The Return of the Cannon Fodder Trillion Heiress - Chapter 773

Chapter 773: Chapter 773 Both Parties Meeting Again
Hera couldn’t help but comment, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Maybe that’s the allure older women see in younger men these days. After all, there are plenty of older women with young lovers. Perhaps, since you’re mentally older than us, you’ve unknowingly adopted the same mindset as them. Maybe now that you’ve experienced it firsthand, it’s starting to haunt your dreams.”

She fought to stifle a laugh, but the growing shift in Athena’s expressions with every word was too entertaining to ignore. Hera bit her lip, holding back her guffaws as she watched Athena’s face go through a whirlwind of reactions.

Athena shot Hera a glare that silenced her laughter instantly. A chill ran down Hera’s spine as she met Athena’s gaze, the intensity of it causing her to stop mid-laugh. With a defeated sigh, Athena let out another exasperated breath. “Sigh… I’m not into young men. Besides, I felt bad for your friend. He looked so… vulnerable, I felt like a cougar feasting on a young lamb. He was so pitiful at the time… sigh.”

Hera instantly stopped laughing, her amusement fading as she glanced behind Athena, her tone now more nervous. “Athena…”

Athena continued to grumble, oblivious to Hera’s shift in mood. “His eyes were so adorable, like they were on the verge of tears. He looked so helpless when I… pounced on him, like a trembling lamb at the sacrificial altar. And let’s not forget—he wasn’t bad in bed either…” Athena’s voice trailed off as she kept rambling, clearly lost in her own world.

However, her incessant grumbling soon came to a halt. A cold, eerie sensation crawled up her spine. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as a dark, ominous aura seemed to fill the air around her. Athena’s grumbling paused as she felt the temperature drop. With a mechanical motion, she slowly turned her head, her face going ashen as she dreaded to see the source of that unsettling presence.

Hera, though silent, could practically hear the ominous creak of a rusted gate turning.

“B-Babe… h-he’s behind me, isn’t he?” Athena stammered, her body stiff as she slowly turned around, her eyes wide with apprehension.

Hera bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile but ultimately feeling a surge of awkwardness. She hadn’t noticed Zen’s presence either, too caught up in Athena’s story. The moment she registered him standing there, her stomach twisted with unease.

She wasn’t sure when he had arrived, how much he had overheard, or why he was even there in the first place—after all, he was from the entertainment industry, not the jewelry design world they’d been attending to.

“Zen!” Hera called out.

Athena, who had only halfway turned around, bit her lip in pure awkwardness. She wished she could disappear, maybe find a hole to crawl into—or better yet, have the ground open up and swallow her whole. Her situation was mortifying, and she could feel Zen’s intense, silent anger like a wave crashing over her.

Maybe he was furious because she had been talking about what happened between them… or maybe he was upset over the situation itself—being used that night and now feeling exposed. Maybe it was both.

Despite her earlier bravado, Athena felt thoroughly embarrassed now. She didn’t know how to face Zen after that night. Sure, she was an adult and could normally shrug off a one-night stand, especially considering she had been drugged and not entirely in control.

But the fact that it was with someone Hera knew? That made everything a thousand times more awkward. If it had been a stranger, it wouldn’t have been this hard to deal with.

Then Zen let out a sharp snort.”I didn’t realize I’d become a sacrificial lamb,” he said coldly, his voice tight with barely restrained emotion.

His face was as dark as the bottom of a scorched pot, and his eyes were red-rimmed with anger. He didn’t even know what to feel—whether he was more embarrassed or furious. Embarrassed that a woman close to his sister, Hera, had openly shared the intimate and humiliating details of that night… or angry because his first time had turned into an utter disaster.

He had been used the entire night, and now the story was being casually thrown around like gossip. He didn’t know whether to lash out, retreat, or—god forbid—propose out of a twisted sense of duty.

It wasn’t even his fault, yet he still felt responsible. Maybe it was the way he was raised—his grandfather was a strict military man who had drilled responsibility into him since childhood. If Grandpa ever found out Zen spent the night with a woman and didn’t take responsibility, he’d break Zen’s legs without a second thought.

