Chapter 8
Zinnia
She really wasn’t the crying type. She preferred to bottle up all her would-be weepy blubbering and store it in a wine cellar for at least a hundred years. That way she’d be long dead by the time her tears accumulated any actual value.
It had only taken twenty minutes for the Zaffres to crack her open.
Zinnia wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands, taking deep, angry breaths in between sobs. She scraped the globs of frosting off her face and clothes and into the bathroom trash. Bits of cake stuck to her hair and eyelashes.
Her favorite white pantsuit was ruined. She scrubbed at the smeared black, green, and blue stains with a hand towel, soap, and water. They refused to even lighten enough to give her hope that they’d come out later.
Who in the hell acted like that? It was nothing short of a miracle that shock took over and she didn’t start swinging on reflex.
She’d been bullied in middle school—the vicious kind that involved fights in the bathroom between classes and after school behind the gym where teachers wouldn’t see. Her dad had signed her up for boxing classes the same day he’d found out about it.
Hard lessons like that never truly faded with age. They lay in wait for a trigger.
But Zinnia didn’t want to hit anyone. She didn’t even yell to make them stop laughing at her.
Jordan didn’t laugh. She thought of him as she opened the bathroom door, hoping he’d be there.
Regret kicked her in the gut instead. He didn’t laugh, but he didn’t take her to the bathroom either. The camera pod was still waiting, as promised.
Fuck this.
Before she could think twice, she ran for the sliding glass door and bolted outside. Her best bet was to retrace the general direction she’d come from while in the house until she spotted the bungalow.
Zinnia stomped through the grass and past landscaped shrubbery until Wylie suddenly appeared in her periphery through a window. She gasped, dropped, and hit the ground.
Great. Frosting and grass stains. Wonderful.
Carefully, she raised onto her knees and peeked over the windowsill. Jordan, that traitor, and his beastly family were walking back into the living room.
She narrowed her eyes as thoughts of petty revenge flowed through her. The hurt was still there, somewhere, way deep down, but right then all she wanted was to get them back by disappearing.
Feeling confident with her cowardly choice, she ducked down and crab walked past the window. Her left knee creaked, the right one cracked, and dear god she was getting old because her lower back was hollering too. She stood once she passed it and immediately heard snickering behind her.
The camera pod following her was standing directly in front of the damn window! They filmed her entire crab walk of shame.
“Oh, come on!” she said, fully exasperated.
They smiled at her in response. Positively delighted to be there.
“Will you at least move before they see you?” But no one inside did. That sadistic family was used to tuning them out.
“You first,” Septum Piercing whispered. “You move, we move.”
“Oh. If that’s how it’s gonna be, then good luck.” She took off like a track star, running faster than she ever had in her life straight for the bungalow.
Jordan
Almost every camera in the room had Jordan in frame, waiting for him to explode. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. Still no Zinnia.
Lulie plopped in the middle of the couch. Wylie stood behind her—behind the couch and close to the door. Purposefully out of reach. The only thing saving them right now were the cameras. He didn’t want to make things any harder for Zinnia with his family than they already were.
“What’s taking her so long?” Lulie asked. “What the hell is she doing in there? Drugs?”
Jordan’s eye twitched. His dad must have sensed he was about to finally go off and stepped in front of him.
“When she comes back, the first thing you two are gonna do is apologize.” His dad’s glare was legendary. He was the easygoing, cool parent…until he wasn’t. “A real one. None of that fake half-hearted shit.”
Lulie crossed her arms. “It wasn’t even that serious.”
“Oh, you must’ve lost your damn mind. You met her ten minutes ago! You don’t know her! Keep putting your hands on strangers if you want to and see what happens. You’re not too rich to get your ass beat by the right one on the wrong day, I know that.”
Doubt crept across her face for the first time.
Jordan knew there’d be a twin prank of some kind. Something both cute and heart attack–inducing, like one of those boxes that popped open with a loud bang to release a flurry of paper butterflies. His sister loved those.
