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"I'M SORRY FOR BEING so weak and for being such an embarrassment! I didn't mean to disappoint you," Edward says while crying in his brother's arms.
Ervin laughs, but then he sighs in relief before tightly hugging his brother back. "What are you even talking about? I should be the one apologizing for not being a reliable brother enough for you. I'm sorry, Edward. I'm the reason why you're so scared of me, right?"
"That's not the case at all!" Edward quickly defends, hugging Ervin again and burying his head against his chest. Ervin was surprised at the gesture, but then he smiled and continued to hug his brother, patting his head to comfort him after overcoming such a scary jump.
While Ervin and his brother were having their moment, the rest of the brotherhoods ran towards them, while the Elites immediately checked around the campus to see what the supposed explosion was about.
"Guys! Are you okay?" Brave asks as he approaches them. "That was fucking insane. I can't believe Felix and the others got here in time."
"We're fine. Thankfully," Ervin answers.
Master Joker, who saw everything that happened, approaches Ervin this time and reaches out his hand to him. Ervin smiles and lets go of his brother before taking Krist's hand so he can help him get off the net. And then he reaches out to help Edward.
"That was pretty badass. I expect nothing less from the Master Jack," Krist proudly says, and Ervin immediately bows his head as a sign of thanks for the high praise.
"By the way, it's a strange introduction, but this is my brother, Edward. He's currently studying in Foxberry High," Ervin then introduces while pointing at the brotherhoods standing in front of them. "Edward, these are the brotherhoods."
Edward looks at the brotherhoods and bows his head to them. He then smiles at the members of BND, who are happily waving at him, but when he looks at Cj and the rest of the Cigarettes, he immediately hides behind his brother.
"Wow, you haven't even said anything yet, and the boy already hates you. That's a new record," Hans teases, and Cj just chuckles and shrugs his shoulder in response.
Soon after, Ari and Felix joined them, instantly hugging Ervin because they couldn't believe that they had caught them both safely.
"Thank god everything went well," Ari says before looking at Edward this time. "And out of everyone in this school, you just had to be the one to get kidnaped," Ari then adds while patting Edward's head, making Felix smack him.
"Wait, are you guys saying you planned all this?" Siren, who was standing beside Hans, then asks.
"Well, we technically didn't plan this ourselves, but Max did," Felix reveals, and the brotherhoods looked at each other and started nodding their heads, almost like they already expected this outcome.
"If Max planned this...then that bomb—" Before Red could even finish his sentence, Keigo suddenly appeared. He was with the Elites, and to their surprise, two school guards were dragging him out.
"I said I was sorry!" Keigo shouts, trying to push the guards off him, but the guards wouldn't let him go.
"Mr. Kawanishi Keigo, regardless of your reason, that stunt was very dangerous. Not only did you sneak inside the sound system and hack the speakers, but you also caused a huge disturbance that scared the guests. You have to take accountability," Secretary Richard Young says, making Keigo pout and cross his arms like a kid while the guards continue to carry him.
After the explosion that shook the entire campus, Keigo tried sneaking away. Unfortunately, Richard and the guards were able to spot him. He tried to explain his reason, but none wanted to listen to him anymore, so here he is now.
"You guys are crazy," Krist says in disbelief. Ari and Felix were about to approach Keigo and help him talk to the Elites' secretary, but then Hans got to him first. As soon as Richard saw his leader, he immediately bowed to him as a sign of respect. "I apologize for this disturbance, Hans. I'll handle the situation and make sure this—"
"Let him go," Hans suddenly commands, surprising everyone, especially Keigo and his friends.
Richard is also surprised, but he doesn't even question him as he looks back at the guards and nods his head. The guards looked at each other, and then they finally let go of Keigo's arm.
"I'll discuss this with you later," Hans tells Richard before grabbing Keigo and pulling him back to the group where the others are.
"T-thank you," Keigo says, immediately running to where Ervin is to hide behind him.
Hans takes a deep breath and massages his head before looking back at them again. "You guys are really something. What you did is dangerous. Whether you had it under control or not, you could have just let the authorities handle it. What if something were to happen?" Hans scolds, making the four friends lower their heads.
"My b-brother and his friends...they did nothing wrong!" Edwards suddenly steps up, making Ervin's eyes widen in shock.
"They...they were only trying to save me. The authorities you speak of weren't coming, and we wouldn't...we wouldn't be able to predict when that student would drop me. So don't get mad at them," Edwards speaks up while looking at the duke. He was obviously terrified of him, everyone could tell, but he still talked back to him.
Ervin stares at his brother and smiles, proud that the 13-year-old Edward that he knows was helping them out like this. Hans was simply too stunned to speak, but after a while, Krist, Cj, and the rest of the brotherhoods started laughing.
