Chapter 42: Wait!? It’s over!?

“Whew, I finally managed to finish this stack of paperwork.”

I lean back in the leather chair and sigh deeply, staring at the ceiling that I rarely ever see.

“Logan, honey, it’s time for dinner!” I hear my wife, Claire, yell from the other side of the large office door.

“Perfect! I’ll be right out, I just finished my work in here!” I stand up from the desk using my two arms to help stretch my stiff legs.

I walk to the door with a smile on my face. I straighten my business suit and smile as I open the door. I brace myself as Claire jumps in to my arms.

“Ha, despite your age increasing, you still seem to be full of energy you know.”

“No way! You are slightly older than I am!” Claire smiles as she hugs me. “But still, I can’t believe it has been twenty years since we’ve gotten married.”

“Ah, and what an amazing twenty years it has been.” I take a deep breath and hug Claire back.

“Hey Logan, it’s our anniversary today, is it not?”

“Yeah? I thought I said happy anniversary to you this morning. Did I happen to actually forget to?”

“No, no. You didn’t forget, I was just reminiscing.”

“That’s good, I’m not even forty yet, but I thought I may be losing my memory already.”

“Aha, even after twenty years you still haven’t changed, have you?”

“I try not to my dear. So, shall we go before the meal gets cold?”

Claire and I walk hand in hand as we leave my office. I smile as I think about the past years of my life.

Things really have changed.

Twenty years ago, when I married Claire at the start of my final year of high school. That was the longest year of my entire life.

Vacations, tests I barely passed, Claire becoming depressed, getting kidnapped, Claire going missing for several days.

Ah, what a hectic year.

The next year was also crazy, but not as much… okay, that’s a lie. It was crazy. I started to take over the company without even going to college as Greg’s health was starting to deteriorate. The need for me to step in to the position as head of the company was rising, so I opted to not go to college or university.

I think that was the better decision in the end. Claire and I were not able to spend as much time together as we wanted to, and one day, we crossed the line we had stopped ourselves from many times.

Of course, with my luck, Claire immediately got pregnant.

Do I regret it?

No.

However, because of my stupid choices, Claire quit university and stayed at home to help me adjust to the position of the head of the company.

I slowly took over the position and Greg was starting to get better without so much stress in his life. We were able to make some huge changes to the Northson Company while I was taking over.

We were able to find the corruption within, before they were able to strike. Saunderson had finished his training and had become my main security guard. This is relevant because he protected me from several assassination attempts and many, many potential heists on our residence.

Then, my child was born. It was a healthy girl. Claire had a few health issues after giving birth, but nothing that couldn’t be handled with the medical technology at the time.

Her name was Claire MK. II. Ha, no. Seriously though, her name was Emily. Emily Northson.

We gave her Claire’s last name after very little thought. Why? I thought it was only fair to give her the dying Northson name and kill off my family name.

Claire and I did in fact attempt to have more than a single child, but none were conceived after Emily. Claire and I weren’t too upset though, because after all, Claire and I were also the only children of our parents.

Might I add one thing before moving back out of my delusions here? Raising a child is absolute fucking hell. They scream, they cry, they do all kinds of things to clean clothes you think you are going to wear that day. Sleep? Forget it. That is all.

“Logan, honey, you look absent minded.”

“No more than usual!” I laugh as Claire smiles.

“I hope you aren’t too upset with me for doing this.” Claire continues to smile as she reaches for the handle on the dining hall.

“Why would I be upset? Nothing you do now could possibly make me upset.” I smile as I pat Claire’s shoulder.

Claire slowly opens the door and I see a lot of familiar faces.

Saunderson, Amy, My daughter Emily, Greg, Dominic, Ashley, Sarah, George, and surprisingly my adoptive parents, Mary and David.

“““Happy Twentieth Anniversary!”””

I smile widely as I walk towards all of them.

“How have all of you been! It’s been too long, except for you Emily, I see you every day.” I stick my tongue out at her.

“Ah, Father, that’s embarrassing.” Even though she says that, she is still smiling.

“Yo, Logan, How’s the company going?” Greg asks as he pats my shoulder.

“Not bad, just signed some papers finalizing the resale of the office tower in Shanghai.”

“Ah, that old thing? I was wondering when we were going to get rid of it. So, who bought the old thing?”

“Some medium sized company hoping to expand in to something larger. Don’t blame them for buying it, it has a great location and amazing views of the city at night.”

“Ha, I’d love to travel there again sometime.”

“Aren’t you getting ready to keel over sometime soon old man?”

“Not a chance! With recent medical technology, I could easily live to a hundred and fifty, so you still got at least another few decades with me around!”

“Ah, that’s too bad.” I smile and we laugh together for a while making a bit more small talk and I move to talk to the next group, Saunderson and Amy.

