“Jesse, are you alright?” Anna asked with concern as Jesse walked out of the car with a cast covering his left arm.
Behind him, Sebastian and Jack left the car and shared a quick word.
“Yes, mother.” Jesse stepped up the steps and into the house.
“What happened?” Anna caressed his cheeks, concerned for his well-being.
“A small incident, nothing else. I will be more careful in the future.” Jesse spoke with a rather lukewarm tone that didn’t fully reassure Anna.
Anna nodded but felt like her son didn’t tell the full truth.
After walking by his mother, Jesse saw Zach standing near the stairs, his arms crossed and a worrying look on his face.
“Are you alright?” Zach asked.
“Yes, what about you? Shouldn’t you be at school?” Jesse asked.
“School ended earlier because of the school trip that starts tomorrow and lasts three days.”
“I see.” Jesse nodded. “What about those guys? They left you alone?”
“Yeah.” Zach wryly smiled. “They aren’t even looking in my direction anymore, and there have been rumors spreading that I actually beat their asses or something.”
“Heh, that is good.” Jesse smiled and stepped on the stairs, planning to go to the second floor.
“However, there is one thing that concerns me.” Zach said before Jesse walked by.
“What is it?” Jesse stopped and looked at his brother.
“Your sister, Holly, is acting strange lately.”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
“She has always been quiet, even though she looks like a teenager who has boys wrapped around her every finger, but recently she’s been distant and moody.”
“Distant and moody?” Jesse raised his eyebrow.
“My guess is that everything is not fine in her household.” Zach said and then shrugged his shoulders. “Since she is basically your sister, you must know more about what might be wrong with her.”
“I haven’t been close to her in a long time.” Jesse sighed and looked down at the ground. “I’ll ask her, but I am quite confident that she will ignore my message.”
“Mm.” Zach nodded.
Jesse then walked up the stairs, but then heard a voice from downstairs.
“Jesse, wait a moment.” Jack walked up the stairs, following his son with the cane tapping against the floorboard. “Can I have a word?”
“Nn.” Jesse nodded and waited for his father to catch up before continuing to walk towards the elevator.
Jack pulled out a napkin from his suit pocket and wiped the sweat off his brows.
“I want you to visit our doctors every week from now on.”
“Why?” Jesse asked with a frown.
“I want to monitor your well-being. You only have to give a blood sample, and then you can return. It takes five minutes, tops.”
“Is that really necessary?” Jesse asked. “I am fine.”
“Do this for me and Anna, please.” Jack stopped walking and looked his son in the eye. “It would give us peace of mind.”
“Sigh, fine.” Jesse pressed a button on the wall, and then the elevator doors opened.
“Thank you.” Jack smiled and turned around to walk away, but he had a deep look on his face.
‘Jesse, did you break your arm because you were aware of the things happening inside your body?’ Jack wondered to himself.
‘When the time is right, I should ask him, but for now, I will have to ensure that whatever is happening with him is not harmful and killing him.’
…
After returning to his room, Jesse plopped down on his bed and pulled out his phone.
‘Sending a message to Holly…’ He sighed and opened the messaging app.
He had her phone number, but the chat history was empty.
After contemplating what to write, he started typing with only his right hand, unable to move his broken left arm.
Once he was done writing, he pressed send and closed the phone.
‘I should go to Martial Online. In there, I won’t feel this pain.’ Jesse clumsily put the VR headset over his head and pressed the button.
He didn’t expect Holly to reply to his message anytime soon, so to escape the pain of his broken arm, he decided to return to Martial Online.
It was a place where he could escape the stress and pain of the real world.
In there, he could do anything without having to worry about his glass-like body.
…
Nocklund, 18 Cavern Street.
In the room on the second floor, Holly lay on the bed, her VR headset covering her head.
Under the visor, her eyes were closed as she was immersed in the magical world of martial arts.
She hadn’t even taken off her school uniform; the skirt was now slightly wrinkled after not changing to pants before entering the virtual world.
Brr—her phone on the bed vibrated, the touchscreen lit up, and it showed that she had received a message.
After a short while, she flinched and opened her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering open as she adjusted to the light.
“Mmh…” She slowly removed the VR headset and blinked a few times to refocus her vision. “Ugh, stupid Allison had to remind me about the homework.”
Holly stood up and let out a gentle yawn before moving over to the wardrobe.
She unzipped her skirt, let it drop to the floor, and took out comfortable-looking sweatpants from the wardrobe before slipping her toned legs into them.
She then grabbed her favorite oversized sweater and slipped it on, ready to relax and finally finish the homework.
After walking to her bed, she grabbed her phone and walked over to the desk before sitting down and opening the school books.
As she opened her phone, ready to play some music, she noticed that she had received a message from an unexpected source.
“Jesse…” She frowned and opened the message, then read it inside her mind.
It was a long message that left her feeling conflicted.
“What is the point of him messaging me?” Holly sighed and put the phone away. “He is not my brother anymore. He is living in a mansion; his status is as high as a prince’s, and his future is set to be bright and prosperous. 𝚟𝐞xt.𝗇et
“To think that he used to live in this same household only a few weeks ago and now his whole life has turned upside down while I am still here…”
Thump, thump—loud noises came from downstairs, followed by the shouting of her father and the panicked screams of her mother.
Her parents had been arguing lately, ever since Holly told them about Jesse and custody.
Even though Terry didn’t believe it, it gave him a seed of doubt and made him remember a certain piece of paper that Maria once told him to sign.
Back then, he thought nothing of it, but now the seed of doubt had become very strong.
“Shut up…” Holly whispered and put headphones over her ears.
She then began blasting music through her ears.
‘I’ll also leave this place one day, just like he managed.
‘The way out is Martial Online. I have already made twenty crowns, which is not much, but I will make enough to escape this place.
‘Therefore, I have to take advantage of every opportunity.
‘Allison and I have already decided to go to Hightown, where the quest is held. I have to do well on that quest in order to get good rewards.’
She then focused her gaze on the homework that was piling up on her desk.
‘I’ll leave this place; I have to.’ She tightened her grip on the pencil and began writing furiously.