Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

Ben and his crew were completely stumped.

A drill? Seriously? Did they expect anyone to buy that? They'd been on the brink of disaster, and it was being brushed off as just a "drill"... Karter was the picture of calm. After he got the antidote from Flora and administered it, he sent them off with a promise to explain later.

Ben and the others couldn't get out of there fast enough. Flora was just too much for them. Her presence alone was a haunting reminder of how close they'd come to the end. As seasoned veterans in positions of power, they hadn't felt fear like that in ages. Once they were sure Karter was safe, they made a quick exit.

With their departure, the Reyes house felt oddly empty.

"Mr. Shen, Flora, could you come upstairs with me for a bit? I need to talk to you," Karter said after a pause.

Raul nodded, and Flora followed suit, albeit slowly.

Connor and Kruz stayed back in the living room.

"Flora, this was your dad's room," Karter said, leading them to a room on the third floor, all the way at the end. He opened the door. "I haven't touched a thing, not even moved anything around."

The room was pristine, clearly looked after regularly. Flora took it all in, her eyes eventually landing on a framed photo on the desk.

In the picture, a man and a woman stood side by side with the ocean sparkling behind them. The woman held a baby, while the man had one arm around her waist and the other supporting the baby, as if to lighten her load.

The man wasn't looking at the camera; his gaze was fixed tenderly on the woman. Her head was slightly bowed, her demeanor cool and a bit aloof, but with him, her edges softened, and there was the hint of a smile on her lips. Flora looked a lot like the man, but her vibe was more like the woman's.

"Flora, these are your parents. They were some of the most incredible people I've ever known," Raul said, his eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at the photo.

They had saved his life once. When he was on the streets, starving, they had given him a meal that turned his life around.

Seeing his old friends' photo tugged at Raul's heartstrings, filling him with a deep ache.

Karter sighed, "Your dad, James Rivers, was my half-brother, the second son of the Reyes family, and a famous medical scientist. Your mom, vy-well, your dad never told us much about her past, so it's a bit of a mystery. But she's got a

personality a lot like yours."

"The Reyes family is known for racing, yet your dad had a knack for medicine from an early age. He joined a research center at eighteen, then disappeared for six years, only to come back with your mom and you, just a baby then."

Karter picked up the photo frame,

his hand shaking a bit: "Your dad

was truly something else. The Reyes family's medical empire today? That's all thanks to him... Your parents were always on the go, gone for months sometimes, and during those times, you stayed with us."

"Then one day, they came back, over the moon, saying it was all over and they were finally free. I didn't get what they meant, but I was thrilled for them. We even had a big dinner to celebrate. But then..."

Karter's voice trailed off, his body slumping under the weight of the memory: "Halfway through dinner, they got a call. Something urgent they said, and left in a hurry. I never thought that would be the last time I'd see them... Their urgency should have tipped me off. I should have stopped them..."