As the sun dipped below the horizon, Zach sauntered into the living room, whistling a light tune. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his sister and mom locked in a curious, slightly mysterious gaze. "What''s going on here, guys?" he asked, eyebrow raised.


    Mirabe broke the stare, her voice steady. "Oh, just talking about why this month''s finances haven''t been sorted out yet."


    The mention of finances sent a chill down Zach''s spine. Thest time he got involved with family business matters, he ended up in a rather personal mixed doubles showdown.


    Delh''s eyes shifted from Mirabe to Zach, and as her gazended on him, he shuddered. "Mom, rx! I swear, the finance mess isn''t my fault!"


    With a smile, Delh stood up. "Zach, honey, let''s have a little chat in the den, okay?"


    Zach''s face fell. "I refuse!"


    "Come on now, you''re a grown man acting like a scaredy-cat. I just want to talk," Delh said, her tone gentle yet firm.


    She sighed softly, looped her arm through Zach''s, and with a touch of motherly love, began to steer him upstairs.


    Dragged away and wrongly used, Zach shot a desperate look back at Mirabe.


    Mirabe cleared her throat, pretending not to notice Zach''s pleading eyes, and turned to chat with Nick.


    "Traitor," Zach thought to himself.


    Nick, who had spent years living abroad, was baffled by the scene. "What the heck is going on?" he asked.


    Mirabe chuckled. "Don''t worry about it. Mom''s just having some quality time with Zach. You''ll get used to it."


    Still skeptical, Nick slowly looked away. "So, that rare condition in the Shields family-how did you figure it out?"


    Mirabe scratched her head, knowing Delh was easy to convince but Nick was a tougher nut to crack. "Well, traditional alternative medicine can sometimes detect things modern machines can''t."


    "I read about this condition in a medical journal once and decided to try the remedy. Surprisingly, it worked," Mirabe said, honestly.


    Nick nodded, not digging deeper, and they shifted the conversation to alternative medicine.


    As they chatted, Mirabe felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out and saw a message from Vincent: "This math problem was from your teacher, right? Did you solve it?"


    She quickly replied, "Yeah, already solved and submitted it."


    Vincent''s response was a simple "..."


    Nick noticed his sister texting and paused, giving her space. Once she was done, Mirabe looked up and exined, "Just a ssmate asking about a math problem."