Chapter 152: An Unwelcome Welcome
A flash of crimson light illuminated the private teleportation chamber of Zenith Vista, House No. 001. As the energy dissipated, two figures stepped out onto the familiar, polished floor.
Moon was in the middle of a long, satisfying stretch, working the kinks out of his shoulders, while Kai simply strode forward, his analytical eyes already scanning their surroundings . They moved out of the teleporter room and into the main living area, expecting the quiet solitude of their home.
Instead, they were met with a scene that made them both freeze.
Their gaze was drawn to the large, U-shaped sectional sofa in the center of the room. Sitting directly opposite them, with a wide, almost relieved grin, was James. He looked as if he had been waiting for them.
"See?" James announced brightly, gesturing towards Moon and Kai. "I told you they'd be back soon! Both of them!"
Moon and Kai exchanged a brief, confused glance. Their home was their sanctuary, rarely visited by others, and never without prior notice.
It was then that their eyes traveled to the other occupants of the sofa, the ones whose backs had been to them. Four people sat there, now turning to face the new arrivals.
Moon's blood ran cold. He recognized three of them instantly. Aria, Shami, and Monkey (Neel). A surge of anger and frustration flared within him. What were they doing here, in the one place he and Kai considered safe?
But it was the fourth figure that stole the breath from both brothers.
Rivan.
The name echoed in their minds, a silent, furious curse.
James, completely oblivious to the sudden, thick tension in the air, continued cheerfully. "They've been waiting for you! They say they're your family!"
"Family?" The word felt foreign and bitter on Moon's tongue. He and Kai had built their entire identities on being orphans, on having no one but each other. The concept of a family was a ghost from a past they never had.
Kai's mind, however, was already shifting into overdrive, moving faster than a jet engine. Rivan is here.This isn't a coincidence. But why reveal himself now? What is the endgame?
Despite the storm of emotions—betrayal, rage, confusion—both brothers mastered their expressions. Kai's face became an unreadable mask of calm, while Moon's settled into a stony, cold glare.
Rivan was the first to break the silence, his voice dripping with a mocking, false warmth. "Brother Moon, Brother Kai. If you had such a wonderful family all along, why did you always claim to be orphans?" He tutted softly, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
Moon's reply was like a shard of ice, sharp and frigid. "Because we don't have a family." The words were delivered with a finality that brooked no argument. He then turned his furious gaze to James. "What do they want? Tell them to state their business and then get out."
But Rivan was not to be dismissed. A slow, triumphant smile spread across his lips as he casually retrieved a storage ring. With a theatrical flourish, he pulled out two ornate scrolls, their parchment humming with a faint, binding energy. He made a show of placing them gently on the coffee table that separated them, the sound unnaturally loud in the tense silence.
Moon stared at the scrolls, his brow furrowed in confusion and suspicion. "What is this?" he demanded, his voice a low growl.
Rivan leaned back, crossing his legs with an air of supreme satisfaction. He looked at Moon with exaggerated pity. "Oh, my uneducated, illiterate little brother. Don't tell me you can't even read now? Tch tch. Such a shame."
James looked back and forth between the brothers and their "guests," his cheerful expression finally crumbling into one of deep concern and utter bewilderment. The air in the room was no longer one of a family reunion, but of a long-awaited, and deeply unsettling, reckoning.
Kai's eyes, sharp and analytical, instantly recognized the ornate seals and the specific energy signature emanating from the scrolls. His body tensed, and he moved with lightning speed to snatch them from the table.
But Rivan's hand was faster. It shot out and clamped around Kai's wrist with an iron grip, stopping him cold.
"Na, na, na, na," Rivan chided, his voice a singsong taunt. "No touching. Not until you learn some manners."
Seeing the interaction, the pieces clicked into place for Moon. His eyes widened in dawning horror. "Those are... contract papers," he breathed out, the reality of the situation crashing down upon him.
James, who had been watching the exchange with growing alarm, finally stepped forward. "Brothers, please! What is going on? I don't understand why there is so much anger!" He could tell they knew each other, but the sheer venom in the air suggested a history far deeper and more bitter than a simple misunderstanding.
It was Rivan who answered, his voice dropping its playful tone and becoming cold, clear, and projecting to everyone in the room. His next words were designed to shatter the last vestiges of their composure.
"Tom sold you both to me."
The statement landed in the room with the force of a physical blow. For a moment, nobody moved, the words too absurd, too horrific to process.
James was the first to break the stunned silence. He surged forward, his usual joviality replaced by raw fury. He grabbed Rivan by the collar of his pristine white suit, lifting him slightly from the sofa. "What did you say? Which Tom are you talking about?!" he demanded, his voice shaking.
Rivan didn't struggle. He merely looked down at James's hands on his collar with distaste. "Your foster brother, Tom. I mean, Tom Lee. The one you all look up to so much."
Enraged, James tightened his grip. That was a mistake.
A flicker of genuine annoyance crossed Rivan's face. "You're wrinkling the suit." In a move too fast to follow, he grabbed a handful of James's hair and, with contemptuous ease, slammed him head-first into the solid marble floor. There was a sickening thud. James lay still, not dead, but knocked completely unconscious.
"JAMES!" Moon and Kai shouted in unison.
Seeing their —their family—treated with such casual violence broke the last of their restraint. With twin cries of rage, they launched themselves at Rivan.
But they never reached him.
DHAM!
An invisible, crushing weight of immense gravity slammed down on them, pinning them to the floor. They struggled, their muscles straining against the force, but it was like trying to lift a mountain. They could barely even lift their heads.
Rivan looked down at them, his expression one of profound disappointment. "What unruly dogs you are," he sighed. "Who attacks a guest in their own home? So uncivilized."
Kai, his face pressed against the cold marble, managed to grit out, "You... you manipulated everything! You orchestrated every step to lead us here!"
Rivan's expression shifted to one of mild amusement. "Waah, Kai! You figured it out. You know, I actually feel quite bad for you." He leaned down slightly, his voice taking on a conspiratorial, pitying tone. "Just think about it. To have enough of a mind to understand you're nothing but a pawn on a chessboard... but not enough of one to ever figure out how to get yourself out of checkmate. It's truly sad, isn't it?"
He straightened up, brushing a non-existent speck of dust from his sleeve. "Well, since your pathetic story is about to reach its conclusion, I suppose it's only fair you understand the plot. Let me explain, in great detail, exactly how I engineered every single moment of your lives to bring you right here, right to this point of absolute defeat."
He paused, letting the weight of his words—and his gravity—sink in.
To be continued…