Two Perfect Wrongs

An Uncomfortable Truth

The murder of Ashland Locke became the most talked about topic in town. All guests at his farewell party had given their statements and were waiting to be cleared. Personally both Adam and Victor thought that Victoria was the killer. The eldest Newman sibling was acting very on edge lately; snapping constantly and looking like she hadn't slept in days. Victor thought that Locke drove her to it; Adam thought that she just wanted him dead. Not that he blamed her, he would kill anyone who dared touch Connor.

Unfortunately, Ashland Locke wasn't Adam's only problem; Johnny knew that Connor was his half-brother and Connor didn't. Adam was afraid that Johnny would blab to Connor about it and with school starting up soon the possibility of that happening was rising. He really didn't want to have this conversation by himself, but thanks to Chelsea he was forced to. He was going to have to have another uncomfortable conversation with Nick about Christian.

If Connor was going to find out about one brother, he should learn about the other one. He thought that Connor would feel more betrayed by him not telling the whole truth rather than what the truth was. The CEO groaned thinking about his older brother's reaction; they had finally gotten to a decent place, and he was afraid this would derail it. Poor Connor, Adam thought, this year was going to go down as the probable worst year of his young life. He felt Sally massage his shoulders and he grabbed one of her hands to kiss it. 

"Thank you honey." Adam thanked her as he texted Nick. 

"Anytime" Sally replied with a sad smile. She felt awful for all parties involved. 

Later That Day

Nick sat in Society waiting for Adam to arrive. He was curious as to what his younger brother wanted to talk about. The thoughts that crossed his mind ranged from amusement to horror. "I'm sorry I'm late." Nick looked up to see Adam pulling out the chair across the table from him.

"It's fine. What did you want to talk about?"

Adam took a deep breath before starting, "Did you know that Victoria and Billy told Johnny that Chelsea is his biological mother?" Nick nodded so Adam continued, "I want... need to tell Connor this before he finds out from somebody else. However, I don't want to tell him a half-truth. If Connor finds out about one brother, he should find out about the other one."

Adam looked Nick straight in the eyes, "Nick, I wanted to give you a heads up. I know this isn't how we wanted the boys to find out or the age. I just..." Adam struggled to finish his thought. "I have to do what I think is best for Connor and I can't keep lying to him. The poor kid has been through so much already, I don't know how much more he can take."

Nick stared at his distressed brother, not knowing what to think. The rational part of his brain understood Adam's logic, it made sense and would be better for Connor if he found out everything at once. The irrational part wanted to tell Adam to shove it and cling to Christian; the boys didn't need to know just yet that they were brothers. Nick felt Adam's eyes on him, but he just didn't know what response to give.

"Nick?" Nick looked up from the table to meet his brother's stressed eyes. "Nick, I know that I've put you in an unfair situation, but can you please tell me what you're thinking?"

Nick sighed before answering, "Why tell Connor now? Victoria told Johnny not to say anything to Connor. He won't find out."

"Nick, you know how kids are. Secrets accidentally slip out all the time. I can't risk Connor finding out from someone else and feeling betrayed again. Or worse, giving him false information which would cause even more drama."

"You're going to tell Connor the truth about Johnny? The whole truth? You think he can handle that?" Nick questioned.

"No, not the whole truth." Adam explained feeling exhausted. "He doesn't need to know how Chelsea became pregnant. I don't think he would fully understand and I don't want him to hate his mother. Not to mention there's the Victor angle and I really don't want to open up that can of worms unless I absolutely have to."