The Mistress Who Ran Away With The Twins

(Scene after Sylvia left with the kids) 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

-----------

After Sylvia left with the kids, Rome didn’t move for a long moment.

The last thing he saw was her back—small, tense, trembling as she clutched the pale child in her arms while the twins hurried after her.

Calyx was the first to break the silence.

"Bro... you okay?"

Rome didn’t answer because he wasn’t.

Because something inside him had cracked so quietly he almost didn’t feel it—almost.

He inhaled deeply, as if the air itself had become too thick to swallow. His mind replayed everything on a loop.

Sylvia shielding the child, the panic in her eyes when he tried to look closer.

Who is he, Sylvia? Who is the child you’re hiding from me?

The question weighed heavily in his chest.

He wasn’t angry. He expected to be—but he wasn’t.

He was something worse...

Confused. Restless. Suspicious. And quietly... devastated.

He lifted a hand, rubbing his forehead as the pressure behind his eyes grew.

Alpheus watched him carefully. "Rome... she looked terrified."

"I know..." Rome whispered.

And that was the problem.

Sylvia rarely feared anything. Especially not him.

But today, today she ran from him like he was the most dangerous person in the world. Exactly the way she left him six years ago.

And the child... that boy—

Rome’s jaw tightened unconsciously as he replayed the smallest details.

The sickly pallor. The way Sylvia held him like her heartbeat alone was keeping him alive. The way she hid his face, tightening her grip when Rome tried to step closer.

And that flicker of a thought, absurd, impossible...

Why did the kid look like—

He shut the thought down instantly, swallowing the sharp ache in his chest.

Ridiculous. He refused to think it.

But the uneasiness stayed. Heavy. Suffocating.

Calyx placed a hand on his shoulder. "Bro... don’t overthink. Maybe it was just an emergency. Maybe the kid is just... someone close to her and the twins."

"That....wasn’t a normal reaction, like she was afraid to show the child to us," Rome muttered, voice distant. "If it was something simple, she wouldn’t have run. She wouldn’t have refused your offer to drive them to the hospital. She looked like she was trying to hide something."

Calyx’s eyes softened because Rome was right.

Rome exhaled shakily, eyes fixed on the direction where she had fled like he could still see her weaving through the crowd. Like staring hard enough might pull her back.

He hated feeling helpless.

Not angry. Not at Sylvia.

He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at her, despite the fact that she was clearly hiding the boy from him.

Was it because she thought he was dangerous that he might do something to the child? Or was she simply keeping him away from his sight for another reason entirely?

What was her reason for doing this? He couldn’t guess.

Unless... that child was special to him, or somehow connected to him.

The thought made his chest tighten. Every instinct he had told him that the boy wasn’t just an ordinary child that there was something about him, something that made Sylvia’s fear make sense, but also made it all the more mysterious.

He was supposed to be happy today, seeing the twins on their birthday. But for a reason he couldn’t explain, he couldn’t calm down.

Like some instinct he didn’t understand wanted to protect the child in Sylvia’s arms, too.

Alpheus crossed his arms. "Rome. Be honest. What did you feel when you saw her holding that kid?"

Rome’s fingers curled slowly. He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to admit it. But the words escaped anyway.

"...Something was wrong."

"Wrong like what?" Calyx asked quietly.

Rome swallowed. "Wrong like... she didn’t want me to see him."

Silence fell.

Rome wasn’t shouting. Wasn’t demanding answers. Wasn’t accusing anyone. But his calmness was worse than anger.

Too controlled. Too quiet. Like something in him was breaking and he didn’t know how to stop it.

"And... she seemed really terrified to see us," Rome added, voice low. "She was shaking, Calyx. Like she didn’t want us to see the child’s face."

His friends exchanged looks.

Calyx stepped a little closer. "Bro... do you think she’s hiding something about that kid?"

Rome didn’t answer.

Instead, he looked at his hands—remembering how he had instinctively tried to reach out earlier, and how Sylvia immediately pulled away, tightening her hold as if she thought he’d snatch the child from her.

A bitter laugh slipped out of him.

"She acted like I was... dangerous."

Calyx winced. "Bro..."

Rome shook his head. "I don’t blame her."

It was the truth.

He blamed himself for everything—for the distance, for the years that had carved a canyon between them, a gap he didn’t know how to bridge.

Maybe it was his fault that Sylvia had left him. Ever since the day he discovered the twins were his, his mind hadn’t stopped turning over every possible reason why she had run away from him.

Did she truly betray him with another man? Or was it because of his family, or perhaps because no matter how much love he showed, it was never enough for her?

He didn’t know. And now, he wasn’t even sure whether he had the right to stay angry at her.

Slowly, almost without realizing it, the resentment he had carried in his heart began to fade. What remained was a quiet recognition that Sylvia had raised their children on her own.

