CHAPTER 49: BLOOD IS NOT THICKER THAN WATER

Maximus turned and walked past her, leaving her there in the hallway.

Making his way back to the living room, where his parents were waiting.

His mother sat on the couch, hands clasped together on her lap, her fingers twisting nervously.

His father sat in his usual chair, the same book from earlier that night now resting on the table beside him.

Neither of them said a word as Maximus entered, but the tension in the air was undeniable.

Maximus exhaled through his nose and crossed his arms. "Alright," he said with a steady voice. "Lets talk."

His mother looked up at him, her eyes peering deep into his face. "Max..." she started, not hesitated.

She had been trying her best all night, mindful of the words that escaped her lips, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

His father on the other hand was less mindful, "You actually came back."

Maximus met his gaze, unflinching. "Yeah,"

Then a stretch of silence bath the room like a water fall.

"We weren’t sure if you’d ever return Maximus," his father said.

Maximus clenched his jaw. "I wasn’t sure either."

His father sat up straight and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

He studied Maximus carefully, taking in every inch of his son, as if trying to see past the months of distance between them.

"I gotta say kid, you look different..." he said finally, with a slight tilt of his head.

Maximus let out a humorless laugh, short and lacking depth. "Yeah, well. A lot has changed...I try to do my best to stay fit... I’m actually coming back from an obstacle course race with world renowned track racer..."

His father nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Is that so... that’s good, you’ll see the benefits when you’re my age and don’t have a massive pain in the hip..." he finished, followed up with a dry chuckle. An attempt to lighten the atmosphere that failed horribly.

His mother reached out, as if to touch him, but stopped halfway. "Are you, okay?" she asked softly.

Maximus expression remained unreadable, "I’m here..."

His mother nodded and pressed her lips tightly together, realizing her caring trip didn’t work.

His father sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "Maximus, I know we weren’t there for you the way we should have..."

Maximus sniffed slightly, like he was picking up a scent in the air.

His father continued. "We should have fought harder for you and your innocence. We should have believed you from the start..."

He looked down to the flooring of the living room, "But we didn’t. and I can’t change that son, no matter how much I want to."

Maximus swallowed dry saliva as his chest tightened.

His father raised his head to look back at him again, "but I do know that you’re here now. And if there’s even the smallest chance that we can fix it, then I would love to take it."

"I don’t know if things can ever go back to the way they were."

His father nodded slowly, accepting the reality. "Its probably up to you... son."

Maximus didn’t respond right away. He looked over at his mother, who was watching him with hopeful, teary eyes.

His thoughts drifted to Percy who he had just tucked into bed, then over to his sister and finally then a highlight reel of his life since he took the mysterious pill that activated the Investment God System.

"When were you guys going to tell me about Percy?" Maximus said, narrowing his eyes to a slit.

His mother lowered her head, staring at the floor and that could only mean one thing...

"Guilt?" Maximus stated bluntly.

His father let out a shaky breath, cracked his neck and started speaking, "We didn’t plan on having him... Percy was abandoned by his birth parents and we decided to step in and help, after a couple months we thought to adopt him because he needs legal parents to go to school."

Maximus let out a short breath, not replying instantly. "When were you gonna tell me... planning on replacing me already? After you abandoned me when I needed you guys the most".

"No!" his mother let out a panicked shot out of instinct. "I’m sorry my son, can you at least try to move along with us, we are your one and only family."

"Family is not an excuse to treat me like shit, you don’t abandon people you love... but we’ll see," he said, his voice quieter now.

His mother let out a small, shaky breath, as if she had been holding it all year long.

His father nodded. "That’s enough for now."

Maximus gave a slow, reluctant nod, then his eyes drifted to the book his father was reading earlier, lying still on the coffee table.

"So how’s work going??" Maximus asked, his mind recollecting how his fathers business had been failing before he went awall.

His father ran his hand through his grey hair, sighing deeply as he recounted the struggles of his business.

"Its been rough, ever since that new place opened a few blocks down. Our regular customers have been disappearing. They’ve got a bigger space, fresher stock and they’re undercutting prices I can’t afford to match."

