After a whole morning and afternoon of playing and live streaming at the Blue Novak waterfalls, the family returned home. Sienna herded her sleepy toddlers through the gates, still smelling faintly of roasted chicken, pine nuts and fruit. Like the children, she was ready for a bath and a nap. Instead, she found her mother-in-law perched on the porch like a hawk waiting for prey.

Sienna froze. "You have the wrong address. I am sure I banned you from my house."

Lady Cadelaria sniffed, adjusting her light white cloak. "My son runs this city, Chubby charms. You cannot ban me from any place. Besides, I am your mother-in-law and I cannot be banned from your life."

Sienna’s eyebrow twitched. Chubby charms. That nickname had been invented by Lady Cadelaria when she found her and Elias fooling around in his office, and apparently, it was there to stick like gum on a shoe. Sienna wondered if threatening to sue her mother-in-law would make the nickname go away. Perhaps, she could send a bee after the woman.

She looked at her mother instead. "Mom, take the children inside. Give them a bath and put them to bed."

Her mother, grandma Byra and two nannies herded the children inside, flanking them from all sides. Lady Cadelaria could not help sneering . She swooped in, eager to snatch one or both and demand that they go with her for a few days. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"They have been playing all day but when I arrive you send them in for a nap!" She stared at Sienna with a mix of disapproval and intense dislike. "And I don’t approve of those afternoon naps you make them take. They are fox cubs, not piglets."

Sienna blocked Lady Cadelaria’s path with two arms, glaring. "If you want to see your grandchildren, either be nice and polite to me. Or, make an appointment. If you try to take them forcefully, I will sic my bees on you."

Lady Cadelaria huffed, "Don’t you dare threaten me Chubby charms. Don’t think that you have full control of this family just because you seduced my son with that round face."

Sienna rolled her face and laughed contemptuously. "Just how your son likes it."

The air simmered with rage and both women glared at each other. The servants and guards watched helplessly, trying to keep at a distance and at the same time be close enough to intervene in case the two women actually fought.

Other relatives from the falcon tribe hovered in the courtyard, not daring to intervene and pretending not to be interested.

Only Mija was sniggering, treating the confrontation like a movie.

Lady Cadelaria pulled out her phone, revealing a list via hologram. The list was longer than the length of the porch. "It is so funny how you insist on keeping my grandchildren away from me but have no shame in sending me lists of gifts I am required to buy them." She waved her phone with dramatic flare. "Six Linkin 300’s. A golden bathtub shaped like a phoenix. A diamond encrusted frying pan for Ali’s cooking experiments. A chocolate fruit fountain installed in Ali’s bedroom. A library of ten thousand books built for Eli. A pet dragon, preferably house trained for Eli."

Sienna sniggered secretly. "The children will thank you for your generosity."

Lady Cadelaria smirked. "Don’t play innocent and don’t put this on the children. Clearly, you wrote this list to extort me. Who else could come up with such extravagant nonsense?"

Sienna sputtered. "Me? Which of those gifts has my name attached? Besides, you are focusing on the wrong gifts. Haven’t you seen the simpler ones? Ali wants a set of golden cutlery. And Eli wants a kite shaped fox stepping on an eagle. Very normal requests."

But Lady Cadelaria was undeterred. "Normal! A kite that is shaped like a fox stepping on an eagle! You are just making things deliberately difficult for me. I know you Chubby charms, this is your revenge against me, isn’t it? Admit it. Diamond encrusted pan. Ha! Keep dreaming."

Sienna crossed her arms. "The only diamonds I dream of are the ones that my husband still hasn’t bought me. If you would be kind enough to remind him, I will be very thankful."

Lady Cadelaria sniffed and focused on the things she had circled out. "Six Linkin 300’s! What does Eli need them for?"

Sienna shrugged. "One for morning flights, one for afternoon flights, one for evening flights. One for special occasions, one for family, one for friends and one for emergency."

"Those are seven." Her mother-in-law said flatly.

Sienna covered her mouth pretentiously. "Oh no. We miscounted and its totally my fault. Thank you for seeing the problem and pointing it out. I trust that you will send us the correct number of ships."

"I am not sending anything on this wish list. It is a ransom note. You are extorting me through the children and I won’t stand for it." Lady Cadelaria snapped and sneered. "I can afford one hundred Linkin 300’s if I want. But I won’t buy you even one. Forget it Chubby charms, I won’t be your patsy."

Lord Marius chose that moment to walk in. He froze at the sight screaming at their daughter-in-law yet again. The sight was not new. Only, when Sienna was still living on the estate, she would have been rolled into a rug and dumped in her bedroom by now. "What is happening here?"

Lady Cadelaria turned to him with righteous fury. "She is extorting me through our grandchildren. That is what’s going on. She claims Eli wants six.."

"Seven." Sienna cut in.

"Seven," Lady Cadelaria said through gritted teeth. "Seven Linkin 300 ships."

Lord Marius settled on the porch, undisturbed by the request. "Buy ten. It’s not as if we can’t afford them. We have shares in five ship building companies all over the continent." He glanced at some of the things on the list, boldly displayed on the hologram. "These are easy requests that won’t cost more than twenty million beast coins. It’s not even a quarter of our savings Cadelaria."

Lady Cadelaria gasped. "Traitor!"

Sienna’s eyes lit up. "Father-in-law!" She cried out in joy. "I knew you would not let me down." She raised her voice. "Shalin, what are you all waiting for to serve my father-in-law tea? Bring some fruit too. I told you all that he is the most important member of this family." She turned to her father-in-law, eyes sparkling. "Father, about the diamond encrusted pan, should we add some rubies too? Also, I am trying to put in a gym...for Eli and Ali of course. The price for custom made gym equipment is so expensive!"

Sienna sidled up to him, bending to lower her voice. "I need to build a kitchenware production factory...for Eli and Ali. Where do you stand on investing in family members? You heard mother-in-law, I am Chubby charms. It means I have so much charm that any business I start is guaranteed to be a hit."

Lady Cadelaria huffed. "That is not what it means."