Chapter 71 - Anthony

Ding Dong!  

"Ah, Mom, I'll get that door!"

Sheila stood straight up from the sofa on the living room before notifying her mother and head toward the front door of the house. After exiting the Trial Tower, Sheila had been waiting for Ria arrival anxiously while watching TV in the living room. She was worried that her father would arrive home first before Ria, that was why her hands were shaking while holding onto the doorknob. What if beyond this door was her father and not the one she was waiting for? 

Sheila took a deep breath to regain her sense and calm down her nerve. After about dozens of praying to God, Sheila turned the doorknob and was relieved to see Ria and her mother in front of her view. 

"Oh, Good to see you, Auntie!"

"Mhm, good to see you too, Sheila. Anyway, thank you for inviting us for dinner when your father is returning home after a year in oversea."

"No no, it's okay. Auntie is like my second family, after all!"

"Oh my, it's rare to hear a compliment from you. You must have been nervous about your father, isn't it?"

"N-No way, that's true. I was just—"

"Uhm, Sheila, are you going to make us wait here outside?"

"Ah, right! Come on in!"

At Ria reminder, Sheila gesture the two to enter the house before proceeding to walk ahead with the two following right behind her. When she brings the two to the living room, Sara, who has just come out of the kitchen, was surprised to see the two guests seating on the sofa of the living room. 

"Oh? I didn't know you would visit us right at this time, Celia."

"Me neither. But your daughter here, Sheila invited us here. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I don't mind; in fact, I was about to invite you myself. That man finally comes back home after a year abroad."

"That is what I heard from Ria when she told me your daughter invited us for dinner."

"Oh, I see. Then please sit and get comfortable. I'll get on to cooking."

"How about I help you? Our daughter can chat with each other in the meantime."

"Hmm, okay."

The two then head toward the kitchen while they chat about their past regarding her father. Sheila let out a sigh when she looked at the departed figure of her mother. She was not this nervous before, but after getting the news of her father, she started to feel nervous every time she's around Sara. She was worried that her mother would notice anything different from her. 

Now that she thought about it, Sara is also as great as her father. The fact that she could manage the big company in father's place means she has the ability to do so— Such a great person is definitely someone who is very sharp. It wouldn't be weird if Sara noticed how strange it is for Sheila's grades to suddenly go way better than the previous record.

But Sara never asks or mention anything regarding her grades. Sheila wonders if her mother still doesn't know about the improvement in her studies. Unknown to Sheila, Sara had already known about it since the teacher had called her once to notified that her daughter grades have improved in a happy tone. 

"Let's play a game instead of watching the lousy drama."

"Sigh, you and your hate in dramas."

"No. I never hated drama; I just find it lousy and lame; that's all."

"And that's what you said to every drama that you have watched. Not a single one was spared from your vicious tongue."

"I can't help it that the drama these days sucks. Same plot all over again, aren't they tired of it?"

"I can agree with that. But what do you expect? Supposedly, the plot was liked by many teenagers of this generation."

"Hmph, the Normie should all just die out for all I care. I could never understand their taste and never will. Enough of that, let's play this FPS game. I heard it received good reviews from countless gamers!"

Ria could only smile helplessly while shaking her head when she looked at the girl to her side. When it comes to games, her brain went on sleep mode and only used one or two brain cells to focus on the topics regarding the game. A total game freak. 

Few minutes passed as Sheila and Ria spend their time playing games in the living room before Sara walks in and gesture them to stop playing and was told to sit in the kitchen. She also said that her father is already near the district and would arrive home in any minutes now. 

"Do you think my dad will saw through me?"

"Absolutely."

"What—then what if he found out about my secret?!"

"Shh, keep it low, and I'm not done talking yet. Even if your dad saw through you, so long as you didn't mention anything about your secret, everything is alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just keep your mouth shut. I'll do my best to answer it in your part if there's a tricky question."

"Okay!"

"What are you two whispering about? Go wash your hand; your father is already at the front door."

Told Celia when she saw her daughter and Sheila whispering to each other. The two of them immediately get up from their seat and walk toward the sink to wash their hands clean before heading back to the dining table while they wait in their seat nervously, a good looking man that seems to be at the age of thirty walks by the side of Sara. Although his face seems stern, there appears to be a warm aura surrounding the man. He was wearing a clean suit in black, befitting someone who works in a big company. 

He was none other than Sheila's father, Anthony. 

The moment Sheila caught a glimpse of her father's figure, she could feel a powerful aura emitting from her father. To Celia, Sheila appears to be stunned after not seeing her father for a year-long, but Sheila was actually surprised for a different reason. She didn't know how, but she could tell it from her sixth sense that her father is truly emitting a powerful aura around him. 

But how could is it possible? To add to her confusion, her father is an ordinary person— That is as far as she knows when living together up until now before she got the leveling system. But upon sensing such aura, she was left confused and start to question whether her father is normal or simply keep a secret that she as his daughter didn't know about. 

While she was pondering deep in thoughts, Anthony has already seat on the chair before moving his gaze toward her. He was silently staring at her for a few seconds before opening his mouth and call her out of the deep thought. 

"Sheila."

"Y-Yes, dad?"

"Mhm. Don't you miss me? How did the exam goes?"

As expected, her father started to question about the exams she went through this week. Thankfully, she didn't have any trouble with it since having Photographic Memory in her arsenal; she could memorise all the key point in the past exams easily like eating cake. 

"O-Of course I am! I also have no problem with my grade."

"Really? I heard from Sara that you have been spending a lot of your time still on gaming."

"This and that are two different things. I do spend some of my time to prepare for the exam too."

"Mhm. That's good to know."

"That should be enough of small chitchat, right? Let's eat then."

Sara interrupted before Anthony could ask more questions. Sheila secretly breathe out a sigh while making fist pump in her mind, if it continues, Sheila feels like she might spill something she shouldn't. Thank you, my honoured mother! 

While Sheila was happily eating the dish in front of her, she didn't notice that her father was staring at her and at the same time seems to be deep in thought. 

***

Anthony POV

I have started feeling weird ever since a year ago. It was as if my body was filled with some sort of unknown power that I have never known about. I have gone abroad for this one reason yet none of my friends there know anything about this. But they did notice something weird, some kind of unknown magnetic field has started to appears all over the world. It only appears for short awhile before disappearing entirely as if it was not there in the first place. 

This is also the reason why I came back home. A friend of mine working for the government found out that the unknown magnetic field had appeared once in the district my family lives, and he immediately notified me afterwards. I soon rush back home, but on my way, that friend told me it disappeared shortly after I got in the airplane. 

Since I have taken a week off from work, I decide to visit my family and spend my time there for a short while until I resume my work. It's also had been a year since I have met my daughter. I wonder how she's doing now. 

When I arrived home, I was shocked to discover that my daughter is somehow emitting some kind of aura surrounding her. The aura appears to be harmful, but when he has the urge to ask his daughter about it, it suddenly started to turn into something frightening. It was like eyes from the deep abyss were staring straight at him, and every secret he has was exposed for all to see. But it went back to normal when he looked away with his forehead filled with sweats. 

Something had happened to his daughter! But looking at the girl who was happily eating the dish, he didn't think that his daughter was taken away by something and replaced by it. Instead, he thought that perhaps, his daughter also experienced the same thing he did. He had wanted to have a talk with Sheila but decides against it.