About Oliver’s plans.

“So about this… Frey, the spirit,” mom continued. “Do you know why she would… possess you of all people?”

I didn’t want to go into details about it, but I’d have to to some extent. “I was an easy target. Spirits like her need to take advantage of a weak mind, and I was… frustrated, angry, lonely.”

Isabelle blinked, and when realization hit her, she turned away from me, looking down at her lap. Yeah, it was that time when I heard her having sex in the other room. I was pissed that she’d bring her boyfriend over without telling me or mom and I was jealous that she was experiencing things I believed I never would. It all hit me like a sack of bricks that night, and Frey took that chance.

Mom sighed, exhausted. “You mean there are other spirits like her?”

I nodded. “And that’s part of what I really need to talk to you about. This stuff about Frey is something you need to know first.”

“W-What could be more important than this?” Isabelle asked.

“Someone found out about me being possessed by a Spirit of Lust. You’ve probably heard of him. Luke Allen?”

Isabelle raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

Mom groaned and rubbed her temple. “Seriously? Him?”

“You know him, mom?”

“By name,” mom told Isabelle. “When you start looking into it, most of the medium and large companies in the world are owned in some way by the same 10 people or so. Luke Allen is one of those 10. In fact, the pharmaceutical company I work for is a subsidiary of another, bigger company of which Luke Allen owns 52% of the stocks. In a long and roundabout way, I work for him.”

Isabelle’s jaw hung, and even I was a little taken aback. The guy really had his hands everywhere.

“B-But how would a guy like that even know you, Oliver?”

“It’s a bunch of coincidences mashed together,” I told my sister. “Remember about this incident I told you about? About this thief I caught after he tried to steal a woman’s purse? Well, she’s one of Mr. Allen’s girlfriends. We met when Thomas, Mila and I took her to the hospital. And then… Well, Diana works at a hotel owned by the man, so one day when I was waiting for her to get off work, we ended up crossing paths again. That was when he realized we had… similar abilities.”

Mom frowned. “You mean he’s possessed, too? Isn’t that just one of the slanderous rumors around him?”

I tilted my head in confusion. “Is it?” Though I remembered Mr. Allen told me that if I went around claiming he was possessed no one would believe me. Guess someone else tried that already and it became a baseless rumor.

“I think I heard some co-workers talking about it. Something about a man who was fired… I’ll ask at work tomorrow. But… What did Mr. Allen want with you?”

“He… wants me to work with him. He says my magic will help him make a… sexual performance-enhancing remedy. He wants to use it himself and then sell it if it works well.”

Isabelle frowned, her jaw half-hanging as she looked utterly lost. “What? Is that even something you can do?”

I swallowed. “I told you. Frey’s powers are…. sexual in nature. I still don’t understand it well enough, but I plan to have him explain everything to me before I agree to work with him.”

Mom crossed her arms. “And you’re already planning on accepting his offer?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Oliver, you don’t even know this guy.”

I took a page out of Mr. Allen and typed a number on my phone before sliding it over the table to them.

“What’s this?” Isabelle asked.

“What he’s offering to pay me monthly.”

Mom’s eyes shot wide open, lip quivering. Isabelle was much the same, only she kept counting the zeros on the screen just to make sure she got it right.

“Oliver…”

“With that money I could buy a house,” I said, cutting mom off. “One large enough for me and the girls to live in. That’s the whole reason I’m even considering it. If I don’t do something, the girls will move away, go to university wherever their parents tell them to. And I’m just a kid at the end of the day. I can’t stop that. Not unless I do this.”

“Brother… This sounds too good to be true. How do you know it’s not a scam?” Isabelle asked me.

“...I don’t,” I admitted. “After all, this whole deal would be done under the table since it’s… supernatural in nature. I’d have no legal protection or backup. And someone with as much power and influence as Mr. Allen could be capable of anything to get what he wants.”

“Th-Then…!”

“But I’m not powerless, sis. I have my own powers, too. One of them is… Well, it’s a little finicky, especially on men, but I can, at times, read people’s minds.”

Mom and Isabelle were taken aback again. “Are you serious?” Isabelle asked.

I nodded. “It mostly works on my girlfriends. And they can kind of read my own mind, as well. But sometimes I’m able to read other people’s minds, and this time it worked on Mr. Allen. I believe he’s being genuine in his offer. It’s… a rich person’s harmless whim. There’s something he wants but can’t make by himself, so he’s willing to spend money to get it.” I sighed. “I… I know it’s still risky, but I think it’s safer to go along with him than go against him.”

“That… might be true,” mom admitted. She bit her lip and looked down at the number on my phone.

“You said you wouldn’t like it if I was able to make a lot of money the easy way,” I told her. “I’m also worried about that. Even if this whole thing works out as I hope, I won’t let it make me complacent. I swear.”

“...” Mom stood up from her seat. “I need more time to think. You dropped some heavy stuff on us, Oliver.”

“I know.”

“I understand why you’d hide this, and also why you’d bring it up now. I won’t begrudge you for that. Still, maybe you should’ve trusted your family sooner.”

“I know.”

“I’ll ask some questions at work tomorrow. I know people who’ve worked more closely with Mr. Allen.”

I nodded.

“And it should go without saying, but don’t accept any deal until we talk again. Understood?”

“Yes, I promise.”

Mom sighed again. She glanced at her glass of whiskey one last time but left it there half-full before she went back to her room. Perhaps knowing who needed it more, Cake actually followed her.

As for Isabelle, she finished texting something on her phone and stood up as well. “I’m going out for a bit.”

“Where?”

“You might be dating them, but Alice and Noelle are still my friends. I want to talk to them.”

I chuckled. “Okay. I’ll make dinner tonight, then.”

Isabelle nodded and left the house.

As for me, I grabbed mom’s whiskey glass and took a sip. I felt the liquid burn down my throat and pushed the glass away.

“Tastes like cologne…” I muttered.

I didn’t like the atmosphere I had left in the house. We barely talked the rest of the day. But there was nothing else I could do. I said what I had to say, and my family’s opinion was important to me. All I could do now was wait for them to come to terms with what I was and what I wanted to do.

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