Why would they do…that with Sadie’s present? It didn’t make sense. Wylie was the mastermind and Lulie usually reined him in, keeping their antics reasonable. Unless it hadn’t been their idea. Someone must’ve asked them to do it.
“Oh, calm down, honey. I’m sure Alfie’s wife can handle a little prank.” His mom turned to him. “Can’t she?”
His dad subtly shook his head, the warning look in his eyes clear: Keep it civil.
Jordan flexed his jaw, biting back what he’d wanted to say. Again. “I’m gonna go check on her.”
But the bathroom was empty. Same for the adjoining bedroom.
“This is not happening.” Eyes closed, he pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply while counting to ten. He made it to five before Zinnia’s face flashed in his mind. Shocked, embarrassed, hurt—all in rapid succession. “Where is she?”
His camera pod stared blankly at him, continuing to film as if he hadn’t asked a question.
“I know her pod radioed it in. Where is she?”
They all wore earpieces like damn secret service agents to stay in communication. No one was ever alone or missing while under their watch. James silently nodded toward the sliding glass door.
“Did she leave? Did she take a car?” She only knew where the garage was, and all the keys were hung on the wall.
James shook his head and mouthed, Bungalow.
He exhaled into a frustrated growl. “You could’ve led with that!” A spontaneous headache bloomed right between his eyes. The next few months were going to be hell on his blood pressure.
“Sorry,” James whispered. “It’s only our second day.”
And he’d yelled at newbies. The day truly kept getting better and better.
Jordan found Mabel first, waiting on the porch again.
“Your wife catches on quick.” She held out her hand for his mic. “This better not become a habit.”
He dropped it in her palm without breaking his stride.
The bungalow had an open floor plan with a vaulted ceiling.
It was fully furnished, from kitchen to sitting area and every space in between.
Filled with bland neutrals—creams, browns, and grays—lifeless and boring.
He had no idea who was responsible for making it look like a house flipper’s dream instead of a well-loved home.
It wasn’t his mom’s usual style. She’d never overlook someone else taking charge.
“Zinnia? Are you in here?” He hesitated in the entryway after taking off his shoes.
The distinct sound of a sniffle came from the step-down living room directly in front of him. Only Zinnia’s forehead and reddened eyes were visible as she peered at him from behind the arm of the couch.
Jordan stared in disbelief as he went to her. She was hiding in the corner. Sitting on the floor, squeezed between the wall and the couch, knees pulled to her chest. Dried frosting still clung to her hairline.
“I didn’t know where else to go. Nobody answered when I called.” She bit her trembling lip. Her voice sounded so small and scared and—
He couldn’t breathe.
Besides the blistering anger he felt toward his family, he’d thought he was steady. In control. There was nothing to indicate that his entire body was gearing up to betray him. Nothing to prepare him for the wave of sheer panic and adrenaline flooding his system.
It started in his chest, crushing the life out of his lungs and heart. Eyes frozen wide. Ears ringing. Hands simultaneously stiff and shaking.
“I—” he tried as his mouth dried out. “You—” He cleared his throat and flexed his hand. “Can I—” When his knees buckled, he gave in and sat down in front of her.
If she wanted to sit in the corner, the very least he could do was sit there too.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. It was all he could manage.
“Physically, yeah.” Her arms tightened as she tried to squeeze herself smaller. “Emotionally? Mentally? A little fucked up, thanks so much for asking.” Even upset, her humor shone through with a sardonic smile.
He nodded, counting the seconds until he felt calm enough to speak again. “The twins playing pranks is a storyline,” he explained, measured and raspy. “I thought they would’ve picked something for both of us. Together. I didn’t think they’d do…that to you.”
“You can’t even say it.”
Because he was partially in denial that it’d happened. The twins were annoyingly playful, never malicious. He couldn’t wrap his head around it—it was just so unlike them.
“So,” she began slowly, gaze focused past him, “you knew something would happen, but not what, and chose not to warn me.”
