Chapter 726

The next morning, when Jane came downstairs, she saw Mina bursting with energy as she returned from outside. With a puzzled look, Jane asked, "Sis, where did you go so early?" Mina clapped her hands together excitedly. "I went to move those three little cuties into their new home!" Jane's eye twitched. "Sis, are you seriously planning to keep them in the house?" Mina shook her head. "Nah, I thought it over after waking up. Having those things around would be pretty creepy, and if they ever got loose, it'd be a disaster." "So, I decided I'll return them to Brother Alden after school today. I already talked to Big Bro, he’s sending someone to dismantle the snake enclosure. From now on, I’ll just stick to normal pets, like white mice, bunnies, cockroaches, bats, or maybe some fruit fly larvae." Jane glanced down at the half-eaten sandwich in her hand and suddenly lost her appetite. Aside from the mice and bunnies which were barely normal how were any of those things considered "normal" pets? After washing her hands, Mina grabbed a sandwich and took a big bite, talking between chews. "Oh yeah, Jane, the batch of fruit fly larvae I’ve been raising just hatched. Maybe in a couple of days, I’ll ask William to cook them for you. They’re super high in protein and low in fat perfect for growing kids!" Jane’s eye twitched again. Technically, her sister wasn’t wrong maggots *were* nutritious but she definitely didn’t need that kind of "nutrition." "No thanks, Sis. I’ll just drink more milk," she said, quickly gulping down a big mouthful from her glass. Mina sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. Clearly, Jane didn’t appreciate the delicacy. But then, her eyes suddenly lit up with another idea. "Hey, Jane, how about we visit Auntie Dora today? I’ll have William grind up those larvae into powder and give it to Abigail. She’s so skinny she could really use the extra nutrients!" Without waiting for a response, Mina dashed off toward her lab, still munching on her sandwich. When she emerged again, she was holding a transparent plastic box filled with tiny white worms wriggling inside... Not just Jane, but even Bryan and Harold silently averted their eyes. However, after Mina carried the box into the kitchen, Bryan stood on a chair, leaning forward with one hand cradling Jane's head and the other resting on Harold's. "Hey," he whispered, "don't you think Mina seems more like herself today? She's not forcing loud talk or laughter anymore." "Mmm," Harold nodded softly. Jane agreed. "Maybe after what happened yesterday, she cried it out and came to terms with it." Bryan released them both and sighed in relief. "As long as Mina isn't hurting anymore." Just then, Mina emerged from the kitchen after handing her little "pets" to William. Munching on a piece of bread, she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Bro, let's go! School time!" "Coming!" Bryan hastily stuffed the remaining bun into his mouth and dashed out with his backpack, a far cry from his usual habit of dragging his feet for every extra minute. Jane and Harold watched them leave. As Jane turned back, she couldn't shake the feeling that her sister still wasn't quite the same as before. But she understood Bryan's behavior he'd been walking on eggshells around Mina these past two days, afraid of upsetting her. His obedience was almost comical. —— That afternoon, when Jane returned from school, she spotted Mina in the living room carefully placing a beautiful glass bottle into a gift bag. Seeing Jane, Mina chirped, "Perfect timing! I've got Abigail's present all packed. Let's go!" Jane blinked at the bag in her sister's hand. "But... just giving a bottle of this doesn't seem like enough, does it?" The powder inside the bottle was a toasted golden hue, resembling fried rice flour visually appealing, until one remembered its original ingredients... Mina held Jane's hand as they walked outside. "There's nothing wrong with this gift. If we gave Auntie Dora something expensive, she wouldn't accept it anyway. This is perfect it'll help nourish Abigail, and Auntie won't feel burdened by it." Jane thought about it and realized her sister had a point. So she followed Mina into the car with peace of mind, heading to Auntie Dora's house. When Auntie Dora opened the door and saw them, her face lit up with joy. She turned toward the house and called out, "Abigail, come quick! Look who's here to play with you!" Abigail dashed out of her bedroom in a pair of adorable bunny slippers. The moment she spotted Jane and Mina, a genuine smile spread across her face. "Jane! Sister Mina! What brings you here?" Seeing the warmth in Abigail's eyes, Jane let out a quiet sigh of relief this was definitely not her extreme alter ego. Mina handed the bag to Auntie Dora. "Auntie, this is something William made specially to help nourish Abigail." Auntie Dora took the bag and affectionately ruffled Mina’s hair. "Thank you, Mina. Please pass along our thanks to William when you get back." Meanwhile, Abigail was still thinking about acting. "Jane, don’t we have another scene together this weekend?" "Sister Abigail, you still want to act?" Jane asked, puzzled. She had assumed Abigail had only acted before because she was forced to. Now that no one was pressuring her, she hadn’t expected her to still be interested. Abigail nodded eagerly. "Mhm! Actually, I really enjoy acting. I just hated doing commercials and modeling. But thanks to brother Jordan, he helped me cancel all those jobs. As long as it's just acting, even if it's a bit tiring, I don’t mind." No wonder Abigail and Lalisa got along so well they shared the same passion. Jane had to admit, stepping into someone else’s life through acting did sound fun. But filming was exhausting, and she was too lazy for that. So… maybe not. While Abigail played with Mina, Jane slipped into the kitchen to talk to Auntie Dora. She asked about Abigail’s condition and was relieved to hear that her extreme alter ego had been appearing less frequently lately and even when it did, it wasn’t as cold as before. The two sisters stayed at Auntie Dora’s until after dinner before finally leaving. Since Auntie Dora’s neighborhood was a bit older, the underground parking garage was full, so Mariah had parked the car along the street outside the complex to wait for them. Just as Jane was about to climb into the car with her sister, she spotted a familiar figure stepping out of a car and walking into a café across the street. "Huh? Rory acts like she’s some kind of princess who only wants the most expensive things. Why would she come to a cheap place like this for coffee?" Mina muttered, watching Rory’s retreating figure. "Unless… since Big Brother stopped working with the Brown family, they’ve gone bankrupt?"