07/14/33

Aiden

'For once I didn't push her away.
For once I stayed, and prayed that this'll be the end of my life and the beginning of a new one.

I've been living a lie, living with strangers for sixteen years back at New London. My name isn't Alexander Zakhaev. It's Jonathan McKenzie. I was forced to believe that I was a Russian immigrant moving to Canada with foster parents.

I wasn't told that my real parents were full-blooded Americans. I wasn't told that my biological mother was killed by my own father, by her own husband. And I wasn't told that my foster father died not because of a common car accident but because he was haunted by the FBI.

I could've finished off what he started. I could've stole Richard Peterson's USB which contained 100 billion dollars worth of money. I could have been the most wanted man in the century, running away from country to country, all because of my obsession towards money.

The truth is money doesn't change people, it reveals them.

If I didn't met Mary, if it wasn't love at first sight. I could have had it all. My name could've been a part of the world's hall of criminals. I'd be in the goddamn FBI watchlist.'

"Ahem?" I stopped reading and spun my swivel chair around towards the door. Mom is leaning against the door with a laundry basket in her hold. "Aren't you ever gonna quit on your computer, Aiden? Dinner won't feed itself, y'know."

"I'm not hungry." I turn back to the computer.

"Okay, let your sister eat all of it then. For a second I thought lasagna was your favorite."

"Just tell her to leave some for me."

"Oh, you know your sister. She'll eat it all until-"

"Fine!" I groan, tramping out of my room. She ruffles my hair when I brush past her. I jerk her away.

"Someone's in a bad mood." She says.

"Don't touch my computer!" I warn her as I run down to the kitchen. I snatch away the tray full of fresh-from-the-oven lasagna from Lena and take a seat opposite her. She starts to cry.

"Aiden!" Mom scolds from my room.

"Here." I sliced a block of lasagna and place it on Lena's Tom and Jerry plate.

"Why's it so small?" She frowns.

"Because you're small as well, meaning you have to get big first."

"Mommy!!!"

"Jesus Christ, alright!" I lend her a quarter and scowl at her. "When Dad gets home, I'll tell him about what you've done."

"Meh, Dad will believe me more because he loves me more."

I only give her an eye roll. "Whatever."

"Aiden, can I talk to you for a second?" Mom appears on the door, wearing a disappointed expression.

"Mom, I told you before I already cleaned my room."

"No, it's not about your room. It's, about something more important."

I sigh and walk out of the room with her.

"Where did you find these?" She shows me Dad's e-Document on my tablet. She swipes the screen and shows me more.

"Uh... At my computer."

"Or Dad's computer? Did you steal it from his study?"

"No! I swear, Mom. I didn't."

She shakes her head and cross her arms over her chest at me. The doorbell dings and she leaves me to answer it.

I went back to the kitchen, but was too late. Lena already ate all of the lasagna. I stare at her deathly. "You'll pay for this."

Dad appears from the kitchen back door in a minute, panting for breath. "Hey kids. Where's your mom?"

"On the door, daddy." Lena says with a mouth full of stolen lasagna.

Dad kissed each of our heads before jogging to the front door. I hear Mom yelp and laugh and when I check them out they're talking seriously.

"Aiden's reading your documents." Mom said.

"That's good. He'll learn something from his old man." Dad said.

"Good? You were a hacker back then. Do you want him to follow your footsteps, Alex?"

"If he can make it to end, then yeah."

"I caught him trying to make a cheat on a video game last week."

"That's impressive!"

"Really? Impressive?" I hide behind a closet as they walk down the hallway.

"Relax, Mary. Our kid will be safe. If hacking and computer stuff's his talent then help him nurture it. It's not everyday you get to have a kid whose talent is hacking."

"Okay, okay." The moment they disappeared in the kitchen, I come out of the closet and follow them.

"There's my hacker master!" Dad scoops me up and lifts me up in his arms. He takes off his black baseball cap and places it on my little head. "See? We look alike, don't we?"

Mom laughs at us as Lena remains on eating.

"Aiden Zakhayev, the reigning heir of the WebCrawlers." Dad proudly announces.