The Graham Heir—I Am Not An Adopted Nobody

Chapter 73 : The Terms

The silence between them seemed to stretch out like forever. Even the busy, echoing sounds of the mall— the footsteps, the distant music, the chatter of shoppers— seemed to fade into the background until it was just the three of them in a world of their own. 

Anna didn't even blink as she stood her ground, her small frame radiating a kind of power that made Tristan look small. Her eyes were locked onto him with a chilling, predatory steadiness. “If you win,” she repeated, her voice as calm and flat as a still lake in the middle of a graveyard, “you can have Avery back.”

Tristan took a slow, deep breath, and you could almost see the arrogance rushing back into his chest like a physical wave. He stood up a little taller, adjusted the collar of his expensive jacket, and looked at Anna with a mocking smirk that made Avery irk in disgust.

 “And if I lose?” he asked, his tone filled with sarcasm, as if the very idea of him losing to someone like Robert was the funniest joke he’d ever heard in his life.

Anna’s small, teasing smile vanished instantly, replaced by an expression that was nothing short of bone chilling. “If you lose,” she said, and her voice turned so cold it felt like it could freeze the blood in his veins, “you walk away in total shame.” 

Avery felt her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped, panicked bird, but Anna wasn't anywhere near finished. “You disappear from her life permanently. No more calls. No more showing up at her house. No more stalking her like a ghost. And you're going to lose everything.”

Tristan’s brow furrowed, his confusion finally breaking through his mask of confidence. “Everything?” he asked, his voice losing some of its edge. Anna gave a slow, deliberate nod that felt like a judge passing a sentence. “Your reputation, your pride, and your so called dominance over everyone.

 Everything you’ve spent your life building. You’ll stand in front of everyone and admit that you were never even on Robert’s level.”

The air around the three of them felt incredibly thick and heavy, like a massive storm was about to break right there in the middle of the bright shopping center. 

Avery reached out with a trembling hand and whispered, “Anna…” desperately trying to get her friend to stop this before it went too far. But Tristan just let out a short, sharp laugh that sounded like dry wood snapping.

 “Robert is a nobody,” he said, his eyes burning with a desperate, dark kind of determination. “I’m willing to risk it all for Avery.” He stepped even closer, his large shadow falling over both of them like a dark cloud. “I agree.”

Anna tilted her head slowly to the side, looking at him with a strange kind of pity, the way a person might look at a bug before stepping on it. 

“If only you understood what you just agreed to,” she said quietly, almost to herself. “You’re doomed.” 

Tristan just scoffed at her, his ego refusing to let him feel fear. “Doomed?” he repeated. Anna didn't look away for a second. “You won’t be able to land a single, solid punch on Robert.”

That statement made Avery’s eyes go wide with total disbelief. “Anna— ” she started, her mind flashing back to the horrific memory of that night. “Tristan already punched him,” 

Avery said quickly, the vivid memory of the blood on Robert's lip making her voice shake with emotion. “That night. On our date. He landed a punch that made Robert bleed.”

Tristan’s chest puffed out with a burst of pride at the reminder of his "victory." “Exactly,” he bragged, looking down at his own fist. But Anna didn't look bothered at all, she actually looked bored. “That only happened,” she replied calmly, “because Robert allowed it to happen.”

A dead, suffocating silence followed those words. Tristan’s jaw tightened until the muscles in his face popped and his eyes turned bloodshot with rage. “What?” he hissed through clenched teeth. 

Anna stepped forward slightly, invading his personal space now, her face inches from his. “My brother doesn’t react unless he wants to. If he bled, it’s because he chose to.” Avery looked back and forth between them, her confusion growing by the second until her head started to spin.

 Was Robert some kind of secret actor? Or was he something much, much scarier than a normal human being?

Tristan shook his head, his brain refusing to believe anything that challenged his ego. “I don’t care. I’m agreeing to the fight.” He turned his gaze directly to Avery now, his eyes softening for a split second into something that looked like real pain. 

“I’ll beat him. I’ll deal with him properly, and then I’ll come back for you.” He sounded almost sincere for a moment, his voice thick with a desperate, pathetic kind of hope. “I want you back, I’ll fix everything. I promise.”

But Avery didn't move an inch. Her expression only got harder and colder as she looked at the man she used to trust, realizing she didn't even recognize him anymore. “Just go,” she said quietly, her voice full of exhaustion. 

Tristan stepped even closer, reaching out as if to touch her hair. “Avery— ” but she cut him off, her voice firm and loud this time, echoing off the glass storefronts.

 “Just go!” Tristan stared at her for a few long, painful seconds, then shot a final, hateful look at Anna. “I’ll see you and your brother soon,” he said, and then he turned on his heel and disappeared into the moving crowd.

The very second Tristan was out of sight, Avery spun around to face Anna, her legs feeling like jelly.

 Her face was deathly pale, and she was breathing fast, shallow breaths. “What was that?!” she whispered harshly, her eyes darting around to see if any other shoppers were listening to their drama. Anna just stood there, perfectly calm, smoothing out her clothes. 

“There was no need for that,” Avery continued, her frustration finally boiling over into anger. “He would have left. Why drag Robert into something he knows absolutely nothing about?”

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and looked her friend dead in the eye with a serious expression. “I did it for you.” Avery couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

“For me?!” she cried out. “Yes,” Anna said firmly. “He needs to understand once and for all that he can’t mess with my brother. Or with you.”

Avery ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm her racing thoughts before she had a total meltdown. 

“Okay, fine. If you’ve already done it, then at least inform Robert. Call him right now and tell him he needs to start training immediately.” Her voice shook as she added, “Tristan is the number one boxer in the world, Anna. This isn't a game, this is serious.”

Anna looked almost amused by the suggestion of training. “There’s no need for any of that,” she said simply. Avery just stared at her, her mouth hanging open in shock. “No need?” 

Anna’s voice dropped even lower, becoming calm and dangerously confident, like she was sharing a secret from another world. “Robert is strong enough to take down twenty… maybe thirty men at once without a single day of training.”

Avery blinked, her brain struggling to process a sentence that sounded like it came from a comic book. “What?” she whispered. Anna just shrugged casually, like she was talking about the weather or what they were having for dinner. “When he wakes up, he could handle all of them.”

Avery’s heartbeat slowed down, but not because she felt better— it was because she was terrified by the sheer level of confusion. “...When he wakes up?” she repeated, her voice trailing off into a question. 

Anna realized what she had just let slip, a tiny crack appearing in her calm mask, but she didn't try to take it back or act embarrassed. Instead, she just smiled a small, mysterious smile. “You really don’t know him at all.”

Avery stood there, frozen to the spot. The mall suddenly felt way too loud, and the bright lights seemed to hurt her eyes. Everything felt unreal, like she was living in a dream that was turning into a mystery. 

What exactly was Anna trying to say? What did she mean by "when he wakes up"? And most importantly of all— who was Robert, really?