The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Hank was growing increasingly anxious about his brother Flynn's tendency to blab, fearing he'd let something slip to the folks over at Salstrom Hall.

Feiman Salstrom was preoccupied with orchestrating the grand wedding of his son, Joey, to Julie-a match that had the whole town buzzing.

"Why all the secrecy, Hank?" Flynn mused as they lounged in their shared bachelor pad. "Dad's practically rolling out the red carpet for Julie. After all, she's carrying a Salstrom, isn't she?"

Flynn suddenly paused, eyes widening with realization. "Of course, the baby's a Salstrom! Dad's head will explode once he figures it out. Is it more about preserving the Salstrom lineage or avenging Grandma's death?"

"Julie won't be walking through those doors as long as Joey has anything to say about it. He's no pushover. He won't let the Browns get the upper hand," Hank said. He'd pieced together Joey's intentions from his stalling the wedding and his nights out on the town. Joey was no fool.

The Browns thought they could use Joey as a stepping stone, but they had sorely misjudged their mark.

Flynn pondered aloud, "Hank, what's Joey playing at? If he doesn't want to marry, why doesn't he just refuse? And it's not like he's itching to be the prodigal son returning home. He and Dad are practically at a standoff."

Hank sighed heavily. "He's feeling cornered and discontent. I've done my digging-Joey's birth mother, Tina, was Dad's secretary. She fell into a depression and took her own life. Joey's got a bone to pick with Dad, and it extends to the whole Salstrom clan. But at the same time, he can't escape the fact that he's got Salstrom blood. It's a constant battle for him, being the black sheep for all these years. He's got a chip on his shoulder."

"Guy's a real trip, always butting heads with you, Hank, and never winning," Flynn scoffed. "I can't fathom what Dad was thinking back then, betraying Mom like that. She's been giving him the cold shoulder for months over his insistence on acknowledging Joey." Katelyn Salstrom couldn't stop Feiman from recognizing Joey, nor did she try. But she had since given her husband the silent treatment, sleeping in separate rooms under the same roof, as if they were strangers. Hank's brow furrowed in thought. "I need to step out for a bit."

Flynn called after him, "Hank, if it really was Julie who took out Grandma, would you still bring Anastasia back into the fold?"

Hank remained silent, offering no answer. His relationship with Anastasia was far from simple. Even if Grandma Anita's death was put to rest, some truths were unchangeable.

Grandma Anita had poisoned a child; Anastasia had retaliated. These were the harsh realities that had transpired.

Hank left the house, driving to the modest apartment building where Anastasia lived. He parked on the street side, opting not to go up. At this late hour, she was probably asleep.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts without needing to consciously remember her details-Anastasia's WhatsApp account was etched in his mind.

Entering her number into the search bar, Anastasia's chat popped up on the screen. When Hank had been unconscious, Feiman had deleted Anastasia from his WhatsApp and blacklisted her number.

Hank had refrained from re-adding her-partly out of consideration for his father and partly to naturally fade from her life.

He had promised to shelter her from storms, to bring her happiness. But all the tempests in her life were connected to him. Without him, she would have been that simple, happy girl selling trinkets at the Night Market.noveldrama

With hesitation, Hank finally hit 'Add Contact' and entered the chat with Anastasia.

Meanwhile, Anastasia, who had just returned from the traffic police station, sat by her window, her mind a whirlwind of regret. She flipped through her old prenatal check-up records, her heart aching. She blamed herself for not protecting her child from the harm inflicted by Grandma Anita, by Gianna.

Taking a deep breath to calm her pain, she did what she often did, reaching out to Hank with a message that she sent without overthinking: "I'm missing you again, it hurts so much."

She hadn't expected him to have re-added her, and there were no notifications to indicate it on her end.

The moment the message went through, Anastasia's heart skipped a beat. She retracted it in haste.

But in the car below, Hank had already seen it.