Chapter 28: Why Did It Have To Be About The Casino?

"Hector came by," Bradford spoke up from the wooden chair, his voice surprisingly calm as he nursed his bandaged jaw.

The mention of our uncle instantly set the twins on high alert. Jayden’s hands balled into fists, and Jordan took a defensive step forward.

"What?" Jayden snarled, his eyes flashing with immediate anger. "What did he do? Did he come here to cause trouble again?"

"No," Bradford said, "He brought us food... and some supplies. It wasn’t from his own mind, but from your grandparents."

Jordan’s aggressive posture instantly faltered, replaced by sheer confusion. "Grandma sent this?"

That’s right. I had planned ahead.

While I could cry my way out of a proper explanation with Valerie and Bradford, the same theatrical tricks wouldn’t fly with Jordan and Jayden. They were protective, stubborn, and sharp. The moment they hear a mysterious stranger had given me money, they would decide to march straight out the door to find them and confirm their little sister wasn’t getting dragged into a scam.

So, I had instructed my parents to lay the credit on Bradford’s side of the family.

The twins would never dare march over to their estranged grandmother’s estate to question her generosity. From the lack of residual memories in Brianna’s mind, she had never even met her grandparents—Bradford’s rift with his family ran deep, making them the ultimate untraceable mystery sponsors.

Anyway, I played my part and fed Bradford the narrative I had carefully scripted.

"Grandma...?" Jordan muttered, looking down at the necklace hanging over my chest, then back at the spread of fresh meat. "Why would she suddenly send us all this?"

"Maybe she finally realized her sons shouldn’t let her grandchildren starve," I chimed in, pulling out two chairs for them with an innocent grin. "Either way, the food is hot, and I’m starving. Sit down and eat, brothers."

Jayden looked at Bradford, who gave a firm, reassuring nod, and then at Valerie, who was smiling warmly as she served the stew.

The suspicion in their eyes slowly melted away, completely overwhelmed by the savory scent of real meat and the empty gnawing in their stomachs.

"Well..." Jayden swallowed hard, pulling out his chair. "I guess I’m not going to complain about free food."

As the twins dug into the feast with ravenous appetites, I leaned back in my seat, taking a slow sip of warm water.

"By the way, Jayden, how was work?" Bradford asked, picking up a piece of warm bread.

Before Jayden could swallow his mouthful of meat, Jordan took the honors of recounting what he’d picked up from the street gossip and double-checked with his brother on the walk home.

"Oh, you won’t believe it, Dad," Jordan blurted out, leaning forward with wide eyes. "Word on the street is that some scrawny kid hit the high-stakes floor at the central casino today and swept the entire house. Raked in over forty grand!"

Cough! Cough-cough!

The warm water went straight down the wrong pipe and I choked as the liquid burned my throat, my hand flying to my mouth.

"Whoa, Brianna! You okay?" Jayden asked, hurriedly passing me a cloth napkin.

"I’m fine, I’m fine," I said, dabbing at my lips with the napkin while secretly cursing his bad timing. Of all the thousands of topics they could have picked for dinner conversation, why did it have to be about the casino?

"Anyway, it’s true," Jayden chimed in, taking a heavy gulp of broth. "I was so shocked when I heard the news. I was busy serving drinks in the lower section, so I didn’t get to see the table, but the whole floor was buzzing about it. Mind-blowing stuff. Man, if I could win that kind of money... we wouldn’t have to struggle like this every single day."

While the twins babbled on about the mystery gambler, Valerie slowly turned her head toward me. Her gaze was heavy, her eyebrows arching with a silent, terrifyingly sharp motherly intuition.

I studiously avoided her eyes, suddenly finding the pattern on my ceramic bowl fascinating as I crammed a large spoonful of meat into my mouth.

"Mm, Mother," I mumbled around the food, my face a picture of pure innocence. "This stew is really good."

"Eat as much as you want, honey," Valerie said, her voice dropping into that soft, gentle tone that mothers only reserved for their youngest.

She reached out, her fingers gently stroking through my neatly tied hair with a warm, comforting touch. The heavy, suspicious arch of her eyebrow was gone, replaced by a radiant, peaceful smile as she watched me stuff my cheeks with stew.

"There’s plenty more in the pot," she added softly, leaning over to scoop another generous portion of tender meat straight into my bowl. "You’ve been working so hard lately. You need your strength."

I took a slow bite, letting the warm food settle in my stomach as the twins continued to debate how they would have spent forty thousand dollars if Lady Luck had smiled on them instead.

Jayden slammed a fist lightheartedly on the table. "First thing I’d do? Buy a proper sword. No, wait—pay off the loan sharks, then buy the sword!"

"Idiot," Jordan snickered, shoving his brother’s shoulder. "Pay the debt, buy food for six months, and get Dad a decent pair of boots so his feet don’t freeze this winter."

Bradford let out a quiet, rumbling laugh, shaking his head. "You boys should learn to take care of yourselves first. I can manage just fine."

"Yeah, right," Jordan muttered, rolling his eyes as he took another massive bite of bread.

They knew very well how poorly he was treated as a janitor at my academy, and they knew a new pair of boots wouldn’t magically erase the condescending sneers of noble students or the endless physical labor. But they couldn’t help it. To the man who had dragged himself through hell just to keep a roof over their heads, they wanted to repay him with only the best.

And somehow, though the emotion felt entirely foreign to my assassin soul, I understood that feeling all too well.

I had asked myself earlier why I hadn’t used the entire forty thousand dollars strictly for my own cultivation. Why hadn’t I just left them to drown in their own financial mess? I could lie to myself and claim it was purely strategic—just to keep loan sharks from disrupting my meditation, just to ensure I didn’t get dragged down by their chaotic baggage.

But the truth was right here, hammering quietly against my ribs.

Brianna’s feelings. I could feel her fierce, desperate love for them as clearly as I could recall the agonizing trauma embedded in her memories. The instincts weren’t originally mine, but it was as if I had lived under this rotting roof all my life. It was as if I, too, would tear the world apart to keep this fragile family safe.

Gosh, these stupid, persistent feelings.

It was no wonder my chest had been burning with that uncomfortable, terrifyingly gentle warmth all evening.