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Chapter 13

Lukas sits still in front of the coffee table on the veranda as he throws his sight at the backyard. Every inch of the area is being inspected as if he is searching for something. He leans his body slightly to his right until his hand can touch his face before massaging his chin a little. He has been staying in the same condition for quite a while now. His facial expression clearly tells that something is lingering on his mind.

"That's quite a face you make there, hon." Nadya steps out of the kitchen and approaches her husband with a sweet smile on her face. Lukas turns to her almost instantly when her voice reaches his ears. His facial expression quickly changes and he chuckles softly. He fixes his posture and sits up straight on his chair.

"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Nadya pulls the chair next to his husband's and makes herself comfortable on it. She gazes gently at his face.

"Nothing really important. How are Julianne and Marianne? What are they doing?" Lukas avoids his wife's questions. Only after he spilt out his words that he starts to question his decision. Nadya stares into his eyes in silence.

"They're doing their things, as usual." Nadya answers in a monotone. Her smile is no longer there to decorate her face. "What about you? What are you doing?" She presses her voice a little. She has always been displeased by her husband's high sense of secrecy. Sometimes it is ridiculous. They already talked about it in the past but since it has become his habit, sometimes he does it unconsciously.

Lukas throws his sight back to the backyard and gulps a little. "I was just thinking about cleaning our backyard a little. That's all." A nervous smile forms on his face. He knows that his wife is still staring at him even though he already brought his sight away from her. The thought just makes him even more nervous than before. He is correct.

Nadya squints her eyes a little. "Really?" Slowly, she brings her face closer to her husband's. Lukas decides to let the question slide without an answer but instead, his mind and eyes quickly spin and linger around to find something to escape to. At the same time, he is mindful to not make it too obvious.

A few seconds later, Lukas stands up and steps out of the veranda. "Where are you going?" Nadya observes his sudden actions, pretty surprised by them. Lukas still chooses to stay silent. He knows that his wife will follow him later. And again, he is correct. Nadya impatiently gets up from her seat a few moments later and walks fast to catch up to her husband. After a few steps, they finally arrive at Lukas' intended destination, the store room.

Lukas opens the door as gentle as possible. But since the door is quite old, he has to exert more force to move it as it gets stuck sometimes. Even the creaking sound it makes is unbelievably loud.

As soon as he manages to do his task, particles of dust fly out from the room, welcoming them. The couple takes a few steps back to avoid them. But there are a few that manage to find a way into their throat. They cough quite hard a few times, forcing all the dust out of their body.

"I don't remember the last time I use this store room. But gosh, this is horrible." Lukas speaks in between his coughs.

The fresh air is starting to surround the couple once more after spending a few moments in a coughing contest. They inhale deeply and let their breath out, making sure that their throat is really free and clean from any remaining dust. Luckily, none of them suffers from asthma or other respiration problem. They arrange their steps to the store room again. As a precaution, they are still covering their mouth and nose with their shirt.

"What are you trying to do exactly?" Nadya is still unsatisfied since her husband did not give his justification earlier.

"I told you I want to clean the yard. Maybe decorating it a little." Lukas turns to his wife who is standing beside him before gazing back into the store room. "I guess I'll have to start from here." He steps into the room and looks around.