Sure enough, the 12 year-old Noah Walters was brought into the conference room and sat in the same seat he once sat. Unlike before where a scared, confused boy sat, Noah's eyes held no confusion or fear. Calmly, Noah looked at his father and his father's wife, before he turned to his mother and her husband.

"Mom, what's going on?" Noah asked his mother.

Instead of answering, Mia smiles softly, using her eyes and a slight lift of her head to tell the boy to ask his father. Understanding his mother's gesture, Noah look at his father and frowned - clearly waiting for the man to speak. Mark Walters - regrettably, even in the original story did not know how to deal with his son. The man treated the boy like he would everyone else - like an adult. Without thinking about his son's feelings, Mark Walters went straight to the point. Like before, he used the same line - the same reason for Noah to choose him instead of his mother. What Mark Walters did not know is unlike the scared little boy from before; Noah's temper was like a tiger - calm and indifferent until someone provokes him. The one thing Noah could never tolerate was anyone insulting his mother and Mark Walters did just that, after years without seeing his son.

"Shut up" Noah voice was deeper from before - although still immature, his posture was straight and tall. "Don't talk about my mom that way"

Mark Walters was speechless at the sight of his son's glare. Olivia Mills - on the other hand, had felt complex toward Mia Clark from the beginning. The once vulgar and jealous woman Olivia Mills remembered was nowhere in sight. Instead, before her was a confident, cunning woman. In the past, Mia Clark had paled in comparison to Olivia Mills in every way from background, looks, brains, and personality. Now, Mia Clark was shining brighter while Olivia Mills was fading in the background. For a person who was use to the limelight - use to women envying her and men falling for her, it felt wrong to be suddenly invisible. Moreover, Mia Clark has a husband who dotes on her in every way and a protective son who respects and loves her. It felt wrong. Olivia Mills instinctively felt that she was the one who was supposed to have a doting husband and protective, loving son. But ever since her baby died, her husband prioritizes his own son over her. Right now, it was more important for Mark Walters to get Noah back instead of paying attention to his young, vulnerable wife who just lost her own son.

"Noah, son" Mark Walters sighed heavily. "I'm only thinking what's best for you son. Just think, your mother now has her own family. When she has a child with her husband, would she still love you? And her stepfather, would he care for you over his own child?"

Seeing Noah's darkened expression, Mark Walters figured he finally reached some sense into the young boy.

"Come with me Noah. Olivia will be a good mother for you. I promise"

"You promise?" Noah asked without emotion.

"I promise" Mark Walters smiled like he won the lottery.

"You'll be a good mother?" Noah suddenly looks at Olivia Mills, startling her.

It took Mark Walters to nudge at her to snap her out of her thoughts.

"Y_ yes... I'll be a good mother for you Noah" Olivia Mills spoke gently with a kind smile.

"You'll take me to school every day and pick me up afterward?"

Something like taking a child to school and picking him up afterward should have been an easy task, but for a career-driven woman like Olivia Mills, the task was a bit hard to swallow.

"Of_ of course, I'll take you to school every day and pick you up afterward"

"If I get into fights in school, you'll protect me from the principal?"

"That... of course" Olivia Mills continues to smile softly.

"If I'm sick, you'll stay home and take care of me until I'm better"

"Y_ yes"

"You'll cook my favorite meals every night?"

"Y_ yes" Olivia Mills hesitate more as Noah's list for her grew.

"If I smash someone's Lamborghini, you'll pay for the damage?"

Olivia Mills was stunned.

"That's..."

"If I want to learn how to swim, you'll get Michael Phelps to coach me?"

Again, Olivia Mills was stunned speechless.

"If I want to see plum blossoms in the middle of winter, you'll take me to the Kyushu Island?"

The more Noah listed, the more wronged Olivia Mills felt. Mark Walters had been sitting beside Olivia Mills, did not see the grievance on her face. He been too focused on pleasing his son to notice and so promised the boy anything he wanted.

"I want her to promise me" Noah didn't care for Mark Walters' promises while his sharp eyes stared at Olivia Mills. "I want her to write it all down, signed and all"

"M_ Mark..." Olivia Mills turned to Mark Walters, clearly showing horror on her expression. "H_ How can I promise to do all those things..."

