"Who''s your grandma?!” Hannah''s voice boomed through the phone, full of vigor. "Dana told me you bullied Juniper and she ran off!"


    "I..." Shanley nced at the eager spectator beside him and tried to exin.


    "You what?" Hannahunched into a tirade, showing no mercy. "I''m warning you, find my granddaughter-inw right now. If you can''t, you can say goodbye to your legs."


    "That''s right," Miranda''s voice cut in, even more frantic than her mother-inw''s. "My idol has such a good temper, and you managed to drive her away? Shanley, oh, Shanley, you really deserve to die!"


    "Mom—” Shanley was getting an earful, with no chance to get a word in.


    "Stop!" Miranda cut him off ruthlessly. "I will only ever ept Juniper as my daughter-inw. However you lost her is how you''re going to get her back. You know how to apologize, don''t you? Get on your knees and beg! If you can''t bring her back, your father and I might have to consider trying for another kid."


    Juniper sat beside him, quietly listening to the alternating lectures from the matriarchs. She nced at Shanley''s face... yep. It looked even worse than when he''d been shot.


    "Did you hear me?" Miranda roared. "I''m giving you two days. If you don''t bring my idol back, don''t even think abouting home."


    "Okay," Shanley muttered, too weary to exin. He hung up and looked at Juniper. She was munching on snacks, watching him with a smirk that was clearly enjoying his misery.


    “Stillughing..." Shanley''s lips twitched as he put on a pitiful expression. "You just watched them tear into me and didn''t say a word to exin."


    Juniper simply raised an eyebrow. "Rest up. We''re going to see my five masters tonight."


    See her masters? Shanley leaned back against the headboard, his features scrunching up in dread. He was in for another trial by fire.


    That evening, once Shanley''s wound had settled a bit, Juniper led him to meet the five masters. The sight of


    the two arch nemeses walk time


    Side-byside was so bizarrely


    harmonious that their subordinates couldn''t quite get used to it.


    "I heard the leader of Sigma Network is the boss''s boyfriend," one of them whispered to another.


    "Seriously? What kind of twisted fairytale is that? That''s terrifying," the other replied.


    "It''s true! The five elders thought Specter was going to assassinate him, but when they burst in, the two of them were wrapped in an embrace."


    "The mental image is too much. I can''t."


    The men exchanged nces, sighing and shaking their heads. "But you have to admit, the leader of Sigma Network is seriously good-looking."


    "No kidding," another chimed in. "Lue said the only reason the boss would fall for him is because of that pretty face. If he were even a little bit ugly or poor, this marriage would be a non-starter."


    "Whoa, so the arch-enemy is now the boyfriend. Doesn''t that mean Sigma Network basically belongs to Subterra Vanguard now?"


    "When can we take a tour of Sigma Network? I want to go put them in their ce.”


    Their status was rising right along


    with their boss''s. Just look at how ''humble'' the leader of Sigma


    Network was in front of her,


    Subterra Vanguard was defin


    going to be calling the shots from


    now on. n


    "Boss," a subordinate said with a nod as Specter approached. Then his gaze shifted


    to the man beside her. "Well, well-the boss''s better half!"