“Good morning Mr Noah. Come in please,” a small petite woman greets me at the entrance to the office. Her voice is so tiny that you would assume she’s a child.

“Morning Ms Thomas. Why did you call me here?” I quickly get down to business after sitting on the soft leather seat.

“Mr Noah…there…there’s no better way to put this so I’ll just say it. Your parents are gone.”

“Gone where?” I inquisitively ask.

“Gone as in dead sir,” she clarifies.

At this moment my mind is going blurry. I can hear her but I can’t understand her. I know what she’s saying but it doesn’t make sense.

“Why?” I ask out of confusion.

“As you may have heard, yesterday there was a Beret attack in Thalassa. Your parents were coming back from an orphanage there and were among the first people attacked by the Berets. Mr Noah I’m so sorry.”

“Please tell me you’re joking. You’re joking right?” I plead with her.

“No. Your parents really passed away,” she answers with teary eyes.

I just look at her and stand up. Ignoring her sniffs, I walk to the window and look at the beautiful flower bed surrounding the offices. When I raise my eyes up and look at the horizon, I can see the damage caused by the Berets. Smoking buildings, shattered glass scattered everywhere. All my parents are now gone because of these monsters who destroy homes. When will this stop?

“So Mr Noah, as your parents’ lawyer, I have been handling their estates for years and they left a will. Do you want to open it now or after the funeral?”

“Just open it,”

“Okay then. Here it is. Your parents have left you half of all their assets and the other half, they are donating to charity. That’s the only thing here.”

“Okay, I respect their decision,” I quickly say as she hands me a copy of the document.

“I’ll start with the procedures immediately. If you have any enquiries, you have my number.”

“Okay. Thank you madam. I’ll show myself out,” I speak already standing at the door.

As if life can’t get enough of me, I’m alone again. I was separated from my sister and now my second parents have left me. I didn’t even expect them to include me in their will but I guess they really did love me.