Ten Million Dollars Mission

c.103- Her puppet

Jaxen Vayinthe's p.o.v

Have you ever wanted to vanish from the world?

People call me the luckiest boy alive, born into a prosperous family where the father is a prime minister and the mother stands unwaveringly by his side. It sounds like a dream, doesn't it? On the surface, smiles gleam with bliss, making others envy this picture-perfect life.

But beneath that polished shell, the truth festers. From the moment I was born, I was molded by strict rules, my body no longer my own. My father, Elliot Vayinthe, shows his love only for the cameras, barely acknowledging my existence behind closed doors.

My mother, Florence Vayinthe, tries to educate me—but only in her own rigid way. She is a perfectionist, treating me like a puppet on strings. Warmth from either parent? I have never heard of it. My parents are cold, heartless creatures, who know nothing about love.

"Why can't you do your best?" she demands. Even when I top the class, she expects me to conquer the entire school. "It's just a piano! All you have to do is move your fingers!" My piano teacher praises me, calls me perfect, yet she always finds something to criticize.

"Why can't you play tennis better?"

But tennis is not my passion, just another of her endless demands. "You are ruining your father's image!" But it is my life, yet she insists I live it for him. "You have to eat this!" But the very sight of that food makes my stomach churn, yet she forces it down my throat.

All these words burn inside me, but I swallow them whole. I must remain silent, or she will make a scene. My life is a prison disguised as paradise. I cannot even choose my own friends. The ones I have are just venomous snakes, ready to strike if I stop feeding them.

"You're two minutes late, Jaxen, but I will let it slide" she says, her voice dripping with condescension. "Your father and I have decided—medicine is your future. I know someone at the top medical school. Just ace your upcoming final exam, and you'll be on your way easily"

Her words weigh heavier than the backpack on my shoulder, adding fuel to the fire already raging from school pressures. "I don't want to be a doctor" I declare, bracing for the inevitable outburst. She jumps up and approaches me with heavy steps, her finger pointing.
The witch is about to yell from top of her lungs.

"You have no right to talk back to me, Jaxen Vayinthe! Have you forgotten who made you what you are? I did not raise you to be a disappointment! You are going to medical school, and that's final!" Her fury erupts as expected, her voice a storm in my ears. Quite annoying.

"Too bad. I have decided I'm going to be a boxer. Better to use my fists to make a living than waste decades in a field I despise. So no, dear mother, I refuse your offer" I shrug, a smirk playing on my lips.  I know my smile enrages her. And whenever she's furious, it delights me.

I almost wish her heart would stop, seized by her own anger. Swallowed by fury, her eyes blaze. "Jaxen Vayinthe! So, you have learned to talk back to your elders now, huh?!" Her hand swings down, sharp and unforgiving, striking my cheek with all the venom she can muster.

Ugh, if I hit this witch, she'd probably drop dead. But I am not in the mood for murder—yet. I grit my teeth, forcing myself to breathe deeply, my fists clenched tight. "If I told you to sell yourself on the street because we were broke and I wanted you to, would you do it too?"

If I can't use violence,

I will use words as my weapon.

Her face, now contorts in rage, her teeth grinding together. She raises her hand again—predictable. That's all she knows, hitting anyone who dares defy her. Was she some kind of animal abuser in a past life? She would have been an animal instead, to be honest.