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"I ASKED SIREN TO give him a kiss mark, but it's not because I wanted to spread his secret," Max explains. "I wanted to know something, that's why I asked Siren for help. I wanted to know why Thomas...hides the fact that his brother is Daniel Anderson Wilson, a member of the previous kings, Paradox."

     Everyone in the greenhouse became completely quiet as soon as Max said his reason. Some even thought that they heard him wrong.

     "Max, how did you—" Marcus was trying to wrap his head around it, repeating the words in his head over and over again. Thomas had a brother, and he was a member of Paradox, a king who Hans and the others knew too well. Such information wasn't easy to take in.

     The dukes couldn't process it, and some even wanted to pretend like he didn't hear anything, but surprisingly enough, no one tried to say anything that would make it look like they didn't believe Max.

     Out of all the white uniforms in J.S High or the other houses, Max was someone they trusted the most. He helped them in ways no one could have done, so when Max told them about Thomas's possible brother, they instantly knew...

     They knew that they have done something wrong to have recruited such a white uniform without even knowing about it.

     "Max, " Hans calls out, finally breaking the silence. "What you said...is it true?"

     "That's bullshit!" Thomas suddenly shouts, walking towards Max to grab him, but Hans angrily pushes him away, almost making Thomas stumble back.

     "You shut up. I'll let you speak later so you better think of a fucking good explanation on why you hid such a thing from us," Hans tells him before looking back at Max. "And you, you better explain yourself too because if what you're saying isn't true then I don't know what I'll fucking do with you, Max."

     Max nervously gulps and looks back at the Dukes and the Roses. He could tell that they wanted Max to be wrong because, for a long time, Thomas was a part of their brotherhood. If what Max said is true, then it means that Thomas has been lying to them all this time.

     This situation was like finding out that Ari was betraying Max all along. Max wouldn't be able to process that either if that happened to him for real.

     "I know this is hard to accept, but it's true, there's no reason for me to lie to all of you here. I saw his profile on J.S High's official records," Max explains, leaving out the other reasons since he didn't want to accidentally open up about his task for the banquet.

     "And why on earth would you fucking look at my records? Who the hell gave you that right, huh Sinclaire?" Thomas angrily asks.

     "So is it true then, considering how you're not denying it?" Arjun then asks before Max could even explain himself, leaving Thomas looking flustered.

    "I...I don't—" Thomas stutters and tries to think of a way to explain his side. If he just decided to stay calm, no one would have suspected a thing. His reaction gave it all away. Everyone was looking at Thomas, some with disbelief and some with disappointment in their eyes. He felt like there was no way for him to recover from this now, so he finally lets everything out.

     "I'm sorry," Thomas says, falling to the floor so he could kneel in front of the dukes. His action was so unexpected that even Richard gasped in shock. He never thought his friend would ever do such a thing.

     Max couldn't help but feel shitty inside while he looked at Thomas. He ruined Thomas's reputation, but at the same time, Max felt that something was still off. Something in the puzzle was missing. There has to be more than this.

    "I'm sorry," Thomas says again with his head held low.

     Hans clenches his fist and slowly walks toward his underling. "Thomas, we're not mad that you didn't want to tell us who your brother was, but Daniel? Daniel Anderson Wilson? You of all people should know what the kings have done to us."

     Thomas grits his teeth and directly look at Hans's eyes, looking back at the leader like he was blaming him for why this even happened. "This is the exact reason why I didn't tell you at all because if we're being honest here, would you have chosen me as your Rose if you knew I was related to him?" He then asks, irritation present in his voice.

     "Yes!" Hans answers with no hesitation. "You have been a rose long enough to know that we do not judge a student based on their family background alone. We are fully aware that you are not your brother, but the fact that you kept this from us means you're also fully aware of what he's done to us. Do you understand that Thomas? What if he's been using you all this time to get revenge? What then?" Hans asks back, and Thomas looks away again.

     Thomas doesn't say anything anymore while Hans stares back at him for one last time, massaging his temple before looking back at his underlings. "Alright, all of you, get out."

     The Roses looked at each other but didn't say anything as they bowed at the dukes and started heading out of the greenhouse as instructed. Richard, on the other hand, stops for a second and looks at Thomas before finally leaving with the others.

     "Max, we should go, too," Ari softly says as he approaches Max. He grabs Max's arm and was about to pull him away, but Max doesn't budge. 

