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"My father and my little brother always had a strange relationship. It might be quite strange and ironic, considering they almost have the same personality. But there goes the saying, if you meet someone like you, you\'d probably hate them."

Asher flashed Remo a kind smile but didn\'t dwell on him. Instead, his eyes slowly veered to Maxen briefly before they settled on Cosette.

"I\'m glad you came," he expressed sincerely, heaving a sigh of relief. "You don\'t know how much this means to me."

As soon as those words rolled out of Asher\'s tongue, Remo instinctively moved his attention to Maxen. The latter didn\'t react, but he kept his eyes on Asher.

"You\'re welcome." Cosette shrugged.

Asher lifted his gaze to the hairband that she was wearing, chuckling upon seeing his unsmiling face glued on the tip of the antennas.

"I want to ask what were you thinking, but I\'d rather not," he mused. "Surprisingly, I sort of like it."

Cosette touched the tip of her antennas before clearing her throat. "Well… that\'s surprising, but not in a bad way. Congratulation on completing high school, Asher." She smiled subtly but sincerely.

"Thank you." Asher nodded. "You should join us. My dad booked a restaurant for lunch."

"It\'s fine, thank you. But we only stayed until now to congratulate you personally. We\'ll probably pass on that."

"Is that so?"

Cosette pressed her lips into a thin line, stopping herself from giving in. She already attended the graduation and gave him moral support; she did her best. It would be too unfair for Luke and Maxen for her to agree without their consent.

"I\'m sorry," came out a meek voice, feeling guilty for turning him down.

"Don\'t be." Asher smiled kindly as if there were just the two of them. "I\'m already glad you made it. If anything, I should thank you for coming."

"You too, Maxen," he continued, facing Maxen and surprising not just Maxen but also Cosette. "I know we didn\'t have a close relationship — perhaps, even started on the wrong foot. However, I want to thank you for coming and allowing Cosette to accept my invitation."

"It\'s Cosette\'s decision to make, not mine," Maxen corrected with a gentle tone.

Asher didn\'t say anything and simply nodded. He then cast Remo a look.

"This is probably the first time we met, but nice to meet you. Seeing you with them, I assume you are also one of my little brother\'s friends. My little brother might be playful — sometimes, too playful — but he is a good boy. Please take care of him."

"Oh…" the rest of Remo\'s sentence rolled back to his throat, rendered speechless at Asher\'s kind remarks and mature mien. Asher was different from Luke and Maynard, and it slightly surprised Remo for sure.

Not just Remo, but Cosette as well. She just stared at Asher with blank eyes; she couldn\'t almost recognize this person talking! This wasn\'t the Asher she knew!

\'Is this the effect of graduating high school?\' she wondered, recalling how arrogant Asher used to be just because he had everything one could wish for. But now Asher was just mature and understanding; he wasn\'t looking at Remo or Maxen with that usual dismay in his eyes. If anything, he looked like an angel; he was always handsome, but his personality dragged it down.

"Anyway…" Asher trailed off when he heard Maynard\'s voice from a distance.

"Cozie, come and have lunch with us!"

Asher raised his eyes over Cosette while Cosette, Remo, and Maxen slowly looked back. As soon as they did, their face contorted upon seeing Maynard having Luke in a headlock. The latter was screaming for help as if he was about to get abducted, but to no avail.

"I already told your dad that I\'m borrowing the kids to steal the award for being the father of the year! Haha!" Maynard laughed almost evilly. "If you don\'t want to, that\'s fine as well. However, I\'ll have to drag this little devil with us… and he can only return with a ransom!"

"..."

Asher, Luke, Maxen, Remo, and Cosette were rendered speechless. They could only stare at Maynard, laughing so loud that his waves of evil laughter almost echoed.

And that was how Maxen, Remo, Cosette, and Luke found themselves at the same table with Asher and Maynard.

"Haha! What\'s with that look of horror? Conrad might think I really kidnapped you guys!" Maynard clapped. His eyes looked like mere slits. Everyone could almost see the bright twinkle surrounding his figure.

Meanwhile, Luke, Cosette, Maxen, and Remo had blank expressions. Everything happened so fast that they needed time to recall what had just happened. After Maynard told them that he would steal the \'unofficial\' title of being the father of the year from Conrad, a few men in suits approached them. They didn\'t have time to process everything, only remembering the men escorting them to the car, and sped away.

They didn\'t even remember blinking throughout the ride or how they walked inside the restaurant before they all sat down. It was as though everything played in fast forward.

Asher sighed when he recovered, glancing at the kids across from him.

"I\'m sorry if it came to this." His soothing voice snapped the four back from their trance, watching them look back at him as if they were rusting robots. "But since we\'re here, I hope you get to enjoy the food at least."

Luke shook his head in disbelief before facing his father. The moment his eyes landed on Maynard, Luke\'s face turned red in anger.

"Father, how can you do this to us?!" he harrumphed, slamming his hand on the table while he got up. "If this isn\'t stealing someone\'s freedom, I don\'t know what this was —"

Just as Luke was ready to go on and on, berating his father for taking all of them by force, the food arrived. As soon as the first servant arrived, the appetizing scent wafted through Luke\'s nostrils. He gazed at the servants coming in, watching them serve different dishes to fill the wide, round table.

All the anger that swelled in Luke\'s chest instantly faded, drooling over the fancy dishes he hadn\'t eaten for months. Seeing this, Maynard chuckled before clapping again.

"They said eat while the food is hot!" he intoned giddily. "Dig in!"

Maxen, Cosette, and Remo looked at each other before they looked back at Maynard once again. A shallow and helpless breath escaped their nostrils, accepting the situation they were now in, and tried their best to enjoy the food.

The food didn\'t disappoint because, in no time, everyone was enjoying their meal while Maynard smiled affectionately at them. His eyes softened as soon as he gazed at Luke, pleased to see his youngest eat to his heart\'s content. Little did he know, Asher was observing him from the corner of his eyes.