By the way, Claire and I split up to talk to all the guests about different things.

“Hey Saunderson, How’s the family?” I shake his hand as we greet.

“Hm, not bad if I had to say. Had a small scare with our youngest the other day, she thought it would be fun to try and steal my motorcycle from the garage.”

“Ouch, she okay?”

“Yeah, she is strong like her father,” Saunderson laughs as he hits his chest, “She’s only ten, but is still as playful as her mother.”

“Like hell she is.” Amy laughs. “She tried to cover our stairs in grease the other day to see what happens. That’s crazy. She is a devil in disguise.”

“Wow, that’s insane. Why not punish her? She will learn if you just punish her properly.” I shrug my shoulders, knowing what was coming next.

“Come on Logan,” Saunderson gives a dry laugh, “You’ve seen her when she is sad, It is just too heart wrenching to punish her properly.”

“And that is why she will never stop!” I laugh as I shake my head. “So, when are you guys going to officially get married, I remembered reading on the news about the anger of your two families meeting.”

“Please don’t remind me of that.” Amy shakes her head as she sighs, “Saunderson’s and my families are two completely different families. They are both families that run guarding businesses, but mine is in favor of firearms, while Saunderson’s is in favor of using the body itself as a weapon. I think both are fine.”

“As do I, but our families cannot seem to accept this, so the marriage has been put off for quite some time. However, next year, the date should be known.”

“You know I could always pull some strings for you guys if you want to do it sooner than later. It is the same offer as always.”

“No thanks, I think Amy and I would rather handle it ourselves, we think.”

“Oh, Saunderson, when’s you stop saying ‘So I declare’ and things like that at the end of talking? I got so used to it, I just now noticed that you didn’t use it anymore.”

“That? Yeah, I stopped using that a few years ago when my daughter and son started to copy me. I realized how annoying it must have been for everyone.”

“To be honest, I don’t think anyone really cared.”

“Ah, you see, it was actually bother me so much I had my father come from overseas to re-train me again.”

“Brutal. Oh, speaking of which, how’s your father doing? I owe him one for training me in your family’s martial art a while back.”

“He’s doing great.” Saunderson makes a defeated expression, “Almost too great in fact. He took down another criminal organization the other day. Things are crazy for me, the media is all over me and Amy. I wish I could just not do anything for a couple days.”

“Amy, how’s the adventures of taking care of two children?”

“Hell worse than hell. Having a boy and a girl is a nightmare, all they do is fight with each other. The boy is two years older and refuses to be nice to his little sister.”

“As is to be expected from a brother and sister.”

“Yeah, I’m so glad they are old enough to know when they need to eat themselves though. I hated having to keep track of that, guess when they needed food… hell. It was just hell.”

I laugh as we finish up our conversation, the food not actually served yet, I grabbed a glass of wine. Over the years, I’ve learned to appreciate the taste of a good wine.

“Logan, how’s it going?” Dominic smiles as he reaches out to shake my hand.

“Not as good as you, we haven’t talked in ages! I think it has been since your wedding with Ashley a couple years ago.”

“Yeah. I should have contacted you sooner, but I’ve been so busy.”

“You too Ashley, I didn’t even get to talk to you during the wedding, save for the formal greeting.”

“Yeah, I truly do regret not catching up with you, but I just couldn’t forgive myself. I almost sabotaged your marriage, and got your child in loads of trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it!” I smile and laugh, “You should know by now that I won’t treat someone differently just because of a silly mistake like that! It wasn’t even your fault!”

“True,” Dominic sighs, “We just thought that after humiliating you at our wedding by throwing the cake at you would have made you angry.”

“Ah, the cake was delicious by the way, I never got the chance to say it by the time my guards dragged me out. Sorry for being the only one to eat some!” I laugh as I apologize

“Ha! You’re still the same after all these years, aren’t you Logan?” Dominic smiles as he begins to laugh along.

“Of course I am! You two should remember that I even set you up! Getting a cake thrown at me and my daughter dropped down some stairs is nothing to be angry at! How could I expect you to even see her! She’s even shorter than Claire!”

“Father!” Emily shouts at me and wanders over, “I’m not shorter than Mom was, right?”

“Yes, you are.”

“So harsh!” She puts her head down, but still smiles.

“If you want to pretend to be sad, at least hide that smile better.” I pat her head as I smile.

“Yo Emily, how’ve you been?” Dominic smiles as he looks at Emily.

“Meh, you know. High school stuff.”

“Teenager?” Dominic asks

“Teenager.” I nod.

“I’m going to go spend time talking to grandpa, he was telling me about things when Dad was younger.”

I look over my shoulder and see Greg smiling. Ah, that old man is at it again.

“You can’t tell her anything she doesn’t already know! I told her some stuff but most of my personal story is online in various locations!”

