Zenon's Game Chapter 277

And the blackmailer. I needed to find the blackmailer. I wanted to start taking control of my friendship, my relationships and everything in between. I didn't want to be used or silenced. I wanted to be free.

Zenon came directly towards me and didn't make any snide remarks to Jake. Jake also didn't say anything to Zenon. For once.

This was about both our families. Was this the first time Mr Albert had shown guilt for leaving Jake's mother?

"How do you feel, Candy?" Zenon whispered, picking up my hand.

He dusted the tear off with a brush of his thumb before he raised my hand to his smooth lips and kissed it.

I squeezed his hand and said, "I think your father said it best. Our dads have nothing in common except their biggest mistake."

We lived in the shadow of the past. And now we had to live in the aftermath.

"At least you two are not related," Charlotte sighed, sitting back, "With all the affairs and secret children in this house, there was a chance."

Sometimes, superheroes can't save everyone.

These days, caped figures are often more creepy than inspirational. I would love to be rescued. But maybe a more realistic superpower is, just, surviving.

No glitzy rescue or grand display. There's an incredible strength to being able to keep a head above water. Being able to accomplish the extraordinary, with nothing but the ordinary...

That's heroic to me.

Jake covered his eyes with his left hand as he looked away from us. Charlotte was crying, holding onto her mom. And Zenon stood in front of me, his back facing the doorway. He hadn't let his father leave until we got our answers.

I stared up at Zenon, wondering what I could say. What was there left to say? He came over and kissed away the tears on my hand. His lips tasted my salty tears.

With Zenon, actions always speak louder than words.

Mrs Albert petted her daughter's hair before standing up. She pressed the creases on her dress and opened her mouth to address us. Then, she decided against it and abruptly walked out.

Jake chuckled beside me.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked him quietly.

Jake lowered his hand from his eyes and looked back at me with a pained smile, "She was about to cover up this mess with some sh*t excuse, before she gave up."

Charlotte complained, "Jake, do you really want to go there right now?"

"Go where?" Jake asked, "Look around you. We're already here. Dad's owning up to his mistakes, but what about Mrs Albert? Not a squeak comes out of her. She tore apart a family."

"You don't know when to stop," Zenon said darkly.

"Zenon-"

"Get it through your watermelon head," Zenon laid it out simply, "You can sh*t on my dad because he's your dad too. But you'll respect my mom."

"She's the one trying to make this family a family," Charlotte agreed, "She wants you here. It was her idea to bring you, look after you and-"

"You know what neither of you realize?" Jake answered, not backing down, "We have the same values there. I also respect my mom... by holding yours accountable for the disrespect she caused. A nice house doesn't make this place a home. I'm f*cking seventeen so I didn't come here by choice."

Charlotte had a pained expression on her face, "Why can't this drama ever end?"

Jake stood up and walked to Zenon. "One more thing," he said, "Call me watermelon head one more time and I'll show you what stitches feel like."

Zenon smirked.

I hated that smirk, like he tempted Jake to even try. Like he was so confident he could take his brother down.

Zenon raised his hands in fake innocence and said, "Waterm-"

"Zenon!" I yelled and threw a pillow across the room to stop him.

He caught it with his left hand while Jake stormed out of the room.

"I'm out," Charlotte raised her hands in the air, picking up her phone and house keys. She gave me a sad smile and, as she passed her brother, she rested her hand on his shoulder. "We have each other, little bro. Even though you're unbelievably stubborn sometimes."

With only the two of us in a room, it felt so strange to have Zenon on the other side of it. I wanted him close.

He was staring out the window with his arms crossed over his chest. Outside, my house was visible across the street. We could see Charlotte walk down the front lawn, step into her car and start the engine.

After everything that happened here, I really wished he would just come to me on the couch.

It didn't feel right to throw another pillow at him.

I tried a more mature approach. "Zenon-"

"I think your dad may be coming back."

His words hit me in a way I never expected them to.

Zenon's shadow on the wall moved as he turned around to walk towards me. I was impatient and I stood up to meet him halfway. I just needed a moment of calm before we dove back into this emotional pit again.

"Hold that thought please," I said, draping my arms over his shoulder muscles and locking them around his neck.

I reached up to kiss him, parting my lips to taste his. His hand rose to the side of my face. He held me with his thumb on my cheek, parallel to my lips, and his fingers locked in my hair. His other hand touched the empty belt strap on my pants before reaching further and cupping me.

I asked, "What were you saying?"

I needed a break. I loved talking to him while we kissed, because as my lips moved over his, I felt how soft they were between mine.

Zenon gazed down at me and said, "I'm not finished."