The piercing chime of his morning alarm cut through the quiet room, Alexander snapped his eyes open, staring at the sterile ceiling of his TMC quarters, he hadn’t slept more than three hours, his mind had been spinning in circles, jumping from Marcus’s sister to the upcoming Sinclair trial and the mess waiting for him back home

"I can’t run away from this forever" muttered Alexander, sitting up on the edge of the bed and rubbing his face

He reached for his phone on the nightstand, ignoring a barrage of unread notifications, he scrolled down his contacts until he found his aunt’s number, he tapped the icon and placed the device against his ear, it didn’t even complete a full ring before the line connected with a click 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Hello?" asked Helen, her voice tense and out of breath

"Hello, Aunt, it’s Alex" said Alexander, his tone calm and measured

A sudden gasp echoed from the speaker, followed by chaos on the other end "Alex?! Oh my god, Alex, is that really you?!" shouted Helen

Before she could say another word, a frantic rustling sound cut her off as the phone was ripped out of her hand

"Is it Alex?! Seriously, is it Alex? Did Alex call you?!" a rapid-fire machine gun of words exploded through the speaker, the voice high-pitched and panicked, it was Amy "Alex! Where are you?! Why haven’t you answered your phone?! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did someone rob you? Where have you been all these days?! Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been? Why did you leave like that? Tell me where you are right now!"

Alexander pulled the phone a few inches away from his ear, his brow furrowing at the volume "Amy, shut up for a second and put your mother back on the phone" commanded Alexander, his voice sharp and unyielding

There was a brief, muffled argument in the background before Helen’s voice returned, sounding thoroughly shaken "Alex... please, don’t mind her, we’ve just been looking for you everywhere, nobody knew where you went"

"I know" said Alexander, leaning back against the headboard "I’m calling because I’m on my way over to talk, are you still at the house?"

"No, we aren’t at our place" explained Helen, her voice dropping to a lower, anxious register "With everything that happened with your uncle... we are currently staying over at your grandmother Rachel’s house"

Alexander paused for a moment, remembering the strict, imposing figure of the family matriarch "Yeah, I know where that is" stated Alexander "I remember how to get there, don’t go anywhere, I’ll be there in less than an hour"

"Okay, we will be waiting for you, Alex, please drive safely" pleaded Helen

Alexander hung up the phone without another word, throwing the sheets aside, it was time to face the hornets’ nest

Alexander stepped out of the rapid shower, his skin tingling with the cold water but his mind focused, he threw on a clean set of dark clothes, he wasn’t about to drop his guard outside the institute’s walls, so he grabbed his standard-issue TMC firearm, checked the magazine, and slid it into the glove compartment of his car before turning the key in the ignition and accelerating out of the compound

His grandmother Rachel lived up in the Rios district, an upscale neighborhood built along a steep, prominent hill overlooking the valley, as the engine roared up the winding roads, Alexander let his mind drift over his memories of the old matriarch, ironically, he had good memories of her, Rachel had deeply loved his mother and adored his father, she had been the definition of a doting, supportive mother-in-law to his branch of the family

In fact, that favoritism was a part of the reason his uncle hated Alexander’s guts, Rachel had always treated the uncle like an uninvited, drenched, filthy street dog, she couldn’t stand the sight of him, and she was never, under any circumstances, subtle about it, she made her disdain clear right to his face, cutting him down at every family gathering with scathing, sarcastic remarks

"Even though I practically handed the family company over to you on a silver platter, all you know how to do is lose my money?" Rachel would say, her eyes narrowing as she sipped her tea "Do you actually serve any useful purpose at all? Why can’t you be more like Lucian?"

Lucian was Alexander’s father—the child who could do no wrong in Rachel’s eyes, to make matters worse for his uncle, Rachel’s adoration wasn’t just favoritism; it was rooted in the fact that Lucian was the reflection of Rachel’s late husband, the family patriarch

Rachel had utterly despised the uncle from the moment he proved to be incompetent, every family dinner or corporate meeting was a stage for her to display her scorn

"Look at how you carry yourself" Rachel would snap across the dining table, her silverware clinking sharply against her porcelain plate "Lucian has his father’s sharp mind and impeccable posture, while you look like a tired clerk begging for a handout, you inherited none of your father’s drive"

If the uncle attempted to voice an opinion on a new business venture, Rachel would cut him off before he could even finish a sentence

"Quiet" Rachel would state, waving a dismissive hand as if shooing a fly "Every time you speak, the company’s stock drops, Lucian already drafted a far superior proposal last week, if it were up to you, we would be living in the slums by now, why can’t you just stay out of the way and let someone with actual talent handle the family name?"

She never held back, ensuring that everyone in the room—including the servants—witnessed his humiliation, this relentless, venomous comparison had festered inside the uncle for decades, building a toxic, explosive hatred for Alexander’s father and, eventually, for Alexander himself

Alexander chuckled softly as he recalled the memories, leaning against the steering wheel for a split second before stepping out of the car, he slammed the vehicle door shut and adjusted his jacket, his boots clicking firmly against the stone steps of the estate, the old matriarch had been his shield in the past, but now, with TMC training running through his veins, Alexander wasn’t looking for a protector—he was looking to take control of the board