Chapter 2: Moving Out

Some people say family always comes first, and they were exactly right. Who needed anyone else?

When you had family, others could go to hell.

At least, that's how I always saw the world.

And it wasn't like my mother ever had the intention to teach me otherwise. I had a rough upbringing…

There was a time I almost died due to the machinations of a rival corporation against us.

They did all they could to ruin my mother.

Even though she had established a brand and several businesses under her name, she always had to keep cautious. A pragmatic mindset and the ability to kill her conscience. Empathy was an evil.

Not to other people, but to the family.

If she opened up and showed weakness, those bastards that had been eyeing our position would swallow us while. I remember every day being another day filled with stress and machinations.

Always needing a plan to keep the hyenas down.

Thankfully, we still had our father in the flat.

Perhaps others would find my dad to be 'unmanly' for not wearing the pants in the house, but I could never forget his demeanour. Even when mom lost her temper after losing an entire market, he kept his cool and made our lives much easier to live.

Making food for us, helping with the many important documents, cleaning, ordering, etc.

A real-life jack of all trades.

It made me wish I was more like him, but it looked like it wasn't meant to be. My life was so empty…

"Brother, what are you saying?" My brother, Gilbert, grabbed my shoulders tightly, which hurt a little.

Damn… Why did he have to hit the gym so much?

He's already incredibly smart and handsome. Did he have to one-up me in every possible avenue?

But that was just me being petty.

I knew that wasn't at all the case.

"With you running the business, it's better if I kept my hands out of your pockets… if you know what I mean." It's not like the business partners and collaborators would accept two tigers on this hill.

If I'm still here, there would always be the question floating around in others minds on who had power.

Who actually controlled the assets?

"You know that means nothing to me." Gilbert tried to persuade me. Shaking my shoulders firmly.

But that was useless.

"But it does to Mom." When I spoke this, Gilbert had no way to deny the truth of the whole situation.

Even though she loved us, it's easy to see that our mother was someone who loved being the top dog.

Hitting first place in sales and popularity.

It was because of this drive that everyone else was also moving forward. Doing all they ever could.

But that wasn't enough.

"Adam, what about your opinion?" Before he could tighten his hold again, I slapped his hands away.

Making a clear line distinguish the two of us.

"Gil… It's time to man up." I said while looking at the big brother who was more attuned to his emotions.

Another trait I wished could belong to me.

To him, I was a younger brother… but I could never get out this feeling of inferiority I felt towards him.

It made me feel like I was a nobody.

Useless.

"Adam…" He tried to reach for my hand, but I turned away. This was for the good for both of us.

At least, that's how I saw it.

Perhaps things would have gone differently if I knew the future. Maybe I wouldn't have left.

My parents HAD tried to give me advice too.

If only I had listened…

When I walked out of the room, Mom and Dad seemed to be waiting for me in the front room.

Sitting on the sofa peacefully.

Dad seemed to be shaking, but Mom held onto his hand to calm him. Show him everything was fine.

A rare show of affection she'd show in front of me.

"You're leaving?" Mom was the first to ask, she could tell there was something different about me.

Maybe I'd matured a little.

"I'm buying an apartment complex and living off of rent. Don't worry, I'll still be in touch. It's not like-"

"You're disappearing from our lives?" Dad spoke.

"…" I wasn't able to say anything to respond.

It was true that I was leaving. He'd never have to make my bed anymore, or cool a serving for me.

Isn't it better he wouldn't have to take the effort?

"You don't have to grow independent so fast." Dad got up and let Mom's hand slip through his fingers.

He looked at me the same way Gil did.

It's not hard to see who inherited the best traits of our parents. This love… I wouldn't ever forget it.

"I'm 20 years old, Dad. If not at this moment, then when?" I raised my hands to feigned nonchalance.

"Sweetie, why aren't you stopping him from going?" Dad realised that Mom hadn't spoken.

She merely watched from afar.

Her face seemed colder the more she frowned, but I knew this was just a product of her occupation.

Expressing complex emotions was hard for her.

Being a master at having poker-faces was difficult.

Put her hand on Dad's shoulder before looking him in the eye… then shook her head at his request.

