I took a deep breath and messaged my parents.
"Where'd you go traveling? I'm in a bad mood too. Let me come with you to clear my head."
The next second, Mom's call came in.
"Alex, what do you mean by that? We've already been gone for days. If you come now there's no direct bus—you'd have to transfer a bunch of times. Mom can't bear to see you suffer like that. You'd better not run around. Wait until I get back."
I smiled bitterly.
"Is that so? How many places did you visit? I didn't see you post anything on social media. I thought you were still in the same spot."
Mom's tone turned flustered instantly.
"That's because I haven't had time to edit the photos yet. You know your dad's camera skills—they're awful!"
"If you don't believe me, I'll send them to you."
Three photos came through quickly.
I opened them, and my heart turned even colder.
They hadn't even bothered to crop out the AI watermark at the bottom.
To lie to me, they really put in the effort.
"See, Alex? Mom's been so exhausted these past few days I barely looked at my phone. Traveling really takes it out of you."
Before I could respond, Mom said hurriedly: