Sinclair’s Mansion.
Upon getting home, Miles was shocked when he met Josephine dressed in comfy clothes with a book in her hand.
"Oh no! You’ve got to be kidding me. Are you fucking reading right now?"
He shouted in disbelief, staring at her like he’d seen a ghost.
Taking a breath, Josephine rolled her eyes at him as if wishing she could land a sucker punch.
"What do you think? I’m a bum who loves to move around? Slow-witted, or some stupid cocksucking bitch?"
She asked, sounding annoyed by his astonishment when she recalled Cassie had the same reaction a few minutes ago.
"Woah, woah, pal. Take it easy, no need to take it personally... Well, it’s not like we’ve ever seen you read a book."
Miles sneered, switching from trying to console her to making a brutal remark.
"Bastard!" Josephine snapped and threw the book in her hands at him.
"Arrgghh."
Grunting as it hit his chest, he grabbed the book and then laughed lightly, handing it back over as he walked up the stairs.
Inside his room, he quickly took a bath and returned to his bed to rest.
Of course, he also had to reply to Chloe’s texts before taking a nap.
It was dinner time.
Seated around Sinclair’s table, everyone quickly dived into their food as they dined in silence.
For a while, the space was filled with the clatter of cutlery against ceramic plates.
Chewing on a piece of sliced steak, Hannah held up her glass of juice and sipped from it before glancing at her four children.
"So, is anyone going to talk about how school went today? Or maybe work?"
She landed her eyes on Deb after scanning the other three.
In response, it was Cassie who paused first.
"Nope. It was just the usual, preparing for the upcoming contest."
"Oh, that’s great. How’s your practice going? Oh, I’ve never really thought of it before—who is your dance partner?"
Hearing Hannah’s words, Cassie, who was about to gulp down the water in her mouth, almost choked and covered her face.
To the side, Miles chewed on his steak, holding back a grin from forming on his face as he watched Cassie try to recover herself, recalling that she had given him a blowjob.
Managing to recover fast enough, Cassie wiped her mouth and tried not to glance in Miles’s direction.
"Dance partner? It’ll be a surprise when I perform," Cassie said, making Hannah reveal a curious, interested smile.
"Oh? He must be a lovely, interesting boy then."
Hannah said teasingly, making Cassie blush.
"Mom!" she called out, pouting while secretly tilting her eyes toward Miles.
"Okay, okay, I’m very much open to a surprise," Hannah said, dropping the topic as she turned to Miles.
"What about you, Miles? The exams?"
She asked the moment he finished chewing.
"Well, it was just the usual. Nothing much."
Miles casually shrugged his shoulders, and at the opposite side of the table, Josephine glared at him.
"Phine?"
Hannah nodded and turned to Josephine.
"It’s just the exams, but I’m doing very okay."
"That’s great. Have you decided yet on which college you want to attend?"
Hannah asked, and Josephine shook her head.
"Not yet. I’m hoping for recommendations for fashion design schools that have partnered with famous brands."
Josephine said, showing a look of lamentation as if to tell them about her failed attempts.
Hannah’s expression turned serious upon hearing this, then quickly softened into a smile.
"Don’t worry, baby. I’ll see what I can do about that."
"Yesss," Josephine squealed, nodding delightedly.
But then, just as Hannah was about to shift her gaze to Deb, Josephine spoke again, her eyes fixed on Miles.
"Miles? Are you actually going to pretend like nothing happened today?"
Josephine asked, obviously annoyed.
"Huh?"
Stunned, Miles raised his head toward her and stopped chewing his slice of steak, appearing confused.
Seeing this look, Josephine sneered, catching the interest of everyone at the table before she spoke again, snapping her head toward Hannah.
"Mom, a bunch of officers came to our school earlier today and harassed Miles, saying he was a suspect for the disappearance of a bunch of idiots who used to bully him. You should have seen them, all high and mighty trying to intimidate him."
