My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 221: The Lady with Mean Eyes

Nathan liked Maya’s class. It always smelled faintly of something sweet, like the biscuits Miss Alma sometimes gave out if you answered a question right. The sunlight streaming in through the tall windows made dust float in the air like tiny sparkles, and it felt warmer here than in his own class.

He sat at the corner table, his legs swinging back and forth because the chair was too high for his feet to touch the floor. Maya sat beside him, coloring the corner of her math worksheet in purple, and Julio sat on the other side, balancing his pencil between his upper lip and nose, making Maya giggle.

Nathan leaned closer, lowering his voice like he was telling a very serious secret.

"Hey," he began, glancing around his sister’s class. "Do you remember that lady from this morning?"

Maya stopped coloring and blinked at him. "Which lady?"

"The one in the fancy coat," Nathan said, his eyebrows pulling together as if that detail alone made the lady suspicious. "The same one who came to see Uncle Felix at the office. We saw her before we went to school. You opened the door for her?!"

"Ohhh," Maya said slowly, like she was pulling the memory out of a dusty box. "Yeah. She didn’t smile the right way."

Nathan nodded firmly. "Exactly. Nice people smile with their eyes, too. Hers were... mean. Like they were trying to see inside your head and make you feel small." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Maya scrunched up her nose, thinking. "And the way she talked to Mommy..." She set her crayon down and folded her arms in a surprisingly grown-up way. "It was like she was trying to make Mommy upset."

Nathan crossed his arms too, mirroring her. "I didn’t like her."

From the other side, Julio perked up. "What lady?"

"The one from this morning," Maya explained, turning toward him. "She was wearing shiny shoes. And she looked at us like she didn’t really see us. Like we were... chairs or something."

Julio tilted his head, his brows pinching together. "That’s weird. Why would someone like that meet mom?"

Nathan’s eyes lit up, and he leaned forward like he had just solved a puzzle. "Maybe she’s friends with that bad lady who went to jail."

Maya’s mouth fell open. "You mean the one who yelled at us and Jazz that one time?"

Julio’s gaze flicked between them, clearly curious. "What happened?"

"Well..." Maya drew out the word, glancing around as if to check no one else was listening. The murmur of the other kids doing their work felt like a cover for their secret talk. "There was this lady, she was loud and mean. But later, she... disappeared."

"She didn’t disappear," Nathan corrected, her voice hushed but insistent. "Uncle Leonard said the police took her away. That means she’s in jail."

Julio’s eyes widened. "Whoa. That’s serious."

Nathan nodded. "Exactly. And maybe this morning’s lady is friends with her. That’s why she was being mean to Mom. Maybe she wanted to tell her something bad, but in a nice voice so it sounds tricksy."

"Like in those cartoons," Maya added, "where the bad guy pretends to be nice but then steals the treasure."

Julio gasped, clearly invested now. "So what’s the treasure?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don’t know... but maybe it’s not gold or money. Maybe it’s something only Mom has."

Maya tilted her head thoughtfully, tapping the table with her crayon. "Mommy’s smile?"

Nathan grinned at her. "Yeah. Mom’s smile is worth more than treasure."

Maya nodded slowly, clearly still thinking it through. "That’s kinda true. When she smiles, even when stuff’s bad, it makes things feel... okay, you know?"

Maya held up her drawing, where she’d scribbled a stick-figure version of their mom with a giant curved mouth. "See? I drew it big so it shines."

Nathan laughed. "Nice. That smile could blind a pirate."

Nathan leaned back, already imagining it. "Oh yeah. He’d stand in front of Mom with his arms crossed like a superhero. No one would get past him."

Julio tilted his head. "Wait, but what about Uncle Leonard? Wouldn’t he protect it too?"

"Sure. He’d give them the look."

"The look?"

"You know, the one where his eyebrows go down like this-" Nathan made an exaggerated frown, puffing out his cheeks for extra effect.

Maya laughed so hard she almost dropped her crayon. Julio copied the face, but his came out more like a confused fish, which made them all laugh even more.

"Okay, okay," Nathan said, trying to be serious again. "But I think we need to watch out for that lady. If we see her again, we have to tell Mom right away."

"Like spies," Maya agreed, puffing out her chest. "Super spies."

Julio nodded solemnly. "Can I be a spy too?"

Maya looked at Nathan, and they both gave matching nods. "Only if you don’t tell anyone about our mission," Nathan said.

Julio zipped his lips shut dramatically and pretended to throw away the key.

Before Nathan could continue with more spy rules, the sharp trill of the bell cut through the chatter of the classroom. Chairs scraped against the floor, papers rustled, and the air filled with the sound of shuffling feet as the children began packing up.

Nathan pushed himself off his chair, slinging his little backpack over one shoulder. "Bye, Maya. Bye, Julio."

"Bye!" they both chorused, waving enthusiastically.

Nathan trotted out of the room, heading toward his own class, the faint scent of crayons still lingering in his nose.

Inside the classroom, Maya and Julio went back to gathering their things, their earlier conversation already folding into the background of their day like a secret tucked away in their pockets.

Outside, the schoolyard was bathed in late morning light, children’s laughter carrying across the asphalt. A gust of wind rattled the leaves in the tall trees lining the fence.

From across the street, half-hidden behind a parked van, a figure stood still, watching the school building. Their gaze followed the windows like they were counting them.

A shadow cut across their face as a cloud passed overhead, and then, just as another group of parents walked by, the figure turned, melting into the crowd and disappearing from sight.

No one at that school noticed.