♝

"MAX, COME OUT FROM there. Dinner's ready," Marcus says from the other side of the door, but Max doesn't answer, making Marcus sigh in defeat.

     "If you're thinking about what happened with Cj, then call him and talk to him. You're no longer in J.S High Max. Out here, you're just Max. You don't have to protect Jokers or Krist. Out here, you're just you," Marcus suddenly says, but Max still didn't answer.

     "Fine, if you don't want to then I'll just ask Étienne to leave some for you for later," Marcus says instead before finally heading downstairs.

     Max, who was in his bedroom, was actually on the balcony, smoking so much that he already finished an entire pack. What happened earlier was something that he could have never expected. He never expected Cj to do such a thing, especially since Cj is known to be very truthful.

     "You want advice? Well then, let me give you one. Siren is known as the master of secrets. If you want to be able to conquer them then make sure you don't have anything you wish to hide. Because as soon as you cross paths with that motherfucker, what you're scared of the most will be feasted on by the people who hate you the most. And that shit is terrifying." Max remembers Cj say before.

     At that moment Max was confused as to why Cj would even say such a thing. Cj, who is not scared of anything, said that about Siren, like he was warning Max.

    It all made sense now. All the warnings and the signs. Everyone told Max that Siren was someone that he shouldn't be messing with. Even Viktor, the king, told him how terrifying Siren could be. This is the only time when Max finally understood what that meant.

    "Siren...Sky...how are you two connected?" Max says as smoke escapes his mouth.

     Max finishes his last cigarette before dropping it on the floor and stepping on it. He unconsciously reaches out for his collar, realizing that he wasn't wearing his uniform anymore. It made Max realize that he's been touching his collar instead of his necklace recently.

    After having a few moments with himself, Max finally heads inside his bedroom, grabbing his coat, his phone, and his car keys to go somewhere. He then quickly went downstairs and saw Étienne who was busy folding clothes.

     "Oh, master Leigh, about the name of Crème de la crème's rank 8, I was able to—"

     "I'm heading out first. We can talk about that later," Max answers, ignoring his butler and quickly heading to the parking lot where he took his car and drove off.

     As someone who knows what a powerful brotherhood can do, Max knows best that chain-smoking at home while waiting for a miracle to happen is the last thing he should be doing. He has to keep his feelings in check because if he doesn't, everything, from Jokers' pranks, BND's pageant, and Cigarettes' deals would have all been thrown away just because of a single brotherhood whose identity remains unknown.

     "This will be the last time. If you still remain silent, then the deal's definitely off," Max says, clenching the steering wheel when he said it.

     When Max finally arrived at the location where he wanted to be at, the young heir quickly went out of his car, slamming it shut. The old man who was sitting on the floor just outside the old building spots Max and immediately smiled at him, but Max ignored him and went straight inside the building.

     Everyone was surprised to see him, so a familiar woman who was just at the lobby, quickly goes to Max, stopping him before Max could even step inside the elevator.

     "S-Sir Sinclaire! What are you doing here?" Rose, also known as Cj's secretary, asks before closing the elevator door. "If you're here to see master Charles, I suggest you set a different appointment because the master is—"

    "Is he here?" Max interrupts.

     Rose looked flustered. She wanted to make something up because she didn't want to be scolded again, but suddenly, someone appeared behind them and said, "Let him through."

     Max and Rose turned around and saw Anthony Rockefeller, Cj's right hand and the co-chairman of this company, standing behind him with his hands inside his pocket. "Let him through. Cj is at his office, you won't miss him," Anthony repeats himself.

     Rose didn't understand why Anthony was letting Max go, but she steps away from the elevator anyway so Max could pass through. Max then nods his head at Anthony before walking inside the elevator and heading to where Cj can be found.

     When Max got there, he takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. No one answered so he knocked for the second time. When he still didn't answer, Max finally opened the door and went inside. 

     The office was completely dark so Max thought that no one was there, but when he turned the lights on, he saw Cj sitting in front of his desk, empty bottles of alcohol and cigarette buds scattered on the floor. Cj was surprised to see Max, but instead of greeting him, he said, "What are you doing here? You've cut ties with me right, so scram..."

