Chapter 399: Two Kinds Of Leaders

“Damn it, Lyra! This is the ‘World of Curses,’ not the world you once knew. Here, power is the law. And Lilith is stronger than you so suck it up,” I cussed, fearing that if I didn’t fix Lyra before leaving, there won’t be a family for me to return to.

Just when I wanted to drill the laws of surviving the ‘World of Curses’ into Lyra’s thick head, Dee3 and Mandy walked in, telling us the good news, “The lease is signed. We are heading to the furniture store. Ace, how about you join us?”

Mandy didn’t ask but demanded that Ace join them, as she was planning to confirm her suspicions about Dee3’s involvement in the product of their new venture. Also, seriously discuss with Ace about the venture’s future, as he has been a no-show regarding the product demo several times now.

Thanks to Danny’s big mouth, their family’s venture was already a talk of the town. Her buying land all over the town had legitimized Danny’s words. So, many people and contractors from the town had contacted her seeking jobs that she did not have yet.

Noticing the displeasure between Mandy’s brows, Lyra acted on the chance, “Mandy, I will take Dee3 to the furniture store. Why don’t you and Ace sort out whatever it is that’s bothering you?”

Having bullied Mandy for most of their childhood, Lyra might be the only person who knew Mandy better than anyone else. This was why Mandy was still under her thumb or I thought so.

“Give me your car keys,” Lyra demanded, extending her hand toward Mandy.

I knew my sister was once again trying to run from her problems, but I wanted to see how Mandy would handle this situation. On one side was her childhood bully, to whom she simply couldn’t say no, and on the other side was her dearest Dark Starpedo. However, to my surprise, Mandy took out a key from the key bowl by the door and handed it to Lyra, saying, “It’s the black Buick, a restomod, you can’t miss it.”

“A restomod Buick, yuck. What about the Chevy Stingray?” Lyra asked.

I shook my head, realizing it had been almost half a decade since Lyra had last been here, so she did not know that the Buick was Danny’s car and the Stingray was Mandy’s. I couldn’t help but give Mandy an impressed nod, thinking, ‘Well played, Madison Banks, well played.’

“It’s my dad’s. Pam loves that Stingray. Nobody else is allowed to drive it,” Mandy said, choosing her words wisely so as not to lie to Lyra. Because last time Lyra caught her lying to her, let’s just say that year, Mandy had a very cold summer.

“Fine, if mom asks, Dee3 is driving and I will have breakfast outside, got it?” Lyra said, and without waiting for our reply, she left with the reluctant Dee3 slamming the door behind them. It appears she had found a new target to boss around. I truly felt very guilty for my part in it.

“I still don’t understand why you guys let her boss you around?” I asked Mandy. She wasn’t alone. For some odd reason, all of my sister’s friends took a knee to her demands.

“Ace, there are two kinds of leaders. The first kind is the one chosen by the people to lead them, and the second kind is the one chosen by the god to lead his people,” Mandy said, leading me to the pool area.

“Are you saying Lyra is some kind of messiah appointed by god to bring mankind to salvation? Did you hit your head? Are you feeling well?” I teasingly asked, but feared if Mandy truly believed that. Like how Danny, the victim of her bullying, believed she had the Midas touch.

“No, haven’t you heard of the saying, ‘God looks after fools and drunks’?” Mandy delivered the punchline, and I almost burst into laughter but held it in. Lyra was my big sister, but she was also a loudmouth idiot.

Mandy rolled her eyes, seeing me suppress my laughter, and continued, “Your sister doesn’t force us to do what we don’t want to but just what we don’t find the courage to do. To those who aren’t involved, it looks like she is bullying us.”

“I think I get what you are trying to say,” I agreed with Mandy because I remembered, back when I was younger, I wanted to dress as the Apex boy band’s lead singer for Halloween, but I didn’t because I heard the older kids in the bus say it was girly.

However, that night, Lyra not only forced me to dress like another Apex boy band member instead of the lead singer because it suited me better, but also took me around the block for trick-or-treating, making sure I didn’t double back and change my costume, before leaving for her party. This way, when kids made fun of my costume, I consoled myself by blaming my sister. Even now, I blame her for that night. But my smile in photos from that Halloween night told a different story. I loved my costume. That night, regardless of what the kids said, I felt like a rock star.

“Still, she is very ignorant and entitled. Sometimes she can be a bit much. But, if not for me wanting to be more like her, do what I truly wanted to do instead of what people expected of me, follow my gut for a change, I would have never entered the real estate game and would have ended up admitting into some expensive university, like Dan and Pam wanted me to, draining the college fund my father saved for me in his last days,” Mandy revealed that to her Lyra was not her bully but her role model of sorts which came as huge shock to me.

At the same time, I felt betrayed. As my grand nerd who led me down the path of nerd, my sister wasn’t actually anti-social. Unlike me, she carried an aura, like those main characters in anime who claim to be loners with no redeeming qualities, yet somehow become the center of the group they join and act like they were fed up with the attention.

Seeing my betrayed and pained expression, Mandy asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I said with an assuring nod and added to Mandy’s point, “You know what they say about the foolish and ignorant? That they are the bravest of us all.”

…

Meanwhile, in the kitchen,

“Lilith, honey, that was your third plate of pancakes. You sure you’re still hungry?” Mary asked their tenant’s child in concern, wondering if they were starving the little kid for her to eat like she had never seen food. She heard celebrities starve themselves, but she didn’t believe they would be cruel enough to starve a kid, too.

“Mmm-hmm,” Lilith nodded excitedly, dangling her legs back and forth, while Mary refilled her plate and wondered if she should mix another box of pancake mix first or call the child services on their tenant.

So what if the tenant was a celebrity? That didn’t give her the right to adopt an orphan child and mistreat her. However, she decided to first confirm it with Lilith before taking drastic steps. “Lilith, dear. How do the big sisters in that house treat you?”

“They treat me very nicely,” Lilith answered with her mouth full. She did not appear to be lying or covering for her tenants, so Mary was surprised and directly asked, “Lilith, do the big sisters not let you eat food when you are hungry?”

“Yes, just this morning they made me croissants and jam. I only ate eight, and I wanted more, but big sister Janice didn’t let me. She said I should save room for lunch,” Lilith replied after a brief pause, then innocently pushed her empty plate forward, signaling to Mary for a refill.

Realizing her tenants weren’t to blame, Mary repeated their reasoning to Lilith, “Your big sister is right—no more pancakes. You should save some room for lunch.”

Looking at Lilith’s tiny body, Mary couldn’t help but wonder where all that food went.

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