Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Cooper: "I don't want a kid, I want Teddy to take care of me."

Andre: "......" This kid's going to run me ragged.

On the drive home, little Henry was a nonstop chatterbox. Mia, just to mess with him, asked, "So, did you look for your aunt while you were out?"

"I did~"

Cooper: “Hey! What do you mean, you did? Teddy, tell your uncle the truth."noveldrama

Little Teddy burrowed into his mom's arms, lips pursed, clearly forbidden by his uncle to say anything more.

Mia squinted at them. "What's up? Are you nervous, feeling guilty, or did my son catch on to one of your secrets?"

Henry hadn't seen his mom in days and missed her like crazy. He clung to her, determined not to let go.

"Sis, Teddy's out there doing stuff even grown-ups wouldn't dare. Some dog barked at him, and he barked right back-louder. And it wasn't just any dog, it was a bullmastiff."

"...Henry! Are you picking fights again when you go out?" Mia looked down at her adorable, innocent-faced son cuddled in her lap.

Henry pouted and tried to act all cute. "Mommy, he was ugly~"

Mia: "Since when do you care if a dog's ugly? And that's not even the point! Don't try to snuggle your way out of this-sit up. So you think you're tough, huh? Going toe-to-toe with a bullmastiff? Let me see where you got all that courage."

She playfully pinched Henry's chubby cheeks, trying to figure him out. Andre caught the scene in the rearview mirror, amused at his wife being tricked by her brother.

"Cooper, you're heading back to work on your thesis, right?" Andre asked.

Cooper just grunted and went quiet, already racking his brain for a way to tell his brother-in-law where Maja had gone without making it weird.

Andre didn't push. The only sounds in the car were Mia "educating" Henry, and Henry whining in the sweetest, most pitiful voice, "Mommy, Teddy messed up~”

After dropping Cooper off, the three of them hurried over to the Cedillo family's place. Grandpa Hansen had been missing his grandson so much, he was about ready to book a flight and drag him back himself.

Not long after, Cooper got drunk again and wouldn't let go of Andre. "Andre, the Dark Web guys went to Bash."

The next morning, he didn't remember a thing.

When Andre passed the word to his friends, all four brothers asked at once, "Andre, we already know Maja's in Bash. But how'd you hear about it? You didn't send anyone after her. Where'd you get your info?"

Andre shrugged. "The Rebel told me."

Everyone immediately thought of Leo, totally overlooking Andre's brother-in-law.

Maja had been on the run, making it all the way to Bash before vanishing without a trace.

Neither Conner's people nor the Dark Web had any leads.

"Maja's been shot-she can't have gotten far," one guy said, eyes glued to his monitor.

The team leader was frustrated; they'd almost caught her. "We have to bring her in alive. If Conner's people get to her first, she can't be allowed to talk!"

The Dark Web's pursuit was ruthless, never giving Maja a chance to catch her breath. She'd already taken a bullet and was barely keeping it together-capture seemed inevitable. But out of nowhere, Mr. Nettleton's crew showed up.

A shootout broke out, neither side gaining the upper hand. In the chaos, Maja slipped away again.