Parents?

"What?" I asked skeptically.

"Mom and Dad are home," he said nervously. "Eh… will you keep my magazines and DVDs, Jace?" His eyes widen with hope.

In return, I rolled my eyes in exasperation and left my room, meeting the Bryants who rarely came home due to business in various countries. Behind me, Jaxen is still sulking begging me to take the collection of adult magazines and porn DVDs he keeps.

"No," I said still adamant. Just let him know how he feels if Mom finds his collections in the room.

Jaxen's mouth fell open when he saw Mom and Dad taking off their coats on the gallows. Noticing our presence, Mom came closer and stretched out her arms to hug me. Hmm, she still remembers me as her son after half a year of not coming home.

"Mom misses you, Jace," she said as he patted me on the back, then let go of her arm. Now her attention turned to Jaxen who was standing silently behind me. "Ah, honey Mom misses you too."

While Mom was busy with Jaxen and demanded to come into the room, as usual, every time he came, Dad was more interested in asking where my sister was. He glanced around the corner of the room, unable to find Jasmine's nose.

"Where's Jasmine?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's doing her homework with her friends," I replied.

Behind him, Jaxen tried to stop Mom from entering his room, but Mom still broke through Jaxen's fortifications, forcing his way upstairs to check if Jaxen was obeying orders or persisting in disobedience.

"Are you still killing people?" Dad's tone turned skeptical when he asked that, to which I immediately frowned.

"Not for now." My jaw hardens. What does he care about me? The question was asked just to make sure that I didn't embarrass the Bryant family name again. The truth is, it was Joseph who molded his cousins ​​into merciless, murderous men.

Luckily Jasmine, Carly, and Tristan didn't share the ideals that Joseph wanted. Maybe Sara was a little influenced by Joseph. But my one cousin wasn't as brutal as the others. All he had in his head was fun, money, thrones, and everything.

Dad tapped me on the shoulder many times. "Tomorrow doesn't go anywhere. We will all be attending the launch of the newest product from my colleague."

I didn't reply to him. I just watched his back as he walked into his study. Even after coming home from out of town for work purposes, he still perseveres with other jobs. Don't you have a little time to spend with your family?