**Alright, Guys, I will be heading back home to Chicago Tomorrow, so hopefully, by Monday, I will be back to my regular uploading schedule and time instead of posting them whenever I get a chance.**
From May 1st onward, once a week, I would be in contact with Xilia, sealing ourselves as overseas penpals in a literal sense; meanwhile, I was left to my own devices.
While I could have stepped in and stopped the constant bickering, yelling, and fighting between my Father and Amanda, I didn’t; instead, I allowed it to progress naturally, continuing to lie in wait for my moment to strike.
On June 26th, just as it had in the Origin Timeline, the first Henry Potter book was released only instead of the original 500 copies that had been distributed, 200 to the public and 300 to libraries, with my influence three times that number were printed, with 600 going to bookstore shelves, and 900 to the large libraries in the UK along with Schools.
This incremental adjustment worked wonders because, by the time I received the first batch of reports from Xilia, multiple sources had already placed an order for over 10,000 copies of the book.
As such, the second printing of the book was massively larger than originally, which would, in turn, lower the value of the second prints but spike the price of First editions.
The day the first royalty check arrived at the mansion in London, Xilia had spammed my AIM with dozens of messages, some making fun of how little money I had made and others being of praise for the minute changes in tone that I had done to the original series which was already panning out to be even more legendary than its Origin Timeline Counterpart.
Without keeping track of time and allowing the days to waste away as I busied myself with planning and browsing the internet, the day of my little brother’s next birthday arrived. As I had many times before, I stood by his room until midnight, hoping for any signs of him returning to the past. Still, unfortunately, 1997 was yet another dud, so with a shrug, I returned to my bedroom to continue my activities.
Soon came Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December, then my birthday rolled around, and I turned six years old until finally, the day I had been waiting for came February 14th, 1998.
The day my small family was fractured forever, and as predicted, things went roughly the same way as they had in the Origin Timeline.
It was a day like any other…my father saw Amanda off and was acting a little more romantic than usual, only to get blown off by the bitch as she went off to work at the local Bank she had been employed at for a couple of years now.
With her gone, my father packed Brenden and me into the back of our SUV and headed to the florist. Once there, he purchased three dozen roses and had them sent to the Bank.
Honestly, it took quite a bit of restraint on my part not to stop him from doing this… but I knew it was a necessary evil, and although it would break him for some time, I would do what I could to mitigate the mental trauma today would inflict on him.
After ordering the flowers, Brenden was dropped off at daycare, then I was dropped off at kindergarten, and my father went to work none the wiser of what awaited him when he got off and headed home tonight.
Going through the daily motions of a seemingly normal child, arts and crafts, learning letters and shapes, all the typical bullshit kids would learn in school at my age; I kept monitoring the clock at the front of the room without drawing the teachers suspicion.
’She should have received the flowers by now and given them to a coworker. I have to give it to the bitch; serving someone divorce papers after they not only sent you flowers but also booked a romantic candlelight dinner for valentines Day is pretty vile and petty.’
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’Dad knew their relationship was deteriorating, and although he has basically no memory of our trip overseas or cheating on Amanda since I sealed them, that doesn’t mean he is dumb enough not to recognize that their relationship is failing.’
’That’s why he’s gone all in on tonight…but instead, she throws it back in his face and will demand he leaves the house.’ With a slight sniffle, I stacked multiple wooden blocks on top of each other, making a small tower, before stepping back and examining my work.
’Little does she know that all of her planning is about to go out the window the moment she serves him those papers, and it’s all because of a six-year-old child, heh.’ Holding up a small square block, I loaded it between two fingers and flicked it at the base of the tower, causing it to collapse with a loud clattering sound.
’I have removed your manipulation from the chessboard, Amanda; you won’t be able to convince him to leave this time around; no, instead, it will be YOU who is up shits creek without a paddle.’
"Zugzwang." Whispering the German chess phrase under my breath, I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact I had found a chance to use it in real life after hearing it many times in a season of one of my favorite TV shows.
** As in chess and similar turn-based games, "zugzwang" refers to a situation in which an opponent is faced with a disadvantage as a consequence of their obligation to move; an opponent is said to be "in zugzwang" when any legal move exacerbates the problem.**
’No matter what she does now, Amanda will be viewed as in the wrong, and once things go to court, hehe, well, shit will hit the fan, as I have been collecting data against her for YEARS, from her stealing the neighbor across the streets prescription pad to get narcotic pills, to bouncing checks at the grocery store and stealing.
Then there was the fact that no matter the outcome of the custody battle for Brenden and me, she would still move away, up north to Chicago, so that she could marry Seth.
Checkmate was drawing near, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when all her schemes and plots failed miserably.