Emily walks back to talk to Greg, and he shrugs his shoulders and continues to talk about me anyways. I just shake my head and look back towards Ashley.

“Yeah, anyways, what happened is no big deal, Claire was just upset at the time, she didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yeah… Looks like we worried for nothing.” Ashley sighs, but continues, “So, now you’ve been married for twenty years. Still in the honeymoon phase?”

“Ha! Could it be anything else? Well, Claire and I have had our share of disagreements, but most of the time it turns out well before the end of the day even hits.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?” Ashley laughs as she looks towards Dominic

“Ah, I think what happened back in Hawaii was a bad decision, it changed the whole group dynamic.” Dominic sighs as he looks back to the past

“I think I will have to disagree. It was life changing what happened in Hawaii that year. The distance that was forced into the group made us realize how silly we were for trying to force the relationships for the people we knew. I still find it kind of funny how things turned out the way we intended to anyways.”

“Yeah. Man, Logan, I think what changed us more was when the entire female section of the group went missing for several days.”

“Ah, don’t fucking remind me of that incident.”

“Yeah, when professionals are brought in to the equation, all hell breaks loose.” Dominic sighs, “But aren’t you the one that lead the charge to save the girls?”

“Yeah,” I sigh, “I gathered everyone I knew, got Greg to help me, and actually contacted Ryan to help.”

“He was in utter amazement that you contacted him. We all thought it was him again, but he had no clue at all. Even Greg thought it was him, because all trails led to him.”

“Ah, that, I just guessed really. It would have stung me if I was wrong, speaking of which… wasn’t he supposed to come today? I thought we made up for all that? Even though he did some things to Claire, I properly punished him for it.”

“Back to that incident though, we never did find out what happened on the inside. The girls won’t talk about it and you never said anything.”

“Ah, it’s been long enough, don’t you think Ashley?” I look towards Ashley for confirmation. She slowly nods after closing her eyes and frowning.

“Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?” Dominic looks at Ashley worriedly and puts his arm around her.

“Well,” I shrug my shoulders, “I promised I wouldn’t tell what happened. I guess it should be okay now though. I know going in alone was a stupid idea, but I did it anyways, more as a scouting attempt, than to actually try and rescue them. You remember, right?”

“Yeah, you were told to scout, as you were the only one that was able to stay calm enough to scout silently. Saunderson was too shaken to even stay still, so we had to tie him to a chair.”

“Yeah, so when I went in, and none of them were tied up at all, they were just lounging around and watching T.V., I could barely believe my own eyes. Calm as if nothing even happened, their hair was done nicely and they. I couldn’t resist the urge to say something and it turned out to be a whole misunderstanding.”

“Wait… really?”

“Yeah, the guys that kidnapped actually just wanted to talk to them, but one thing after another and it went too far. The guys apologized on hands and knees, but to help them save any semblance of public image, I helped them play it up.”

“What about… didn’t they go to jail?” Dominic’s jaw was dropped almost to the floor in shock.

“I told Greg about it afterwards, he started to laugh about it actually. The guys that did it were pretty nice people. Definitely professionals. I would have died in mere seconds if they wanted me too. Another thing that pushed me to study under Saunderson’s father.”

“Wow. What a situation.”

I laugh along with Dominic, but of course, that isn’t what actually happened. Ashley gave me the hand signal that it wasn’t okay to tell him the truth. Greg actually knows the truth along with the fake story.

The truth? Oh, they were indeed professionals. I killed them. I caught them by surprise and had to kill them.

Let them kill my friends or kill them?

What choice would you end up making?

The girls were being tortured without leaving marks on their bodies, and were about to be killed by hanging, so I took the three guys by surprise and killed them. I was terrified of myself. The girls didn’t look at me the same… except for Claire. She didn’t blame me for it.

Anyways, that was many years ago now.

I slowly moved to the next group, Sarah and George, Ashley’s brother.

“Yo, Sarah, George. You came to my birthday party last year, sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you without the press swarming you.”

“No, no. It was my fault for being negligent, Teacher.”

“Ha, you still call me that after all these years? I stopped teaching you things shortly after High school was over.”

“Yes, but you taught me much more than how to do free running. You taught me how to be a proper gentleman. You taught me about the true meaning of being strong. It is not to impress others, nor is it to make yourself feel strong, it is to use it so others may feel safe.”

“Hm? That thing about being a gentleman, I never taught you that. Did I?”

“A truly great teacher does not teach by telling things to their students, but by leading by example.”

“Ah, you really are too motivational for me to spend so much time around. Sarah, sorry for ignoring you, but how are you?” I greet her with a light handshake.

“I’m doing better than I was before. Thanks to the Northson Company’s doctors. Thank you Logan, I really can’t thank you enough for saving mine and my daughter’s life.” Sarah bows her head.