     Max doesn't say anything and walks closer to Cj. When he got closer, he notices the bruises on Cj's face. He didn't even properly put a bandaid on it.

     "I came here as Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire, the ignorant and stubborn heir that helped your company from bankruptcy, and not the white uniform Max who's being protected by three brotherhoods," Max truthfully says, but Cj doesn't say anything and just grabs another bottle and starts chugging it down.

    Max got annoyed by Cj's lack of interest, so he quickly moved closer, snatching the bottle from Cj's hand and throwing it on the wall, making the bottle shatter into pieces. The sound didn't even make Cj flinch as he was about to grab another bottle, but Max quickly told him, "I am giving you this one chance...this one fucking chance Charles...I want to hear your side, not as a white uniform but as your friend because Cj I am so angry right now. I want to get mad but I just..."

    Max clenches his fist and tries his best not to shed a tear.

     "You know right? You know why I didn't side with you?" Max asks him. "It would have been so disrespectful to side with you at that moment when Jokers was there, you know why? Because it would have been a slap to their faces. Siding with you when their leader was literally having panic attacks at the clinic would have been a huge stab to them, do you understand that?" Max continues to ask, but Cj still didn't answer.

     "You didn't make that post, I know. But there wouldn't have been a post to begin with if you didn't say anything to Siren, and that is the reason why we're angry. But because I am your friend, and because I want to fucking make sure I can still trust you, I want to know your side. Give me one reason and I will bow to you again like I have bowed to you before," Max says, his voice almost shaking because he was moments away from breaking down in front of him.

     Cj finally looks at Max and drops the bottle on the floor.  "I was a coward..." Cj finally starts, and that single statement instantly made everything stop.

     "I'm a fraud, Max. I'm not as truthful as you think I am. I've been a coward all my life. Be it with Alessandra, Krist, Serenity...all of them. All I did was make lies and this is just my rightful karma," Cj continues to say, confusing Max even more.

     Max obviously knew Krist, he knew Alessandra too because she was the woman who took care of Cj when he was young; he knew about that story because Cj told him about it himself. But the other one...it was the first time Max ever heard of that name.

     "Serenity? Who's Serenity?" Max asks him, but Cj just stands from his seat and laughs.

     "When I received the red kiss mark, I just laughed it off. I said to myself that 'Siren's never going to get anything from me because I have nothing to hide.' I was so fucking confident without knowing that Siren always had keys to everyone's locked doors. She said that she knew the secret I've kept all my life; the secret I swore I'd never mention to anyone...she knew, and I got so scared that I didn't care about what Mj would feel or what others would feel so I gave Krist's secret away. At least that would save me," Cj shares, barely walking properly because of how much alcohol he's drunk.

     "Do you want to know the secret I've desperately tried to hide?" Cj then asks. With Cj's state, Max honestly didn't want to know, but Cj insisted as he grabbed Max by his shoulders and said, "If I don't say this out loud I might just die so please listen."

     Cj squeezes Max's shoulder, he then looks down on the floor, not daring to look Max straight in the eye as he said, "Three years ago...I saw it."

     Max didn't say anything and just waited. He didn't want to pressure Cj so he didn't say anything. But just by the first few words that he said, Max couldn't help but feel nervous.

     "Serenity...Serenity Karlsson. She was the previous queen," Cj explains, making Max's eyes widen from shock.

     "The previous Queen? The previous leader of Vixens?" Max asks, trying to put all the puzzles together. How does Cj know her? Why is she suddenly being mentioned when even Cindy hasn't said anything about her before?

     "Three years ago, Serenity visited J.S High because Paradox called for her. After classes, Krist and I stayed behind because we were setting up pranks, and there I saw it," Cj shares, his hands on Max's shoulder now trembling.