The next instant, everyone paused and sharply glanced at Miles, who looked stunned.
Hannah’s eyes lit with rage, and the atmosphere at the table turned tense.
"Are you seriously not going to say anything to defend against what your sister just said?"
Hannah blasted, reaching out her hand to squeeze his ear between her fingers.
Though he might be her secret daddy, she was still his mom, a legal adult, unlike him, who only acted like one.
"Arrrgghhhh!!"
Miles screamed the moment she pulled his ear, arching up slightly to ease the pain.
"You stubborn head. Why didn’t you reach out to me or let the school call me over? What right do they have to outright say you’re a suspect?"
She fumed, still pulling his ear tight before letting go.
"Arrgghh."
Miles winced as he sat back down, rubbing his ear.
Heaving heavily, Hannah stared at him so fiercely that he almost got a hard-on.
However, Miles remained composed, smiling as he rubbed his ear.
"It’s okay, Mom. I had it under control. Told them I wasn’t going to speak unless I had my lawyer, and straight-up walked out on them since they weren’t going to help me write my papers."
Hearing this, Hannah’s expression finally eased. But she still glared at him as she sat back down in her seat.
"I’ll go see both your principal and the police tomorrow," she said, and Miles only smiled, saying nothing.
Glancing at Josephine, though, he silently lip-synced the word "snitch" with a secret middle finger, but Josephine merely rolled her eyes and turned away.
After that, they all dined in silence, and Miles chose to wash the dishes as usual before going to his room.
At the same time, somewhere within Dominic City, in a famous and wealthy residential building area—specifically in an apartment building known for bachelors.
"Ahhhh!"
A stretched, satisfied gasp filled the room.
Walking out of the bathroom after finishing her routine workout and having a hot, relaxing bath, Natalie, wrapped in a loose robe, could be seen stretching her limbs with her hair dripping wet. Strands of hair plastered along her forehead added more allure to her beauty.
Exhaling as she glanced around the room, she instantly slid down her robe, revealing a voluptuously curved body shape. It comprised a firm, heavy rear, a slender waist, and large, firm breasts that dangled with each step. She also had defined abs, and her arms showed toned muscles built from a strict training routine.
Slipping on comfy pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt, Natalie picked up the hairdryer, and soon the sound of the device filled the room. A couple of minutes later, she was done and gathered her hair loosely behind her.
Cracking her knuckles, she left the room and walked toward her fridge.
Bringing out a canned, chilled beer, she opened it with a hiss and took a sip.
"Hummmmmmmm!"
She hummed loudly, relishing the refreshing taste with a wide smile, finally having a moment to unwind after a stressful day.
She smiled, walking into the parlor with her eyes on the closed pizza box on the table, and grabbed the remote.
Placing the beer next to the box, she was about to turn on the TV when she suddenly paused, dropped the remote, and walked back inside her room to fetch the case file from her bag.
Placing it next to the beer, she opened the pizza box and took a bite before picking up the file.
She absentmindedly read the subheadings first.
"Hmm? Mysterious disappearance of four high school students?"
The moment she read these words, a wave of epiphany suddenly struck her because the word "high school" felt oddly familiar.
"Right, didn’t I ask him to speak with the other parents about that night’s party?" She mused, thinking about the unsolved murder case and the birthday party from that same night.
An idea flashed that the two cases might be related, but she quickly dismissed it.
Opening the file, she began reading reports of how the four individuals were kidnapped from their homes around the same time, making it apparent that it wasn upside-down solo job, but rather the work of a sophisticated group capable of breaking into a secured estate.
She also read about the four high school kids’ bullying history and how their kidnapping was suspected to be a form of revenge.
Flipping the file to the next page, she saw a list of suspects, and the number one suspect was Miles Sinclair—a youth with a strange case where his brain matter was found alongside a pool of blood matching his DNA, yet he wasn’t dead or injured.
"Interesting. Is this some kind of supernatural shit?"
She mused, sipping her beer.