Family Tension

Alex arrived at his dorm and noticed that his mail had been delivered, neatly stored in the locked compartment near his door.

He gathered all the mail and stepped inside. Once indoors, he placed all of it on the table before proceeding to the bathroom to take a shower.

Afterward, he changed into clean clothes and made his way back to the table, ready to sort through his purchases.

Then Alex recalled the BW mission, so he decided to first complete the mission and see what would happen. Using his smartwatch, Alex accessed the BW and navigated to the assignment section. He clicked on his active assignments and selected his only mission.

[Assignment Details]

[Agent: Silas (Agent ID: XXX-007)]

[Mission: Operation Watchmen]

[Objective: Duel Outcome Report - Damien Ashcroft vs. Frank Ashcroft]

[Reward: 1 CP (Contribution Point)]

[Mission Failure: None]

[Mission Status: Active]

[Submit Secure Report]

Upon noticing that the mission was still active, with a submission section at the bottom for the report, Alex tapped on it and uploaded the recorded evidence.

Alex patiently waited, observing as the mission status changed to [waiting verification].

"It seems like it will take some time before the status updates," Alex pondered before deciding to set the matter aside for the time being.

"After spending nearly all of my money, the end result looks so significant," Alex thought after seeing all the materials he purchased only take up one-tenth of the table.

Alex headed to the kitchen and collected necessary things like cups and spoons. Then he stopped by the study room to get a notebook.

Afterward, Alex started to write down all the steps for creating the awakening potion from his mind, referring to the TOC.

He breathed a sigh and murmured, "All is done."

According to the instructions, Alex started to mix the ingredients and tried to create the potion without making a mistake.

Alex looked towards the ingredients and said to himself, "I need to make the potion without blundering too much; otherwise, I'll need to order another batch of ingredients."

Alex cautiously and meticulously began mixing the ingredients. After some time, he finally finished, only to be left with a potion that was black in color and emitted a foul odor.

Alex knew he had failed because, in TOC , he clearly remembered that the end product should have had an ocean blue color and a refreshing odor.

"Where did I screw up?" Alex thought to himself.

"Perhaps my timing was off?" Alex wondered.

Frustrated, Alex threw the potion away and started again, this time with more focus. However, it resulted in another failure—a blood-red potion with a nauseating odor.

Alex angrily tossed the potion into the trash. He had lost count of the unsuccessful attempts.

Alex muttered to himself, "I had a sense that I made a mistake in the middle of the process, but I thought it wouldn't cause the whole process to fail. It wasn't such a significant mistake, after all."

Alex didn't want to keep a record of his failure, but as he looked at the remaining ingredients, he realized he only had approximately two more chances left.

Alex took a break and tried to empty his mind, calming down his taunt nerves. After resting enough, Alex started again.

"I will succeed this time," Alex pumped himself up.

It was quite normal for Alex to fail because what he wanted to do was in a different professional field. The people who were doing what Alex wanted to do had years of education and self-improvement in that field.

Alex was just a step away from successfully creating the potion, but suddenly his smartwatch rang and made him lose focus, causing the process to fail.

***

Robert and Anna were having dinner, discussing the upcoming anniversary of River Family Corporation. As they enjoyed their meal, Anna's smartwatch buzzed, signaling a message from her daughter, Rachel. Curiosity piqued, she opened the message and shared it with her husband.

The message divulged the details of what had transpired between their son and Amelia.

"I've just received a message from Rachel," Anna announced, displaying the message to her husband.

"Why is he so fixated on Amelia?" Anna pondered aloud.

"It's only natural; our son practically grew up with Amelia, so it's understandable that he would feel strongly about her," Robert replied with a sigh.

"I know, but this is getting out of hand. His way of thinking is not right. There are plenty of girls out there who would be happy to receive our son's affection," Anna responded.

"Our son doesn't need that arrogant, egotistic girl," Anna added with frustration.

"Amelia is our friend's daughter. It's not nice to talk about their daughter like that," Robert reprimanded Anna gently.

"I know that, but she has only caused pain for our son," Anna stated.

"And for once, just take our son's side instead of others," Anna exclaimed.

"This matter wouldn't have escalated this much if you hadn't encouraged Alex," Anna accused Robert.

"I just thought it would be nice if our son and Amelia would be a couple. After all, our families have been friends for so long," Robert defended himself.

"Why don't you admit that you just like the idea of having a connection with the River family?" Anna accused Robert once again, and she stormed upstairs.

"Robert, you caused this, so you should be the one to fix it. Call Alex and check how he's doing," Anna paused on the stairs and said, not bothering to look back.

"Do not dare to come upstairs tonight if you don't want to end up on the street!" Anna's voice echoed from upstairs, accompanied by the sound of a slamming door.

Robert was aware that whenever something happened concerning their children, Anna would become upset and vent her anger on her surroundings.

Knowing this, Robert didn't take Anna's actions too seriously. Nevertheless, he had no intention of going upstairs and further provoking her.

Robert then called Alex to check on him and remind him to attend the anniversary of the River Family Corporation.

***