    "You don't have to—"

    "Don't..." Cj quickly says, pushing his index finger against Max's lips so Max wouldn't be able to stop him. This was the only time where Cj has the courage to say this out loud. It could be because of the alcohol he drank or because it was Max, but one thing's for sure, if Max stops him now, he might never be able to say this again.

     "A-at the end of the hallway at the Hall of Janus, there was a locked door. I heard a noise so I wanted to know what it was. I took a peek and there I saw..." Cj pauses for a second, and then he looked back at Max, his eyes now filled with tears. Cj didn't say anything, but Max quickly understood. He was so speechless that all he could do was cover his mouth from shock.

     "The previous kings, Paradox, they were...they were all over her," Cj finally reveals, instantly bringing chills down Max's spine. "I didn't know what to do so I ran. I couldn't say anything because I was so fucking scared. I pretended like I didn't see anything and then shit all went to hell right after. I could have done something but I just—"

     Cj stops and moves away from Max.

     Max couldn't say a single word. He didn't know how to react. This was something serious.

     A previous queen was sexually assaulted by the previous kings. It all made sense now. The reason why the House of Queens hated J.S High, and the reason why Vixens was so cautious when they visited the school, was all because of this.

     "No one in J.S High knew that it happened, and at that time I wanted to say something, but Paradox was just out of my control. I wasn't a count back then, nor was Viktor the king. None of us could have done anything...or that's what I wanted to believe," Cj confesses, slowly kneeling down on the floor, his eyes now filled with tears.

     Max looked down at Cj, and for the first time, he couldn't recognize him. This man, the strong leader of the counts, made the mistake of crossing paths with Siren, and in a snap, he started to crumble.

     "If I could rewind time I would have done something. I swear to god I would, but I was fucking weak. I was weak Max, and that guilt has carried me until this very moment. I tried to forget, but it haunted me. Nothing was ever the same," Cj says, his head tilted down as the tears dropped on the floor.

     The room falls silent as Max walks towards a sofa to take a seat. He thought he was going to faint because of everything he just heard. He wanted to pity Cj but he couldn't. He couldn't say anything either because this doesn't involve Max at all. All he could do now is let everything sink in.

    "What are you going to do?" Max asks while massaging his temple.

    Cj takes a deep breath and wipes his tears with his bare hands. "I'm not going to J.S High for a while. I already sent a letter to president Janus. I'm not running away, but I have to compose my thoughts and reflect on everything I've done, especially for Krist and Serenity. I'm still scared, but I have to confess everything eventually," Cj says, and all Max could do was nod his head.

     Max didn't say anything about it because he couldn't. This matter doesn't involve him anymore. This runs deeper into the brotherhoods past, a timeline where Max wasn't a part of. The only thing Max could comment about now is his relationship with Cigarettes and Jokers which is clearly falling apart.

    "I'm sorry...Max. I'm not what you think I am. Maybe everyone's right. Maybe I really am an asshole," Cj finally says, and all Max could do was chuckle.

     "Don't apologize to me. I'm not the one who shared someone else's secret to others," Max says, but then he looks back at Cj and gives him a sad smile. "Instead, I would like to apologize for the things I did and said to you earlier," Max tells him, suddenly standing up and bowing to Cj, surprising Cj even more.

     "Though I am still quite disappointed and angry at you, it was not right to let my emotions get the best of me. I was tired, I've been running around J.S High, making sure the rumor doesn't spread any further that I ended up becoming exhausted without even knowing it. That is not an excuse though, but I hope there will be a time when you can forgive me," Max adds, bowing even deeper.

     Cj looks back at Max, and for the first time, he felt his heart break. "I don't deserve you," he mumbles to himself before approaching Max and making him stand properly. He then grabs Max and hugs him, an action that Max never thought Cj would do. He was surprised, but he eventually hugs Cj too and pats his back.

     When they broke free from the hug, Cj tells him, "What I did...doesn't deserve your apology. Whatever my reason was, it was not right for me to tell Siren about Krist's darkest past. Whether we were on good terms or not, it was wrong, and anyone who tries to justify it is selfish."

     "Is that the reason why you just let Brave beat you up?"

