Page 42 of Ex- Factor

The music was too loud, the drinks too sweet, and the house was too full of people who wanted to shake my hand and tell me how proud they were.

I smiled through it, let them hug me, slap my back like I’d just cured cancer instead of finishing grad school and coming home to take over one of my father’s businesses.

He wasn’t my father—technically. I was Cassius’s son by blood. Silas’s son because he had always been there.

He gave me the legacy his parents left behind because he didn’t want it— and I did.

When I was sixteen, I overheard him telling Momma Eshe he planned to sell it.

I didn’t understand why—something about “bad stuff” and wanting peace.

I just knew it meant I wouldn’t get to tag along to meetings with famous athletes anymore.

That agency was my dream. He told me if I got a business degree, it was mine.

I was twenty-eight now. Three months post-grad. Ready.

I stood near the bar, watching people dance and laugh and orbit both sets of my parents like they were royalty. Silas had his arm around Eshe’s waist. She looked good—like peace. They were still in love. My mother and father were still in love. Uncle Jonas and Aunt Naomi? Still in love too.

“You good?”

Lena—my girlfriend—kissed my cheek and handed me a drink. Her lashes fluttered when she looked across the room.

“Is that your sister?”

I followed her line of sight.

Fallon.

She stood near the fireplace in a silk dress that didn’t belong on an eighteen-year-old. Her curls were wild, lips glossed, eyes mean—like always. We were both light-skinned, tall, mixed. I called Silas Daddy , so people who didn’t know better drew their own conclusions.

I’d only known Lena four months. I hadn’t told her the full family breakdown yet.

I didn’t usually correct people. But I corrected Lena.

“Don’t call her that,” I said sharply. “She’s not my sister.”

Lena blinked. “Damn. Okay.”

I set my drink down and made my way through the crowd in Fallon’s direction. I didn’t even know why. She saw me coming and turned her back, disappearing into the kitchen. I followed.

She was standing at the fridge, sipping water when I found her.

“You not gonna say hello?” I asked. I’d been home all day and hadn’t seen her. It’d been like this for a few years now—her dodging me whenever she could.

She turned slowly, one eyebrow raised.

“No. I’m not saying hi,” she said, deadpan. “I never liked you.”

My mouth twisted. “The hell did I do to you?”

“You took up all my father’s time. Like you didn’t already have a daddy.” She stared at me, unblinking. “You always acted like you belonged more than me.”

I scoffed. “You deadass right now? You mad about that? And you lying. Everywhere he took me, he took you . You lived with him. How could I take up all his time?”

She snapped, “So maybe I just didn’t want him spending any time with you. That’s my right as his daughter.”

I stepped closer. “You sound real entitled for somebody with a seven-figure sweet sixteen.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t stand how everybody treats you like the golden child. And now he’s giving you a multi-million dollar business that should rightfully be mine.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So this is about money?”

“It’s not just the money. Maybe I just don’t want to have it.” Her lip curled. “You think you’re slick. If you say you don’t want it now, everybody will think I’m the petty one.”

I stared at her, baffled. “You’re impossible.”

Then it just... spiraled. We started arguing back and forth, voice low but heated.

The kitchen door swung open.

“What’s going on in here?” Silas asked, looking between us.

My momma and daddy were right behind him, both waiting for answers.

Fallon wiped the scowl off her face in an instant and turned sweet.

“Nothing, Daddy,” she said.

I echoed her. “Yeah. Nothing.”

We brushed past opposite sides of the island and left the kitchen in silence.

But it wasn’t nothing. And I had a feeling me and Fallon weren’t done clashing.

Not by a long shot.