"Olivia, do this for me, I_"

"Mark" Olivia Mills held onto his hand, begging him with tears behind her eyes. "I_"

"Hmph" Noah smirked. "Weak"

Offended, Olivia Mills looked at Noah with eyes filled with tears before turning back to Mark Walters. She had wanted the man to speak up for her. Instead, the man was still focus on his son.

"Noah, be reasonable. No one can fulfill your requirements? Can't you be more understanding and_?"

"Requirements?" Noah looked at his father with a cold stare. "You call those promises requirements?"

"Noah_"

"My mom takes me to school every single day and picks me up every day without fail." Noah's eyes went colder as he regards his father. "Every time I get into fights or get punish at school, mom comes and stands up for me. When I'm sick, mom stayed at my side without sleep or rest, making sure I felt comfortable and safe. Every day, mom cooks for me. When I smashed that lawyer's Lamborghini, mom gave him back every single penny"

Kai Endou - the noted lawyer, wryly sighed at the memory of the angry boy with a bat smashing his car the day he announced the news of him marrying his mother. Mia, who also remembered the day, could only over her lips and giggled.

"I wanted to learn how to swim, so mom got the best coach out there to teach me" Noah continued sharply. "I wanted to see plum blossom last winter and mom took me to Kyushu. If she wants to be my mom, she better be ready to do all those things"

Hearing the boy's words, Mark Walters was astonished. He would never believe Mia Clark would be capable of doing anything but lie around and spend money. Was she not like that before?

"You..." Mark Walters look at Mia - his heart suddenly felt heavy.

"What?" Mia brow raised in amusement at the sudden look he was giving her. "You thought I spent all the money in the divorce settlement? You thought I prostituted myself by now? You thought I left my baby out on his own - live or die without a care?"

"I..." Mark Walters couldn't answer her because it all had been what he believed.

"Mark... did you know how much I loved you back then?" Mia laughed inside as she begins to play. "I know you long before you became the Mark Walters. I know from the beginning that you didn't love me, but I clung onto you. Do you know why?"

Love - it was all clear now. While the new Mia did not love Mark Walters - she knew the foolish old Mia did.

"You were ashamed of me" Mia stood, purposely giving him a sad smile. "I'm unrefined. I'm uncultured. I'm nothing but a dirty past you wanted to erase and forget. You think I didn't know?"

Mark Walters felt his heart beat fast. He never saw this side - this vulnerable side of Mia Clark before. All he could do was stared at her.

"So I tried to dress better. I tried so hard to be the wife you wanted me to be. Instead, you called me crazy and greedy. I'm greedy..." Mia laughed painfully as she continued to look at Mark Walters. "I had been terrified to lose you. I clung onto you, hoping you'll see my fear. But what did you do?"

Mark Walters flinched when Mia pointed her index finger this face.

"You humiliated me. You toss me aside. You insulted me" Mia turned to Noah, seeing the anger on the boy's face. "Noah, come here baby"

Noah immediately rushed to his mother's side and hugged her waist, pressing his face into her side. Although Noah had grown tall, in front of his mother, he always felt small. Mia doesn't know that her young son had wished to grow stronger in order to protect her - wished to become an adult sooner so that he could give his mother the best things in life.

"You have already taken my youth from me" Mia looked at Mark Walters with sad eyes. "In the end, you want to take my joy as well?"

"Mom" Noah hugged his mother tight and said. "I'm not leaving you. Don't worry, okay?"

Mia smiles softly at her son, while Mark Walters sat in his seat quietly watching Mia.

"No one will be taking anything from you" Kai Endou stood up beside Mia, placing an arm around her shoulder, while placing the other hand on top of Noah's head. "I'll make sure of it"

"Let's go home mom" Noah looked up at his mother's face and smiled.

Nodding quietly, she was lead out by her son.

"Stay away from Mia and Noah"

While Mia walked away, she heard Kai Endou's sharp, cold words toward Mark Walters. Glancing over at Olivia Mills, Mia could see the young woman's shaking figure as she gripped onto the skirt of her dress. While no one saw the anger in the young woman's face, Mia did. With a hidden smirk, Mia left the conference room, knowing the end of the game is drawing near.