     "To tell you the truth that wasn't even enough," Cj confesses. "Brave is Krist's real best friend. He's like his brother, and I know for a fact that if I did the exact same thing to you, Marcus would have done worse," Cj then explains, and Max could only laugh it off because he knew what his big brother could really do.

    "Well I hope you know why I gave you your brooch back," Max then opens up, and Cj surprisingly nodded his head.

     "Like what you said, the brooches on your collar aren't just a prop. I am not your only protector. You are protected by both BND and Jokers, two brotherhoods who made a pack with each other as well. With what my relationship is with them now, my crown brooch doesn't deserve to be on your collar."

     Max nods his head, glad that Cj was able to understand his point.

     "Give it back to me...after you properly apologize to Krist," Max says, making Cj nod his head back, as if apologizing to Krist wasn't even an option but a task that he had to fulfill.

     "I understand why you were so angry. You're running for president after all, and a president can't have favorites. But other than that, I know how much you love Krist. He was the first brotherhood leader who believed in you," Cj says with a shy smile. "Mj was always like that. Despite what happened to him, he doesn't lose hope in people. For fuck's sake he forgave me after what I did to him when we were still white uniforms."

     "Brotherhood is important to him after all," Max says as he walks towards the exit.

     Before taking his leave, Max gives Cj one last piece of his thoughts. "Regarding what happened with Serenity, I cannot say anything that is out of my reach, but know that silence is loud. Whether she already got her justice, she deserves your truth. One person who makes a sound gives Serenity another push. That's the only thing I can say about that matter."

     "I know."

     "If you don't say anything I'm going to betray you and tell others instead. Don't challenge me, Mr. Mills," Max says as he finally grabbed the doorknob to open the door. But before Max could even take a step, Cj suddenly stops him.

     "Before you leave, I want you to know something else," he says, making Max look back at him. "I left a mark on Siren's neck."

     "Siren's neck?" Max confusingly asks.

     "I strangled her," Cj answers, shocking Max even more.

    "So you want me to...check everyone's...neck?" Max confusingly asks, but Cj shakes his head as a reply.

     "No, you only have to check one."

     "Who?"

     "Sky...your new advisor," Cj reveals, making Max widen his eyes from shock.

     "I have a strong belief that Sky and Siren are one person. I only told Siren about Krist's secret, and I know for a fact that Siren won't just share it with anyone, so if you see Sky and find the mark on her neck then that's her. That's the marquis...that's the master of secrets."

...

Max goes back to his car. As soon as he sat on the driver's seat and closed the door, he sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't expect that talking to Cj would make things more complicated, but Max was only glad that he finally knows Cj's side. Max nor Cj didn't claim that it was right or that it was justified, but to know the reason is enough for now.

     "If I want to solve this problem, I have to target the main source, and that's Siren. If Sky is really Siren then I want to know why she's doing this. What does she gain in all this?" Max asks, leaning his head on the steering wheel.

     After a few more seconds of silence, Max finally start his car. But before he could even start driving off, Max's phone suddenly rings. Max takes his phone and sees that it was his butler calling. He didn't want to answer, but after a few more rings, Max sighed and answered the call.

     "Hello?"

     "Master, I know you don't want me calling, but may I know what time you're coming home?" Étienne asks.

     "Don't worry, I'm already heading back," Max answers, making Étienne sigh in relief. "Now, if you don't have anything else to say then—"

     "Wait, master, I just remembered, I was trying to tell you earlier but you left in a hurry. It's about the person you asked me to look for, Crème de la crème's rank 8. I was able to gather information and found out who it was," Étienne reveals, immediately making Max sit up straight.

     "Really? You found him?" Max excitedly asks.

     "Her," Étienne corrected, surprising Max. "It's a her. Actually it's a bit confusing because it was revealed that she died three years ago. How she died was not disclosed, but my sources said that the name under that rank is still hers."

     "So what is it? What's her name?" Max asks, growing more and more anxious by the second.

     "The name under rank 8 of Crème de la crème is Serenity Karlsson, but her family called her...Serine."

- END -