Twenty Years of Deceit

'Congratulations, you have reached Level 3 and gained twenty health and recovery points.'

'Congratulations, you have completed the quest to Accumulate knowledge by finding three ways of building your stats. As a reward, you have received a special item when crafted, which will give you a free life that can be used once a month.'

 What the fuck? A free life? That is one heck of a reward for giving a blow job.

'You know full well that it's from reading and rock climbing,' he hissed, pulling me out of whatever R-rated fairytale I thought I was in.

I'm such a hypocrite; I'm worse than Molly.

I lifted myself from the floor, the cogs in my brain turning and forcing myself to get up faster. Urgh, I'm lying on a filthy floor. Oh my god, I'm going to need to get tested. How often has he done this? He lifted himself when he realised I wouldn't stay there and retracted his hand when he saw the disgust on my face.

"We need to forget this ever happened," I whispered, taking my towel, clothes, and the last of my dignity.

I stepped out of the shower and into a different one, locking the door before he could stop me.

My drive home was much quicker, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed. When I turned onto my quiet cul-de-sac, I cursed at seeing Devon's frame pacing back and forth in front of my porch. I sighed as I pulled onto the driveway, and his strong arms pulled me into him when I left the car.

"Holy shit, where have you been? I thought they got you," he rushed, dragging me towards the door.

"How long have you known Devon for?" Orion asked from behind us.

We both froze and then Devon turned us with his arm resting on my shoulder.

"Brother, how are you here?" he asked with a hint of frost.

Oh, God. This isn't good.

"I've known Devon for at least four years. He would make sure your nephew didn't 'traffic' me, as he likes to put it," I sighed, pulling away from Devon and stepping into my house, "You had better come in," I finished, opening the door to see Molly on Rains's lap. "Why are you here so fucking early?" I hissed, causing her to jump from his lap and sit on the sofa like I was not looking directly at her.

"I got off work early, so I thought I would come and make Rain a sandwich," She replied with a glint in her eyes that faded when Orion stepped into my house.

"Oh, I see. Have you made it?" I asked sweetly, earning a snicker from Devon as he dropped into his designated seat next to my egg and watched his older brother with that - I am reading your mind - focus.

As if I didn't have enough problems.

"Yes," she replied, eyeing Orion as he sat in my egg and crossed his legs in a suit that didn't seem like the battle it should have been, "I can make you, Devon, and… who are you, again?" she asked with a tilt of her head and a sweet smile.

I snorted and caught Orion's attention, his eyebrow raising a little before he turned to look at Molly.

"I'm Devon's older brother, and that's okay, thank you. I was planning to eat with my children," he replied.

"Your WHAT?" I cried, stepping towards my safe room with wide eyes.

My dogs came in from their outdoor houses, likely forced in by my rising anxiety. Rex began to stalk towards Rain.

"I haven't done anything," he told Rex as he crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

Molly became her usual self when the dogs were around, lifting her legs onto the sofa and letting out a horror squeal to grab Rain's arm. Is this bitch for real? She's been around them for years and doesn't act like this when no one else is around. However, that is a rare occurrence.

Rex won't even pay attention, moving from her loudmouth to a quieter section of the room. Orion remained calm, his face stoic as Rex sniffed his open hand and went to sit by him.

This mother fu-

"Just the kids? No wife," Molly asked expectantly when she noticed the pets were lying down and leaving her strange ass alone.

My ears picked up at that, and I had gone to pull a chair from the kitchen, but Devon cleared his throat and gestured to his lap. I thought about it for a second, glancing over at Rain and Molly before I shrugged my shoulders and walked over to sit on his left knee, within arms' reach of Orion, watching the four of us with renewed interest.

"We are currently going through a divorce," he replied, but when I turned my head to him in surprise, he was already staring at me.

"Oh, that's a real shame for her," Molly mused with a light giggle, and my head snapped to her with a warning growl.

She widened her eyes and dropped them to the floor in fear. I smirked and turned my face back to Orion with a flinch at his intense gaze. Devon stiffened behind me, and I avoided looking at him, knowing that Orion was imagining what we did and that he was likely reading both of our minds.

My burner phone buzzed in my pocket, and I hailed the perfect timing of the private investigator.

"Yes?" I answered, hopping from Devon's leg and heading up towards the study, Devon following me.

"Ferona is going to be at home for the next week," she replied.

The sound of a pen scratching against paper followed the sound of Devon slamming my door.

"Great! I appreciate your help. I'll send the rest of your payment to the crypto wallet you sent me," I replied, clicking the phone off before she could respond with her thanks.

She has been mapping that woman's routine for weeks. It turns out that she and the Verne twins go away for a week every month, so I can only assume she parties and gets absolutely wrecked because she comes back with deep, dark circles under her eyes.

I clapped my hands and turned to Devon's stony face, wincing as he stepped away.

