Chapter 143: That Family Again?
Jason’s face turned furious after hearing that the owner was planning to evict his mother! This was the first time he was hearing about this and he couldn’t believe the landlord was actually going to throw his mother out after all the effort and time she put into this place! This restaurant had been in their family for fifteen years, so in a way, it felt almost like a part of their family! Jason wasn’t going to allow some fucking fast food joint to buy it!
"How much did they offer you?"
[It’s not about the money, Mr. Jason. In truth, they offered me less than what you offered. But I already signed the contract with them and the deal has been finalized. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.]
"What fast food joint are we talking about?"
[...Have you heard about Ulysses? It’s a new fast food joint that was started by Fredrick Cass, the multimillionaire.]
Jason’s face darkened even further. That surname was one that Jason would recognize anywhere! It was the same surname that Jared had! Didn’t that mean that this man was Jared’s father? Jason took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out what to do next. The only thing Jason could do now was to find a way to force Fredrick to let go of this restaurant, but with everything that had happened between Jason and Jared, Jason knew that it would be difficult to convince Fredrick of anything.
’I have to find something that’ll help me convince him. Something that will force him to accept my deal.’
Jason couldn’t think of anything right now because he didn’t know much about the Cass family, but with the connections he had been getting recently, Jason was sure that he would be able to find at least one thing he could use to strongarm Fredrick into a deal.
Jason would normally not use blackmail to get what he wants, but in this situation, Jason knew that there would simply be no other way to convince the Cass family. And as far as Jason was concerned he would hold nothing back to make his mother happy.
[Hello, Mr. Jason. Are you still there? I’m sorry things had to be this way. If I had known you were interested in purchasing the building earlier, then I would have given it to you instead. Your mother has never defaulted on her rent payment and I’ve always appreciated how much effort she put into taking care of you all.]
"That’s fine, sir. Thanks for everything."
Jason said a quick goodbye before he cut the call. He was already starting to think of what to do next when a pair of feet stepped into Jason’s view and Jason looked up calmly to see his sister standing in front of him. She was holding her right arm nervously while looking to the side and she only looked at Jason after the silence had stretched for too long.
"Uhm... hey, Jason. It’s been a while."
"..."
Jason said nothing in response to that. His eyes were like black daggers that pierced into Janet with each passing second and she could already feel sweat going down her back from how intense the moment was. Jason sighed as he pocketed his phone and spoke.
"What do you want, Janet?"
"I just wanted to talk."
"I’ve got nothing to say to you."
Jason stood to leave. He was already not in a good mood, so he didn’t want to have to deal with this. But Janet grabbed his hand and told him to wait. Jason looked at her offending hand with a deep frown and Janet let go before speaking.
"Look, I know you don’t like me being here. Mum already told me that much. But I just need some help right now to get back on my feet. I’ll stay out of your way and I’ll help out however I can. It’ll be just like the good old days. I mean, we’re still a family, right?"
Jason felt anger rise from his heart when he heard that and he snarled at her.
"If I remember correctly, you left us during the ’good old days’. Maybe you should’ve thought about us being a family before that."
Janet scowled and it looked like she was about to speak up, but Jason stopped her before she could say anything.
"I’m not going to try and guilt trip you into feeling bad or anything, you made your choice and that’s that. But don’t you come here and try to pretend that what you did didn’t break this family. Don’t pretend like it didn’t break Mum. I don’t know what you’re playing at here, Janet, but know this: the moment I ever suspect that your intentions are anything but pure; if you try to hurt Mum in any way at all, I’ll make sure you vanish myself."
Jason turned to walk away and had already taken a few steps before Janet spoke up.
"How about Jupiter? Is she... doing okay?"
Jason turned to give Janet a glare. Jupiter was the fifth and final member of the family. Jason’s little sister, who had only been five years old when both their father and Janet left them. Jupiter barely remembers anything about the both of them because of how young she was back then and Jason was adamant to keep things that way.
"You don’t get to ask about her. She doesn’t know you’re here, and when you leave, she won’t know about that either. If you try reaching out to her, I’ll kick you out, so watch yourself."
Jason finally headed back into the restaurant and Janet looked down at the ground sadly. Jason knew that his mum wanted him to forget what had happened and get along with his sister like normal, but there was no way Jason could just let it go. He couldn’t give his sister another chance to break up their family, so he would remain skeptical for as long as he needed to. If he saw that she was only here to cause more issues for them, then he was more than ready to send her packing again.
...
[Within an Undeveloped Gate]
[One Dimensional Leap Away From Earth]
The sky was covered with grey clouds, casting the world in a dull and muted aura. There were thunderclouds far in the horizon and lightning could be seen dancing across the sky with aggressive intensity!
At the base of a valley, hidden by a large hill that faced away from the incoming rain, a large campsite with thirty tents was arranged around a large campfire. The tents were all colored with a deep black that allowed them to blend perfectly into the night! There was hardly any sound to be heard from the camp other than the muted sound of conversation coming from a few figures sitting around the fire, and all around the campsite were various sentries that were keeping a lookout to make sure that they were not ambushed by any enemies or Magic Beasts.
"The Hounds are restless."
A man standing at the side spoke in a gruff voice as he looked at the various Mana Hounds that were feeding on Magic Beasts’ meat. The man was talking to a woman who was dressed in the same black skintight attire that he was in and he had a frown on his face as the woman spoke.
"They aren’t used to the weather. They haven’t been in an arid world for almost a year now. Most of our search missions are in the desert or cities."
The man hummed before turning to glance at the largest tent in the campsite. That was the leader’s tent and the leader was currently in a meeting with the man that they sent to search for the princess on Earth. The man’s hand absentmindedly began to snake around to the woman’s ass and the woman slapped it away.
"Behave yourself."
The man smiled mischievously.
"Come on, we haven’t done it in a while."