My Cold-Hearted Husband Wants Me Back
Chapter 204: Miss Dalia

Chapter 204: Miss Dalia

The boy had been quiet the entire time, hunched over his bowl of noodle soup. Now the bowl sat empty in front of him—every drop of broth gone, not even a scrap of noodle left. His fingers clutched the rim, his small shoulders tense.

Eryx didn’t wait.

"Who asked you to throw the rotten egg?"

The boy flinched. He gripped the bowl tighter like it might shield him. "I didn’t mean to hurt anyone," he mumbled, eyes still lowered. "I just... did what she told me."

"She?" Eryx pressed, voice calm but cutting. "Say the name."

The boy hesitated, clearly torn. Then he swallowed and said, "I don’t know her real name. She just said to call her Miss Dalia."

Eryx’s eyes narrowed.

Lunara’s voice came gently but firmly, "And what did this Miss Dalia look like?"

The boy fidgeted, drawing circles on the table with his finger. "Tall. Wore glasses and looked nerdy?" He hesitated, finding it hard to explain Dalia’s appearance.

"Nerdy?" Lunara smiled, "Do you know the meaning of nerd?"

The boy looked up sheepishly, lips twitching like he wasn’t sure if he was in trouble or being teased.

"Well..." he scratched his cheek. "She had her hair tied really tight, like, it didn’t move at all. Wore a buttoned-up shirt and talked like she was mad even when she wasn’t." He paused. "That’s nerdy, right?"

Lunara let out a soft laugh, the tension in her shoulders easing a little. "Close enough."

Eryx, however, remained focused. "Did she give you a phone? A place to go afterward?"

The boy shook his head. "No phone. Just said someone would find me after it’s done. But no one came."

Eryx exchanged a glance with Lunara before murmuring, "It’s not like no one come, they can’t, since you were caught."

The boy’s lips pressed into a thin line. "She promised I’d get paid."

"You will," Eryx said calmly. "Not by her, but by me. Not for the egg but for the truth."

He pulled out his phone, already dialing. "Let’s see if we can bring Miss Dalia out of her little nerdy shadow."

Lunara watched him quietly, her fingers still curled around the edge of the table. The boy, now more nervous than before, glanced between them, unsure what to expect next.

Eryx’s voice was calm but cold as he spoke into the phone. "Callum. I need you to look into someone—Dalia. She probably works under Seraphine, or at least has some kind of connection to her. Check everything, maybe... employment records, calls, travel history. If there’s a thread, I want it pulled."

He paused, listening for a few seconds, then added, "And Callum... don’t leave anything out this time. No matter how small it looks."

After hanging up, Eryx sat back, his gaze unfocused for a moment before shifting back to the boy, who was now nervously peeling the label off his water bottle.

"You’re done here," Eryx said gently. "You’ll be sent home. Someone will get you something proper to eat on the way too."

The boy looked up, surprised. "I thought you’d be angry."

Eryx gave a humorless smile. "I’ve been angry before. This isn’t it." He stood, adjusting his coat. "This is the part where I start believing my eyes more than my heart."

"But..." The boy hesitated before slowly standing. "I... I don’t have a home."

Eryx frowned. Honestly, his world rarely crossed paths with people who had no home. "What do you mean?"

"I live at the orphanage," the boy murmured, glancing away. "I’m twelve. They don’t watch us much anymore, and sometimes they tell us to just figure things out."

Lunara’s expression softened. "Do they know you’re here?"

He shook his head. "If they find out, I’ll be in trouble. But she...Miss Dalia...said if I did well, I could get money and maybe even a place to stay after."

Eryx crouched down, lowering himself to the boy’s eye level. "What’s your name again?"

The boy hesitated. "Ren."

"Well, Ren," Eryx said, his voice steady, "you’re not going back alone. And no more backdoor deals. You don’t owe anyone like her anything. I’ll make sure the orphanage management changes."

Ren looked up at him, hesitant. "Why would I trust you?"

Eryx didn’t blink. His voice was quiet, razor-sharp.

"You don’t have to," he said flatly. "Just stay out of my way, and you won’t regret it."

Ren stared at him, startled.

Eryx stood, brushing off his sleeves like the conversation barely mattered.

"I’m not here to be trusted. If you want help, I’ll give it. If not... I won’t waste my time."

Lunara, unable to stay quiet, immediately linked her arm with his. "You didn’t need to be so harsh."

Eryx glanced down at her, his voice cool. "He should be grateful I didn’t punish him. He did throw a rotten egg at you."

Ren dropped his eyes, guilt settling in.

But Lunara sighed, squeezing Eryx’s arm gently, "Still. He’s just a kid."

Eryx didn’t respond right away. His gaze lingered on Ren for a beat longer than necessary, more calculating and guarded but when he finally spoke, it was softer. "He won’t stay one forever."

Eryx then turned, his steps purposeful, as though ready to walk away. He held Lunara’s hand lightly, his mind already elsewhere. Lunara glanced back at Ren, sensing the moment’s shift.

But before they could take more than a few steps, Ren’s voice broke through the silence.

"I’m sorry," he said quickly, his words rushed and almost hesitant. "For... for throwing the egg."

Eryx didn’t stop walking, though he gave a slight nod. "Good. That’s a start."

Lunara turned toward Ren, giving him a small but reassuring smile. "It takes courage to apologize. Just make sure next time you think before acting."

Ren bit his lip, still standing awkwardly in the same spot. His eyes flitted nervously between the two of them. "I... I also didn’t mean to cause trouble. I don’t really know what I was doing. I just thought—"

"You thought making money was that easy?" Eryx cut in, his voice sharp. "You’re lucky my mood’s decent today. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have ended so nicely."

"Stop scaring the kid..." Lunara tugged gently on his arm. "Let’s go, while your mood is still intact."

They stepped out of the restaurant, Lunara still teasing as they walked. "But I really didn’t know your mood was good...especially with all the glaring and growling earlier..."

Not far from them, a woman stood partially hidden in the shadow of a pillar. She pressed her lips into a thin line, adjusting her glasses with a sharp push.

"Damn it," she muttered.