Chapter 82 Step Sibling Heat
The house felt different again that evening.
Like everyone was living in the same space but not the same reality.
Lenora barely made it past the living room before she heard it.
Her father’s voice.
Lilibeth’s mother.
Again.
“You can’t keep shielding her from this,” her father said.
“She’s not involved the way you think she is,” Lilibeth’s mother replied.
Lenora stopped at the edge of the hallway.
Didn’t enter yet.
Her grandmother sat on the armchair nearby, calm as always, watching them like she already knew how this would end.
That was what made it worse.
She never looked surprised.
“You both keep talking like this is separate from the girls,” her father said.
“It is,” Lilibeth’s mother snapped.
“No it’s not,” he shot back.
Silence cut through that fast.
Lenora stepped in.
“I’m right here,” she said.
All three adults turned.
Her father exhaled slightly, like he didn’t want her hearing this part but knew it was too late.
Lilibeth’s mother looked at her first.
“You shouldn’t be involved in these conversations,” she said.
Lenora didn’t blink.
“I already am.”
That shut it down for a second.
From upstairs, footsteps came down.
Lilibeth.
Of course.
She appeared at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the room instantly.
“Why does this always feel like a courtroom in here?” she asked.
Her grandmother finally spoke.
“Because everyone keeps acting like they’re defending something,” she said.
Lilibeth tilted her head slightly. “And what exactly are we defending?”
No one answered immediately.
That silence was becoming a habit.
Her father spoke again.
“This is about control slipping,” he said.
Lenora looked at him.
“Control of what exactly?” she asked.
He hesitated.
That hesitation again.
Lilibeth’s mother stepped in quickly.
“Enough,” she said. “Both of you should not be dragged into this level of discussion.”
Lilibeth laughed once.
“That’s funny considering I’m already in it at school.”
Lenora glanced at her.
“Same,” she said.
That made her grandmother’s eyes shift slightly.
Not alarm.
Interest.
“You two are hearing too much from outside,” she said.
Lilibeth folded her arms. “Then maybe stop letting ‘outside’ happen.”
That hit harder than expected.
Her father ran a hand through his face.
“This isn’t just school anymore,” he said.
Lenora responded immediately.
“It never was.”
That silence after was heavier.
Lilibeth’s mother turned slightly toward Lenora.
“You don’t understand how far this goes,” she said.
Lenora looked at her directly.
“Then explain it.”
No answer.
Not again.
Her grandmother stood up slowly.
“You’re all focusing on the surface problems,” she said.
Lilibeth narrowed her eyes slightly. “And what’s underneath?”
Her grandmother paused.
Then said it carefully.
“History that was never supposed to resurface.”
Lenora didn’t react outwardly.
But something in the room shifted.
Her father spoke again, quieter now.
“That history is exactly what’s causing this attention.”
Lilibeth stepped forward slightly.
“So Pamela. The lab. The archive. All of it is connected to that.”
No one denied it.
That was enough confirmation.
Lenora looked at all of them.
“So someone is protecting that history,” she said.
Her grandmother met her gaze.
“Yes.”
Lilibeth’s voice dropped slightly.
“And someone is trying to expose it.”
Another silence.
Lenora finally spoke.
“That’s why everything keeps circling me,” she said.
Her father didn’t respond immediately.
Then said it.
“You’re not the target.”
That didn’t feel like reassurance.
It felt like avoidance.
Lilibeth looked between them.
“Then what is she?” she asked.
Her grandmother answered this time.
“A link.”
That word sat wrong.
Lenora frowned slightly. “A link to what?”
No answer.
Just another controlled silence.
Lilibeth stepped back slightly.
“This is bigger than school drama,” she said.
Lenora looked at her.
“It’s always been bigger than school drama.”
Her father spoke again.
“That’s why you need to stay out of certain things.”
Lenora didn’t move.
“I already can’t.”
That shut him down completely.
A pause.
Then Lilibeth’s mother exhaled.
“This is getting out of control,” she said.
Her grandmother corrected her calmly.
“It’s getting exposed.”
Silence followed that.
Not denial.
Not agreement.
Just acceptance no one wanted to say out loud.
Lenora turned slightly toward Lilibeth.
“We’re not stepping back,” she said.
Lilibeth didn’t hesitate.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
For once, no one argued them.
Because now it wasn’t about permission.
It was about who got caught first when everything finally came out.
And somewhere in that house…
The past was already moving again.
Like it had never left.