I sat back on the couch, the feeling of a headache coming on. On the wall was a large clock. It was currently so quiet that I could hear every tick of the clock. Each one felt like agony. I wanted nothing more than to leave this room. I’d take an apocalyptic wasteland filled with raiders, mutants, and radiation rather than be sitting in that room right that moment.

“Daniel, we just want the truth.” Mom said. “We all care about you and love you very much. That’s why we’ve all come to speak to you. Lately, you’ve been coming home bruised, tired, depressed, and dirty. I know that Ms. Mizuki has made some claims about how you’re working hard at this training camp of hers, but I think you’re working too hard. On top of that, it doesn’t explain the company you’ve been meeting with lately. I’ve met those hooligans like Caleb, and then there is this girl. I just want to know where my baby went!”

“Is this an intervention?” I asked in a deadpanned voice.

Gabriella slammed her hands on the coffee table, half rising out of her seat as she glared at me. “Just tell us the truth. Did you get her pregnant?”

“P-pregnant!” Hazel gasped. “It can’t be true.”

“Why else would he sneak a girl home and let her live-in secret?” Gabriella demanded before shooting Hazel a look. “And don’t think that you aren’t suspicious, having not realized she had been here all week.”

“Wh-why would I?” Hazel responded with a flushed expression. “B-besides… we don’t know she has been here all week.”

“Gabriella, Hazel just has her head in the clouds as always.” Mom broke in. “We know because after finding her here alone, we took her out to a café and had a long and lovely talk. She explained to us everything!”

I jerked up. “E-everything?”

It had been a week since I had returned home to find mom and Gabriella had caught Kiera at the house. The result was that the house had become an icy place. I was under house arrest, while Kiera was shipped off to stay with Gabriella while things were worked out. Thankfully, I was able to fix my coordinates before she was taken away and touch bases with our headquarters. I couldn’t bring them any aid, but they were holding on. The attacks seemed to have dwindled, possibly because of the slave auction and the sudden attack from the Syndicate. They could hold out a few days until Katarina arrived.

With that out of the way, being stuck had home had become a blessing and a curse. I was able to finish my high school exam without any further interruption, and also focus on my plans for selling stuff and creating my business. With Cecelia, it was extremely easy to contact Lily, who had managed to make various sales and move them onto my card. As I saw my debt clear and even get some surplus, I felt like I could finally relax.

Yet, the second that they claimed Kiera had told them everything, I had grown afraid again. I had told her to not mention anything from our world, but Kiera could easily let something slip. Furthermore, with Gabriella having a week to grill her, would Kiera keep her mouth shut?

“Then you should know if she’s pregnant or not.” Hazel cried out.

Gabriella looked away, making an irritated noise. “She said that they hadn’t done anything like that yet.”

Hazel let out a breath of relief that seemed a bit more relieved than she should be. I leaned forward, not concerned about what I knew to be false anyway.

“What did she tell you?” I asked.

Mom’s mouth tightened. “She told me the truth. She said that she was working at a jewelry store job that overworked and abused her.”

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“She said she worked?” I asked hesitantly.

“Like a slave!” Mom nodded.

Gabriella’s mouth tightened. “She kept saying this and that about slavery. I had to forbid her from talking about such things. She could get in trouble saying some of those things. Has she never even met a black person?”

I couldn’t help but grimace. She had likely told them she was a slave, but Gabriella got angry and told her she couldn’t say that word. The problem was that she was a slave. She still had the collar on her neck, although I had swapped hers out for one that was a bit smaller and looked more like a choker so no one would notice. She seemed to grow unhappy whenever it wasn’t on. Since it allowed me to keep track of her better than the Perco, I allowed it.

“Anyway, she told me how you came by and saved her from her dead-end job.”

“I knew you’ve been frequenting a jeweler… but was it because of her?” Hazel asked with tear-filled eyes.

“How do you know what I’ve been doing?” I cried out.

“Not telling.” She turned her head away, sudden defiance in her expression.

“Back to the point.” Gabriella cleared her throat. “This girl seems nice enough, if not a little strange. My apartment has never been cleaner, and she’s not a bad cook either. Plus, she washes and folds the laundry.”

“Aren’t you just using her as a servant?” I accused.

“Either way.” Mom cut in before the conversation went in another direction. “I know you’re growing up and changing, but you’re still young. While you’re in my household, you have to follow my rules. Kiera will not be allowed to stay with you, and from now on, you must let me know where you’re going whenever you leave. Do you understand?”

“I do.” I nodded, causing Mother to let out a breath. “Mother, I’ve decided I’m going to move out.”

“What?” Hazel was the one who jumped out of her seat first.

Mom’s eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

“I’ve finished high school, and I turn 18 in a few weeks. I have enough money to get my place, and I feel it’s about time that I do.”

“Daniel, this is a big decision.” Gabriella was the only one who wasn’t in complete shock.

“I understand that,” I responded. “I’ve thought about it too. I have a lot of plans, and I need the room to make those plans a reality. Furthermore, I don’t want to be a burden on my mother and sister.”

“You’re not a burden.” She shook her head.

“Still, I’ve decided that I’m going to get a place of my own.”

I had thought about this carefully. I said that I didn’t want to be a burden, but what I meant was that I didn’t want any risk to fall on them. Hazel being kidnapped had been enough to convince me that I needed some room. Now that I had the money necessary, I could easily afford a much nicer place than this.

Once I set myself up and could reasonably display my wealth, I would get my mother and sister out of this place too. For the moment though, I needed the time and freedom to start things in motion. I had planned to tell them this soon, but since they were doing this intervention between the three of them, I figured it was a good of a time as any.

“Y-you’re still in school!” Mom cried out, her body shaking.

“I took the test and passed it. I’m done with school.”

“You don’t know that! You took the test, but you might have failed.”

“I passed it.”

“You don’t know.”

“Aubree…” Gabriella looked at her.

“He’s too young to leave!” Aubree burst into tears.

“Aubree, he’s ready to leave if he wants to leave.” I was surprised to hear Gabriella defending me.

Perhaps I was a little young. Technically, I was stuck until I was 18. My birthday came near the end of the school year, making me one of the youngest kids in my grade. I had finished two months early thanks to the completed exam, but that had been the plan. The grades weren’t out yet, but I knew I passed because Cecelia had already hacked the system. Of course, I had passed for real. I didn’t cheat. It wasn’t like I was an idiot or anything, and I had already been in school for three and a half years. Maybe she had told me what would be on the test and what I needed to study.

“It’s fine, Mom. Once I’m gone, you won’t have to worry about a guy at home. You’ll have more room, and it’ll cost less for groceries, and I’ll still call once a week, I promise.”

“I-I understand.” Mom responded, “E-excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

She stood up and walked away, her movements almost robotic.

“Aubree…” Gabriella called out to her, but Mom said nothing as the door shut closed, and so she turned to me. “Your mother is just a bit shocked. You never talked about leaving before. I’ll talk to her, I promise.”

I slowly nodded. “This will be a good thing, I-”

I had turned my head to see that Hazel, who had been acting quiet, had turned completely red and she was shaking while glaring at me.

“Stupid brother!” She cried out before standing up and much less reservedly running to her room and slamming the door.

Well, that could have gone worse.