Chapter 96

Carl seemed to read Eliana's thoughts, giving her a quick nod before speaking into the speaker.

"Got it,Mom.Lia and I are heading back now."

"Alright," Stella's voice crackled through the line, then the call ended.

In the brief silence that followed, Eliana's mind spun.

She had already met four of the six sons of Stella and Louise, each with such distinct personalities that it felt like meeting characters from different worlds. But Rowell remained a mystery.

Despite his excellent qualifications, he had been reduced to a nobody in the entertainment industry because of a woman. Would he be bitter like Damon, wearing his frustration like a cloak?

Rowell old than you?"she asked suddenly.

"Yes, but he's younger than Damon and Sawyer. He and Harold are twins," Carl replied without hesitation.

"Harold? You mean the one doing medical aid abroad?" she pressed further.

"Yes." Carl gave her a half-smile, though there was something wistful in his tone. "You don't remember?Back when we were kids, whenever we went out together, people couldn't take their eyes off them. They were so identical. They always took the spotlight after you."

Eliana chuckled. "Well, 1 honestly don't remember having twin brothers."

"That's because you were too young. Besides, Mom carries the twin gene. She even has a twin sister, but...well, her side of the family cut ties with us long ago."

Carl's voice dropped. He shot her a sly glance. "Which means, Lia... if you ever have kids, you might give birth to twins too."

Eliana shook her head instantly. "No, thank you. I don't want that many children." Her mother believed in large families-equating noise with happiness, children with prosperity. And in her pursuit of a daughter, Stella had ended up with far too many births.

But Eliana never shared that belief. Besides... she never wanted to get married, let alone start a family.

Seeing so many different kinds of people, she found being single cleaner, freer-better.

Carl, of course, saw things differently. "Having lots of children makes a family lively and warm-just like ours."

Eliana shot him a sideways glance, lips curling into a wry smile. "Easy for you to say. You men don't have to give birth. Of course, you think it's wonderful. Look at Mom-her body is frail now because she had too many children."

Her words made Carl pause. Slowly, he nodded, his expression sobering. "That's true."

The car grew quiet for a moment, the hum of the road filling the space. Then Carl broke it with a question that had been gnawing at him. "Lia, where did you learn your medical skills and painting? You... you seem to master everything effortlessly."

Eliana raised an eyebrow, turning the question back on him. "Where did you learn to paint?"

Carl narrowed his eyes. "Don't change the subject. I'm serious. Where did you learn all these things?"

Eliana's lips curved into a teasing smile. "From parallel universes. Can you believe that?"

Carl scoffed outright. "If you don't want to tell me, just admit it. Don't try to fool me with nonsense. I'm not that gullible. I'm actually pretty smart,you know."

Eliana chuckled softly but didn't explain further. She wasn't lying. She had indeed learned her skills from parallel uuniverses.

When she was fourteen, she had run away from her village to survive on her own.

That fateful night, with nowhere to go and a snowstorm raging, she had nearly frozen to death.

That was when the "System" had found her. Dragged into a parallel universe, she had been forced to complete bizarre tasks in exchange for her survival.

Every world demanded something new of her-medicine, art, strategy, performance. She had learned each skill under the harshest conditions, her life always hanging by a thread.

Task after task. World after world. A hundred universes. A hundred different lives. Until, finally, she returned.Alive.Changed.

She had gone through too much to waste her hard-earned abilities. That was why she founded the Onyx Syndicate, built from the countlessskills she had acquired.

But no one could ever believe her real story. So, she told a simpler one-that she had trained under many masters, each teaching her something different.

It wasn't a lie. In those parallel worlds, she had indeed apprenticed under countless teachers-men and women who had stood as the very pinnacles of their realms.

Soon,they reached home. Eliana pushed the thoughts aside.

Stepping into the living room, she half-expected to see a man as strikingly handsome as Carl or her other brothers.Instead, her eyes landed on a woman-a radiant beauty wwith golden, wavy hair, her arm linked with Stella's as they chatted warmly.

Could this be Rowell's girlfriend? Confused, Eliana scanned the room. No unfamiliar man. Only Damon and Sawyer were there, both wearing the same look of weary resignation as their eyes rested on the blonde.

"Lia,welcome home! Come here, darling." Stella spotted her at once, her smile widening as she waved her closer.

Eliana nodded politely and walked over with Carl at her side.

"Mom, who is this?" she asked, curiosity slipping into her tone.

Stella's smile softened. She glanced at the blonde beauty beside her, then shook her head with amusement."This is Rowell."

Eliana froze. Her eyes widened, and she blurted out, "Rowell??" "Hi, Lia!" the blonde replied cheerfully-only, the voice was unmistakably male.

Eliana's eyes widened even further. Rowell...a cross-dresser?

Seeing the shock written across her face, Rowell quickly abandoned the act. He tugged off the wig and stood up in haste, his smile apologetic. "Lia, don't misunderstand. It's not what you think. I just came back from a film set. I didn't even get the chance to remove the makeup."

Relief washed over Eliana. So this wasn't some strange hobby-it was work.

Carl chuckled,punching Rowell lightly on the chest. "Rowell, what the hell were you filming? I didn't even recognize you."

Rowell shrugged,though the motion seemed more bitter than casual. "It's work. One of the actresses for a minor role quit suddenly, and my agent shoved me into the part. It was smaIl anyway-I've already finished filming."

Eliana, however, didn't miss the flicker in his eyes. That smile might have looked careless, but the frustration hidden behind it was sharp.

No decent agent would force a male actor into such a role unless there was someone pulling strings.

Eliana was sure that it must be related to Paula.

Feigning innocence, she stepped forward and extended her hand. "Welcome home, Rowell."

Rowell wipedhis hand before taking hers, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I should be the one saying that.Welcome home,Lia."

Then,as though suddenly remembering something, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a stack of glossy photographs. Each one bore the signature of a popular celebrity. "Young girls love stars these days.I didn't know who you liked, so after I heard you were coming back, I collected as many autographs as I could for you."

Eliana accepted the hefty bundle. The weight alone told her how much effort he had gone through.

Rowell wasn't doing well in the industry. For him to gather signatures from so many celebrities must be no easy task.

Eliana wasn't even a fan of celebrities.

But in that moment, these autographs became precious to her-not because of whose names were scrawled on them, but because of who had collected them.

"Thank you, Rowell. I love them," she said with a bright smile. Already, her mind was moving ahead, mapping the solution.

For most people, fixing his situation would have been close to impossible. But for her? It was just a small problem. One she could solve inthree days.