POV: Ava
The car barely rolled to a stop before the front door swung open.
And there they were.
All of them.
Sato was the first to step forward — tall, terrifying, former special ops and now one of Dad's most trusted bodyguards. He didn't say a word. Just bowed, and then gently patted my head like I was made of glass.
Behind him, Riko was crying.
Actually crying.
"You scared us," she whispered, wrapping her arms around me in a careful hug that didn't jostle my bandaged arm. "Don't do that again, okay? Don't go quiet like that."
I blinked. My throat stung. I tried to smile. "Sorry."
"You better be," said Hana, the chef, arms crossed, apron still on. "We made your favorite. There's yuzu cake. And udon."
"I helped cut carrots," muttered Imai, the youngest of the drivers, who always turned beet red when I thanked him.
"Don't listen to Vivienne," Sato said suddenly. "Whatever she told you, it's a lie."
"She's wrong," Riko added fiercely. "You're not too much. You're just right."
"You're our sunshine," Hana declared. "You've been since the day you toddled into my kitchen and stole a dumpling off the counter."
That's when I laughed.
Really laughed — the kind that made my shoulders shake, my heart pound, my eyes sting all over again. It spilled out of me like I hadn't felt anything real in days.
And they laughed too.
"You tie bows in our hair," Riko grinned.
"You bribe the guards to carry you to your room when you're tired," Sato added.
"You ask us about our days," Imai whispered. "No one's ever done that."
"You bring the light in this house, Ava," Hana said softly, wiping her hands on her apron. "Vivienne might've left. But you stayed. You loved. That matters more."
I covered my face, overwhelmed. And one by one, they surrounded me. Not smothering. Just… there.
"We love you," they all said — different voices, different accents, one truth.
"We love you. Don't think. Don't doubt. Whatever she said… forget it."
And just like that, my heart started stitching itself back together again.
Because maybe I wasn't too much.
Maybe I was just right.