Now, Zen just felt trapped—by guilt, shame, and anger all tangled together with no clear way out.

Seeing him like this—eyes rimmed red, nostrils flaring like an enraged bull—Hera knew things between Athena and Zen had gotten off to a terrible start. And if this continued, Zen might end up genuinely resenting her.

Athena, for all her confident talk and love guru airs, wasn’t as composed when trouble knocked on her own door. She might give great advice to others, but now, faced with the consequences of her own actions, she visibly shrank—shoulders tense, gaze lowered. It wasn’t about maturity; Athena simply didn’t have the courage to face Zen right now.

She understood that she bore some responsibility. Even if she had been drugged, she couldn’t deny that a part of her was still aware—after all, she remembered everything. That alone meant she wasn’t completely out of control. And for Zen to overhear her talking about it so casually, it must’ve sounded like she was bragging about conquering him, not regretting the situation. She could see why he was so furious.

But even knowing that, she had no idea what to say. Anything that came out of her mouth now would sound like a flimsy excuse—and might only make things worse.

After all, Zen was still a young man—easily stirred by emotion, and with everything that had happened, he was especially vulnerable. He was plagued by guilt, his thoughts tangled in confusion as he wrestled with what to do next. Should he take responsibility? What steps was he supposed to take now? His mind was a complete mess.

He had been raised differently. His grandfather, a strict military man, had instilled in him the importance of discipline and integrity. Zen was taught never to fool around with women, to treat love and marriage as sacred commitments.

His grandfather’s rules were harsh, but they were meant to protect him—from scandal, from regret, from hurting others or himself.

Even if Zen often came across as playful or flirtatious—something Dave, Zhane, and Rafael might have thought of him—he had actually been living cleanly, holding onto the values he was raised with. He was all charm on the surface, but deep down, he had always intended to save his first time for the woman he loved and intended to marry.

But now… now that this had happened, it shook him to his core. He felt violated, ashamed, and adrift. The very thing he’d promised himself he’d wait for had been taken out of his control. And worse, it happened with someone close to his sister.

Zen felt truly disturbed—and lost.

Seeing Zen looking so defeated, Hera couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Zen had always been a good brother figure to her—steady, protective, and dependable. If not for her, he wouldn’t have even gotten involved that night.

He only helped Athena to her room because she was Hera’s friend, and now, this entire mess had fallen on his shoulders just because he tried to do the right thing.

Hera stepped closer and gently patted Zen’s shoulder, silently offering her support. She could feel the turmoil rolling off of him in waves—guilt, confusion, frustration. Then she turned her gaze to Athena, who was standing there with her head bowed, clearly unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

Hera understood. Athena hadn’t shared this story to brag or make light of what had happened. She’d told it because she was genuinely disturbed by it—burdened by guilt and unsure of how to face Zen.

Calling him a “sacrificial lamb” wasn’t meant as a joke—it was how she truly saw him, someone who had been unintentionally caught in the crossfire of a terrible situation.

And the more Athena thought about it, the more ashamed she became. In her heart, it felt like she had taken advantage of someone who was vulnerable and undeserving of what happened.

Zen hadn’t just given his body that night—he was someone raised to value such intimacy deeply. Realizing that only made Athena feel worse.

That was why she’d turned to Hera—not just to vent, but because she needed help. She didn’t know how to fix this. Her conscience was eating away at her, and she was hoping Hera could help mediate… to think of a way forward, because on her own, she didn’t know what to do.

But because Zen had walked in midway through the conversation—before Athena could even voice her plea—he was left with the wrong impression. His emotions were stirred, his expression dark with anger, and the atmosphere turned tense in an instant. Everything had spiraled into a mess.

While the other side of the venue buzzed with lively chatter and business talk, this corner felt weighed down by silence, tension hanging in the air like a storm about to break. Hera let out a quiet sigh, then gently reached out and held both Athena’s and Zen’s hands.