"Why don’t you believe me? I’m telling the truth. Just look at him."

Carrie pointed at Zac with wide eyes. "How can someone change this much overnight? He must’ve taken some kind of illegal drug."

Martha gently stroked her hair. "Don’t say things like that, Carrie. Your brother isn’t like that. It must be his awakening."

Carrie crossed her arms, lips pushed into a pout, disappointment clouding her face. "No one ever believes me..." she muttered.

Earlier, the doctors had checked Martha and said she could be discharged anytime. They returned home that same night and ate the takeout they had brought along.

After Carrie fell asleep, Martha and Zac sat across from each other at the table. The room was quiet, with both of them glaring at each other.

Zac hesitated with words catching in his throat. He finally looked at her, gathering himself, and spoke. "Mom... the mana poisoning... it wasn’t an accident. Someone did it intentionally."

Martha didn’t react the way he expected; instead, she calmly looked at him for a moment. "I know, Zac."

His eyes widened with surprise. "How could," She raised a hand, stopping him from speaking further. "I’m a variant too, Zac. Before you were born, your father and I used to enter portals."

Zac fell silent.

He already knew they were variants, but whenever he asked about their past, she would brush it off, saying they were nothing special.

He leaned forward slightly. "Do you know who did it?"

Martha looked at him with a heavy expression. "You’ve always been a good child, Zac. You deserved better."

"I don’t understand, Mom..."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then spoke.

"It was Lily."

The name hit him like a blow. His body tensed, hands tightening on the edge of the table.

Martha continued, her voice steady but strained. "She came to see me that day and was kind and gentle. She even brought sweets and said she made them herself."

Her fingers curled slightly in her lap. "I was happy about the fact that she took the effort to do smoothing for me, so I didn’t think twice and ate them."

She looked down, a faint bitterness in her eyes. "I never imagined she had something like that in mind."

Zac’s breathing grew heavier.

"The reason I’m telling you this..." she went on, lifting her gaze to him, "is because I want you to stay away from her. I don’t know why she did it. We don’t have anything worth taking."

A sudden pressure filled the room.

Martha’s eyes shifted to Zac, and she saw a faint aura leaking from him, with his eyes darkened, red creeping in as something restless stirred beneath the surface. His fingers clenched into a fist with his body trembling.

Martha felt the ominous aura around him and started getting worried.

[Calm down, Host. You don’t want to lose control again, do you? What if you hurt your mother?]

The words cut through the haze. Zac inhaled sharply, dragging in a deep breath. He forced his hands to loosen and tried to relax.

The aura also faded with him returning to normal; even though he tried to appear okay, his mind was nothing but that. The thought that his pathetic obsession with love had nearly cost Martha her life was a bitter poison he couldn’t stop swallowing.

Martha stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. "It’s alright, Zac," she said softly, holding him against her. "She doesn’t deserve you."

"Your heart is a treasure she wasn’t worthy of holding, and one day, someone will cherish the light in you that she tried to put out."

Her hand rested gently on his back. "Maybe this is for the best."

***

After their intense conversation, Martha changed the subject and asked Zac about his awakening.

When she heard he had awakened an SS-class potential, her eyes filled with tears. She pulled him into a tight hug with overwhelming pride and joy spilling through her.

"Wait here. I’ll be right back."

She hurried into her room. A few minutes later, she returned with a ring in her hand.

"What is this, Mom?"

She looked at him with slightly trembling fingers. "It’s a space ring, honey. Your father gave it to me before..."

Her voice faltered mid-sentence. "Before he went missing."

She wiped her eyes. "He told me to give it to you once you awakened. Now that you’ve become a variant... it’s yours."

Zac took the ring, but his gaze is still lingering on her.

"Mom... can I ask you something?"

"Anything, honey."

"Whenever I ask about Dad, you always avoid it. Now that I’ve become a variant... can you tell me about him?"

Martha looked up, closing her eyes for a moment. "Let’s sit down and talk." Zac followed her and sat down with her.

"I’m not from the city, son. I was born in a small village, to a poor family."

"I was eleven back then. Every day, I would go by the river, collecting flowers and medicinal plants to bring home."

She paused with her voice becoming softer.

