I stopped if just for a minute after hearing Chef's unusual comment.

“Is she some kind of seer or psychic,” was my first thought.

I half turned my head just enough to glance at Thida. I could see her shaking her head with amusement.

“You know I’m just going to my room; not sure what you mean by all that,” I said, trying to sound normal.

Thida looked at me as if she was looking at a 5-year-old kid,

“Really? You’re trying to pull this on old Thida; you still have much to learn, kid,” she said.

“I know what you're planning, but I won’t stop you. If anything, I wish you luck, my boy. Let me know if you need a cook in the future,” she said as she returned to her chores.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I walked out of the kitchen with the food plate in my hand and returned to the guesthouse.

Along the way, I kept thinking if I had made things too obvious, had I been putting out signals or warnings that I was leaving?

If so, how? I was not aware of any.

This brought up another question.

Were Brandon and his mom aware of it?

No, there is no way. They would have already said or done something, knowing how much they hate my guts right now.

“Man, you need to calm down some K. You’re just spoking yourself with all these crazy thoughts,” I kept telling myself.

It was already close to 11 a.m., so I needed to keep it together for one more hour.

“Alright, K. Let's just relax and see if we have any messages this morning,” I mumbled.

I picked up the CAD and proceeded to check on the messages. I could only see one message on the display.

I initially thought it was from Eva, but I was surprised to see that Cora had sent it.

“Hmm…what does this girl want now?” was my only thought.

I opened the message to read it.

“Khy, I took the liberty of sending you this message since we haven’t been able to see you that much in school anymore. Your girlfriend probably prohibits you from doing so. Just an FYI: I would never do something like that to you if you were my boyfriend.”

"Ah man, this girl is cuckoo," I thought as I kept reading.

“Well, I just wanted to say that I still think you should be by my side instead of that witch, but I respect your choice (for now), but don’t get too comfortable. I also believe we can still be friends even if you have a girlfriend. My sister and I have also found additional information on the skills you were researching.”

“We would like to share this with you alone, if possible unless your girlfriend is the jealous type, in which case, bring her. You know I wouldn’t be the jealous type, right? Well, I hope to see you in school on Monday to continue this discussion; bye.”

“That was some long-ass message filled with tricky wordplay and double meanings. I’m unsure I want to meet with her on Monday,” I said.

As I finished reading the message, there was a soft knock on the front door.

“I wonder how it could be at this hour; no one from the Richie family should be here,” was my thought.

I walked to the front door and opened it. Standing outside was Malee.

She looked sad as if she were about to cry.

“What’s gotten into you?” I told her as I could see something bothering her.

“You, that’s what. Why are you leaving?” she said, flustered.

“Who said I’m leaving?” I said, trying to defuse the issue as best I could.

I hadn’t realized that the two bags I placed near the front door were in plain view. Malee kept her eyes glued to them, just shaking her head.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“You think I’m dumb or what, Khyrum? If you weren’t leaving, why do you have your bags packed,” she said as she pointed at the bags.

As they say, the cat is out of the bag, so I couldn’t pretend anymore that I wasn’t leaving.

“Jeez, Malee, I’m sorry, but there is no easy way to say this. Things with the Richie’s have broken down to a point where things here are not working out.”

“I didn’t say anything to anyone about the issues or me leaving because I don’t want to implicate anyone else,” I said calmly.

“But it seems I didn’t do an excellent job of hiding it, I guess,” I said abashed.

Malee looked at me, and I could see a few tears flowing down her cheeks. Even though she is about three years older than me, we have always had a good relationship. I consider her almost like an older sibling.

“Khyrum, I didn’t know things had gotten this bad with Bradon and his family,” she said softly.

“I wish I could have done more to help you out here, but we are all mere servants here. I’m not sure how much more I could have done that would have made a difference,” she said with her head down.

“At what time are you leaving?” she asked.

“Right now, at noon,” I answered her.

“Wow, so soon; I thought maybe we had more time to talk, but I guess times are almost up,” she said nervously.

I just looked at her, not knowing how to answer. I didn’t know exactly why she had shown up at my door, so I was lost as to what to say right now.

“Malee, I just wanted to …” I was saying when my CAD buzzed again.

I checked, and Damian had just messaged me that he had just arrived and was waiting outside.

