Caiden found himself in a perplexing situation. Behind him were his (the parents of this body) parents, and in front of him stood a group of unfamiliar faces, whom he recognized as his relatives from the maternal side. How did it all begin?
An hour earlier…
Waking up, Caiden was met with an unfamiliar roof, scanning around him, he was certain this was not his room.
Recalling the events last night, he remembered returning from a business meeting pretty late. As the chairman of his company, life wasn't as easy as portrayed in movies; he had a myriad of responsibilities, from overseeing projects to managing shareholder meetings, traveling to other countries included to oversee the most important subsidiaries companies.
He, as the decision maker of a company has many things to oversee, and some of those included Risk Management, which included that if any projects he approved over failed he would be the sole responsible, there is also the situations where some projects might leak and is other thing to look after, situation of spies and bribe and more important than any, that no embezzlement of funds might occur which could lead to the company's bankruptcy or even be considered criminal, that also include, no evasion of taxes. As a chairman, he was pretty busy so he always returned late home and sometimes he didn't return and stayed working in the office, so he knew with certainty that he returned late at night to his house.
Looking at his unfamiliar ceiling, he really was sure this wasn't his house. The current predicament he found himself in was unlike anything he had encountered before. Pinching himself to verify if it was a dream proved futile. Instead, he experienced an unexpected rush of pain and memories that weren't his own began flooding his mind. It took about 30 minutes to assimilate these foreign memories and understand the basics of his new identity.
Calming down, Caiden took a moment to assess his current situation. He transmigrated, the person he had become shared his name which seemed too coincidental but lived a life quite different from his own. The family was struggling due to suppression from his mother's relatives, who disapproved of her marriage to his father. Financial struggles, oppressive work environments, and strained relationships characterized his new family's life.
"Knock-knock knock…"
While he was checking those memories, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
"Son?… are you up? Come down, your father and I have something to say…Son?"
Frowning, Caiden became a little unhappy but then memories surged, making him aware of who that voice belonged to, smoothing his eyebrows and calming down, he decided to check the rest of the memories at another moment.
Getting up, he went directly to open the door. Outside the door was a woman, Clara Zolei Bolivar. That was the woman's name or to better say 'was' in past tense, and she was the Mother of 'Caiden' of this world. A woman of extreme beauty that leaned more toward a gentle type of beauty.
Heart shaped face, black smooth hair, fair complexion, blue eye pupil that resembled the blue sky, double eyelids, large upper and low eyelashes and almond shaped eyes combined with the gentle warm gaze. Full small lips, small straight nose, a model-like well cared figure and lastly pale white skin color, not sickly but fair pale.
After marrying his father she became a Florence and erased her Bolivar name since no one in her family approved of her marrying his father, Luka D. Florence.
"Son!" The woman smiled warmly at Caiden when seeing him opening the door, "You father and I have something to tell you, change your clothes, we'll be waiting downstairs."
With those words the woman went downstairs.
Caiden nodded, and saw her walk away.
It was not until her figure disappeared that he remembered his father in this world, Luka, although an orphan, his appearance resembles aristocratic birth, (handsomeness better than actors or male models) which many times he was confused for someone rich even if he wore simple clothing.
Looking at the empty corridor of the house, Caiden thought of the childhood of this body owner and his mother's family. He thought that maybe the reason his parents were calling him downstairs was related to them.
Standing still for a moment outside his room, Caiden made his mind and calmly went in and took a shower, before changing his clothes and leaving his room.
He headed downstairs.
On the way, he couldn't help but stare at his surroundings. While taking a shower which took him about thirty minutes, he had already checked almost all the memories he received, which while walking and seeing the house's state, he had already assessed the situation in this family.
The family found themselves entangled in a web of adversities, beginning with the severance of ties by his mother's relatives upon her marriage to his father. This estrangement escalated as his uncles, aunts, and grandparents resorted to oppressive tactics, spreading rumors and bribing his father's superiors to create a hostile work environment. Despite these challenges, the family held on to their modest yet cherished home, a property acquired by his father before marrying his mother.
The Bolivar family's relentless suppression intensified after their union, creating financial constraints and deteriorating living conditions. Food scarcity became a reality, pushing his resourceful mother and father to work diligently through the night too. His father took up the role of a taxi driver at night (on then day he was a electrician) navigating the nocturnal streets, while his mother crafted potions for nearby hospitals (beside working in the alchemy association during the day). Though these potions were priced affordably, their quality was maintained at a medium level, attaining a rank of C at most. This strategic compromise allowed them to navigate the delicate balance between financial stability and resisting the Bolivar family's oppressive tactics.
Recalling these memories made Caiden feel annoyed with those relatives of them. He then decided to focus on the surroundings of this house.
While assessing the house's state, Caiden had already arrived downstairs. There he saw his new family, though strange, he for some reason really felt they were his real family.
He was originally an orphan who rose to the top on earth, so staring at his new family now felt he somehow felt it strage.
Seated on a couch in the living room stood the couple waiting for him. The couple seemed to be in good shape, despite the challenges life had thrown at them.
"Mom, Dad," Caiden called.
Hearing his voice the couple turned to him seeing as he was already there.
"Son, come here," his father gestured warmly. Caiden, feeling a mix of strangeness and warmth, walked over to join them on the couch.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" he inquired, sensing that the situation might be related to his mother's family.
His father hesitated and Caiden noticed it, he knew this was about those relatives of them. He stared at his parents but did not speak, waiting for his father to say the words.
Perceiving his son's silence, Luka who originally has his head down raised his head only to be met with Caiden's silent and calm eyes which startled him.
With only this look he knew that his son must have guessed the reason, at least knew that there were problems and those relatives of his mother, Clara, are involved.
Since he must have already guessed, Luka no longer hesitated and started to speak.
"Son, do you remember that your mother talked some time ago about sending you to study at Archaic Academy?" His father asked.
Hearing his father ask this question he knew where this conversation was going.
"Hmm., I remember," Caiden said, it was one of the most famous academies, and in this world of Ava Evendale, Archaic Academy, was one of the many schools if not ranked 2nd place to the 1st ranked Academy, the Genesis Academy, founded after ordinary people and awakened reached a consensus, or so to say after both united.
"Well, you see, your mother and I have a friend there, who accepted our request for you to enter, so we wanted to know your opinion on this. Do you want to enter?" His father asked a little doubtful or better say skeptical knowing Caiden's character.
Caiden knew that considering the family's difficulties, they were contemplating sending him to the academy.
Caiden, knowing the underlying issues, calmly responded, "Father, I understand what you're thinking, but I won't leave. Is this related to those people?"
Hearing Caiden's words, his parents felt somehow awkward and the atmosphere became tense.
His parents hesitated, and the atmosphere grew tense. Luka, Caiden's father, confirmed what Caiden was guessing, "I knew this would be your answer…" He stared at his son, meeting his eyes, "...though we still wanted to try." Luka said, smiling and warmly staring at Caiden.
Sighing, he gave up in persuading Caiden, knowing his personality, he knew it was bound to fail, so he explained the reason.
"Yes, this has something to do with them and I'm sure you already guessed that I lost my job, your mother's family, they've all decided to end this, she also lost her job. You know how they're, and it seems that after years of seeing their efforts for separating us didn't work, they've finally decide to give up but they also decided to ruin us since they've worked so hard they feel it is humiliating so–"
BANG!!!
Before he could finish, the door of their house was forcefully banged open.