“Don’t thank me. Thank those that actually saved you. I just paid them to do it.” I don’t think I’ll tell her how much it cost if it is like this.

“No, I really have to thank Teacher as well, for saving my wife and child. If not for you, they would have long since departed from this world.”

“Ah, don’t say such depressing things. I know that normal doctors said for you to enjoy their last moments with them. After all, you two were from more ordinary families, so you didn’t know about the huge medical advances in the land of the rich. I just told them to go help a friend of mine and their child.”

“The diseases were not something curable without a massive sum of money, we will never be able to re-”

“You don’t need to repay me, I interrupt Sarah, “I did such things of my own free will, and if you wish to repay me, just make sure you stay decent people and something will be bound to come up.”

I left the two of them while they were still bowing. They really are too nice for their own good.

I finally head towards the group that I am hesitating to talk to. My adoptive parents. They just got out of prison last year after my birthday. I haven’t talked to them since my wedding with Claire. I don’t even know why they are here. Maybe this is why Claire said she hopes I’m not upset.

“Mary, David, how are you?” I slowly shake hands with them.

“Um… congratulations on your success, son.”

“I don’t see you as my father. I never have.” I coldly smile at him, “However, I’m not a child anymore. I think it’s about time I talk to the people who jailed me several times while running away.”

“About that…” The two lower their heads, “We are truly sorry for the misfortune we brought upon you all those years in the past.”

“Are you?” I look at them as they raise their heads, “Well, even if you aren’t, it doesn’t matter, no do I care about it.” I laugh slightly, “Actually, I instead would like to thank you.”

“Thank… us?” My adoptive mother has a strange smile on her face.

“Yes. I would like to thank you. If you two weren’t so irresponsible to the point of abandoning me several times, I would never have become the person I am today. I would have never met Claire. I would have never had the skills to get myself out of insane situations. Nor would I have had the determination to do anything past high school. Because of you, you horrible, stupid, sad excuse for parents, I am the man I am today.”

I turn my back to them and walk away. I take a breath as I walk towards the front of the room.

“Thank you, Logan, for being such a good person to us!” My adoptive father shouts behind me. I don’t turn to look at his expression, but I still smile.

Hey, he did raise me after all.

“Now then!” I shout and clap my hands together to get everyone’s attention, “I was not the one to organize this event, so I will bring out the true masterminds now, my beautiful wife and, maybe, but most likely, above average daughter, Claire Redwood, and Emily Northson!”

Everyone claps and laughs as the two women come on stage. Claire whispers in to my ear before everyone stops clapping.

“As always, I’m amazed you knew Emily was involved in organizing this.”

“Well,” I start to whisper back, “When she went out, she was either spending time with a boyfriend, or she was out gathering my old acquaintances. We all know she isn’t interested in a relationship right now.”

“True, but she is at the age we got married at.”

“Fair enough, but I think she will do things at her own pace. She always has, just like a certain person I know.”

“I wonder who that could be.” Claire smiles as she moves to stop everyone from clapping, “Thank you everyone for coming! There are still a few people missing from the party right now, but they will make an appearance shortly I am willing to assume.

Anyways! I would like to Say a few things before the food and final guests arrive. It has been roughly twenty years since all of us met! Through good times, and through bad times, we have made it this far in life. I would like to thank one person in particular who brought all of us together, my amazing husband, Logan Redwood.” Claire bows out of the way leaving me in the front again with my daughter at my side.

“Ah, Claire always did like shifting these things to me!” Everyone in the hall laughs. “I myself don’t think it was just me that put all of you together, and brought us all together. Most of it was your own free wills that brought you here, as far as I am aware, none of you were bribed to come here.

Alas, it has been a long twenty years. The first few years were so very hectic. A life full of twists and turns. But hey, who ever said going on the straight path to the end will be fun.

I once thought the world of the rich was a troublesome thing that I would never need or have to be a part of. Oh boy I was wrong. I met Claire through a series of either misfortunate or fortunate events. To this day, it is still being debated whether what happened was good or bad. However, I will say that I am glad they happened no matter if they were fortunate or unfortunate. I met Claire, the love of my life.

I’m often asked by many people if I would change anything in my life, and I will always say the same thing to all of them. I would not change a thing.

Yes, it hurt.

Yes, it was hard. Hey, what isn’t a little bit of a challenge these days? Would it even have been fun if it wasn’t a challenge for me to get through?

Claire, she has loved me for these twenty years without a complaint, she gave birth to a wonderfully mischievous daughter, and that daughter is something I would never even dreamt of having all those years ago.

Emily, you are an amazing daughter, I could not even ask for a better child, but still, I’m getting old, when will I get a grandchild?”

“Dad!” Emily shouts with a red face.

“Hey, when I was your age, I was already married. You’re so slow, my amazing daughter.”