     "You can go on ahead. I need to stay here. There's still something else I need to do," Max tells him.

     Ari furrows his brows in confusion, but he lets go of Max's arm with no question and walks out of the base without him.

     "Max, you should head back with Ari. Thank you for telling us about this matter, but we'll handle everything from here. I believe this is a matter we can easily solve together," Khian insists, encouraging Max to just leave with Ari, but Max shakes his head in disagreement.

     "No, like what you said earlier, I'm the one wearing your crown brooch. I know this might be adding fuel to the fire, but I think I have the right to say what's on my mind, especially since I was the one who started all this," Max tells everyone with a serious expression. "I also believe that this isn't something you can easily solve together, which is why I want to confirm something."

     Max walks toward Thomas and stands in front of him. Thomas, who's still kneeling on the floor, looks at Max angrily and asks him, "So what now? Do you have more secrets to ruin me?"

     "There's a reason why you deliberately hid that information from everyone. I think you and I know that," Max tells him, making Thomas laugh this time.

     "I already said it didn't I? I had no choice but to hide my brother's identity. I knew their relationship with Paradox. I had to keep it a secret because I was afraid that BND would remove me from being their Rose. If Siren didn't give me that fucking mark, everything would have been fine," Thomas explains, and Max looks back at Siren who was obviously not buying it either.

     "No, that's not the only reason," Max says, not convinced that that's the only reason Thomas has for hiding such a piece of information to the point where he was willing to forge his documents. Max wasn't entirely sure either. He doesn't know the exact reason, but with what Max learned from Siren, you can manipulate the situation by using the small information you've gathered. You can make someone confess on their own with the right push.

     If Keigo was right, if everything they were able to discover all leads to the real injustice, then Max has the chance to turn the table around.

     "The year you enrolled in J.S High is the same year your brother left Alpha Society to join Paradox," Max finally reveals, and Thomas's eyes widened in an instant. But compared to earlier, Thomas was able to keep his reactions calm, so he clears his throat and brushes Max's statement off. "And? What's your point?"

     Everyone was quiet as they waited for what Max was going to say next. Krist and Cj just watched, not even trying to get in between them, while Siren was observing the situation like she was Max's mentor. She was silently rooting for him to be right with whatever he was planning to do.

     "My point? Well, isn't it that he gave you your points, which is why you already ranked abnormally high in your first year?" Max confidently says like it was a fact, which surprised the others.

     "H-How could you...you don't have proof Sinclaire. And even if he did give me his points, that doesn't change anything. I didn't break any rule," Thomas tries to explain, and Max just stares at him, observing his reaction and his body language.

     Thomas looked nervous now, and this just gave Max the confirmation that there's definitely something more with this story that he hasn't solved yet.

     Max tries to remember the task written on his invitation again in hopes to find a clue. If he remembers correctly, the task wrote:  a man in white who carries the weight of his brother's past. Though they are not the same, he cannot seem to run away from his eldest's fiery brown eyes.

    "His brother's past," Max mumbles to himself, making the brotherhoods look at him confusingly. Max was silent for a while, thinking hard as he continuously recited the task in his head. But just when Hans was about to make Max stop whatever he was doing, Max's eyes widened in realization.

     "Alpha Society..." Max says, confusing the others even more.

    "Your brother, he did something to the Alpha Society," Max then tells Thomas.

     "What are you talking about?" Thomas dares to ask, and the smirk on Max's face made him realize that he already lost. It was a clear checkmate even though he barely made his move.

     "Daniel left a huge scar on the society which you can't seem to fix, didn't he?" Max asks as he slowly went down on one knee so he could level Thomas. "Did he hurt a member? No, I don't think so. Did he cheat? Steal? Manipulate?"

     Max stopped when he saw Thomas avert his eyes when he mentioned the word steal. Now Max had a lead.

     "So he stole something?"

     "Shut up..."

     "What did he steal? Documents? Brotherhood records? Funds?"

     "Fucking shut up..."

     "Did you know everything about it, is that why you're trying so hard to cover your past?"

     "I said shut up!" Thomas finally shouted in complete anger, suddenly grabbing Max's collar, making Max stumble back.

     Max was now lying on the floor while Thomas was on top of him. Marcus and the others were about to help him, but Hans stopped them before they could even take a step closer. They needed Max to finish this so they'd also find out about the truth. If they interfere now, they'll never know what happened.

