The Equation of Hearts

√𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟻𝟷ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩ

Elena sat in the car and watched Kato speak to Adonis and Sora. Sora was brightly pointing at things on a clipboard which was unsurprising but strange all the same. Athena was checking her phone and Odele was giving Antonio (who was crying like he had last time) water. Bianca was hugging herself and also looking out at the three of them.

"...Kids..." Elena spoke. They all looked at her, "what assessment is Sora talking about?" She whispered. They all looked at each other.

They had done it, they upset Elena. Bianca covered her ears and buried herself into her knees. If there was any time for her life to be any more fantastical than it had been with Kato in the picture, she'd want for now to be that moment. Where Kato would pull them out of their situation and settle it as he settled everything: silently. Athena looked at the texts to the organisation. She only wanted two, to target the tall, dark-haired one. They assumed Odele at first, then saw their true target. But the sniper was a genuine surprise. She was texting them - at least the sniper was from them.

"Kids?" She looked back at them. Bianca began crying and so did Elena, "this happened last week. Was this supposed to happen? Please tell me." She whispered shakily, her tears falling in large drops, down her cheeks. They were like crystals, how clear and rare they seemed to be for Elena to cry of genuine disappointment and fear.

"It was me." Athena raised her hand, "I proposed we assess the bodyguard... because I mean, that conversation from a few months ago was true. He does half the job, he's barely around. And the fact he wasn't here last week is a telling sign." She explained maturely. The other three watched their sister fess up, "I arranged everything. To the sniper after Odele and the man after you." She closed her eyes and was ready for something to happen. She wasn't sure what.

"You nearly killed my son." Elena croaked and rested a hand on her chest, choking a sob and covering her mouth, "do you hate us? Did I do something wrong?" She asked Athena, "was this because of the fight, Athena I'm sorry, please," she exhaled. Athena stared at her mother in utter shock. She thought of what Kato had said, and she covered her mouth.

"I nearly got Odele killed and you apologise!?" She suddenly yelled, but she stopped as she saw Kato walk past the car and Sora following behind. She watched them as Elena cried and saw Kato vanish all of a sudden. Then Sora followed behind. Were they fake then? Adonis climbed into the car and reached for Elena instantly, who fell into his shoulder while crying;

"Honey what did I-"

"We aren't continuing this. No." Athena shook her head, "not until your bodyguard is there to mediate." She turned a blind eye. Elena hiccupped, "stop crying,"

"Don't speak to your mother that way," Adonis shook his head gently. "But... that might be a good idea." He mumbled and snapped a finger for the driver to start driving.

In the penthouse, hours passed and it was still tense beyond belief. It wasn't even this bad last week. Elena had locked herself in her room and Athena couldn't stop thinking about what Kato had said. Odele was debating whether or not he would confess he was involved, and Bianca couldn't help but think of everything they hid from Elena since the beginning. Antonio didn't know what to think about. There was too much for his poor brain. And Adonis was outside, on a call with who had sent the hitmen.

Odele saw Athena have a shot and frowned, Bianca also arrived, holding onto Odele's shirt, Athena looked up at them. "What?" She sighed and poured another shot.

"I'm gonna tell her I was involved." Odele decided to be noble about it.

"Don't." Athena shook her head, "I took all the blame because I don't want her to realise we were all in this scheme without her. She doesn't need to know we shut her out this time," she shook her head quietly. There was a tragic truth that Athena realised. Though it was incredibly easy to love Elena for her darling personality and morals, it was also incredibly easy to leave her in the dark, easy to shut her out because she was such an oblivious pushover. Athena hated to realise that she understood why Elena was so damn alone most of her life.