“Argh, you suck, you senile old man.” Emily runs behind Claire with a red face.

“Back to the impromptu speech.

Saunderson Scott. A good friend for many years, and a faithful guard for many more. I owe you more than I could ever give you, not just for saving my life, but for being a friend I could rely on when times were tough. For being there for me when I was having issues. Also, you ran away, waaaaaay too much to be considered a guard all the time. However, you are a good friend, and I hope you are for many years to come.

Dominic, well. That’s all really.” I shrug my shoulders and smile

“OI! Is that really all you have to say about me!?” Dominic shouts at me.

“No, truly I have a lot to say, but I will keep it short for the sake of time.

Dominic Rousseau, I would like to formerly apologize with this crowd as my witness. I am sincerely sorry for meddling in your life more than I should have. I was selfish and wanted you to be together with Ashley, almost forcing her on you… no, actually forcing her on you, more than once in fact. I truly regret doing so.” I bow my head towards Dominic.

“Logan, please raise your head, it feels unnatural for you to lower your head after all these years. I don’t hold anything against you at all, man. In fact, it turned out quite nicely you know. I married her anyways.” Dominic laughs, “However, I accept your apology, no matter how unneeded it is.”

“Great!” I raise my head and smile, “Now then, Amy Gardner, soon to be Scott. I never really talked to you too much, even after all these years, so I’m sorry I don’t have much to say to you. I’d also like to say I’m sorry. You know why. After all, I’m sure it was hard. I hope you continue to treat Saunderson well. He is my friend after all.

Sarah Richards, now Merdos, We had some ups and downs over the years. I’m not sure why you were so damn stubborn, must be hell for George there. Oh well. After the incidents, you turned in to an incredible person, you met George on your own time without my intervention, but he just happened to be connected to me. Isn’t it funny how things turn out like this in the end?

George Merdos, a student perhaps? I see it more like a friend. You stayed with me and even helped me in a few instances and I still owe you. Remember if you need anything, just let me know and I will take care of it for you. No need to hold back after all.

Ashley Merdos, now Rousseau. You were a special case you know? I met you while I was crossdressing all those years ago. I am so glad I only did that one other time. It was a challenge you know, to act like a girl. I think I should regret that choice, it lead to discord within the group, but in the end, it finally worked out. I’m sorry for forcing you to change, but if I left it alone other weirder situations may have occurred, but let’s not get in to that at this occasion.

Greg Northson, my father-in-law. You know what you’ve done. The list is longer than the whole speech combined, but I’ll do my best to sum it up. You helped me get together with Claire after scouting me. You arranged the marriage between me and Claire. You helped us get closer and closer by forcing some events on us and I am well aware that you protected us many more times than I could probably fathom. You made me the head of a massive company so that I could support Claire, you left your position to do god knows what and left it to someone as young as myself. The trust you put in to me is massive. I cannot ever thank you enough old man. I owe you more than just my life. I owe you my family.

Emily, would you like to say a few words?” I look to my daughter that had stopped hiding behind Claire. She nods and walk up to beside me.

“Um… Hello, I’m Emily Northson… I would like to thank all of you once again for coming. It was not too much of a challenge to convince all of you to come… however, father forgot to thank and talk about two people.” Emily looks at me and the two adoptive parents of mine.

I nod slowly with my eyes closed and take a deep breath. After opening my eyes after a small moment of silence I start to talk again.

“Mary and David Redwood. I’m killing off our family’s name. I think it is something that no longer needs to exist in this world. I’m sure you know why. However, you raised me. You are the ones that kind of took care of me. Thank you for not being completely irresponsible and taking me back in every time. I’m sure you two did it for your own reasons. I may never truly forgive you for what you have done, but I no longer see the need to hold a deep grudge like I have been. I hope we can treat each other well in the future.” I nod my head slowly as I back away once again.

I look and see tears forming at the corner of my adoptive parents’ eyes and I laugh quietly to myself.

“Um… Now… um... I think it’s about time to bring in the rest of the guests and start eating some food!”

Everyone starts to clap as a couple more people confidently come in the room from the kitchen entrance wearing maid and butler outfits.

Ryan, Hillary, and a few other people I’ve met over the years…. Wait, is that Saunderson’s father I see!?

They all carry food out to the table and set it down.

“Welcome everyone, I wasn’t expecting to see so many people here today, why the maid and butler uniforms, I see us all as friends and not master and servant.” I greet everyone as they stand in a row.

“Logan, I am doing this as I owe you too much for the trouble I have caused.” Ryan politely bows his head. “I regret the choices I made when I was young. I was spoiled and didn’t understand true consequences, you definitely beat some sense in to me those many times… even though it was rather brutal a few times.”

“Ah, no, I beat you because you deserved it, not to attempt to teach you anything, but you have changed, and I think that is better than any result I expected, or anyone expected in fact, but it’s good that you are staying out of prison. You find a good wife yet?”

