Chapter 68

When Zinnia returned to the Lynn residence, she saw Howard from a distance even before entering the yard. Howard’s white sneakers were dirty with mud, and his hair was messy, making him look rather disheveled. Zinnia was speechless, thinking, “Why are the Shaw family so persistent?”

Safia wasn’t home today; she’d gone shopping with her friends. Henry was out fishing with an old friend. The house was just hers for the moment. Zinnia had planned to come back early to mix some medicine, so she didn’t wait for Isaac. She hadn’t expected to run into Howard. She pulled out her phone to check if Maisie had left yet.

Before she could send a message, Howard approached her, “Zinnia.”

“What do you want!” Zinnia’s voice was calm.

“This is for you, an apology gift from last time,” Howard said, pulling out a box from his bag and handing it to her.

Without a glance, Zinnia replied seriously, “I don’t want anything from you.”

Howard insisted, “Zinnia, we’re siblings. This is your right to have.”

Howard seemed to have figured out Zinnia’s personality. She was straightforward and didn’t care if her words hurt others. Betty would thank him warmly and praise him for his gifts. But Zinnia didn’t want his things at all; he didn’t even expect gratitude from her. Having heard Zinnia’s frank comments often, Howard wasn’t bothered anymore; he had gotten used to it.

Ignoring her refusal, Howard grabbed Zinnia’s hand and forced the box into it.

Zinnia tried to push it back. “I don’t want your stuff.”

She thought, ‘This guy is so annoying. I’ve said I don’t want his things, yet he keeps pushing them on me. He’s even more irritating than before.’

“I don’t take back things I’ve given,” Howard grumbled as he forced the box into Zinnia’s hand.

“You’re so annoying. We don’t have any ties anymore,” Zinnia said, frustrated. As they continued to push and pull, she finally snapped, throwing the box at him.

The box fell to the ground, revealing a pink crystal butterfly hair clip inside. One of the wings had cracked from the fall. The sharp corner of the box hit Howard, causing a brief sting of pain, which also echoed in his heart. Howard looked down at the broken butterfly clip, his lips pressed into a thin line. He crouched down to pick it up.

“You’re willing to accept gifts from our cousins but not from me?” His voice was sorrowful.

“I don’t want things from people I dislike. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you,” Zinnia said seriously.

Howard’s face darkened. Her clear disdain for them couldn’t be more evident.

“If you don’t like this, I’ll get you something else next time.” He closed the box, his fingers turning white as he gripped it tightly, ignoring Zinnia’s harsh words.

Howard didn’t understand why he kept coming back to Zinnia when she clearly didn’t reciprocate his feelings. Despite her cold demeanor, he stubbornly persisted. Something felt off with her absence from their home. Howard had to admit he wanted her back in the family. So, he reasoned that if they visited often enough, she would eventually relent.

Zinnia replied, “I won’t take anything else from you either. Don’t come seeking me anymore.”

She frowned, baffled by Howard’s persistence. She hadn’t realized before how stubborn he could be and how he seemed incapable of understanding her words.

She thought, ‘Even Maelis has given up on me. Why do these brothers keep coming back?’

“Zinnia, we’re siblings. I’m your real brother,” Howard said, his face paling. Her blunt rejection caused an uncomfortable pain in his chest.

He thought, ‘She never says anything nice to us. She’s always been so cold and stubborn, never yielding an inch.’

Every time she did something wrong, Betty would take the blame for her. When confronted, she always insisted she wasn’t responsible.

‘She never admitted to treating Betty poorly. She was just a little liar—quiet and unyielding, never backing down.’

“You’re not my brothers. I don’t have family like you,” Zinnia snapped, frowning at his emphasis on the word “real.”

She thought, ‘Brother? Now he claims to be my real brother? They used to wish I didn’t exist.’

“Zinnia, we’re blood relatives. You don’t like Betty. The past between you and Betty, all the grudges and conflicts, we won’t dwell on it anymore. But I need you to understand—we are your real family, much closer than our cousins,” Howard insisted, his stubbornness flaring up. In some ways, he and Zinnia were alike.

“Your sister is Betty,” Zinnia muttered, annoyed by his persistence, feeling like he couldn’t understand her at all. ‘I’m not their sister,’ she thought.

“Betty is our sister, and so are you,” Howard said firmly.

“I’m not. You all abandoned me; I’m not your sister. And I don’t have a brother like you,” Zinnia was determined to make things clear today. Her delicate face turned red with anger as she glared at him.

She thought, ‘They’re really so annoying.’

It felt like she and Howard were bickering like little kids.

Howard misunderstood her words, thinking she was referring to the time they sent her away.

“It was just temporary. We never said we didn’t want you.”

Back then, it was meant to be a temporary separation to let both Zinnia and Betty calm down. The family didn’t want them to keep clashing—it was never about giving her up.

“Mrs. Shaw chose Betty, so I’m no longer part of your family. And you’re not my brother anymore. My brothers now are the Lynn brothers.” Zinnia’s clear, earnest eyes reflected her determination.

The air grew tense and quiet.

“What did you say?” Howard’s throat felt tight, like something was choking him; it took him a moment to get the words out.

He wondered, ‘Did I hear her wrong? What does she mean we chose Betty over her? How could our mom make such a choice; why wouldn’t she want Zinnia?’

“You gave up on me. So please, don’t come and bother me again,” Zinnia said slowly, emphasizing each word.

She thought, ‘Don’t come and bother me again. I don’t want to see you.’

Later, Zinnia said, “Jackson, I want to live somewhere else.”