Carrying the bag that contained all the equipment he had taken, Jonathan made his way toward Chad's house.

While walking, his mind wasn't focused on Tyrone's problem, but rather on how he was going to explain himself to Rachel, Elizabeth, and Marianne.

If anything, Maya's words removed his doubt about the fact that Rachel was involved in the project somehow. But the doubt about why they let her be his caretaker still remained.

Maybe it was something simple, without any hidden motive — like, for example, them constantly keeping an eye on him and, therefore, there being no real need to worry about it.

Or maybe there really was some hidden motive. In the end, he had no way to know. But one thing was certain: he would remain cautious toward them, although maybe that was a bit too late now, with the literal chip that read his brainwaves and interpreted his thoughts already implanted in him.

Who knows, maybe there was a hidden function that constantly read his thoughts so they could guard against any betrayal.

'Yeah, I guess it's a bit too late to be thinking like that.' With a bitter smile, Jonathan knew it was already too late. It's not like he could do much anyway.

Refusing to put the chip in would only bring unwanted reactions, considering all the others accepted it without much resistance.

There was also the possibility that some of them might have a way to ensure those chips weren't compromised. Maybe Xiao Xun'er or William had access to that kind of technology.

Their reactions might show otherwise, but everything could be an act too.

The most Jonathan could do now was stay alert, not blindly believe everything they said, and keep his doubts, drawing his own conclusions based on his own thoughts.

'It is what it is.'

Soon, he found himself in front of a house that looked very similar to his own. A lawn stretched out in front, with a small path of stone slabs leading to the door, ending at a white door.

Once he reached the front, he knocked, waiting. In the silence on the other side, he heard faint footsteps approaching until the door finally opened. In front of him, a middle-aged man appeared.

"Jonathan! How are you, dear?" The man exclaimed in an obviously dramatic way, quickly pulling him into a hug.

"Hello, Mr. Norris. I'm glad to see you too." Returning the hug with a smile, Jonathan greeted him calmly.

With the clear resemblance, that man was obviously Chad's father.

Sporting platinum blond hair just like Chad's, only longer, falling to the nape of his neck; long eyelashes; light blue eyes; thin-rimmed glasses; a completely clean-shaven face; and being a little shorter than his own son — stood Chad's father: Chuck Norris.

"My goodness, it's been a while since I last saw you, hasn't it? You look taller! Are you eating well?" Pulling back from the hug, the man began bombarding him with questions, one after another.

Keeping the smile, Jonathan answered simply. "I'm fine, sir. Don't worry. I'm eating and exercising well, as always."

The man nodded, satisfied.

"Great, great. Keep it up, dear." He sighed, putting a hand on his cheek. "I really wish Chad were more like you in that regard. God knows how much that boy loves to procrastinate."

Laughing lightly, Jonathan replied. "He just does things at his own pace. You don't have to worry."

Putting a hand on his hip, the man spoke with a scolding look. "Don't try to defend him, little boy. I know very well what you're doing. Anyway, come in. Those two are upstairs doing I don't know what."

He then stepped aside, opening space.

Entering, Jonathan looked around as he asked, "And Mrs. Alice? She's not home yet?"

"Oh, no, no. She's still at work." Passing by him, the man headed into another room. "Anyway, make yourself at home, my son."

He waved lightly before turning the corner and disappearing.

Without reacting, Jonathan simply went up the stairs, climbing with silent steps until reaching Chad's room.

Once he reached the door, however, instead of opening it normally, like a civilized person would, he slowly lowered the handle and shoved it with a quick kick, making it swing open loudly as it hit.

"Hey, you two degenerates—"

He raised his arm cheerfully, but his voice died halfway and completely vanished.

Inside, sitting on the bed, Tyrone was bawling his eyes out against Chad's chest while holding a tissue to wipe his tears. Chad hugged him softly in a comforting gesture. Jonathan froze in the doorway.

The two stared at him in silence, until the silence was broken when Tyrone let out another sob and went back to wiping his tears.

Chad just gave him an awkward smile while continuing to pat Tyrone on the back.

With that sight, Jonathan knew there would be drama — and a lot of crying — for the next few hours.

'Looks like whatever happened wasn't a small thing.' Sighing, he closed the door behind him.

…

"Damn, huh…" Jonathan muttered weakly, sitting completely reclined in Chad's chair, eyes on the ceiling while his hands rested crossed over his stomach. His muttering was due to his friend's state.

As was already obvious, what happened wasn't simple. Actually, it was awful.

In short, Megan cheated on Tyrone. He definitely didn't expect to hear that.

"Damn… but she seemed so nice. How does someone do something that crappy?" he spoke to himself, remembering the friendly girl.

"Right. Just goes to show how appearances deceive." Chad said, sitting on the bed, resting his chin on his hand, leaning forward. "A person can show up all smiles and sweetness, but it's with that same smile that they stab you later. It's hard to know someone's true character until you spend enough time with them, but in many cases not even time makes you figure it out."

Sniffling weakly, sitting on the floor leaning against the bed, hugging a pillow with his legs pulled in, Tyrone sighed.

"I didn't expect that from her, you know? I thought she'd be my knight in shining armor… that we'd live some classic romance story."

Looking at him again, Chad spoke. "No one expects to be betrayed, Tyrone. The foundation of a relationship is trust. But you were really in love with her, weren't you? I've never seen you react like this over a girl before. Which really impresses me, because you used to be pretty detached."

Laughing bitterly, Tyrone wiped his nose. "Yeah, that's true. Maybe this is karma for all the girls I broke the hearts of and manipulated. Karma's a bitch… that's probably it."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're right."

Chad immediately stared at him in reproach.

"What? He said it, not me."