"Our boy is growing up. Let's give him space." She gave a considerate answer like she'd always done.

An answer I'd expected.

"Dad, Mom… I…" A part of me wanted to say that I loved them, but it felt too cringeworthy to say.

It's not like I'm dying.

Which is why I said: "…I'll keep in touch."

They watched me leave the house to go into the concrete jungle on my own. With only a ton of cash in my bank account and a luxurious car. Truly, it was hard breaking for their second son to leave.

Maybe I wouldn't be confident in anything else, but I knew my blessings and understood their uses.

Even if I wasn't gifted.

In order to keep the pests away, I decided to make my apartment complex more than a random place.

I'd been in contact with some 'friends' over this.

My phone finally rang.

"What took you so long?" I frowned in anger while answering the call. To the surprise of my chauffeur.

The man driving looked in the mirror to see my warm expression turn cold, as i always was.

Similarly emotionally distant as my biological mother. Hmm… Was this a bloodline trait?

"Sorry, sorry…! The paperwork is done. It has been decided that your apartment complex will be the base of our security firm. Would you like to come over to celebrate this?" The girl spoke candidly.

Sophia Hildegard, a woman my age with a maturity about her I couldn't understand. Enigmatic indeed.

Was it because she came from one of the few surviving Noble Households in the modern day? 

She was a tough cookie.

I'd heard the other families had somehow been assassinated. This world was still a cruel place.

To think such things could happen in this day and age. People dying without being able to resist.

It was exactly why I made up my mind.

With this, Gil would be less worried about my safety outside of the house. It was all as planned.

Moreover, there were some things that couldn't be shared with him. Some stuff better left secret.

Sophia was one of them.

"Let's game for a while when I get there. Is your butler still giving you a hard time?" I calmed a bit.

My tone becoming neutral.

"He became more subservient lately." Sophia tried to open a conversation, but I was a master at-

"Well, good going… I guess." 

Shutting down all social contacts. Our relationship was more of a partnership than intimate anyway.

We both had things to gain from each other, and it wasn't like the two of us had any particular dislike.

Thus, I dropped the back of my seat to relax and opened an app on my phone. It was an old game.

{Otome Lovers: Uprooting Destiny}

The main character played as a woman by the name of 'Linda Arcadia', and the story was simple.

At least, it was barebones a few years ago.

The player's background was that of a mistreated daughter that had to fight her fate as a villainess.

There was an interesting but done-to-death plot about following the villainess escape a bad ending.

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Mainly: Execution.

If not for the fact that this game was a beat em' up instead of an Otome game, I would've shelved it.

Deleting it like every other boring title.

But this was the most unique and expansive game I'd ever had the pleasure of wasting my time on.

Even though it had a stamina system that stopped me from playing all day… it had amazing gameplay.

But more than that, it was actually a Gacha game.

One I'd spent only around ten bucks on.

And maybe a little extra over time.

Ever since I'd gotten my hands on it at the age of 13, I'd never missed a day to do my daily missions.

It had been 7 years since then.

I'd collected the entire roster of characters through time-specific events and pulling every so often.

Which would then be added to my list of 'allies'.

Those who I could play in story mode or coop matches. Which wasn't that great, but not too bad.

It was an RPG type game with romantic elements.

You could improve a character's affection by using them in battle, or just straight up talking to them.

In that, both me and Sophia were different.

While I went in with the mindset of a fighter and beat my opponents, she treated it like a puzzle.

Convincing other people to do the dirty work.

How fitting that she became the head of a security firm. One that did tasks and dirty work for her.

Moreover, there was something about us that made me even more a target for the ire of those bigwigs.

A relationship different than what it seemed.

After finishing a few rounds with the automated character she sent to join me in a boss raid, I walked out of my car and sent the driver off. That would be the last time using my home's transport.

As the black vehicle had driven off, I turned to see a bunch of men unloading their stuff from a van.

In the technical age, security firms had to do their best to both protect themselves and that of others.

They weren't allowed to shoot guns and injure innocent civilians, but they were allowed them.

Another perk of money and Sophia's influence.

One shouldn't underestimate the kind of things someone from the ONLY aristocrat of the modern era left could do. They were definitely packing more than what should be legal, but the police turned a blind eye so they could keep their jobs.