“Yeah, recently I married a regular girl I met while I was wandering town, I fell in love at first sight, so I went for it, and was denied at first, but in the end my persistence won her over.”

“Still as stupid as usual it seems.” I laugh as I start to move to the next people. “Hillary, how’ve you been?”

“I am still working as a maid in this household, so you of all people should know how I am doing.”

“It seems you’ve become crueler over the years.”

“Being playful can only get you so far in the world, my master.”

“Ah, sadly it is so.” I nod as I move to Saunderson’s father.

“Yo Logan, It seems that the event has been successful so far. Is my son treating you well?”

“I haven’t talked to him in a little while before just now. My life is truly jam packed. Most of it is family time, but that is just as crazy as work for me!”

“I know the feeling, I’m getting on in my years, so I am just doing as I please. I hope you don’t mind me, becoming staff for a day. Also, how’s the training going. Make any progress in the art yet?”

“Ah, you look great in a butler’s uniform, your son is also looking rather shocked to see you. I thought you trained him better than to be shocked at the sight of his own father. Also, I think I am at the fifth level of your martial art. Nowhere near you or your son, but enough to defend myself and my family in a tight situation.”

“Ah, it’s good you’ve made that much progress despite not having full time training like the rest of those that practice the art get.”

“Ah, you make it seem like I am greater person than I really am, as usual you flatter me too much. Flattery will only get you so far Alexander.”

“Indeed that is true, so, I need a favor, can we talk about it after the dinner party?”

“Yeah sure, just meet me in my study like normal. I’ll make sure to be there as soon as I can.” I nod to Alexander as I move to make small talk with the other people I kind of, but don’t really know. No interesting talks sadly.

I finally make my way back to Claire and sigh. I sit down beside her, holding a plate of warm food.

“How’s everyone doing, honey?” Claire leans her head on my shoulder, sighing in exhaustion.

“Not bad, they all seems to think they owe me something though. I owe most of them more than they owe me though.”

“Like usual, you think too much about these things Logan. You place a greater value on me and Emily than you should, you’ll burn out sooner if you don’t stop worrying about the small things.”

“Ah, if I stop worrying about the small things, what would I have to worry about? That doesn’t sound like any fun.”

“Logan, please never change.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it my love.” I lean my head on Claire’s… but still continue to eat, the food of rich people is still way tastier than I could ever imagine.

“Logan, I love you.”

“I love you too, Claire.”

“Hey you two!” My daughter, Emily, shouts to Claire and I, “Get a room.”

“Quiet daughter, your mother and I will most certainly do so.”

“Ew! Gross! You damn senile old man!” Emily runs off with a completely red face. Everyone in the room laughs as Emily just sits in the corner of the room.

I stand up and once again get everyone’s attention. Everyone had long since finished eating.

“Thank you everyone for coming today. Are there any guests that would like to say anything before I officially end the dinner party?” Greg stands up and walks towards me and smiles happily.

“For some, this may not seem like big news, but for others, it will be world shaking. After twenty years of searching, just yesterday, I found out who Logan’s real parents were!”

“What!? Really!?” A surprised voice leaks from my mouth unintentionally.

Everyone else that was in the room was too shocked to even say anything.

“However, the reason they are not actually here in person, and believe me, I would have loved to meet them, but they are not here, as they are no longer with us. I’m sorry Logan.”

I shake my head and smile weakly.

“No, it’s fine. It’s good enough for me to just know that we know who they are. I think I can guess the reason they passed on… but I do not wish to believe it.”

“The reason they passed on is because they were an originally rich family, incredibly rich. However, they were kidnapped and forced in to slavery. Born under suppression of a communist country at the time. They worked tooth and nail in order to just barely support you. Your father died after being beaten to death. Your mother died shortly after from grief, but you were still very young, so there is no way you would remember.

Now we move on to the main point. The adoptive parents standing there. They were on their way to cause some trouble but stumbled upon your paperwork. They found you almost dead as a young boy and took you in.”

“The people that took my parents lives?” I ask the old man.

“Dead.”

“Wait… this isn’t how I expected it to be. Why is this so strange? Wait……… Could it be that they…” I point to the adoptive parents.

“Yes, Logan,” Greg smiles, “The true reason they took you from country to country was to actually find and kill those involved in your father’s murder which also claimed your mother.

The reason no one could figure this out is because all documents of your birth were burned, all people that knew where you were originally from were killed or held captive long enough to go insane. There were only two people in the entire world who knew everything… until now.”

The entire room is silent. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I slowly walk towards my adoptive parents, they had tears in their eyes. I slowly walk towards my adoptive father and smile.

“Before I apologize for being rude to you, there is one thing I need to do, is that okay?” I smile lightly and my adoptive father nods, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes.

