Secrets - The secrets that protect us

Chapter 39

Lucas

Laying on his bed, he stared at the white ceiling. It wasn't exactly productive, but he had been for the past three hours.

That was partly a lie. He had spent the afternoon at the ARIA, searching for the justice he so desperately wished for his mother.
Then, he had come home and started studying since exams were coming up. Asher was studying in his own room too, and it was still unusual to him.

Wyatt and Lucas had both observed that Asher's behavior had changed, though they were not sure what had caused his sudden change of heart. Asher was doing his chores, fooled around less, and took his school work seriously. He was on a good way to become an independent person. It gave Lucas hope that his brother wouldn't end up living with him.

Lucas had studied for an hour and a half before texting Luna and ending up in a video call with her. She had only agreed under the condition that he would still focus on studying. He had promised to study, yet he had watched her run around behind the counter of the café, baking and serving people. Whether he would remember anything he learned in that hour was to be discovered later.

For the last half an hour, he had been laying on his bed. His mind occupied with questions he had no answers and might not want to hear the answers to.

Would it be enough for him to have them arrested and punished for lesser crimes? Would it even be enough to prove they had murdered his mother? Worse than that, what role did his father play in it? Was he involved at all? What if he was?

In an attempt to stop thinking about it, he focused on the other mission. They had Sam and Tresha in their custody, but they weren't talking. Lucas was beginning to consider that they actually knew nothing about Malcolm's plan.

Jackson and Charlie had gotten a track yesterday on their investigations, and Jackson had made arrangements to prevent another disaster and mass casualties. If it was enough, they had to find out. He should be focusing on it. Actual human lives were depending on him and the others and many didn't even know about it.

He should be focusing on that instead of searching for his mother's murderers. Not when he could've done that later. The only thing he had wanted was to know why all of it happened and now that he had them, he couldn't stop. It would be hard to find them once they slipped from his hands. Was that egoistic?

His thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. Jumping off the bed, he went to open the door, just to throw it close again. It wasn't rude to slam the door in the devil's face.
Too bad that the devil put his foot in the threshold, preventing the door from closing.

"Is this how you greet your father?" Mr. Carter spoke as he entered the apartment and walked further in.
"If he only behaved like one," Lucas muttered under his breath so that even his father couldn't understand. Running his hand through his hair, he closed the door and followed his father into the living room.

He hadn't sat down, instead he stood with his back to the sofas and faced Lucas.
"Where's my son?" Right in front of you, Lucas thought as he walked into the kitchen to get himself a something to drink. Not like he was going to get rid of his father any time soon.

"Upstairs. He's studying," Lucas answered as he opened the fridge to get some juice.
"I take it your exams are soon if he's studying this focused."
"They already began." Lucas brought the glass of juice to his lips, wondering what his father was actually interested in. He couldn't care less whether Asher passed or not. He would always be his son, no matter if he fucked up or not.
After all, Asher wasn't Lucas.

While Asher didn't have to do anything to get their father's attention, Lucas could do everything and still not get it. Being a great student and having an excellent job would not be enough. He wasn't sure that anything would be enough. Maybe if he changed all his morals.
Like that would ever happen.