"It's very brave of you to speak to a duke like that," Siren says, making Edward blush for some reason because he wasn't expecting to hear such a soft voice from her. "But do not fret. He wasn't entirely scolding them. To be honest with you, they do this every time. As their protectors, we were just worried."
Ervin continues to smile at his brother as he pulls him towards him, ruffling his head as some sort of thank you. And then Felix, Ari, and Keigo started patting each other's back, glad that they were able to pull this off. They do agree with Hans that this was pretty dangerous, but they're still glad that they were able to safely pull it off in the end.
"By the way, where's my brother?" Marcus then asks when he notices that Max still isn't there with them. The rest of the brotherhoods noticed it too, and started looking around the courtyard to check for him, but as expected, he was nowhere to be found.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell everyone," Ari suddenly remembers, making everyone look back at him. "He's talking to Jontell right now. Queen Cindy also asked me where he was, so she's probably with them now too."
"Then there's nothing we can do about that now," Arjun says, and everyone else can't help but agree.
...
"As the first daughter of the family you are following under, you are aware that I have to report this to the elders, correct?" Cindy asks, standing in front of Jontell, who was kneeling on the floor, while Max was on the side with his arms crossed.
The three of them were in a secluded room. After the incident, Max wanted to talk to Jontell alone, but before he could even do so, Cindy arrived and chimed in, which Max was somehow relieved about because he honestly didn't want to do this alone.
"I'm sorry," were the only words Jontell could say, making Cindy massage her temple in frustration.
"You've always been like this, Jontell. When are you going to realize that you can't—"
"How would you feel if the entire world thinks you're a family of murderers?!" Jontell suddenly shouts, tears already forming in his eyes as he says it. "I've endured it, Cindy. My family acts like it's not a big deal, but you don't know what it feels like to be hated by everyone just because of something you didn't do."
"Oh please, let us not play the victim here, Jontell."
"We knew nothing!" Jontell fires back, angering Cindy even more.
"Nothing?! Then look me in the eye and tell me you had no idea that someone was going to bomb the Stepanov Clan. Tell me that you had no idea that this wasn't going to happen," Cindy suddenly asks, surprising not only Jontell but Max too.
Max wanted to stop Cindy, but the heiress wouldn't let him. She continues to stare at Jontell instead, and finally, Jontell looks away in guilt.
"Fine, okay? I saw the documents. I saw the documents that stated that my family resold the bombs to an unknown buyer. But we didn't know they'd use it to—"
"Enough," Max immediately interrupts. He takes a deep breath and glances at Jontell before looking back at his dear friend. "Cindy, we know damn well that this isn't his fault."
"But you can't deny that they were involved," Cindy quickly replies. "Leigh, the Rosario family knows something, but they just wouldn't reveal it. Why can't they state who the buyers were? They have a clue about who killed the entire Stepanov Clan. Viktor was our friend, was he not? You might not remember, Leigh, but we grieved with him too," Cindy explains further, making Max clench his fist.
"The Lin family doesn't care about this case because they were never connected with the Stepanov Clan, but I care. I cared because Viktor was one of us. Because despite everything, he was our family too. Now he's alone, and no one is willing to help him solve the death of his family, a family that everyone is desperately trying to forget. The three of us...we're the only one he's got," Cindy says, tears now forming in her eyes.
"Cindy..." Max calls out, trying to hold onto her, but he quickly pulls his hand away.
Max understands it perfectly. The Stepanov bombing incident happened eight years ago. People are no longer talking about it because they believe no one survived. They didn't care who did it anymore because they thought no one was seeking justice. Big families didn't care because the bombing, as cruel as it may sound, destroyed a big and powerful competitor. As Cindy said, the Lin family doesn't care about it anymore. Even the Sinclaire Family doesn't care about it.
But Viktor is alive. He is the last living Stepanov, the sole survivor of his clan, and he's the only one trying to seek justice. No one else will be able to help him other than them, but Max was practically an empty shell. He couldn't even remember his connection with Cindy and Gavriil a couple of months ago, so how was he going to help?
This greatly frustrated him too, and he knows that Cindy feels the same, especially since they're just heirs who still don't have direct power over the business world.
"I'm sorry..." Jontell says again, making Cindy look back at him angrily.
"You're lucky, Jontell Rosario, that my father still values the shared past that both our families have. But if I finally inherit the Lin family's power and become the head of the dynasty, I will disown you and strip your family's title away in a heartbeat," Cindy declares before finally walking out of the room, leaving Max and Jontell behind.
The two of them were quiet. Jontell looked at Max and was about to apologize again, but Max quickly stopped him and walked towards a chair to take a seat.
"You know, I somehow understand what you feel. Like you, people think I'm some kind of monster because of what my mother was in the past. I know the frustration, the anger..." Max says while holding onto the brooches in his collar. "But that's the only thing we can feel, frustration and anger. We can't control how others will see us."
Jontell looks at Max but doesn't say anything to interrupt him. He wanted him to finish his thoughts, so he remained silent.