I lean back slightly and ball my hand in a fist. The crowd goes silent, not even breathing. I move my fist towards his face

But I stop right before I hit him.

“Violence will solve nothing.” I say as I pat his shoulder. He opens his teary eyes and hugs me, “However, you treated the person you were trying to save like shit. Was it to temper me? Was it because you just couldn’t handle it properly? Did you not know how to be a proper parent? I guess in the end none of that matters.”

I give him a hard elbow to the chest and knock all of the air out of him, but not breaking anything.

“I am aware violence solves nothing, you have paid for your crimes already. That was just me venting. I hope we can repair the relationship that was damaged between us. Actually, was there a relationship there? Ah, who cares? I will create one. Thank you for helping me.

I am sorry for not trying to understand the motivation behind your frantic running around. I thank you, but also hate you.”

I walk back to Greg and he smiles. Claire nods and Emily is trying not to cry. Why is she sad? Shouldn’t I be the one crying?

“Now then,” I turn to the rest of the small crowd, “Is there any other news that anyone would like to announce before I end this dinner party?”

Everyone stays silent and Claire moves to my right side and I put my arm around her and smile.

“Okay! I hope all of you had a great time today, many things happened and I hope we can all catch up again some other time, I’m sure there are many more interesting stories to be told! However, it is getting late, so I will now announce the end of this party, I hope you all have a good night!”

Everyone starts to clap and I say goodbye to everyone.

“Bye guys, I have some business to attend to so I apologize for rushing away while being the guest of honor.” I bow my head and leave the room. I make a signal to Claire and she nods. Claire whispers something in to Emily’s ear and she waves to me.

I wave back and leave the room to head towards my office in the back of the building.

I enter the office and Alexander is already here, sitting in the guest’s chair. I walk over to my chair and sit down across the desk from him.

“Hello again Alexander, or rather, Teacher. How can I help you today?” I slowly make a slight bow to him while sitting in the chair.

“No need to be so formal with me Logan. So, you really only at the fifth level? It feels to me that you are further than that, am I right?”

“Ah, I can’t hide anything from you, I just didn’t want anyone listening to know the truth. Should I tell you… or show you?”

“Hm… tempting. So, now for what I came here for.” Alexander pulls out a folded piece of paper. I take it and open it up.

On it says, ‘You have become soft’

Shit.

*Thud*

I raise my arms in an attempt to block, but get pushed to the ground.

“Indeed, I have become soft, but I hope Teacher could postpone my training to another day.” My arms behind my back, face against the ground I plead slightly.

“Ah, I guess we can do that. It is your anniversary after all. I just felt the need to do this after seeing the move you used on your adoptive father. Now for the real reason I am here. I wanted to let you know that I am going to be in town for probably the next year retraining half of my family. I found another martial style and managed to improve my own. I’d like you to come to a few practice sessions. That should be all you need to catch up to them now.”

“Ah, It doesn’t look like I am in any position to refuse, am I?”

“Not really, consider it a favor to me. I would like you to become strong enough to fight against me.”

“I could never even dream you know. You are a crazy martial addict. Over seventy years old and I’m willing to bet that you are the strongest in the world. I am just a lowly CEO of a slightly larger than normal company.”

“You still undervalue yourself eh? Oh well, just know that under evaluating yourself leads to becoming soft.”

“This student understands, now may you please release me?”

The two of us stand up and I stretch my shoulders.

“Ah, How’s your wife doing, Logan?” Alexander sits back down in the chair.

“Hm. Not bad if I had to say. She is getting more and more worried about my health though.”

“Why, your hair isn’t even gray at all yet.”

“I sleep at lot longer than I should, almost twelve hours a night of sleep. Oh well though. Maybe I’m just too relaxed. My teenage years were so busy and crazy that now that it is all over, my body is just relaxed because of the lack of stress.”

“Should I send assassins every now and then to test you?”

“Aha, maybe. But you probably shouldn’t, Claire would be more worried than she is now.”

“Oh, I will send them only after you, they will be from within the family.”

“Hm, maybe send me a level four soon, just to warm up. Anyways, How goes dealing with the Gardner family?”

“A fucking mess. Everyone gets along now though, we finally solved our differences after facing a recent criminal gang that was really tough for us.”

“Wow, for you to say it was tough must mean quite a lot. They should be proud to die at your hands and to still call them tough.”

“If they heard that, they’d roll over in their graves!” Alexander laughs. “Yeah, but now the wedding is going to be soon. I can’t believe they had children before getting married though. Times are changing from what they used to be though.”

“Yeah, I think they are happy together so why not let them stay together, am I right?”

“True enough, but it took our families longer to realize that than you and your friends. You are truly a special man Logan, you are able to find matches for people, bring people together who you would think would never be together. You rescued many people from dangerous situations, you lead charges in to places that even I would hesitate to enter.”

