Sterling was working on a project he was asked to do. He was applying for a chemistry course online recommended by one of his seniors from his high school. It was a great opportunity for him to look forward to in his future and also he could watch over the house at the same time. Which is why he wanted to reconstruct their basement into a lab for his future studies. He was focused on his project when a knock on his door got his attention. "Come in!" Tiff entered with a mop and duster. "Hey!"
"Do you mind staying outside for a while so that I can clean your room?" Tiff asked with ulterior motives. She wanted to check his room for any suspicious evidence. Sterling looked at his computer and then asked Tiff.
"Did you finish every other room?"
"Yeah! Yours is the last one!"
"Well, I'm working on something! You can still clean my room though."
"You don't mind the dust!"
"Don't worry! This room doesn't have that much dust because it's always clean!"
"You clean your room that often?"
"Well, I don't want to go into details but it's a good thing right?" Tiff was disappointed. Her initiation failed but she still had to finish her job. Tiff continued to clean Sterling's room while spying on him by the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but notice how much he had changed over the years. Once she finished cleaning, Sterling also finished his thing and got up to stretch his limbs.
Tiff watched him as he logged out. "Sterling, it's really you, isn't it?" Sterling rubbed the back of his neck and gazed at the maid.
"The one and only!" He winked at her. Tiff blushed. Tiff was thinking about a way to find anything useful for her quest. "Hey, do you want to hang out sometime? I lost touch with all my friends from here."
"By all the friends, you mean that creep Sean, right?"
"Oh don't even get me started on that asshole! He befriended me only to get closer to Brenna. It's a good thing I caught onto him." It was just awkward between the two old friends. Well, "friends" wasn't the term they would use. Sterling did try to ask her out after they became teenagers. They used to hang out by the park and went to the ice cream store too but then Chad made his presence known. "How is Can, by the way? Are you guys still together?"
For a second there, Tiff started feeling down. She just went back inside the head of a neglected girl left without the admiration of her boyfriend. "Sterling, do you have some time to catch up?" For Sterling, it was a dream come true. The first girl he had feelings for, other than his family members, was standing in his room. She wanted to talk with him.
"Sure!"
"Thanks!" The both of them stayed there for hours talking about their lives during those four years. Tiff even shared her issue with her mother's well-being and the fact that her boyfriend transitioned into a girl.
"That's Chad? Wow, he...I mean she looks..."
"...different, right?" Tiff was showing a photo of the girl formerly known as Chad.
"I was thinking she looks like you but muscular." Tiff looked away. "Hey, is something wrong? I'm sorry if I said something that hurt you."
"No, it's not you. I've been hearing this since she became Morgan."
"Chad's Morgan now?"
"Yes, that's what her name is!"
"You do know, Chad bullied me back then, right?"
"She did!"
"I don't know how Morgan is but when she was Chad, it was like he wanted to keep me away from you."
"I didn't know that. I know that she's protective of me."
"Chad beat me up once saying stop staring at us after school. I didn't even cross paths with him. I didn't know what he was talking about." Tiff tapped on the side of her gesturing Sterling to sit next to her. Sterling gulped and sat next to her. She rested her head on her shoulder and wrapped her left arm around his shoulder. Sterling felt like a current passed through his body. Tiff was touching her as he smelled her perfume. Tiff continued to talk about something that was taking her priority over everything else. Sterling was shocked to hear it. "Wow, that's something! I know how much you're interested in biology but to go to this extent for a project! Tiff, this is huge. You can revolutionise the medical industry if you succeed."
"That's what my sister said but we need help!"
"I'll see what I can do to help and don't worry about your mother, she'll get well soon. I know a doctor who can help her."
"You would do that for me?"
"I would, even if it was someone else in your place. Although, you're special to me. Let's say I'm only helping myself by helping you!"
"Special, huh!" Tiff had her lips inched away from Sterling's face. Suddenly, words from Hunter struck her head. She tilted her head to her right avoiding the collision. "I should be going home!"
"Huh, alright! I wasn't paying attention to the time." An awkward silence filled the room as Tiff collected her tools. She opened the door and went outside. Resting herself by the wall, she collected her thoughts.
'What am I doing here? He's too nice to be an imposter. He has changed physically but he feels and acts like the kid I used to get ice cream with. Why would his grandfather think he's not to be trusted? I can't make any sense of it. And what was that feeling? Why did I hold him like that? It was like subconsciously I always wanted to hold him.' She was lost in her thoughts failing to notice the presence of Brenna.
"I thought you left already!" Brenna asked getting Tiff's attention.
"Oh, I was...catching up with Sterling! I didn't realise it just until now but I missed hanging out with him."
"He has that effect on everyone." Brenna got close to the maid and placed her right index on her chest. With frowned eyebrows, she formed a smirk to say, "Be careful around my baby brother! If something were to happen to him, you know my reputation, right?"
"Brenna, are you threatening Tiff?" Catherine appeared behind them.
"I am looking out for our brother, Catherine!"
"Oh right, we should be overprotective of him around female guests." Catherine glared at Tiff. "Tiff, you're pretty but you have to go through me if you want to get close to my brother!"
"By that, she means you have to wrestle her and win which is impossible."
Tiff looked confused by how the sisters were acting. The next moment, she burst out laughing. "God, I needed that! Thanks you two!" She started moving. "And don't worry! I have no intention of hurting your brother." She left the area thinking. 'That is only if he is your real brother!'