Despite living in hardship, she had done her best to raise them well. Now, he no longer saw only the woman who had left him. He saw the mother of his children as strong and determined woman.

"Maybe," Calyx murmured, "maybe she doesn’t trust you anymore."

Alpheus frowned. "No. She looked scared. Not of you, Rome—of the situation."

Rome looked away.

He wished he could believe that.

A suffocating silence settled again.

Alpheus finally exhaled. "Bro... there’s only one way to stop torturing yourself."

Rome’s gaze sharpened. "Which is?"

"Find out the truth." Alpheus met his eyes. "About the boy."

Rome didn’t respond.

But the words sank into him. He didn’t want the curiosity. He didn’t want the suspicion. But it was eating him alive.

Why would the child matter? Why would Sylvia hide him? Why did the boy’s pale little face feel like a thorn in his chest?

Rome inhaled sharply. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t jealous. He wasn’t accusing Sylvia. Because nothing about the boy and nothing about Sylvia’s panic felt normal.

Calyx stepped in front of him. "Rome. Look at me."

Rome lifted his eyes.

"Do you think the boy is... Sylvia’s kid?" Calyx asked carefully.

Rome’s throat tightened.

He hated that the thought even existed. He hated how his friends gave him that same questioning look.

He said nothing.

He couldn’t.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I don’t know," he murmured. "I really don’t."

But he knew this..

Sylvia didn’t look at him like a stranger. She looked at him like a wound that never healed. And she was terrified of letting him see the truth. And that hurt more than anything.

-------

Later in the Car.....

Rome sat in the back seat of Alpheus’s car, staring blankly out the window. His mind was too loud.

Calyx scrolled on his phone. Alpheus drove in silence.

Rome leaned back, closing his eyes. But Sylvia’s voice replayed.

"You don’t need to know him."

Why? Why didn’t he deserve to know?

If the boy was Sylvia’s child, another sibling to the twins, then he needed the truth.

Why did she look like she’d rather walk on glass than explain who the child was?

Rome dragged a hand down his face. He didn’t want to fight her. Didn’t want to pressure her. Didn’t want to force anything.

He just wanted to understand. Wanted to know why she looked broken and lost the moment she saw him.

Wanted to know what—or whom—she was protecting.

A red light cast a faint glow on his face.

Alpheus glanced at him through the mirror. "Rome."

Rome hummed tiredly. "Yeah?"

"Whatever you’re thinking... don’t jump to conclusions."

Rome nodded weakly.

But even he knew he wouldn’t stop. Because deep inside him, an idea, painful, impossible was already growing.

And Rome knew.

This would haunt him. Tonight. Tomorrow. Until he found out who the child really was. And why Sylvia ran...as if she was hiding more than just the boy in her arms.

As the car entered the main road, Rome pulled out his phone.

His friends stared at him.

"Rome?" Calyx asked slowly.

Rome didn’t hesitate. He scrolled to a familiar contact.

Rome’s thumb hovered for a moment—one last chance to walk away. But the questions were too heavy.

He pressed call.

The line rang once.

"Hey, what’s up?" the man answered lazily.

Rome closed his eyes.

"I need information."

"What a greeting~ I knew it. You only call me when you need something. I’m hurt, Mr. Hariston~"

"Tsk. Shut up. I’m not in the mood for jokes. I’m serious."

"Pffft—so, what is it, Mr. Hariston? Don’t tell me you’re calling again just to get information about another child, haha."

Rome exhaled, feeling the tension in his chest.

"Yes. It’s about a child."

Alpheus and Calyx stiffened beside him.

Rome stared down at his hands, remembering the brief glimpse he got of the boy’s pale skin earlier.

"A child again? Seriously... how many times have you called me just to dig up information about kids? So what is it this time? Don’t tell me you suspect you have another one again," the man teased.

"Tsk. Don’t chatter nonsense," Rome said, voice tight. "Whether it’s my child or not doesn’t concern you. I just want you to find everything you can about the boy Sylvia Lincolm was holding today. I believe he’s at the hospital with her now. He’s... sick, about the same age as Paris and Egypt."

There was a pause on the line before the man finally asked, "And what about payment?"

"Tsk." Rome rolled his eyes, exasperated. "I’ll double what I paid you last time. Now, no more chatter. Just find everything I asked for!"

Then Rome ended the call and leaned back in his seat, jaw tight, eyes burning. He told himself it was just curiosity. He told himself it was nothing more than needing answers.

He told himself it wasn’t the fear—that the truth would hurt more than not knowing.

But deep inside...he already knew.

Whatever truth Sylvia was hiding...

It wasn’t small. And it wasn’t something she ever intended for him to discover. Now he knew he wouldn’t stop.

He would find the truth and he would make sure of it no matter what.