Misstaken ✓ | #Wattys2019

19. t h e t r u t h

Why did I feel nervous meeting Yuri, and finding out about what he wanted to tell me?

I was almost certain the revelation had to do with Hestia. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with the facts. Maybe I was too biased, and I couldn't see Nick — or the rest of the Sheldons — as possibly the bad guys.

That was, if what I had suspected was true —

I arrived way in advance and tried to search up Yuri's last name.

I couldn't believe I spent years knowing Yuri and Kylie and had no idea what their real last names were. After a certain incident plagued their family, they apparently changed it to a new one to signal a fresh start.

In fact, I knew little about their family. It just seemed like such a sensitive issue — I knew something major happened that was pretty touchy to mention.

I searched all the citations, all of his reports, and somehow their original last names were never mentioned.

Maybe it was because they had changed it so long ago? Or maybe it was even more complicated than that. Kylie majored in Computer Science, and she was an amazing hacker.

I knew all too well the illegal things she could hack her way into. Changing their identities could be feasible.

"You're searching me up. Interesting."

I jumped at the breath exhaled onto my back as Yuri surprised me from behind. He headed to the seat across me, carrying two milkshakes.

I shut my phone quickly. "I just wanted to view your past paper on colonoscopy. I just read an article about the prevalence of colon cancer, you see."

"Mmhmm." He sipped a shake and slid the other across the table. Both him and I knew that was a slipshod lie. "I got you strawberry, your favorite. No whipped cream, an additional espresso shot."

That was my usual milkshake order. Don't judge the precision.

"I was going to get you food, but I didn't know what you wanted. I never know if it's 2 or 3 sandwiches, for that matter."

"I'm not hungry." That much was true. All that thinking made me lose my appetite.

"No way. Emma Trinket, refusing food?" He said mockingly. The exaggeration actually made me laugh a little, and I was pretty relieved. We were usually so carefree like that.

Once that was over, I realized we needed to talk. I started carefully, "So, what did you tell me?"

Yuri sat back. "I feel like you already have a hunch, judging from how you were trying to find out my last name."

I fidgeted. "I don't know why it never occurred to me that it was... strange."

"Emma, I'll get to the point. Nicholas —"

"Don't." I stopped him. "If it's something about him, I want him to tell me himself."

I didn't want any unnecessary misunderstandings, and I really valued trust and truth in a relationship. I didn't need Yuri to complicate things between us.

"I'm afraid you don't have that option." Yuri said bluntly. "The Sheldons have blood on their hands."

"I know you never really liked Hestia, so you were always wondering why I aspired to work there. If it's about any clinical trials they did —"

"You're right. It is about the trials. They aren't just a medical franchise, they're a research enterprise too."

"I knew that."