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In the room, Sterling was looking at the ceiling after checking his savings. 'That would be enough to cover for Flora's treatment. She was a nice lady. She deserves the best. It's a good thing Lola agreed to take her in. But her project is the one I'm worried about. She is not doing it for her but for Chad...no Morgan now! Even though I hate him...her, I can ignore the fact that Tiff will be successful in her field and get more attention. Even though I don't want any attention, why am I thinking about myself now? Is it because I assumed our paths would be connected? If she doesn't want any fame from her project, that would be great! To think that she entrusted me with something big like this, I must have made a great impression on her. Now I'm more worried about how Hunter is involved in all these. Does he know about her project? Tiff said only her sister and Morgan knew about it. Knowing Hunter, he must have known about her issues.'
His deep thoughts were intercepted by a call. Sterling picked it up and saw the name on his phone. He quickly answered.
"Hey, Lucky!"
[It's been four years since you call me lucky and you know I hate it.]
"I was trying to make you think about the past and annoy you but forget it. How are you, Lucia?"
[I've been keeping tabs with Brenna. It's good to have an assistant like her.]
"Huh, that's great!"
[So, new maid, huh? Brenna told me Hunter hired her.]
"Yeah, she was my high-school crush and middle-school close friend."
[You told Brenna about her and not me? I'm hurt, you know! Is that how you treat your best friend?]
"It was...kinda corny and I know how you would react."
[Fair enough! Look, I called you for something else actually!]
Sterling made himself comfortable sitting up on his bed and watched the pool through the window. The workers were having some time off after the hard work they'd been doing renovating the house. Lucia continued. [Mom and grandma want to see you and your baby mama. I think it's time I can accept the reality and come see you.]
"Wow, Lucia! I'm happy that you've decided it."
[Mom will have her vacation in a couple of weeks. I hope the baby will be there by then.]
"Not just the baby! We will have enough rooms to welcome you all."
[Are you kicking me out of your room? You know how much I like your room.]
"And I know how much you like your privacy. That's why I had the guys build an identical copy of my room."
[You did that even though you didn't know I would come back.]
"Lucia, I care about you. You're my best friend. And I know you can't stay mad at me for over a week."
[I hate you for knowing me better than my therapist.]
"And I don't cost a penny so I'm way better than your therapist."
[I'll tell grandma that you're cool. They're coming back. I'm hanging up.]
"But I want to talk to them."
[They will take hours and I need my phone back. Bye!] Sterling chuckled as he put his phone on the side. He looked outside the window.
"Sterling, why are you staying inside like that? Come on, man! Join us!" The workers called him out to join.
"I'll be there guys! I have something to share with you two!"
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The next morning Sterling knocked on a main door. The door opened as Amber told him to come in. "How are you?"
"Still trying to process it but I'm beginning to accept it." She replied as she went upstairs. Sterling was about to take the stairs but a strange noise caught his attention. He looked to his side where the noise was coming. "Don't mind the noise! My sisters started a fight so my dad is probably scolding them."
"My first impression of your dad didn't give any strict guy vibe."
"Welcome to an Asian family!" They moved on and went to Amber's room. Amber sat on her bed and rested her chin on her hands looking sharply at Sterling. "Speak!"
"Well, it started when I asked Sydney Sweeney to visit Catherine for her birthday. For the record, she and I had prior sexual encounters and she herself has an incestuous relationship." Amber blinked twice as a result of the shocking information poured onto her head. "She started working on us. Catherine's ideal man's characteristics are based on me. So, instead of finding someone like me, she preferred to do me and I took her virginity."
"Wait...so there's no incest practice for generations?"
"If you think we're a cult that has strange practices, no you're wrong. We were just two horny adults who couldn't take their hands off of their siblings."
"So, you and Catherine have been sleeping with each other ever since."
"We didn't even have any time actually. Sex brought us closer but I was dealing with other issues. So, I kind of neglected her which resulted in that thief incident."
"That's not your fault!"
"I should have been there with her. She's my little sister!"
"Wow, I am supposed to be mad at you and you haven't even apologised yet but I can't bring myself to hate you. I don't know what this feeling is."
"It's simple!" Sterling got closer to her and tilted her chin up. "You like the taboo aspect of my relationship with my sister." He kissed her passionately. "And there's more." Amber got up and looked into his eyes. Sterling rubbed his fingers on her jawline. "You want to be part of it!" They both fell on her bed.
"Sterling, I think I'm in love with you!"
"That's great, my darling because your man has enough life for you too!" He kissed Amber's neck as she moaned.
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Meanwhile, downstairs Tsukiko and Natsuko, Amber's sisters exited Caspian's office. Caspian followed them as yelled. "If you two don't act like adults, you two will not get a single penny from my inheritance."
"Dad, I don't want your money! My boyfriend can take care of my expenses." Tsukiko brushed her short hair.
"Except I haven't met this boyfriend of yours. You keep talking about your love adventures but you've never brought a boy home." Tsukiko stayed silent after her father's remark. "I'm really ashamed of your behaviour, young lady!"
Tsukiko whispered to her sister. "Is he for real? He's mad at me for the wrong reasons?"
"I don't give a shit! Let's get this shopping over with so that I can have my phone back!" Natsuko started walking away. Tsukiko followed her cursing her dad who chose shopping as a punishment but in reality, he wanted his girls to get along. He walked up to the door and watched his daughters leave. That's when he noticed the shoes by the door. 'Huh, we have a visitor? I see, Amber must have brought a boy!' Caspian smirked and made his way upstairs.