Maximus watched his father closely, noticing the faint sag of eye bags due to lack of sleep, the lines of stress carved around his face, the slump in his posture.

He had always thought of his father as strong and steady, but now it seemed that age was catching up to him and on normal circumstances he shouldn’t be working that hard not while...

’I’m a multi millionaire,’ Maximus said to himself.

"I’ve tried everything," his father continued, shaking his head. "Discounts, loyalty programs, but people go where its cheaper, even if they’ve known your establishment for years..."

Maximus scoffed, "hmm...Looks like loyalty is really hard to come by this days..." he said while taking a shot at his parents, a glare that speared right through them.

Maximus exhaled and closed his eyes for a brief moment, then he pulled out his phone.

His fathers struggles weren’t something of today, he had known about them for a while, even before he had distanced himself from the family.

When he was still working at The Company, he had been sending some of his salary money home, making sure his parents weren’t completely drowning in expenses.

But back then, his father had never spoken about the business failing in detail. He had been holding it in, enduring, pretending everything was fine.

"Give me your account details," Maximus said, glancing at his father.

His father frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "Maximus, that’s not necessary."

Maximus’s gaze didn’t waver. "Dad, give me your account details."

"Look, son. I appreciate the thought, but I don’t want you spending your money on my failure. This is my responsibility."

Maximus let out a slow breath, his fingers tightening around his phone.

"Give me your account number..."

His father hesitated, his pride and exhaustion warring against each other.

A long pause stretched between them. Finally, his father let out a quiet sigh and recited his account number.

Maximus typed them in, confirming them twice before entering the amount.

$500,000.

A few seconds later, the transaction went through.

His father’s phone vibrated on the table.

He glanced at it absentmindedly before realizing what had just happened.

His eyes widened as he stared at the screen, "Maximus..."

"Later..." Maximus interrupted, locking his phone and shoving back into his pocket. "We’ll go and find a better place sometime later. Somewhere in a nicer area, with more foot traffic."

His father looked from his phone to Maximus, stunned. "Maximus, this... is sort of too much don’t you think?"

"Take it as a way of me paying you back for all those college fees and tuition you payed for..."

His father swallowed hard, looking like he wanted to protest. But the words never came out. He was speechless, he tried to move his lips to speak, but nothing seemed to escape his throat.

Instead, after a long moment, he leaned forward, pressing a hand over his face.

His shoulders trembled slightly, and for the first time in Maximus’s life, he realized his father wasn’t just a strong, unwavering figure.

He was human. A man who had been struggling for so long, too proud to ask for help.

But...

’That doesn’t erase the fact that he abandoned me when I needed him most...’ Maximus thought to himself.

Maximus stretched his arms as he stood up from the couch, letting out a tired sigh.

The weight of the night lingered on him, but for the first time in a long while, it wasn’t heavy in a suffocating way. It was grounding.

"I’ll sleep in my old room tonight, don’t worry about the condition I can manage..." he announced.

His mother gave him a small nod, her expression unreadable, while his father simply exhaled and leaned back against the couch.

»»»«««

The next morning, Maximus got up early and was ready to begin his day.

By the time he walked out the front door, with his family members waving goodbye and all forms of praises to him, Zack was already posted up in the front yard leaning against his car and had that his signature smug grin.

Immediately Maximus set eyes on him, he sighed annoyingly and shook his head.

"Drive safely." Maximus’s mother gave him a knowing look.

Maximus nodded, giving one last glance at his family before stepping out of the front porch and unto the lawn.

The crisp morning air greeted them as he walked toward the car parked outside. The street was quiet, except for the occasional passing vehicles.

As soon as he reached his vehicle, Zack clapped Maximus on the back. "Dude, your family is great...."

"You think so?" Maximus raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah! Your little sister, Casey? Adorable. And the little kid..."

Maximus shook his head and hoped into Obsidian without paying attention to what Zack had to say about his family.

"Hmmm... you might think they are great, but sometimes, blood is not thicker than water."