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Gift Zero
Chapter 21 - A Difficult Path

Chapter 21 - A Difficult Path

After Mira's question, I saw Brent nod slightly, confirming all the suspicions we already had.

With his countenance still neutral, Sid let out a short sigh and looked back at Brent and Suzana, who was helping him up from the floor.

“I'm going to propose an alternative for you two: we'll pretend that nothing happened. However, you'll have to tell Roccia about your case.”

When Sid made that comment, Brent and Suzana looked at each other, visibly confused, as if they hadn't understood. However, before Brent had a chance to speak, Suzana interrupted him, speaking first.

“Why does it have to be us? It could be anyone else, even her friends.”

Suzana asked, confused, not understanding what Sid was getting at with that comment. After all, it would be less painful to hear the truth from her sister than from someone else. And I honestly wasn't going to say anything. I was already holding myself back from going after them. Seeing all the work and effort we'd put in until late at night being destroyed out of sheer selfishness was making me extremely angry.

That question had made me so angry that I was about to answer it myself, but before I could, I heard Sid let out another sigh and then give his answer.

“We didn't even need to answer that question, but think about it: hearing that truth from you will hurt a lot less than hearing it from a stranger.”

After answering Suzana's question dryly and directly, without even changing his neutral countenance, Sid picked up his backpack and prepared to leave the room. However, I interrupted his action with a comment.

“To complement what Sid said and to answer your question...”

I started to say, pointing my finger at Suzana, trying to disguise the anger that was building up inside me.

“We could even tell Roccia about this, but although it's not our duty, I'm sure she'd be disappointed in us. After all, as well as being your best friend, Brent, she's also your little sister, Suzana. So, fulfill your roles as friend and sister, and don't deceive her... she doesn't deserve this.”

Brent, who until that moment had remained silent, finally spoke up as soon as he heard my words.

“You're right... this is all our fault. We should have told her from the start, but since she's always been so secretive, we thought she'd never have the courage to declare herself. So, we decided to leave it alone.”

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Brent commented, letting out a long sigh. I didn't know if it was me or if it was just in my head, but I sensed a slight hint of regret in his words.

As everyone had made their points and said what they wanted, we were about to leave when, for the first time, Camellya, who hadn't said a word since the beginning of the conversation, decided to speak up.

“Camellya thinks Brent and Suzana should tell Roccia the whole truth together...”

Camellya commented in third person, still with that cute tone that, just hearing it, made my anger and revolt disappear completely.

After letting out a sigh, as if to say 'I've done all I can do here', Sid turned his back on everyone and walked through the door, out of the room and leaving us behind.

“As he himself has already mentioned, I believe we've done all we can do here.”

Mira commented, taking the same route that Sid had taken. However, before she walked through the door, she turned around again, with a serious look on her face that even frightened Brent and Suzana a little. Then she spoke again.

“If you have a shred of decency left in you, you'll do the right thing.”

After such an impactful, albeit brief, comment, Mira turned and walked out the door.

The impact of Mira's words sent Brent and Suzana into a deep silence. For a few seconds, they stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

As soon as Brent realized that Suzana was consumed by guilt, he decided to take her hand and intertwine his fingers in hers, as if to say: 'We did this together, and together we'll get through it.

I, still seething with anger over what they had done to the chocolate, ended up following Mira and Sid without saying a word. After all, of everyone there, I was the one who was most annoyed with those two, because I was the only one who had seen all the effort Roccia had put into that sweet.

***

[Sid’s POV]

After I left the room and lost Mira and Astrid with the excuse that I was leaving, I headed for the only place I thought Roccia would hide: the library.

As I walked, a thought came to me: what had happened to me to make me so angry? This was definitely not my style; I didn't get angry easily.

It was then that I realized that, in this situation, what really bothered me was discovering that Roccia had worked so hard to do something that neither her sister nor her friend cared about. But even so, I knew that it wasn't in my nature to meddle so much in other people's lives.

When I got to the library, I realized that it was empty. I walked to the back and sat down at the same table where, a few days earlier, I had had that conversation with Roccia.

Without saying a word, I pulled up a chair and rested my face on the surface of the table, and waited patiently for Roccia. But as I waited, that same question came back to haunt my mind.

“What's happening to me?”

I kept my head down, asking myself, still with that neutral countenance I used to hide the real me.

“Why did I end up telling Roccia about my past? It was such a risky decision... I need to control myself more. What if she tells someone and ends up digging deeper, discovering things I'd rather keep secret?”

After letting out a short sigh, I raised my head and once again lost myself in my thoughts as I stared at nothing.

(Maybe I got carried away by the resentment of her pain and, deep down, wanted to show that all of us, even the coldest, have our fears. Or maybe that was just an excuse I made up for myself, and what I really wanted was simply to get it off my chest).

I thought to myself as I tried to find an excuse to justify what I had done.

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