." Heiren repeated and grabbed Coco’s cheeks, smiling. "As long as we’re with you, we’ll support your decision."

"But you got upset with me because I didn’t—" Coco rebutted, but Heiren squeezed her cheeks.

"Forget that, okay? Don’t mind it anymore." Heiren hummed, his eyes dropping down to her lips which caused his smile to get wider. "You’re our wife after all."