"One day, I found a boy washed up on the riverbank... about my age. I brought him home and took care of him. When he woke up, he didn’t remember anything about his past."

A faint smile touched her lips.

"I didn’t want him to leave. I had no siblings or that many friends, so I asked my parents to let him stay. And of course they refused at first; they were very reluctant to let an unknown person stay with us. Plus, our economic condition was also very bad to feed another mouth.

But I was adamant about it. I cried the whole night till they finally agreed."

Her eyes warmed as she continued.

"That’s how I met your father. He was kind... and strong. He helped my family however he could. Slowly, my parents began to accept him as one of us."

She let out a quiet breath.

"As the days passed, we grew closer. I didn’t even realize when my feelings for him began." For a moment, she drifted into the memory. "When we reached the age for awakening, we came to the city to become variants."

"I awakened an A-class potential... and your father..." She looked at Zac, her voice soft but proud. " He awakened an SS-class potential. Just like you."

Zac was stunned. How could his parents have such high potential?

He had never known, especially about his father. An SS-class potential placed someone at the very top of society. If that was true, how had things turned out like this?

But he didn’t interrupt her and kept quiet and listened.

"We both got into the same university," Martha continued. "Your father was noticed immediately. His looks, talent, and potential made him stand out. On the other hand, I was just average in a world full of extraordinary variants."

"The distance between us kept growing. I was still learning to control my abilities while he was already entering portals and fighting monsters."

She clasped her hands together. "Years passed. After we graduated, I stepped away from him to not hold him back."

"He kept rising higher and higher. I don’t know how far he went, but... I’m sure he became one of the greatest variants."

She hesitated, her fingers tightening slightly.

"A few years later, I met with an accident. I was kidnaped by some really nasty people for some kind of human experiments."

Zac’s grip on the ring tightened. "Your father found out and came for me. He saved me." Her eyes trembled, but she held herself steady.

"After that, he blamed himself... said he hadn’t been there for me. Then he started visiting often. Staying longer each time."

A small smile appeared on his mother’s face. "What we had buried for so long... it finally surfaced. We fell in love and got married."

Her voice grew warm.

"After that, I left the variant life and started living as a normal person. Then you were born. Later, your sister." She looked at Zack, her eyes soft.

"We were happy."

For a moment, silence lingered.

"I never tried to be part of his world. I loved him for who he was... not for what he could do."

Her gaze dropped to the ring in Zack’s hand.

"Then... one day, he gave me that ring. He told me to give it to you after you awakened... and he left for a portal." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Her voice thinned.

"Two days later, the news came that he had disappeared."

She swallowed.

"I waited. Days, then months. But no news about him came. The association also declared him dead. I was broke, slowly falling into despair," she whispered. "But you and your sister..." Her lips trembled faintly. "You gays pulled me back. When I looked at you two, I knew I had to keep going."

She took a slow breath.

"I couldn’t stay in the central city anymore. Everything there reminded me of him. So I sold everything... his belongings, our home... all of it to the association."

She looked around and said, "And I came here to this small city to start over."

She looked up at Zac, her eyes glistening. "You don’t resent me for that... do you?" Zac took her hand gently. "What are you even asking, Mom? How could I ever resent you?"

His grip tightened slightly. "You’re an A-class variant. That alone puts you above most people. But instead of chasing power or fame, you chose us."

He shook his head.

"If I ever resented you... I’d be the most ungrateful son in history. So don’t say things like that."

Martha’s lips curved into a soft, relieved smile. "Thank you, honey."

She glanced at the clock, her eyes widening. "Oh God, it’s so late. I didn’t even notice. Go on, get some sleep."

Zac let out a small breath. "Look who’s talking. You’ve been in the hospital for four days. You should be the one resting."

She raised an eyebrow, a playful glint returning to her eyes. "Since when did my little Zakie grow into a man?"

"Don’t tease me, Mom. Go to sleep."

"Alright, alright." She chuckled softly and headed to her room.

When the door closed, Zac’s expression changed. The warmth drained from his face, replaced by intense anger.

"That bitch..." he muttered under his breath, his fingers curling into a fist. "You’ll pay for what you’ve done."