Chapter 249 - The Wristwatch Sofia Acquired

"Don't worry... all boarders in this building are considerate. By the way, my name is Sofia. If it does not bother you, we can exchange names. But if you wished to keep your identity secret, it's fine by me," Sofia said in a friendly tone.

"How rude of me. Sis, you can call me Heiz. My baby, I named her Hazel Ash," she prompted.

"Heiz... Hmm. Sis, you have a unique name," Sofia commented. "This is my unit. Come in!"

After the door was pushed open, Heiz looked around and felt relaxed with the ambiance of Sofia's place.

~~

On the same night, at Ching's mega-mansion in district 4, two servants kept knocking on Stephen's room.

"Young master, please come out and join the dinner table. Please, young master, open the door... or your parents will scold us for not convincing you to join them," one of the servants spoke with urgency.

Stephen was just gazing at the lonely sky and ignored the servants outside his room. The rain had started drizzling and flashes of lightning illuminated the dark clouds.

'Tonight is the best time to get out of here. With the lightning and rain, everyone would probably rest early,' Stephen thought.

Despite his decision of ignoring the two servants, their knocking sound did not stop even though a few minutes had passed. Stephen groaned and opened the door.

"Tell them not to bother. I am not in the mood to have my dinner," Stephen ordered while the two servants respectfully bowed their heads. 

"Young master, Mr. & Mrs. Silveri is here. You have to join the dinner table. Your parents even flew back from overseas just to show respect to them," the other servant explained.

'Aunt and uncle are here?' Stephen asked himself. To be precise, Stephen's father and Mrs. Silveri were half-siblings of the same father but different mothers. Still, because the now called Mrs. Silveri was capable of joining a more wealthy family, the Chings formed a good relationship with her.

"Young master, the madam has told me to tell you that you must wear presentable clothes before you join them," one servant reminded him.

"No need," Stephen frowned and closed the door. He was wearing an oversized white V-neck shirt and black shorts. In his opinion, his appearance looked presentable already.

However, when he arrived at their expansive dining area, he realized what the servants meant when they mentioned presentable clothes. His aunt and uncle as well as his parents were all wearing a stylish three-piece suit. They were all wearing a formal attire!

"Good evening, uncle and aunt! Hope you enjoy the food," Stephen greeted the two without giving his parents a single glance. He then continued to approach the vacant chair and sat properly.

"Ohh... your son Stephen has really grown tall! What a great resemblance of the both of you!" Mrs. Silveri said to her brother.

"Indeed," Mr. Ching agreed with no sign of emotion on his tone. He was scooping a soup into his bowl. "Where are we?" he asked Mr. Silveri after taking a sip of the soup. 

"Anyway, as I was saying, it was really our fault for we have disowned her," Mr. Silveri sounded gloomy. He only gave Stephen a forced smile when the young man took his seat.

"Ahhh... She had brought shame and disgrace to our Silveri family! Having a child at such young age. TSK!!! She was lucky that I only let her leave our house!" Mrs. Silveri interjected with raw anger on her face.

Stephen had just held the glass of water. But the anger in his aunt's voice made him stop his tracks. And instead of drinking, he returned the glass back to the table and leaned his back to the chair.

'Why am I called to join here when I don't even know what they are talking about!' he mentally complained.

He had a bad feeling. These old people around him seemed to be talking about their daughter that caused disgraced their family. This was a serious matter indeed.  But, he had never got a chance to meet any of his uncle's children for he also ran away during his first-year high school. By their standard, he was also a disgrace himself!

"Calm down. After all, we have agreed to forget about her existence. Hmmmn, when the private lawyer of my late mom talked to us this morning, he explained about the procedure of my mom's assets," Mr. Silveri continued.

"Ohh... so, the late madam Silveri's assets has been computed? In this case, I must congratulate the two of you," Stephen's mother smiled towards Mrs. Silveri.

"Not yet. The procedure of asset transfer is quite odd. According to my late mother-in-law's lawyer, only the one who possesses the 'Devourer' could use her assets. And it can only be used if he is mature and capable," Mrs. Silveri recounted.

"I think you lost me with the possession. I'm confused. What is this devourer?" Stephen's mother questioned.

"It's a stupid wristwatch that is older than my late mother-in-law. This thing is passed down to the young generation. What a weird tradition," Mrs. Silveri answered with a tone of mockery.

"A watch! It's my first time to hear that watch has actually a name!? Is this watch some sort of magical object like that in movies? Why do your family call it devourer? Can it devour all our problems in business?" Stephen's business playfully pried.

"Ahh... what are you talking about. This is not some fantasy movie. A watch is a watch. Simple," Stephen's father spoke, and secretly glared at his wife. He was suddenly annoyed by how ridiculous his wife had thought about an object. 'What a superstitious woman!' he mentally added.

"My brother is right. It is just an object with no special power. The reason why it is called 'Devourer' is that at the back of the watch, there is a special carving of a serpent eating its tail. It formed the horizontal figure-eight shape of a snake enveloping itself," Mrs. Silveri easily described the design of the watch.

"Yes, it is exactly what my wife said. There is an exquisite Ouroboros symbol forming the infinity figure at the back of the watch. So, the watch had been named 'Devourer' even before it was passed down to my late mother," Mr. Silveri affirmed.

"I see, I see. So, my guess is that the 'Devourer' is in the possession of your disowned daughter?" Stephen's father inquired.

"That's right! My later mother-in-law gifted the watch to our unfilial daughter, Ash Heiz Silveri. This was given before she died. But, we have no idea about how important the watch was at that time. Without the watch, we will lose our right to the whole assets. And it will be my unfilial daughter who would be the rightful heir of it. So, we ask you to help us find Ash before she could take away all the assets," Mrs. Silveri confirmed.

"Let me clarify if I still follow you. Sister-in-law, the money of the late madam Silveri can only be taken by someone who had possessed the 'devourer?" Stephen's mother asked them.

"Yes. you are still following clearly. Their lawyer said that they won't be able to transfer the asset if we don't have the watch.. We must take the watch from Ash!" Stephen's father said.