The year was ending.
Paige wrapped her arms around and kissed my cheek a few tis.
"What's all this about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. "What dumb thing did you do this ti? Or what do you want?"
"Nothing, you dumbo," she said, hugging even tighter. "I just wanted to say thank you. These last three months... they've been the best of my life."
I was about to say sothing when she added, her voice softer, "I was thinking... if you hadn't helped , I might have—"
"Shhh," I whispered, pulling her close. There it was—one of those rare, fragile monts I hadn't seen in her since the day I found her again.
"Stop overthinking. I'm here."
She nodded quietly, her head resting on my chest.
"I'm not exactly a religious person," she said after a pause, "but if there's a God, I'd thank Him for sending you."
"Aye, then I must've done sothing bad, because He sent a total nuisance," I teased.
She pinched my side.
"I'm joking," I said with a grin. "I really like having you around, lil' sister." I rested my chin gently on her head.
After a few silent monts, I murmured, "Let's get ready. We've got a New Year's celebration to go to."
---
Later that night, the family gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve in style. We'd kept the event private, just us, aboard my newest acquisition: The Harper—forrly The Paraffin—a majestic 60.1-ter superyacht built by Feadship and purchased for $35 million.
Crafted for luxury and social occasions, the yacht could host up to thirty guests. There were twelve lavish cabins, including master suites. It boasted three expansive decks, a jacuzzi under the stars, a beach club with direct access to the sea, an open-air bar, a fully equipped gym, a cinema, and all the water toys anyone could ask for.
Besides the crew and attendants, the guests aboard were Charlie, Alan, Judith, Evelyn, Pepper, Paige, and .
"Now you have a yacht?" Uncle Charlie asked, beaming as he admired the vessel.
"Finally, another Harper," Gramma said with pride, referring to the yacht's new na.
"Well, this Harper's already worth more than Alan," Charlie added with a smirk.
"Huh, that's for sure," Gramma agreed, like it was an undeniable fact.
"Can we not?" Alan muttered, offended. But not too much—he might protest out loud, but deep down, he would sell himself out for a yacht like this.
Paige looked around, clearly impressed. "Still gets amazed with all of this. What's next, Jake? A private jet?"
"No," I said flatly, which made her look at skeptically.
"I already have one. I don't see a reason to buy another," I explained.
"Of course you do!" she scoffed, then burst out laughing.
"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about it. You can use it whenever you need—just like the rest of the family."
"Really?" she said, surprised
"Yes, it was bought to be used," I confird.
"And that applies to this yacht too?" Uncle Charlie jumped into the conversation.
I nodded and added, glancing at everyone, "I don't want to know what you do—just make sure you do it in your cabins."
Paige said jokingly, "Yacht, jet, mysterious fortune and identity. So basically... this is the part where you slowly turn into Bruce Wayne, right?"
"Hey, don't jinx it," Alan said indignantly. "My life is amazing now, I don't want to get killed."
Pepper leaned on the rail with a glass of champagne in hand, raising an eyebrow. "Not a chance. Jake is too lazy to be soone like Batman. At most, he'd hire soone to do it for him," she said with a smirk.
"Hey, that's just rude, Pepper!" I whined
"And I'm already getting the Batman physique," I replied smugly. All my hard work is paying off. "That demon sure is effective," I murmured.
Paige flinched a bit when she heard my murmur.
Seeing Paige's reaction, Pepper narrowed her eyes at . "You make Paige train with you too, don't you?"
"Yes. It's important for her health, and it indirectly helps boost her intelligence too," I nodded, showing how much I care for Paige.
Paige rolled her eyes. "His true intention is just to make suffer with him."
I chuckled and said to Pepper, "Don't look at like that, Pepper. Don't think I don't know you did the sa with . You introduced her just to make suffer too."
Pepper gave a small smirk but quickly returned to her stoic face.
"Ha, I saw that. You can't deny it, Pepper. Even you can't maintain your cool persona under the regi of that demon."
Pepper took a slow sip from her glass, her expression straight. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Before I could retort, Mom called everyone for dinner.
Everyone started eating.
Evelyn placed a hand on Pepper's arm and said jokingly—though maybe with a hint of desire—"Pepper dear, if you ever feel like having 'Harper' as a last na, I could adopt you."
Pepper just gave a polite smile.
Uncle Charlie leaned over to Alan and said, "Look, it's not even 2002 yet and Mom is already working on ripping so souls."
"I would be glad to have a sister." Alan offered warmly to Pepper.
Gramma scoffed lightly, "Alan, I'm trying to get her into the family. You calling her your sister isn't helping the cause at all."
Alan glared at Gramma
"Pepper Harper, Pepper Potts Harper... doesn't sound so good. Hmm... Virginia Harper, sounds better," I said aloud, thinking to myself.
Then I laughed and looked at Pepper. "I could call you Aunt Pepper, that makes way more sense than big sister."
An olive flew directly into my forehead.
------
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