“I couldn’t.”
Her eyes flashed. “Yes, you could.”
He swallowed hard. “Zinnia, you’re not an actress.
You’ve never even been on camera before.
Reality has to be what we make it, and you don’t know how to do that yet.
You literally froze as soon as we walked through the door.
They needed to film your genuine reactions otherwise it would’ve looked staged. ”
“No.” She shook her head. “That’s an excuse.”
“It’s the truth. The only reason why I’m here is for Sadie. Everything, all of this, is for her. We are the distraction. Our job is to protect her by any means necessary.”
“And your job was to be my partner.”
He flinched, wishing she would’ve just yelled at him. That had to be better than the regret radiating out of her. She was so frighteningly calm, like she was over it, over him before they even got started.
She continued, “I agreed to do this together. You didn’t talk to me. You didn’t tell me your made-up story about our relationship. You chose to keep me in the dark about everything.”
Because he’d wanted to make things easy for her! All she would’ve had to do was be herself. Her thoughtful, bubbly, wonderfully expressive self. He didn’t want to burden her with having to keep track of all the storylines because he’d do that for them.
And as he did, it’d give her a chance to see his family for who they really were, to see them the way he did. Maybe some of her earnestness would even rub off on them.
So much of their lives had been broadcast to the world that they’d banded together. Trust was in short supply because outsiders always ended up betraying them. Being around someone as straightforward and lovely as Zinnia could help restore their faith in people.
But sometimes big dreams only lead to bigger failures. He knew with crystal clear certainty that he’d just committed the single greatest fuckup of his entire life.
“I didn’t think—I just thought it would be better if all you had to do was follow my lead.”
She blinked at him. “Oh, I definitely won’t be doing that. If this is who you really are, a liar who makes unilateral decisions and doesn’t consider me a priority, I’d rather get divorced than follow you anywhere.”
ZnO2 Group Chat
GRACE: I CANNOT BELIEVE HE JUST STOOD THERE AND LET IT HAPPEN
ZINNIA: That’s not what I said
GRACE: DON’T YOU DARE STICK UP FOR HIM. HE’S 100% IN THE WRONG
FIONA: Have you called for a car? do you need me to do it?
ZINNIA: I know that
ZINNIA: Fiona, I can do it
FIONA: Z what airline are you looking at?
GRACE: I WARNED HIM. TELL HIM HIS LIFE IS OVER. I WANT HIM TO KNOW IT WAS ME
GRACE: M U R D E R do you hear me?
FIONA: I found four direct flights this afternoon and a red eye. how soon can you get to the airport?
GRACE: ALL OF THEM! THE WHOLE FAMILY LINE!
ZINNIA: Grace please this is hard enough without you incriminating yourself
ZINNIA:…What should I do?
FIONA: What do you mean?
GRACE: LEAVE HIM. NOW. ZINNIA I SWEAR TO GOD
FIONA: Don’t you want to leave?
ZINNIA: I don’t know
ZINNIA: We didn’t even really talk about everything. Something else is going on. I need to know the truth because we’ll still be married even if I go home
GRACE: NOT FOR LONG. SOMETIMES HUSBANDS JUST DIE. IT USED TO HAPPEN ALL THE TIME.
FIONA: Grace.
ZINNIA: Maybe I should sleep on it? Write down some questions to ask him in the morning?
ZINNIA: Make the escape plan now and use it tomorrow if everything is still shitty?
ZINNIA: I’ll need an offensive plan if I don’t leave. A beat them at their own game kind of plan.
FIONA: You should come home
FIONA: Stop convincing yourself to stay
ZINNIA: I just need a plan I’ll feel better with a plan
ZINNIA: This is the worst wedding night ever lmao
ZINNIA: Is there a record for world’s shortest marriage lol
ZINNIA: Please help me
GRACE: I warned you too.
ZINNIA: I know you did I’m sorry
ZINNIA: I’m ready to listen now
GRACE: Here’s what we’re going to do.