The bombshell that was dropped on the two poor teenagers took 20 more minutes to explain.
And by the end of the explanation, both of their reactions were pure gold.
Utterly horrified and rebellious.
But what could they do? They were their parents and the spoiled teens were nothing without them.
Ian looked at his mother for help, as the mother's love was the purest.
But to his shock, she just turned her head away, acting like she didn't see him.
"Don't look at her, she agrees to it." Leon appeared before Ian, as Mr Wheeler and his family had excused themselves to talk amongst them.
"Why…?" Ian didn't mean to make it sound so pitiful, but looking at his father's stern face, it sounded like that.
"Why don't you ask that to your red eyes, the trash marks in school, countless buried fights and broken rules?" Leon looked down at Ian, "I am your dad, boy.
I don't scold you, but it doesn't mean I don't know anything."
Ian gulped.
"You have no real motivation towards life. It feels too easy, doesn't it?" he asked.
"Is it supposed to be hard?" Ian replied, feeling indignant, "I am breathing, that means I am alive. Isn't that life?"
"Hah?" Leon burst out laughing, patting Ian's shoulder, "You're a genius, Ian. You're right. That's life.
You just need to live it alone for 3 years, you can do whatever you want there. You will be free."
Ian looked at his father's eyes, finding no hint of amuse.
"Alice is a pretty girl too, you will thank me later, son." Leon chuckled again.
Ian shrugged off his father's hand from his shoulder, "If that's all it is, I will prove it to you then."
"Yeah, that's all there is to it." Leon said, "Pack your bags, your mom will help you.
You can take any 2-3 pairs of clothes, your daily items and some food and water. Return me your phone and all the jewellery, cash, and luxury items."
"Even my phone!?" Ian cried.
"..." Leon sighed, "You can take it after I format it. And I am also freezing your bank account, I opened a new one for you with a 1000$ balance in it."
"That's it? I need to pay the fees too, father."
"Life is easy, you can earn more." Leon taunted and snatched Ian's phone from his hands.
At that moment, Ian regretted saying that line.
***
All the preparations took barely one hour, signifying how long Leon had already planned for this to happen.
And wonderfully, Ian wasn't the only one suffering from it.
He had gotten Chris and a few of his other rich friend's texts on his laptop that they were going to different continents and places for similar reasons.
'At least I ain't suffering alone.' Ian found a little peace thinking about it.
"I won't tell Leon that I am letting you use it for now, but you aren't allowed to take it, okay?" Ian's mother, sitting on his bed, said.
Emotions were apparent in her voice, but Ian didn't care.
"Oh my, thank you mother dearest." he said sarcastically before continuing to text his friends and searching a little about the southern continent and the city he would be going to.
It was called 'Gangtok', but contrary to the name, it was one of the most crime-free cities in the southern continent.
Being the educational capital, it was quite a famous place and thus, Ian was able to find quite a lot of important data about it.
'Weed isn't legal there. And since it's illegal, it will surely sell for a lot~' Ian secretly hid a small pouch of crushed weed in his suitcase between his clothes as he finished packing everything he needed… and was allowed to.
Airport security was not an issue since his father was going to send him via private jet.
"Ian." Leon knocked on the door twice before entering the room, as Ian panicked a little.
"Yeah?" He tried to act casually.
"Happy birthday, son." Leon said slowly, bringing out a small golden case, which looked worn out and roughly made.
He opened the case, revealing a small silver ring, which looked plain without any lavish engravings or expensive gems embedded.
"This is your grandfather's ring. He gave it to me when I was your age, and now I am giving it to you." Leon took it out carefully, "Keep it safe."
Ian breathed a small sigh of relief, "Oh that's it? I will."
He casually extended his right hand, letting his father slip the ring onto his finger.
"Good luck." Leon ignored Ian's careless attitude and patted his head before turning around to leave,
"We leave in half an hour."
***
One hour later, the Wheeler and Maxwell family had gathered onto the private airstrip of the Maxwell family.
A medium sized jet was parked on the runway with its door opened and Ian standing in front of it alongside Alice.
He turned to look at his family the last time before turning around and walking up the stairs without a word.
Alice had a similar reaction as Ian, except the sliver of tears in her eyes.
"Don't cry, Alice."
This was the first time Ian was speaking to Alice.
"Don't act like a nice husband, dude. I was forced into it."
And with a single sentence, Ian hated Alice already.
***
The journey was silent and nerve-racking for both the teenagers, wondering how it was to live far away from their families.
They had grown up sheltered by them and now, when separated, their importance was beginning to shine.
But Ian tried his best not to show his nervousness as he checked his phone, which was as good as brand new, with all his data gone.
There were no images or apps left, and even his sim card was changed to another number.
Inside the contacts, there was only Leon's number saved by the name of father.
Ian sighed and typed out his mother's number, saving it by the name of mother and then turning the phone off.
He silently hugged his phone closer, looking out of the window.
"It's okay. Just 3 years," he whispered—unaware that the ring on his finger had just begun to glow faintly.