Page 153 of Discretion at Its Finest

It made me think how interconnected we all were. The higher you got in wealth, the smaller the circles became. This was obviously no different.

As the morning went on, the dining room slowly began to empty. The younger kids went first, Trinity, Tyler and Melanie running off to the East wing, Ivory and Jin making their way to the living room, Nicolas and Zachary following behind, which left the older children.

Delilah was the first to speak. “So… is anyone gonna address the elephant in the room?”

Archer clenched his jaw. “Delilah…”

Before anyone else could speak, Blaine leaned forward, mouth full of eggs from what I’d concluded was his fourth plate going strong.

“Which one?” He waved a fork around the table. “There’s like… nine elephants in here.”

Maia slapped his shoulder. “Blaine.”

But the comment landed as every pair of eyes swung straight toward me and Genevieve.

She froze beside me. Her hand twitched nervously in her lap. I grabbed it under the table, steadying her as she let out a sigh.

“Gonna take a wild hunch here…” Sterling began, “and say I—well…we—are probably not equipped for this situation here… Feels like there’s gonna be some heavy trauma dumping.”

Kimiko and Archer both shot him a pointed glare.

“Anyone under the age of thirty, see yourselves to the next room,” Killian asserted, and a slew of groans filled the air as the four lingering children stood and left the room. Shin and Hana exchanged a sympathetic look and stepped out as well. They were polite and respectful enough to offer privacy before things cracked open.

Maia tugged gently at Blaine’s shirt, whispering for him to get up too.

He didn’t move an inch. “You think I’m about to miss this, Sunshine?” He scoffed. “I’ve been waiting years… YEARS for this moment.”

Meanwhile, Eugene leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes flickering between all of us silently as Brielle waited just as patiently.

I spoke first to break the ice. “Eugene.” He looked up instantly, eyes guarded, jaw ticking once. “I’m glad you decided to stay until the morning.”

His face twisted slightly, suspicion and wariness clawing at his skin; probably didn’t understand why the hell I was addressing him at all. He didn’t respond.

So I kept going. “You didn’t owe anyone that,” I said. “But you stayed. That matters.”

His jaw flexed harder. He wasn’t ready to admit that last night broke him open.

But he wasn’t running anymore either, and the truth needed him here. “There are things,” I continued quietly, “you both deserve to hear. From us. Not anyone else.”

Brielle stiffened beside Killian. Eugene’s eyes flicked to Genevieve, then snapped back to me. “It’d probably help to know who you are first.”

Genevieve tensed beside me, but I ran a hand over hers. “I don’t expect you to have remembered me,” I said.

His brows pulled together, confusion knitting with irritation. “…Should I?” His question hung in the air, brittle and cold.

I met his stare. “No,” I said. “You shouldn’t remember me. You were too young.” He frowned. “But I—” my voice dropped, quieter, heavier ”—I remember everything about you. Or at least what I could in the short time we spent together.”

There was a flicker of something behind his eyes… A memory maybe? Recognition?

Still I kept going.

“I remember you rambling about your favorite superheroes, drawing them every chance you got. I remember the way you clung to your mother when she cried… I remember sitting beside her in field while you ran after a soccer ball half your size… I remember every time you ran to me. Every time I told you Iwas proud, tucked you in at night, woke you in the morning… I remember everything,bud.”

Eugene went still. “Uncle Reid…” he murmured gently before his eyebrows furrowed all of a sudden, eyes flickering between his mother and I as his frown deepened. I watched it happen in real time: gears turning in his mind, the math clicking into place behind his eyes. The timeline, Genevieve leaving, the life that followed.

I waited for him to say something, but he only stood, running a hand through his hair as he let go of Juliet’s hand, walking out of the dining room.

Genevieve went to stand, but I stopped her. She’d consoled him last night, lowered the pressure as best as she could… It was my turn to step in for the truth he deserved.