EmeryI walked sneakily out of the house at 5:00 in the morning. I didn’t want to raise my father’s suspicion if I went out of the house in his sight. I’m just going to go to the tournament, have fun, and go home! Nothing’s probably gonna go wrong… right?I looked at the flier on my hand and read the details. So, it’s a combat-type tournament for ages 18 to 25. All residents of Kvenland Village are invited, so I’m expecting some affiliates of the council to participate in the competition. It was still early in the morning, so I went to the park to practice some of my moves. I settled near the playground and let myself get lost in training.***  Ah, shit.I lost track of time, and now I’m going to be late. I ran toward the arena while glancing at my watch. I was still about 2 kilometers away, but it was only 3 minutes until the registration. I ran even harder until

Emery6 months laterI laid down on the couch while binge-watching this new show called Squid Game. I screamed at the screen when Sangwoo betrayed Ali.“Fuck, no! Ali, don’t believe that evil bitch! Keep your marbles. No, no, no.”I groaned in annoyance when the masked guy shot Ali down. Welp, there goes my favorite character.I angrily munched down on the pistachio ice cream that was on my lap. I heard laughter behind me and saw my dad watching me in amusement.“Did you like him that much? I think what the other guy did was reasonable. He also has to stay alive.”I glared at him. “You don’t understand! He lost fair and square, but Ali still trusted him because they were friends. Do you go around killing your friends?”He put his hands up in the air, “Okay, okay. I won’t argue with you anymore. Geez, pregnant women are horrifying.”&ld

EmeryMy dad stammered, “What— What are you talking about? Daughter? My daughter died along with my wife more than 15 years ago. Where are you getting your nonsensical thinking from, Klaus?”Klaus chuckled, “Oh come on now, Crassus. Don’t regard me as a liar. I heard it come from your own mouths. About how this young woman right here called you dad when you went and visited the council room about four years ago. I wouldn’t dare share my suspicions without any confirmation and evidence. So, I did some digging around. And I must say, you did such a great job hiding this matter from the council, Crassus. But, I think I did a better job finding out the truth.”My mind was racing, and I couldn’t think properly. Why wasn’t I more careful? Fuck, what’s going to happen now?My dad held onto my hand to comfort me, and Klause awwed at the sight.“Such a sweet father-and-daughter pair

EmeryArlo was fine now, munching on some chips that I bought from a lady passing by. We boarded a train bound for Lucia County, where the Blood Shadow pack resides. I turned away from Arlo to hide my tears. I looked at the swiftly passing trees instead and wondered what it would be like if dad was with us right now.I shook my head and tried to smile. He’s probably in a better place now, holding my mom in his arms and finally living the life that they always wanted to live. I glanced towards Arlo. I have my own family now. It’s time for me to protect him with everything that I have, just like how my parents did for me.I saw him yawn through my peripheral vision, so I placed his head on my lap and let him fall into slumber. I looked at his peaceful sleeping face while I stroked his soft cheeks. I would do anything to let him keep this peaceful face of his. I would never allow anyone to ruin our family, even if it’s just the both

EmeryI sneezed upon waking up; the dust on the ceiling must have fallen while we were sleeping. I looked at Arlo’s cute sleeping figure and brushed the dust away from his face.We have a lot to do today. First, we have to get the house cleaned up, then we have to go to the mall to buy some clothes and other necessities, and after that, I need to find a babysitting service that can look after Arlo while I try to hunt for a job.But before any of that, I need to cook some breakfast for the both of us. It’s a good thing that I’ve packed some dry pancake batter; otherwise, we wouldn’t have anything to eat this morning.I went down quietly to the kitchen so as to not wake Arlo up. Then after cooking some pancakes, I gently shook him awake so we could start the day.We finished eating our breakfast, and Arlo was now sitting on my lap, playing with a Rubik's cube that he was able to pocket before we left our old hou