Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Anya bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Sure enough, within a few days, Leo Cedillo vanished from the school heartthrob list he had dominated for two years. The disappearance was so sudden that Mia Irwin was left scratching her head. "Is there a glitch in the system?" she wondered aloud. But Anya knew the real reason: Chad had hacked into the school's system and erased Leo's name. For Chad, it was child's play.

With the popularity contest out of her mind, Anya roamed the school halls, carefree and joyful.

After taking a long break at home, Leo was brought back to the family business by his father, Andre Cedillo. Leo's favorite pastime became visiting his uncle's office to cuddle the little bundle of joy basking in the sunlight.

"Did I bring you to the company to play nanny?" Andre asked, eyebrow raised.

Leo, preparing to take Henry out, replied, "Uncle, I'm just getting him familiar with the place."

Andre, leaning back in his chair with a lazy air, commanded, "Put the kid down and get to work. Don't make me repeat myself." His authority left Leo with no room to argue.

After several internal struggles, Leo would always end up muttering, "Okay," and following Andre's orders, reluctantly placing the child back in his arms.

The little guy, realizing he was no longer in his brother's arms, turned excitedly upon finding himself back in his father's embrace, as content as a fish in water. Andre hugged his son closer and ordered his nephew, "Go work."

Leo, hesitant, asked, "Uncle, if your son doesn't want to do something in the future, will you force him?"

Andre looked down at his son and said, "I can't answer that question."

With that, Leo conceded and went off to work.

Anya and Mia, who had just one class that afternoon, were promptly summoned away by Molly Cedillo.

"Mia, if you head back to school and Henry gets hungry, what then? Our little guy is so picky, hasn't he been exclusively breastfed until now?" Molly inquired.

As they shopped for wine glasses, Mia responded, "We couldn't find the right formula before; the taste was different, and he wouldn't drink it. Eventually, Andre and I bought samples from ten trusted formula brands and let the little one try them all. He finished some and outright refused others, even when he was so hungry he cried. That's when we knew which brand he preferred. Being first-time parents, Andre and I were clueless at first, and the poor kid suffered for it."

Molly, out of the loop on household matters, couldn't help but ask more, "Didn't it break your heart to see him cry? Just hearing about it breaks mine."

Mia immediately replied, "Of course, it did. At one point, Andre was about ready to send the formula to a lab for comparison with breast milk. But eventually, after I held him and fed him, he showed a clear preference for one brand over another, even willing to have a few more sips."

"We just wanted to give our son the best, so we bought the most expensive, high-quality international brands. Who knew he'd end up preferring a less known brand, just a few hundred bucks a can."

Curious, Anya asked, "Auntie, how did you figure out each formula tasted different?"

Mia proudly claimed, "Your aunt is just that smart."

That evening, the family of three enjoyed a quiet dinner. Mid-meal, Mia suddenly looked up at her husband and asked a seemingly naive question, "Honey, food tastes different depending on who cooks it, right?" Despite finding the question a bit silly, Andre patiently waited for her to continue, "Of course."

Mia added, "Just like different brands of snail noodles taste different, so must different formulas from different companies, right?"

It seemed she had hit upon a crucial insight, "Some formulas have a strong smell, others are milder. Our son can taste the difference, so when the formula doesn't taste right, he refuses it."

Andre continued eating, glancing at the crib where their son was struggling to roll over.

The next day, the couple bought many different formulas to test on their son.

Seeing some nice wine glasses, Mia suggested, "Let's buy two sets; we haven't got any at home."

After a brief shopping trip, Chad Byrne, having finished his work, came to pick up Molly.

Mia and Anya then headed to Cedillo Inc.

It was Anya's first visit to Cedillo Inc., and she was intrigued by the surroundings, "Auntie, the sculpture in the lobby looks similar to the one in my dad's company."

At the heart of Cedillo Inc.'s building was a prominently displayed, immaculately clean character that could be seen upon entering the company.

Surrounding the character were designs that spread outward, yet all seemed to embrace it protectively.

If one looked closely, each branch ended with a different character.

As Anya followed Mia into the executive elevator, she mentioned, "My dad's company doesn't have just one character; it has a big leaf with 'Peace' on it, but 'River' is also there at the bottom." Mia speculated, "Must be some symbolic meaning."

Upon reaching their floor, Anya's excitement to see Leo was palpable.

Mia knew all too well the feeling of a young girl eager to see her crush, recalling how she'd once subtly touched up her makeup before seeing Andre.

As the elevator doors opened, Anya followed Mia out. The employees greeted Mia politely and looked curiously at Anya, a stranger to them.

Standing at the elevator entrance, Anya scanned the crowd for Leo.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find him and guessed she might have come to the wrong floor.

Mia, leading Anya to her husband's office, announced, "Honey, I've come to visit you."

Andre looked up, greeted his wife with a smile, and then noticed Anya, "Anya, you're out of school early today."

Mia nodded, "Where's the baby?"

Andre replied, "On the sofa, sleeping. He tried rolling over this morning but he's too plump and needed a little help."

Despite the struggle, Andre couldn't bear to watch and often helped his son along.

Mia and Anya curiously approached the sofa to see the little one.

Mia decided not to wake him. "By the way, husband, where does Leo work?"

"Didn't you see him just now?"

Anya shook her head. "We looked everywhere but couldn't find Chad."

Andre leaned back in his chair, a wry smile on his face as he said, "Bet he's off to the bathroom again. Guy could run a marathon with all the trips he makes in a day!"

He nodded towards where Leo had been, signaling to Anya to wait for Leo there.

Now, the office felt like it was just the three of them again.

Mia was crouched by the sofa, gazing lovingly at their sleeping child, "Honey, do you think Leo's just not cut out for the business world?"