     "You know nothing Sinclaire," Thomas says, angrily clenching Max's collar, but Max wasn't flustered at all. Thomas was now in the heat of the moment. One more push and he'll confess.

     "How much did he steal? What did he do with the funds? Huh? Did he give it to Paradox when he joined them? Did he illegally give Paradox weapons?" Max continues to ask, and the rapid questions he was giving to Thomas were making him even more confused and dazed.

     "Why are you so afraid that others would find out about your relationship with your brother? Did he make you the club leader so you could cover him? Did you—"

     "He bought merit points, okay?!" Thomas finally shouts, cutting Max off.

    Krist practically gasped while Cj had his mouth wide open, surprised by what he heard. Siren, on the other hand, sighed in relief, while BND was left dumbfounded.

    Thomas actually confessed.

     "M-my brother...used all the money in the society to buy illegal merit points," Thomas reveals as he finally lets go of Max's collar. "I've tried everything I can to make sure no one finds out. I didn't want to be associated with someone like that."

     Tears formed in Thomas's eyes while he slowly got off Max. Max stood up as well and stared at Thomas with sadness. Now he understood the injustice that was mentioned in his invitation. Because if his brother illegally bought points, then...

     "The points he gave you were from that illegal transaction...and you knew about it all along but you didn't say anything," Max says, and Thomas angrily clenches his fist.

     "My brother gave me his points and I took them because I knew how cruel J.S High's system can be. If the council or the association finds out, I'll get demoted, or even worse, get deliberated. I might even lose Alpha Society, so please, you can't tell anyone," Thomas suddenly begs, and the dukes couldn't believe what they were hearing from one of their own underlings.

    "Are you hearing yourself right now, Thomas? For god's sake, you're an underling of BND, they follow three traits, honor, grace, and—"

     "I don't care!" Thomas selfishly shouts. "I admit that I have taken illegal points from my brother, but I'm proud that I was able to achieve everything else on my own."

     "You're proud?" Max asks in disbelief. "You don't paint on a dirty wall and expect that the dirt will just disappear. It will still be hidden behind all that glamor. There is absolutely no reason for you to be proud of anything," Max says with such a strong conviction that Thomas wasn't even to say anything else.

     Thomas then looks back at the dukes, and all the members were staring at him with complete disappointment.

     "Don't look at me like that," Thomas says, suddenly laughing like he found the entire situation funny. "You can't judge me. I brought great pride to Boys Next Door. I wore the brooch and made the white uniforms see how incredible the Roses are. I made—"

    Thomas stops midsentence when Hans suddenly grabbed him by the collar. Hans looked so angry and disappointed. He looked like he was going to cry too, but he tries his best to calm down because he might end up doing something worse.

     "How dare you disrespect our brotherhood like this Thomas. You think we'd be grateful after hearing what you just said? There's a reason why we only have a few underlings, and that's because they perfectly represent what we believe in. Only those who we think are worthy can wear our brotherhood symbol," Hans says, and the dukes couldn't help but feel disheartened.

     How did they not see all this? How could they let someone like Thomas wear their brooch?

     "We were proud of you, Thomas. Your fellow underlings looked up to you. White uniforms wanted to be like you. We were proud of what you were able to do, yet your merit points are all fake!? What's even worse, you bought them using the money your society worked hard to collect. How dare you wear our brooch!" Hans shouts, grabbing the brooch on Thomas's collar and pulling it off him.

     Thomas was surprised as he slowly reaches out to now hold onto his empty collar. "Why are you all so mad? I didn't even do anything. It was my brother who—"

     "Don't give me that bullshit! You knew, all these years you knew, and you had all the time to fix it. You should have given up those points and started fresh. You could have been a great club leader and made up for your brother's mistake yet you kept quiet about it. Aren't you ashamed?!" Hans angrily asks, grabbing both of Thomas's shoulders. 

     Hans wanted to say more, but Arjun holds Hans's arm, finally making Hans let go of Thomas.

     "You're dismissed," Hans says, turning back and looking away from Thomas. "Permanently."

    Thomas doesn't say anything anymore and was about to leave, but then a white uniform appears in front of everyone, surprising them. It was the Elites' secretary, Richard Young.

     "Richard?" Max asks in shock, and Richard bows in front of the Dukes.

