CHAPTER 35: UNINVITED VISITORS

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The Next Morning...

"H-hello..."

I couldn’t believe the sight in front of me.

Of all people to disturb my sleep—it had to be them.

Standing right outside my door were two of the overly persistent men from yesterday.

"Hi, Sylvia! Good mornin—"

Calyx didn’t even get to finish his greeting because I slammed the door in his face the moment I recovered from the shock.

"Ahhm, Sylvia? Good morning!" he continued from outside, as if I hadn’t just shut him out.

"Sylvia, you woke up as beautiful as ever!" Alfonso chimed in, his voice loud and annoyingly cheerful. "Sorry for the disturbance, but Calyx and I brought breakfast for you and the kids! We made sure it’s delicious, so please enjoy it!"

"What are you two doing here?! And how the hell did you even find out where we live?!" I snapped through the door, my irritation rising fast.

They were already ruining my day—and it wasn’t even 8 a.m. yet.

"Oh, that? We pestered Alpheus until he finally gave us your address!" Calyx replied unapologetically. "Oh—and by the way, Alpheus and Dave said they won’t be able to visit today, so Alfonso and I came instead. Then tomorrow, they’ll take their turn!"

I groaned and rubbed my temples in frustration.

So not only did Alpheus give them my address without permission, but now they were apparently planning some kind of rotating visitor schedule to invade mine and my kids’ life.

Just great.

"GET OUT!!!" I screamed furiously at the two of them.

"W-wait! We were just hoping we could take you and the kids to scho—"

"I SAID LEAVE!! GO!! YOU’RE ALREADY GETTING ON MY NERVES AND IT’S NOT EVEN 8 A.M.!"

"Whoa... Sylvia’s scary. She might eat us alive if we don’t leave now..."

I heard Alfonso whisper just outside the door.

"Are you scared of her?"

"Of course not. But I believe in the saying, Better to anger a drunk man than a woman who just woke up."

"...Well, you have a point. But what do we do with the food?"

"Just leave it here. Maybe she’ll cool down and eat it later." Alfonso replied.

"Too bad, though... I didn’t even get to see the twins. Tsk, tsk.." one of them muttered in disappointment.

"A-ahah-ha—S-Sylvia! We’re leaving now! N-not because we’re scared or anything! We just, uh... remembered we have something important to do!" Calyx shouted.

"I don’t care what you’re doing or where you’re going—just GO!" I snapped again, still fuming.

"Right, right! We left the food right by your door!" Calyx called out. "Hope you and the kids get to enjoy it while it’s still warm! B-bye!"

I stood there until I heard their footsteps finally retreating down the hallway, and only then did I let out a long, exhausted sigh.

Peace. At last.

Until—

"Mommy... who were you yelling at?" came a small, sleepy voice behind me.

I turned around to see Paris standing there in the hallway, still in her pajamas, hair tousled and sticking up in every direction.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up at me with a confused expression.

"Ah, it’s nothing, sweetheart—just some people offering loans.." I replied casually, though Paris continued to look at me like she didn’t quite buy it.

"Then why did you sound so angry at them?" she asked, her brows furrowing with suspicion.

"Ah, well... because they were trying to force me into borrowing money from them," I answered with an annoyed sigh. "But I don’t have anything to pay them back with, so I had to yell at them to leave—they were just being so pushy."

Paris blinked at me, still unconvinced. "But Mommy... why did their voices sound kind of familiar?"

I scratched my head awkwardly, trying to come up with a believable answer. "Oh, that’s probably because they’re the same people who always try to convince me to borrow from them. Maybe you’ve heard their voices before—that’s why they seem familiar."

"No, I don’t think that’s it... Their voices were different." Paris said thoughtfully.

"Alright, alright, enough about that," I quickly cut her off, sensing this conversation was headed somewhere I didn’t want it to go. "Just go sit down, okay? I’ll make you some breakfast."

It was the only way to divert her. With Paris, once she started asking questions, she wouldn’t stop until she got the truth—and honestly, I was not ready for that conversation.

"You already cooked breakfast?" Paris asked curiously.

I froze on the spot.

Oh no.

I hadn’t cooked anything yet—not even started. It was still early, a full 30 minutes before my usual wake-up time. But thanks to the relentless knocking from those two clowns, I’d been forced out of bed much earlier than planned.

Now, only just realizing it, I had nothing prepared for Paris.

"Just a moment, sweetheart." I said quickly, trying to sound composed as I stepped outside the house.

I glanced around, scanning the area to see if the two men were still lurking nearby. Fortunately, it looked like they had actually left.

With a sigh of relief, I picked up the food package they had left at our doorstep.

I stared at it for a moment.

It looked like it came from a high-end restaurant—fancy packaging, warm to the touch, and smelling far too tempting for someone who hadn’t eaten yet.

Damn it.

This is bad. If I serve this food to my children, it’s almost like accepting them—those men—into our lives. And I wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Gripping the package tightly, I turned and walked straight toward the trash bin outside the house.

While holding the food in my arms, I couldn’t help but hesitated.

No... this food has nothing to do with my anger, I reminded myself, tossing the paper bag into the bin—but keeping the styrofoam containers as I made my way back into the house.

What a waste it would be if I just threw this away, right? There are so many people out there who barely have anything to eat—and I’m not the type to waste food.

I glanced down at the warm containers in my hands.

These meals had nothing to do with my anger toward them. And honestly, it would be a shame to throw away perfectly good food. Better that it fills our stomachs than ends up in the trash.

I brought one container closer and took a deep breath, letting the delicious aroma wash over me.

It smells so good...

I couldn’t help but grin a little to myself.

Okay, fine. I’m not the type to be bribed with food. They can bring all the good meals they want—it doesn’t mean I’ll let them anywhere near the kids. But hey... that doesn’t mean I have to waste the food either, right?

"Mommy, what’s that?" Paris asked curiously, pointing to the containers in my hands.

"Oh, this?" I said, quickly thinking of an excuse. "Our kind neighbor dropped it off. Said it was leftover from their breakfast, and instead of letting it go to waste, they gave it to us."

"Woah! It looks delicious, Mommy! Our neighbors are so nice—this food looks expensive!" Paris said excitedly as she eagerly opened one of the styrofoam containers, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the perfectly plated meal inside.

"Yes... very kind of them.." I muttered with a small, awkward smile.

"Go ahead and eat." I told her, setting the containers down on the table.

At least someone would be happy this morning.