“Stupid hot blooded youth, am I right?” I laugh happily as I lean back in my chair. “I can’t believe how hectic everything was though. I mean countries coming to attack, who would have thought a war would start just because I was leading the Northson Company.”

“Yeah, but you alone also ended that war maybe ten days after it started. You only took Saunderson, me and a fuck ton of guns. We infiltrated the other country and killed their leader behind the main attack, then everyone else backed off.”

“Yeah, I did lead the charge on that one. They were at fault for leaving their backs wide open though.”

“Ah, I guess. So, is something else wrong? You seem a little on edge Logan.”

“I guess. I’m rather nervous about what to do in the future from this point. I’ll probably just pass on the company to whoever decides to marry Emily. I might just pass it to Emily. She has a good head on her shoulders.”

“Want me to introduce some guys to her?”

“Nah, she’ll figure out herself. I already know there is a guy she likes. I’ve investigated him, but it isn’t my place to force things.”

“Like a good parent.”

“Ah, I’ll worry about things as they come up. It’s what I’ve always done and I should just continue to do what works.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your wife Alexander?”

“Good. She is becoming older though. She’s starting to slow down a little in her older age.”

“I think she’d try to kill you if she heard you say that. You should really be more careful.”

We slowly relax in the office and suddenly a knock comes from the door.

“Logan, you in there?” I hear Claire from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, come in Claire. Is something wrong?”

“No… well maybe. There is a guy waiting outside claiming to be Emily’s boyfriend. What should we do?”

Alexander raises an eyebrow. I slowly stand up.

“Okay, I’ll go see him, let’s see if he can recognize her father without being told who I am.”

I walk to the front of the house while changing in to a butler’s uniform, or to be precise, Alexander and I trade clothes while on the move. Alexander is going to stay inside, but act as security just in case something happens.

I walk outside and see a teenage boy with short brown hair and a small smile on his face. I walk up to him and bow slightly.

“Hello young sir, I was sent here by the master of the house, may I please get you name and purpose for arrival?”

“Ah… um… I’m here to talk to… um… Emily. My name is… Justin… Nathaniel.”

“Oh?” I look at him with a smile. This is the boy I investigated.

“The Nathaniel family? The notorious crime family that was recently wiped clean by the Scott family. One child was spared due to them not being involved in the slightest. Am I right?”

“Ah… y-yes sir. That is me.”

“My condolences. It must be hard to lose your parents and your entire family in such an unimaginable way, you weren’t even aware of the family’s wrongdoings.” I turn my back to him and walk in the house. “Please follow me.”

Justin follows me in to the house while looking incredibly nervous. His goal for entering today? I wonder.

We enter in to the house and Alexander bows slightly at the young man and he returns the same. Looks like they recognize each other. I can see Justin shaking quite a bit. Reminds me of someone else twenty years ago. Different situation though.

“Emily, come here please!” I shout in to the house and my daughter comes running through the house.

“Yes father!” Emily run in to the room and sees Justin, then me dressed in a butler’s uniform. She smiles slightly, understanding the situation immediately. As expected of my daughter. “Father, why are you in a butler’s uniform?”

“Ah, I was just greeting the guest. What do you think my daughter, it look nice on me?”

“Ah, still senile like normal.”

“Hey!” I smile as I scold my daughter, “Now then, Justin, you like Emily, don’t you?”

“Ah…” Justin stumbles over his words and nothing but unintelligible mumblings come out of his mouth.

“Hm, that’s too bad, I was hoping to see a grandchild soon.” I laugh heartily.

“Father!” Emily’s face goes red as she yells at me.

“Now then, the wedding will be in three days!” I happily exclaim while Justin is panicking and Emily is dying from embarrassment.

Ah, just like old times.

“Alexander, could you take Justin to prepare, Claire, I know you’re hiding around the corner, would you like to take your daughter to get ready?”

“Sure! It seems like she is going to be mad at us for a while.”

“Mother was in on it as well!?”

“Yeah, she knew you were following and listening to her when she came to my office. This whole thing was a ruse. I’m glad it worked out well. I was getting nervous that the plan would fail!”

Alexander sighs while leaving the main hall. He really is good at figuring out what is going on without even being told any facts.

“You suck father, mother! Ha… it’s pointless to argue, isn’t it?”

“It’s good that we have a smart daughter isn’t it, Claire.” I laugh as Emily hangs her head.

“I think so as well, Logan.” Claire smiles as she walks away to get Emily prepared.

I walk back to my office and sit down in the silence. Many portfolios lining the desks. Pictures of many young teenagers lining the desk.

It seems I’ve approved the worst candidate to be with Emily. Everyone else offer wealth and objects beyond compare! This one can only offer himself.

The worst was approved

But he is the best for the job.