     "I apologize, my dukes, but I heard everything. I wanted to hear Thomas's explanation too. I wanted to believe what I wanted to believe, but now it has been cleared up," Richards says before looking back at Thomas. "Thomas Anderson Woods, according to Article IV Section C, you are subjected to deliberation after confessing your participation in the illegal exchange of merit points. Please, follow me."

    Thomas doesn't say anything and just nods his head as he quietly follows Richard. Richard takes a deep breath and looks at Max, nodding his head towards him as a form of thank you.

     When they were already gone, Max approaches Hans and pats him on the shoulder.

     Hans looks at him and sighs. "Thank you, Max. If you weren't able to tell us anything about this then we never would have known. Thomas would have continued to stain the reputation of the Roses," he tells him, and Max just gives him a small smile.

    Hans then looks at Siren and walks closer to her.  He stood straight in front of the marquis and says, "I apologize for pointing my gun at you, my marquis. If it may please you, you can swing your sword and slice my chest."

    Siren stares at Hans as Hans puts his arms on the side so Siren could get a better aim. Max was worried that Siren would actually pull her sword out, but instead, she chuckles and says, "There is no need for that. If Max asked me to do it, I don't mind getting pointed by a gun again for his sake."

    Max was surprised, but Hans smiles and nods his head in understanding. "It seems we have a similar resolve." 

     Hans looks back at Max and suddenly bows to him, making the rest of the dukes bow to him again.

     "What are you guys—"

     "Thank you, Max. We would have continued to blindly praise Thomas if it wasn't for you," Arjun says, his head low to show Max his deepest respect.

     "N-No, you don't have to bow. I didn't really do anything. To be honest I did this because—" Before Max could even finish his sentence, Krist appears behind him and covers his mouth, stopping Max from saying more.

    "It's because of the banquet, right?" Krist asks instead, surprising Max.

     "We knew it was connected to that the moment you revealed that you were the one who asked Siren to give Thomas the kiss mark," Cj then says as he approaches Max and Krist. "It's pretty obvious that this is connected because of that."

     "So you don't have to explain your reason. Just let us thank you," Marcus then says as he and the rest of BND stood back up, and Krist eventually removes his hand from Max's mouth.

     "I'm pretty mad that he even stained Alpha Society," the duke, Leo Underwood, then says since he was a former member of that society too. "No wonder we had to do a lot of tasks when I joined them. Who would have known it's because we needed to get all the funds his brother stole."

    "What now?" Siren then asks as he joins the rest. "It seems like you're once again connected to Paradox. What will you do if Daniel takes his revenge on what you did to his brother?"

     The question made the others tense, but Hans didn't back down. He was no longer scared of them. If something were to happen now then he'd be ready.

    "It seems as though fate has a way of getting us associated with the previous kings. If the time comes, we'll be here. We aren't running away again," Hans confidently says, and Krist, Cj, Siren, and the other members of BND nodded their heads in agreement.

    "But the four brotherhoods won't be enough Max. As much as I don't like their asses, we need the Royals," Krist then says.

     "So get into that banquet and give them hell. We'll patiently wait for you here," Cj says with a grin, and Max nods his head and smiles at his protectors.

     "Now go, we'll handle everything else from here. Finish what you have to finish," Hans then says, and Max looks at the brotherhoods one last time before giving them a deep bow.

     Right after, Max runs out of the greenhouse. When he closed the door behind him, Max squats on the floor and takes a deep breath. "I just finished my first task," he tells himself, closing his eyes as he tries to let everything sink in.

     Everything came as a shock that he didn't even know what really happened. He's still trying to grasp the situation, but at the end of it all, what's clear is that Max was able to solve his first injustice.

     There's this sense of relief, but at the same time, there was this growing sadness. He couldn't help but feel sad about what happened to Thomas because despite what he did and how he took BND for granted, Thomas wasn't an entirely evil person. Yes, he was greedy and prideful, but other than that Thomas was still a strong gaffer that did what he had to do to survive J.S High. Yes, it was wrong, but Max could somehow understand why he did it.

     "This won't do," Max says, opening his eyes back and quickly pulling out his phone from his pocket. He searches for someone in his contacts and then sent that person a message. When he finally sent what he needed to send, Max stood back up and takes a deep breath before heading back to the tiny room where his trusted assistant was waiting.

     The first task is finally complete.

     Now there are three days left before the most awaited banquet.

- END -