Chad just narrowed his eyes even more, making Jonathan mime zipping his lips shut, although with the smile on his face it was obvious he wouldn't stay silent for long.

Tyrone laughed lightly, seeming more relaxed.

Seeing that, Jonathan and Chad loosened up, and Chad asked,

"So what do you plan to do now? Did you two talk?"

Tyrone sniffed again.

"What do you mean, what am I going to do? I'm going to move on with my life… that's all that's left. As for talking to her…" a sneer appeared on his face. "I wouldn't call that a conversation. I confronted her directly, trying to find some valid excuse that would let me forgive her. Ridiculous, I know. But do you know what she said?"

He looked at them with an expression of anger and absurdity.

"She said she couldn't resist. Said the other guy kept hitting on her insistently, tempting her, and that she simply couldn't resist. She cheated on me just because she couldn't control her pussy… can you believe that?"

While Chad stared at him, looking incredulous, Jonathan scoffed, shaking his head. 'Ah yes, a typically male behavior: inability to control your own desire and think with the lower head instead of the upper head. Or in this case, would it be the lips?' The last thought made him put a hand on his chin with a contemplative look.

"I can't believe that…" Chad murmured, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either when I heard it. After she said that, I just left, since with all the anger I felt, I was one step away from ripping her face off."

Chad nodded in approval. "You did well leaving. Starting a fight wouldn't solve anything."

Tyrone sighed, nodding.

"No, no, no, no, no. This cannot end like this." Jonathan said, suddenly standing up from the chair.

"What? What are you talking about?" Chad asked, raising a brow.

Jonathan just looked at him like it was obvious.

"What do you mean 'what am I talking about'? Obviously we're going to get revenge." He put his hands on his hips, looking overly indignant. Tyrone just stared, speechless. "What? Why those looks? This is clearly the logical thing to do. We can't let things end like this."

Then he pointed at Tyrone:

"I mean, just look at him. Poor guy. His face is all swollen, he looks like someone threw a brick at him. It's so ugly it's pitiful."

"Hey!" Tyrone exclaimed, irritated.

Chad just put his fist in front of his mouth, trying to hold back laughter.

"Anyway, we need revenge. So, what do you want us to do? Throw wet toilet paper at her window for the next few months? Or do you prefer we paint her car turquoise? Or better yet…" Jonathan smiled big, cracked his knuckles. "Do you want me to punch her? I assure you I'll use all my strength."

He even started doing some shadowboxing moves as an example of how he'd do it.

Tyrone rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"I appreciate the creative ideas, but no need. We're not doing any of that." He stood up, stretching, tossing the pillow back on the bed. He already seemed a bit better.

Exchanging a look with Chad, Jonathan asked, "In that case, answer me this, you're not going to go back to your militant machinist ways, are you?"

"No, don't worry. This didn't make me hate all women, like they're all the same or something." Tyrone answered with a smile.

Jonathan nodded, crossing his arms. "Good, good. That's how it should be."

But Tyrone wasn't finished. "Actually, this just confirmed something I already knew about women. So I'm not surprised. It's in their nature to be traitors. The difference is that some can control themselves."

Jonathan's smile died instantly.

He slapped his own face with his hand. "For God's sake. Don't tell me you're going back to that idiotic talk again."

"Relax, I already said you don't have to worry." Tyrone patted his shoulder with a smile and walked toward the door. "Come on, let's go downstairs. All that crying made me hungry."

"Wait. You're serious, right? Because that smile of yours doesn't inspire much confidence." Jonathan followed behind.

With a weak smile, Chad followed the two and closed the door.

"Hahaha~ sure, you can trust me~"

"That tone and that laugh inspire zero confidence too."

…

Reaching the front door of his house, Jonathan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

It was already night. After eating a bucket of ice cream with Tyrone and Chad, talking about whatever, he was finally back.

Now standing there, he was thinking about the best way to approach the subject. But no matter what he thought, being direct seemed to be the best way.

Lowering his hand, he decided not to stall anymore.

He opened the door and entered quietly, going to look for Rachel. He found her there.

The woman seemed to sense his presence and turned on the couch, looking at him. "So? How did it go with Tyrone? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. We sorted things out." Jonathan replied, approaching and standing in front of her. He looked around for a moment and then said, "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Without waiting for an answer, he dropped the bag on the floor and went upstairs.

Rachel watched his back disappear up the stairs with a curious look, then glanced at the bag.

Jonathan walked straight into Elizabeth's room — without knocking. She was lying on the bed on her phone.

"Hey. I want to talk about something serious with you. Let's go downstairs."

She just stared at him, confused, but Jonathan was already leaving.

He went to Marianne's room next. Entered just as abruptly: no knocking. She was sitting at the computer, watching a video and eating something.

With his sudden entrance, she turned to look, but Jonathan already spoke.

"I want to talk about a serious matter with you. Let's go downstairs."

With the spoon still in her mouth, Marianne blinked, totally stunned.

Then, frowning, she slowly removed the spoon, set it in the bowl on her desk, and stood up, walking past Jonathan while giving him a silent look. She found Elizabeth outside the room, equally confused.

Jonathan walked past them.

"Let's go."

The two of them went downstairs behind him.

Once in the living room, Rachel lifted her eyes to them, then to Jonathan, waiting.

He gestured toward the couch.

"Sit."

With the two of them sitting, the three women stared at him in silence, waiting for an explanation.

Jonathan stood in front of them, brought his hands together, pressing his index fingers right below his nose.

Exhaling after a moment, he then placed his hands on his hips, looking at each of them before finally saying, "Alright… I don't know how to say this in a less weird way, so I'll be direct. The truth is that I'm not from this world."

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