The Shrink Program

Chapter 65

Alan shifted, sending me an unreadable look but choosing to stay silent.

Something like that. " Apollo conceded.

I rocked on my feet, arms folded behind my back.

"So, that fighting style you used just now, you stole it from someone else." My smile widened into a grin. "Someone you know."

His expression changed at the near playfulness in my tone, eyes narrowing slightly.

I waved a hand towards Alan and Alex. "You noticed, right? How quickly they were able to defend against your attacks? Almost as if they had...Practice."

I felt a sharp stab of glee when Apollo stiffened.

Deeper down... I felt sick with myself.

I saw in his eyes that he had already figured it out, but was refusing to take the last step.

So I took it for him.

"Why did you lie... " I tilted my head questioningly. "About not knowing the identity of the Ace?"

For the first time since I had met him, I saw Apollo look truly shocked.

I smiled because I knew that he hadn't lied about knowing the Ace.

He truly had no idea who the Ace was.

And that is why he wouldn't know that the person he had just sent to the hospital...

... was someone he cared about.

You did this to yourself, Apollo.

"She promised me that it wasn't her." He whispered, and I watched as the shock slowly drifted from his eyes.

To be replaced with fury.

Seeing that blind rage enter his usually expressionless face...

Finally, my brain caught up with me.

And I began to regret what I had done.

"She promised." He hissed, his face livid.

Provoking a wounded animal...

"After everything that happened to my brother, after it tore his life apart, she still became the Ace?"

His hands curled into fists.

"She swore that she would never get involved, she promised me. She promised that it wasn't her, so many times that I actually believed her. She knew full well how corrupt it is, how it destroys people's lives, and yet she still joined the HILL!"

...will only get you bitten.

Apollo seemed to explode with rage; the snap deep inside so real, it was almost an audible thing. Then, before my very eyes, Apollo vanished.

In the moment between one heartbeat and the next, Apollo had moved. I spun, my eyes instinctively turning to Alex.

Even though he was still in scary mode.

He wasn't fast enough.

Apollo appeared as a blur behind him, spinning in a high roundhouse kick. Apollo's foot connected with the Queen's head with bone-shattering force.

Alex was likely unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Brother!" Alan cried out, an instant before Apollo's uppercut connected with the pit of his stomach.

Alan gasped, hunching forward. Apollo stood still, frozen like an ice statue, keeping Alan on his feet with his fist still planted in his stomach.

"It's curious." Alan murmured breathlessly. "Why would the mastermind behind all this reveal himself so plainly? Why would he flaunt his identity at every opportunity? Why would he put himself in such risky situations?"

The tall teen chuckled to himself.

"Seeing how well you fought, the answer is quite obvious."

His next words, though directed at Apollo, were meant as a warning for me.

"You were a decoy all along. Correct?"

Apollo didn't answer, and the King of the Hill pat his back reassuringly.

"You're not the real leader, the one who planned all this. You were a trap from the beginning."

"Only as a last resort." Apollo murmured, and his voice sounding dead. "Too bad you fell for it."

He slammed his fist into Alan's cheek, sending the tall boy falling to the ground.

He didn't get back up.

Staring at the disaster that had unfolded before... I realised...

... I did this.

In an act of pure cruelty... I had caused this.

"I promised my brother I wouldn't steal from him again. "Apollo slowly turned to me, his green eyes cold.
"... But it seems promises don't really mean all that much in the end."

I trembled with guilt.

... Even after knocking the Floid brothers out, Apollo was hurting more than anyone else in the room.

"Now that I think about it, there was one small lie in the plan I revealed to you." Ignoring me, he walked over to the bench, picking up the King of spades.

"I said that this card represents me, but truthfully, this card only represents my false role in this game."
He pulled another card from his pocket, turning it to face me. "This is all that I really am.

The Queen of Spades.