Oh, the stench of capitalism.

And how lawful protectors turn into guardians.

Passively waiting rather than hunting for crooks.

A sight I'd see all too often to forget.

My mind drifted while making my way not to the top of the complex, but to the 'centre' of the place.

Every buff employee forming a protective shield.

One that encircled and encased us two VVIPs.

They gave us some personal space as well. Which was more than us being dicks about our status.

"Welcome aboard." A moustached stranger that looked like a pirate eerily opened the door for me.

Something felt VERY odd.

But that wouldn't be the last of me waking up from my delusions about the world, and what I knew…

…of the creepy woman named Sophia Hildegard.

"Addie~!" The moment I walked into the nicely decorated room with electronic lighting and a backup power generator, I knew she would try screwing with me. Calling me by this nickname.

ONE I REFUSE TO ACCEPT.

"Hands off." I stopped her from giving me a hug.

She was a tasty sight for the eyes. Blonde hair with some curls and blue eyes as deep as the seas.

There was something about her that seemed less shallow than others. Maybe it was consistency.

Other girls of her type tried to break what others thought as the norm, but Sophia relished in them.

I'm not sure what her diet plan was, but it wasn't easy to have a fashion model body like that.

Moreover, she seemed so 'girly'.

Not even feeling afraid others would look down on her for being into frilly accessories on her clothes.

Showing emotions so openly.

But I knew she wasn't just a 'dumb blonde'.

We wouldn't be using each other, nor pretending to be lovers, if she was as stupid as she seemed.

"Your butler isn't here." I spoke those words in order to get her to drop the act she was putting.

After all, she was only using me to make another guy jealous. Such a cliché plan only she thought of.

But it looked like I'd need more than that to dissuade her. The bitch kept on clinging onto me.

"Should we 'celebrate' then?" She seductively winked at me. Which suddenly made me uneasy.

Was she… being serious?

"I thought I'd told you-"

"Plans change." She smiled and spoke in a gentle tone, but her eyes held a heaviness to them.

To the point it made me stop talking.

"You know this… isn't why I'd chosen to live with you." I may be antisocial, but that was a choice.

It's not like I couldn't read social cues.

And from the way she was clinging onto me, I knew this bitch wasn't playing around with me like usual.

Her eyes looking predatory.

"Come on~ Do you have anything precious to lose here?" Sophia reached into my empty pockets.

Then groped my ass like some sort of pimp.

Was she always this sexual?

"My virginity…?"

"Haha, funny."

"I'm being serious though."

"…" Sophia was stunned speechless.

My surprising amount of honesty made her gape wide. To the point she looked at me deeply.

"You never had a fling?"

"With who?" There weren't many girls who could handle my personality, and I wasn't exactly cute.

My face was bland.

Not ugly, just ordinary.

"Hehehe~" She started to laugh, and I wasn't sure what this woman was thinking about on her own.

But I admit that she looked stunning.

It was at this point I started my retreat.

"Are you going to leave?" Sophia watched me turn around, but I didn't answer that obvious question.

I wasn't putting my dick in someone like her.

She was way too eerie.

Those eyes didn't look obsessive, but there was definitely a sharpness like she'd killed before.

Crazy bitch…

"No wonder you're less than a man than your brother." It was at that point she spoke sharply.

Hitting a topic she knew was taboo for me.

"What did you say?" Even if she was a girl, I wasn't going easy if she kept screwing around with me. 

Instead of backing off, she approached with a look.

A smile of a tiger.

"Insecure wimp. Is this your way of running away from home? What, is his dick bigger than yours?"

"Stop."

"Make me- Mmph~" I suddenly kissed her to stop her from talking anymore. Fine. You win this one.

I couldn't take hearing it.

And it wasn't like I'd go back home so easily.

But just because we were about to mingle, didn't mean I'd give in to letting her reign on top of me.

When our mouths separated, I realised that we both got hurt after our teeth had clashed a little.

But I used my inexperience to my advantage.

Not showing my pain when she covered her lips.

"No sex, but now… Think of me as your full-time kisser." I held onto my pride and glared at her.

Making her believe that was on purpose.

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