"You let him touch you like that?" he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It- just happened," I sighed, cautiously stepping towards him.

"He followed you into the shower, and it didn't exactly look consensual. He followed you to the centre, and he followed you home," he roared, lifting his arms suddenly to gesture at nothing but still making his point and forcing me to step back into the desk.

"Shhhh… I assure you it was very consensual," I hissed, crossing my arms over my chest and turning away from him.

Everyone is crossing their arms today; I feel childish. 

The door to the study opened as Devon stepped forward and roughly grabbed my arm to pull me into him. With my new stats, I easily accessed some muscle memory of my childhood and threw Devon over my shoulder. The air left his body as it crashed into the floor, inches from ending up as the desk's new paint.

Fuuuuuuck…

'Ha, nice, but arguably the wrong brother.'

"Shit, Devon. Are you okay?" I cried, reaching for him as Orion stepped into the room with a smirk.

"You pushed me away the first time, and I didn't initiate it," he mumbled between his coughs, pushing my hands away and averting his gaze from his brother's glinting eyes.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed as I stared down at him.

"She pushed me away so hard. I nearly went through the wall," Orion said with a light chuckle and the cold air leaving his eyes; how the fuck does he change his face like that? "Though I'm not entirely sure how that happened. I imagine it has something to do with a beginner rock climber completing expert challenges."

Even the devil was an angel once.

"What does that mean?" I blurted, processing his words.

"Didn't you read the tags on your way up?" He replied, shutting the study door.

The alarm bells rose in my head as Devon stood up and leaned against the desk with a glint in his eyes.

"I- yes. I followed the route," I mumbled with a frown, stepping back into the front of the sofa as he stepped towards me.

"And that wasn't your first mistake," Orion said with a smirk, and my breath had picked up several paces, "What did you steal from your desk before you ran off crying?" his smirk dropped, and he moved his arms to grab hold of me and rummaged around in my trouser pocket.

"What the fuck, get off," I cried in surprise, pushing him away and to the floor, the invoice from the Craver Institute crushed in his fist, "Devon," I exclaimed in surprise, scrambling forward to rip it from him.

 "Well damn, that's not where his thoughts were going," Devon sighed, grabbing hold of me and pulling me from him, "He knows a lot more than he's letting on," he whispered in my ears, and I narrowed my eyes on Orion.

"You followed me downstairs?"

"Yes," he replied, rising from the floor with that firm, cold glint in his eyes again. This makes me dizzy, "I followed you to the rock-climbing centre too. I wasn't lying, though; I go there every day. I was expecting you to meet up with my wife, and when you looked genuinely shocked that I went there, it made me evaluate some things. You climb beyond a novice, but you lack the foundations," he moved to grab my elbow, and I dipped away from him and pivoted so we switched places, and he was standing against the sofa.

"Don't fucking touch me," I growled, "You're a lot more like Rain than I thought," he was manipulating me the entire time, thinking I was working with his wife?

"What is that meant to mean? He's a fucking low-life drug dealer. Why is he even in your house?"

"You can't be serious? I've mentioned Rain at work. He's my ex, and don't act like that wasn't revenge for you until you followed me here."

"You never mentioned his name or job," he said arrogantly.

I scoffed and looked at him like he was stupid, "Right because I'm going to mention my boyfriend is a drug dealer when I work with biological diseases. I want to stay out of prison, thanks."

"Yep, I realised that after you looked at me like I was born yesterday."

"Don't feel too bad she was only born a few weeks ago," Devon retorted with a snicker, leaning against the desk to catch his breath.

I'm going to kill him. I'm going to push him out of the window.

"What the fuck is that meant to mean?" Orion hissed, looking at me with a strange warmth and taking a very long look at my bare arms with narrowed eyes.

I blinked and pulled my jacket sleeves down, suddenly feeling similar to when the institute workers stared at the track marks.

"Nothing," I sighed, moving to sit in my desk's chair, "so what has your wife been up to then, since we have established that I don't fucking know," I seethed, smacking my hand on the desk and ignoring the embarrassingly painful tingling that spread through my hand.

'Calm down. He can't read minds like Devon. I haven't detected anything, so maybe he's one of the normies.'

I fucking doubt that.

"It wasn't entirely revenge," he whispered, glancing at my hand.

"If you knew how much you've fucked up right now," Devon laughed, cutting it short when I bashed the keyboard with my fist and considered whether I should just kick them all the fuck out of my house.

"I found out that mom paid her in high school to date and marry me; she even made money off of carrying our children," his laugh was very dry toward his little brother, and my blood went very cold when I caught the despair that flashed in his eyes.

Oh wow, that's dark. 

Wait, isn't he nearly forty?

That's twenty-plus years of familial deceit.

'That doesn't excuse what he did,' the Ai grumbled.

You're right there, but I might have done the same thing if that happened to me.

It's not like my revenge for Molly is any better either, as she'll find out tomorrow night.