Don't Contact Us Again

Theia's description finally put Anthony, who had been holding in his laughter the entire time, out. 

"Pffftttttt! Shibari bunny. " 

Alex struggled to hold in his laughter while they laughed, as Ezra's face flushed. When Ezra started shifting in his seat as though he was trying to get out of it, though, he finally couldn't hold it in. 

Ezra stared at them, embarrassed, while they laughed. Was it really that funny? He looked down at himself and the way he was trussed up, and he too started laughing. If anyone else walked in, it would look strange to them. An abandoned warehouse, filled with cobwebs on the beams, dust coating the ground and a man tied up with three other people, including him, laughing until the girl actually cried. It would indeed be a strange scene to anyone, but to them, it was simply warming. 

As they laughed, a phone rang, distracting them from their laughter. 

"Um, guys, can you all untie me so I can answer?" Ezra asked. 

Anthony looked at his boss for confirmation before quickly untying him. By the time he had finished, the phone had already stopped. As Ezra was about to pick it up to check, it rang again. For some reason, when he saw the caller ID, Alex's words came back to him. His chest tightened with anxiety, and he felt his heart speed up. He hoped that wasn't truly why she was calling him. He took a deep breath before answering and decided to put the phone on speaker. That way, he wouldn't have to recount the conversation. 

"Good evening, mom."

"Yes, I've told you time and time again not to call me that. It's "mother", for now, in any case. Answer me clearly. Did you make arrangements to kidnap Ms. Lexington and then pretend to rescue her? " Mrs. Dupree asked, her voice comparable to the Arctic even when speaking to her son. If they hadn't known better, they would have sworn she was speaking to a stranger. 

"Mother, I can explain---"

"Did you or did you not, child? I don't have the time nor the energy to listen to you concoct a story. I've already heard the phone conversations and saw screenshots of the arrangements you made. I was simply asking out of courtesy. "

Ezra felt his heart drop. His cousin had truly led him to an abyss disguised as paradise and then kicked him down into it before he even realized otherwise. Worse, it was clearly his plan all along. Why? He had always gone out of his way to help him. His cousin was four years older than him, so he had always acted like his older brother. Was it all so he could put his trust in him just for this moment? He sighed.

"Am I to take this sigh as acknowledgement, child?"

"Yes, mother. I had initially planned to do that. "

Don't call me mother from now on, because I'm not after this moment. We will be making an official announcement stating that you are not associated in any way with us. We will not announce what you have done. It will simply be said that we have irreconcilable differences. From today, you are not allowed to use the Dupree name. It would be better if you could change it as well. We will have someone pack your things and send them to a storage locker. The address will be sent to you so you can collect your things from there. "

Theia had been surprised that he put the phone on speaker, but when she noticed the way his face had paled and his hand holding the phone shook, she thought he had probably done it so it wouldn't fall. Now, after hearing his mother's cold, impersonal tone, she realized that it was because he had expected this from her. This….even as bad as her stepmother could be, she was never this type of person, and Theia had always gotten the feeling that if something happened to her, calling her stepmother would be her best option. She wasn't sure why, but she felt deep down that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Even if it's simply so she doesn't look bad. 

Ezra's expression hadn't changed from the emotionless mask he usually used while speaking to his parents. He had done all of this just so he could help them, so he could gain their approval, and they would willingly drop him without even so much as an explanation as to why he did it. He knew he was wrong, so he had no illusions about not suffering a punishment for it, but this was a bit outside his expectations. He knew his parents' attitude toward anything that could potentially sully his name, but he had never expected that they would actually kick him out without even a face-to-face discussion. It was only now that he realized they truly did not love him at all. He had always thought deep down that it was hidden under the veneer of coldness they presented, but he was clearly wrong. 

"Are you listening to me, child?"

"Yes, moth---"

"As I said, I am not your mother. Fortunately, you are 19 years old, so we don't need to give you anything. You will need to figure out your school and living situation on your own. I don't care how you do it, even if you have to find a bridge, just don't contact us. If you were a business associate, I would say it was a pleasure at least because money would have been made in the relationship. Unfortunately, you simply turned out to be a bad investment. We took you and your cousins... you and our niece and nephew back two years ago after my husband's parents died, but you simply turned out to be a bad investment that only accrued debt. Most unfortunate. Don't contact any of us again. Including our niece. "

Click. The phone was hung up. No one knew what to say. Alex thought that he would rather have his parents, as bad as they were, than deal with people like that. His father aside, he knew his mother truly loved him. He even felt like underneath the things she said to Theia, were poorly stated concerns that she deliberately phrased rudely. Regardless, it was infinitely better than that type of mother. 

"Let's all go home, " Theia said. 

Ezra looked at her blankly. "I don't have a home to go back to."

"Yes, you do," she said.

"With us." Alex finished for her, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. He put his arm around Ezra's shoulders because he could feel him shaking.

They walked to the car, Ezra and Theia in the backseat while Alex drove.