"We are heirs, Jontell, which means we are the future of our family. But that doesn't mean our future is certain. That's why we improve ourselves, our skills, and our mindsets," Max says, letting go of the brooch and finally looking directly into Jontell's eyes. "I heard about your family's plan to remarry. You're afraid that they'll take your inheritance away, right? Then I have some advice for you, Jontell. As someone who experienced something similar..."
Max stands from his seat, and then he walks towards Jontell and kneels in front of him so they can level each other.
"You cannot steal what is already yours, so take it back with an iron fist. It doesn't matter who stands in the way, whether it's your friend or your family. Let them have a taste of what they stole...and then mercilessly leave them with nothing," Max says, repeating the words of a certain boy who uttered the same thing.
"Improve yourself, Jontell. Stop trying to seek justice like this. If you want to prove your family's innocence, then work hard and become the head of the Rosario's. We are only powerless heirs, Jon. Stop chasing after us. Make a name for yourself and make it count now before it's too late," Max explains, patting Jontell's shoulder before standing back up.
"Alright, we should go before the Elites find you. I'll send you home safely. Just make sure you don't return to this house again. The brotherhoods may let this slide, but a dear friend of mine will definitely kill you if he sees you, and I don't want him to get in trouble," Max explains as walks towards the exit. He was about to grab the doorknob, but then Jontell said something that immediately made him stop.
"Leigh, about your mother... " Jontell says, instantly making Max's eyes widen in shock.
"It's not that I'm scaring you, but if that was the truth, they might also be involved with the death of your mother. The Rosario family had close bonds with Madam Luna. This is the only time you will be able to face their son like this," Max remembered Gavriil saying to him the other day.
"I'm saying this to you because you are the only person who genuinely cared about me. As promised, I will no longer show myself to you like this, but before I leave..." Jontell pauses as Max takes a deep breath and slowly turns his head to him.
When the two of them were now looking at each other, Jontell finally continued, "Your mother...a week before the bombing incident, I saw her in our house. She met up with my mother that day."
"W-what?"
"I don't know what she was doing there, or what the purpose was, or if it was even connected to anything, but I just wanted you to know. If there comes a time when you want to know more about it, I can help you speak with my mother," Jontell reveals, surprising Max.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Max asks, and Jontell stands from the ground and suddenly chuckles at himself, but Max can see that he is only laughing because he's ashamed.
"It's because I'm an asshole, Leigh. I thought I could use that information against you, but it only fired back at me. Viktor and the others were right. I really shouldn't have come here," Jontell says as he walks towards the door. He gets ready to leave by himself, but Max grabs his arm and stops him.
"I've always known that you're an asshole, Jon. We wouldn't have been friends if you weren't," Max casually says, making Jontell furrow his brows in confusion because he thought for sure Max would be mad at him, but he wasn't.
"Now let's go. I told you that I'd take you home myself, so I'll do just that," Max says as he approaches the door.
Jontell looks at Max with disbelief, but then he sighs and smiles before following Max. But when Max opened the door, he was suddenly welcomed by two powerful figures, the Elites' president Ian Rothman, as well as the vice president, Gavriil Alexeev. There were also two guards from the Brotherhood's association standing behind them.
"Shit..." Max whispers under his breath while Ian looks back at them with his usual smile. "Cindy?" He then asks, assuming Cindy's the one who told them where they were.
Ian doesn't answer him and just continues to smile before saying, "As the 10th highest-ranking white uniform in J.S High, I am going to assume that you were heading out of this room to hand Jontell to us. Am I wrong?"
Max took a deep breath and was about to answer them, but then Jontell suddenly walked past Max and headed toward Ian and Gavriil. "Looks like they got here first and made your job easier, Sinclaire. You're lucky. You don't have to waste your time with me anymore," Jontell says with a smug look on his face.
Max wanted to say something, but the two guards grabbed him by the arm. Max and Jontell looked at each other and nodded their heads like it was a secret code. Without saying anything else, jontell finally gets dragged away.
"Well then, Max, we'll have to talk some other time. President Janus has requested to speak to Jontell about this matter, so I'll have to head out first," President Ian explains, and Max respectfully bows his head as Ian follows Jontell and the others out.
As soon as Ian is gone, Max looks at Gavriil and awkwardly scratches the back of his head. He was certain that he was there to scold him, but to his surprise, Gavriil grabbed him and gave him a tight embrace.
"Thank god you're safe. I thought something bad happened to you when I heard that bomb sound," Gavriil suddenly says, surprising Max.
Max didn't know what to say, but then he felt Gavriil's body trembling, instantly making Max bury his face against Gavriil's shoulder, hugging him back even tighter.
"I'm okay," he whispers. "Don't worry, I'm okay," Max continues to say, hoping Gavriil wouldn't be able to notice how terrified he truly was too.
- END -