I looked at Malee, and she could tell that time was up.

“You're going?” she asked.

“Yeah, my time here is over. But don’t worry, I’ll be okay. I have enough brains to care for myself,” I said jokingly.

Out of nowhere, Malee’s hand reached for my head and pulled me into a very short but sweet kiss.

I’m stunned.

But as quickly as it began, it ended.

Malee separated, and I could see her whole face was red,

“That’s so you won't forget me, Khyrum,” she said as she turned around and ran off.

I just stood there for an unknown number of minutes before a half smile appeared on my face.

“Un fucking believable” were my only words.

I got my two bags and left the guesthouse. I walked to the front gate. As expected, Damian was waiting for me outside in his custom-supped-up vehicle.

I walked over to the car, put my bags in the trunk, and then went to the passenger side and got in.

“Hey, prime, are we ready to go?” said Damian.

I looked back towards the house; although I had not lived in it for long, that was not the case for the family that owned it. Ethian had picked me up when I was eight years old. I had been with this family for seven years, and although things were great at first, they had turned deadly here at the end. It was time to move on.

“Yes, let's go,” I said with one last glance at the estate.

Damian started the vehicle, and we began to go.

“Alright, Prime. Since you didn’t bring a lot of stuff, do we need to stop at any store to buy anything?” Damian asked as he drove.

I thought about it, and it was true: I didn’t have much stuff. I had only my clothes and essential items, like my toothbrush and other personal belongings.

“Is the house equipped with the most up-to-date furnishings,” I told Damian.

He looked at me with a slight grin.

“What do you think? Yes, it has the best furniture and appliances. The only thing I didn’t get to fancy was the holo-display, but that can be replaced at any time,” he said proudly.

“Ok, then, let's start with that.”

“Also, I need to redo two of the apartment rooms into meditation and private training rooms that only I can use. They must have good security features,” I said casually.

Damian just looked at me with a curious stare.

“Alright, Prime, we can go to the best hardware store in the city to pick out a new holo-display to your liking right now, but the redo on the rooms might have to wait. We need to find a good architectural firm for the redesign, which will cost some money,” said Damian, looking at me skeptically.

“That I will leave to you, Damian, and money is no issue,” I said confidently.

Domain looks at me a little incredulously, like saying yeah, sure, like you have a shit ton of money; you're only 15.

“Ok, prime, but you should save your money. You never know when things can change from one day to the next, so it is best to keep your money free if needed. Let me worry about the remodeling of the house,” he said.

“Money is no issue to me, but I will let you lead on this. Just keep in mind that if we need money for anything, let me know.”

I didn’t feel like arguing with him about who had the biggest dick or the deepest pockets. This was a new beginning for me, and I just wanted to enjoy it before the shit hit the fan.

We continued to drive into town. After about 20 minutes, Damian stopped the car in front of InnovaTech, the biggest electronics store I had ever seen.

InnovaTech was the most advanced technology conglomerate in the world. It was a joint venture between Tharmis, Avis Grex, and House Nouvis. As such, it had stores throughout most of the world and some stores off world too.

“We’re here, prime. Let go get you your new holo-display,” he said, a little upbeat.

“Yeah, give me a second, as I still need to check a few things in my CAD,” I said, pushing buttons on my CAD.

I was trying to message Eva and Roy that I had already left Richie Estate and was on my way to my new home.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you inside,” he said as he got out of the car.

He walked into the store as I had just finished sending the last message. I exited the car and proceeded to walk to the store.

Suddenly, four guys jumped out of nowhere to block my path.

“It seems we found our prey, Boss,” said a tall, skinny guy with red spiky hair and tattoos all over his arms, chest, and neck.

“Yeah, it seems we found him,” said another guy, but this one was all muscle, bald, with a scar running from his right eye to his jawbone.

“Are you Khyrum?” asked a man who seemed to be the leader. He was wearing camo cargo pants and a green muscle shirt. He had yellow hair sporting a buzzcut.

“It depends on who is asking,” I said coldly.

“You don’t have to worry, kid; it won’t hurt that much when we kill you; all you have to worry about is what you want to reincarnate as after you die,” said the leader.

“Can I at least get your name, “ I said, stalling for time. I was hoping Damian would come back out to help.

“ Sure kid its, Kamil Berkan.”