Mana: Before The Rise - Chapter 288

Leilani Sweeney, was orphaned at seventeen. Her Parents where dual military and deployed to Iraq where they died in a IDF attack. She had only a few days until her eighteenth birthday when she had gotten the news. Her young brother Alex Sweeney was fifteen years old at the time.

Gaze and her brother where taken in by a former retired commander of their parents. The two where also left with their enormous insurance money, Gaze had left the commanders homes soon as possible with the brother tagging along feeling sorry for himself.

He wasn’t smart and did enough to just pass before he signed up for the army. The Retired commander had convinced him of it and she the younger brother had went for it.

Gaze didn’t reject him, but, she was highly disappointed that he developed their parents idiotic traditional values and often put pressure on him. They had gotten into plenty of arguments and the boy started to act out.

Eventually, she kicked him out leaving him to solve his own problems. That little brother of hers decided to go to the former commander and join the military. The man goes to her and yells at her or hours about kicking her younger brother out.

That same commander then played matchmaker to her younger brother, who married a woman of his choosing. It was at that point Gaze denied any contact with the younger brother, and promptly cut him out of her life in this world.

The old Commander eventually convinced her to visit him one last time.

…

Knock, Knock.

Gaze pushed her hair and folded her arms waiting her the door to open. Steven Sweeney opens the door looks at her in surprise.

“The old man told me to visit you..” She said lightly with irritation. She hated looking at Steven Sweeney, she doesn’t understand why. But, she never liked him since he was an infant. Well, she didn’t like children in the first place.

However, Steven rubber her off in a way that said ‘don’t want to catch his uselessness.’ It wasn’t that his looks where average, or anything it was how he acted. He to put it simply is a yes man, and not even a good one.

Gaze looked around the room, Steven has about four children all of them are girls. Many people of their country are still traditional, including theirs parent and as well as the old commander. Males where valued, Gaze remembered how their parents spoiled Steven and treated her with indifference.

Everything she has now is from part-time jobs and scholarsh.i.p.s. She worked hard as her parents had informed her before hand they could pay or help her with her studies. Of Course, it was a surprise to her that she was left with half they are inheritance when they died.

Of course, they came with a letter and Gaze turned over her inheritance to the young brother.

The poor state of his house, the place is beautiful on the outside. But, in the inside it is clearly old and needed some repairs. Nonetheless, she could tell that they had some rough times, especially recently. However, that does not excuse them of a lot of things.

“OH, I see” her younger brother scratched his head.

“Where’s Cynthia and the rest of the girls?” Gaze asked as she walked in, her brother did not bother with correct curtesy he just displayed nervousness. It was not because he knew, he just had never done them before. ‘Idiot’ Gaze thought with annoyance. She looked around the living room and got a feel about the place. ‘Tsk’ she said under her breath.

“You have our parents’ inheritance, their house and an honorable discharge. How could this place look this bad”

“….” She watched Steven stiffen.

“You always have been bad with money, I get that. No wonder things got this bad. Do you even have any savings.” Gaze started to go onto a rant berating him. “…This is what I mean, have some backbone. Say you’ll do better” Gaze finally said after seeing him just listening and not saying anything.

“Sis, I…..Need to step out for a moment. I need to get some more medicine for Alice.” She watched her brother grabs his keys and rush out wanting to avoid her judging eyes. When they where younger he had no problem with tying to mess with her in awful ways that a child would do. Their parents would also take his side no matter what he did and she would be berated instead for not giving into her younger sibling.

Gaze did just as she was told to the point that her room was minimalistic and had no droppings of personality or taste. No technology, not even a phone, all she had was books that where once in awhile ruined by a kid brother.

And his Rotten entitlement…

Gaze observed the room, she remembered, his words from earlier so once of her nieces might be sick. She found the door that was the most likely suspect and it was her old room. She then went into a inner debate about whether to walk further or not.

Gaze’s eldest niece had runaway and her location is unknown, her second oldest niece was run over by a car. Her third niece still lives with her brother and the youngest is in the hospital for because she was paralyzed in the same accident that killed her second eldest niece. She currently stays at a hospital.

She opened the door to the minimalistic room, her old furniture was there. And the only change was some childish drawings. She saw the young girl suffering some a fever, there wasn’t a cloth on her head and there also wasn’t any tub. It did not even look like she was being taken care of properly.

Gaze put her hand on the small girl’s forehead, she wasn’t in any good condition at all. This poor little girl was suffering from just a normal cold. She saw the girl stir and her eyes slightly opened.

“You Sick, Sleep some more.” Gaze said lightly as she reached down and picked up a nice cooling cloth from a bin of semi-cold water brought by her shadows. She placed it gently folded it properly and placed it on her head.

The girl seemed content and fell back to sleep. Gaze sat on a pulled up chair for about 30 minutes, waiting for the idiot brother to come back.