The year was ending.

    Paige wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek a few times.

    "What''s all this about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. "What dumb thing did you do this time? Or what do you want?"

    "Nothing, you dumbo," she said, hugging me even tighter. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thesest three months... they''ve been the best of my life."

    I was about to say something when she added, her voice softer, "I was thinking... if you hadn''t helped me, I might have—"

    "Shhh," I whispered, pulling her close. There it was—one of those rare, fragile moments 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 something bad, because He sent me 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 moments, 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—formerly The Paraffin—a majestic 60.1-meter superyacht built by Feadship and purchased for $35 million.

    Crafted for luxury and social asions, the yacht could host up to thirty guests. There were twelvevish cabins, including master suites. It boasted three expansive decks, a jacuzzi under the stars, a beach club with direct ess 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, n, Judith, Evelyn, Pepper, Paige, and me.

    "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 name.

    "Well, this Harper''s already worth more than n," Charlie added with a smirk.

    "Huh, that''s for sure," Gramma agreed, like it was an undeniable fact.

    "Can we not?" n 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 me amazed with all of this. What''s next, Jake? A private jet?"

    "No," I said tly, which made her look at me skeptically.

    "I already have one. I don''t see a reason to buy another," I exined.

    "Of course you do!" she scoffed, then burst outughing.

    "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 confirmed.

    "And that applies to this yacht too?" Uncle Charlie jumped into the conversation.

    I nodded and added, ncing 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," n said indignantly. "My life is amazing now, I don''t want to get killed."

    Pepper leaned on the rail with a ss of champagne in hand, raising an eyebrow. "Not a chance. Jake is toozy to be someone like Batman. At most, he''d hire someone 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 me. "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 me suffer with him."

    I chuckled and said to Pepper, "Don''t look at me like that, Pepper. Don''t think I don''t know you did the same with me. You introduced her just to make me 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 regime of that demon."

    Pepper took a slow sip from her ss, 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 ced 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 ast name, I could adopt you."

    Pepper just gave a polite smile.

    Uncle Charlie leaned over to n and said, "Look, it''s not even 2002 yet and Mom is already working on ripping some souls."

    "I would be d to have a sister." n offered warmly to Pepper.

    Gramma scoffed lightly, "n, I''m trying to get her into the family. You calling her your sister isn''t helping the cause at all."

    n red at Gramma

    "Pepper Harper, Pepper Potts Harper... doesn''t sound so good. Hmm... Virginia Harper, sounds better," I said aloud, thinking to myself.

    Then Iughed 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.

    ------

    Support Link: https://[emailprotected]/c/MHJunior [Up to 35+ advance chapters]

    Please give a Review and Powerstone if you like the novel

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!