Recently he had been the one giving surprises on a streak but the shock from this was unable to kept inside, so he impulsive blurted out his thought while glancing at the mother and daughter duo with strange light in his eyes
"Jazmín is your daughter?"
At the back seat, Jazmín was also stunned by the unexpected outburst. Seeing the skeptical look of surprise on Miles’ face, her lips curled into a smile.
"Yes, she’s my Mom. What about it?"
Sounding funny, her smile turned mischievous, making it obvious she wasn’t surprised by his reaction. However, Miles already regained his composure and responded calmly.
"I thought you were siblings."
"Hahahaha. Oh my."
Characteristically, being an older woman in her late thirties who was mistaken as her daughter’s older sister, Yasmin found it incredibly funny and was extrely glad, as this was a profound joy for any woman.
’Damn. I pretty much lost it.’
Feeling grim for having blurted out his thoughts, Miles didn’t reveal much emotion at Yasmin’s laughter. His eyes stayed glued to the road.
"Okay, that was a good one."
Noting Miles’ silence, Yasmin subdued her joy and continued to say—
"I’m Yasmin, Jazmín’s mother, even if I don’t look like it."
Miles responded with a nod that he understood.
"Okay, so let shoot straight to the point. I know this is a hassle, but I was wondering if you’ll help blend in by introducing us to a couple of friendly neighbors. It isn’t for free, I know young people like to guard their interests and I am very much willing to pay you handsoly."
Her tone seed to highlight the last phrase and she winked at him.
"What do you say? 500 bucks is a good deal, right?"
Feeling proud of the amount she offered, she glanced at him and almost choked seeing his calm, neutral expression, like he didn’t hear her.
For a regular teen, this amount was beyond a good deal; even adults would be extrely pleased, considering it great luck. But for Miles, who had more than six million dollars sleeping in his bank account, he had no interest, nor did he pretend to be humble and accept it.
He shook his head, revealing a helpless smile.
’Neighborhood? Sure, I have seen a couple of neighbors, but other than seeing them, everyone goes on their day without interrupting the other. Even after living here in all my mories, I haven’t stepped into soone’s courtyard, let alone being on friendly terms. Zero friends. Other than a couple of step-cousins visiting over the years, I pretty much grew up in the sa circle and routine for years.’
"Although I can’t introduce you to the neighbors, I’m sure my mom and sisters will welco you."
Grasping the underlying aning unintentionally in his words, Yasmin revealed an ’oh’ expression and nodded while misinterpreting the fact he didn’t ntion a dad in his statent.
"Okay, I’ll be sure to pay a visit—"
"—Oh yeah, we’ve arrived."
Pulling to a stop before the Sinclair ho, Miles alighted from the vehicle in a smooth fashion.
"Thank you."
Miles lowered his head in gratitude as he got down from the vehicle.
"It’s nothing."
"Byeeee."
Jazmín waved at him with a secret wink at the end.
"See you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
Just as he was to turn and head in, he stopped in his tracks, raising his brows as the black Ford Mustang pulled a smooth reverse turn into Mr. Marcus’ driveway, and the older woman, Yasmin, stepped out of the vehicle and winked at him. The next mont, Jazmín hauled the shopping bags through the front seat and also ca outside.
She had a wide smile on her face as she stared at his shocked figure, then waved and walked into the house with her mother.
’Perhaps I sohow entered a filmmaking set?’
Recalling the moving truck from yesterday, a smile spread across his lips and he turned to walk inside the house.
’What a surprise. They must be Mr. Marcus’ family.’
He took a step into the house and suddenly stopped, summoning the system’s holographic screen.
Although most of the features had dulled, there were still a few active icons.
The Infatuation Gauge, for example.
Miles tapped it and a long list of nas and percentages appeared.
100% >> 30%
A descending order of highest to lowest.
’Jazmín.’
Due to the uniqueness of this na, he quickly found it sitting at an Infatuation Gauge of 70%.
’Shit, she’s indeed the one from the cafeteria.’
He thought, confusion in his eyes as he wondered how a girl that had just moved in yesterday thought so much of him.
[Jazmín Rosselle Infatuation Gauge 70%]
’Rosselle? Not Marcus?’
’It seems they aren’t related. Could they have bought the house?’
Shaking his head, he quickly searched for another na he had received a notification for.
[Rosselle Yasmin Infatuation Gauge 33%]
’Rosselle is her first na? How confusing. Jazmín’s surna is Rosselle. Whatever.’
Giving up on figuring out the confusing mother-daughter relationship, he refocused his attention sowhere else.
His eyes scanned the interior, noting how shallow it felt.
"I wonder if she’s back."
Ascending the stairs to his room, Miles had a long, refreshing bath before stepping out again.
He headed down to eat, then ascended towards Cassie’s room.
anwhile, far away.
Lu Horizon headquarters.
Sitting inside the large, spacious office, Hannah stared at the big tablet in her palm, confusion in her eyes as she scrolled through it a couple more tis.
"Who is it? What’s going on?"
Shockingly, all the shareholders and board of directors had sold off their shares the previous night to a mysterious buyer, leaving her as the sole board director since the remaining had quit.
Currently, she didn’t know how to make sense of this unprecedented scenario and was mulling over it.
—
anwhile, back at ho.
"Ahhh."
Cassie exhaled as she stepped out of the refreshing hot jacuzzi, wiping her long silk hair with a hand towel before picking up the blue towel to wrap around her slender, moist fra.
Knock! Knock!
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