Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 144: Lyssana’s intentions and another misunderstanding

Chapter 144: Lyssana’s intentions and another misunderstanding

Their family dinner became a routine.

After school, Knoa’s bodyguard would bring him to the café to play with Shawn who went back to working there during the days, and after work hours, Knox would pick him up; tailed by their guards, they’d go home to eat dinner with Azrael.

On some nights, before Knoa went to sleep, Knox would call the Sunflower orphanage to talk with Aresh even for a short time. He didn’t want the child to think he was forgotten, so he and Knoa always checked on him.

Sometimes, Azrael would sleep with them. One night, he came home with a bundle of children’s books, then he would tuck the kid under the cover as he lay next to him, his head propped on his hand, and a book on the other, while dramatically mimicking the sounds of the animals on the story.

It was a funny sight for Knoa, hearing his father ’oink’ or ’barf’ as though he was reading to an infant who hadn’t yet understood the meaning of words, yet Knoa never pointed it out or stopped his father from doing his silly antics.

To Knox, it was a lovable sight, warming his heart that sometimes cradles anxiety and fear for what tomorrow might bring. Their set-up wasn’t completely bulletproof. Anytime, they could be found out, but tearing himself away from that tranquility and happiness became so difficult already.

It was the weekend that day when a visitor arrived in Azrael’s unit.

"Hello," A man with droopy eyes and shoulder-length hair tied in a small bun at the back, with half cascading on his nape, waved at Knox and Knoa who were playing on the carpet with the toy railway train set Azrael bought for the kid.

The guest came in and was surprised to see them, but quickly changed his grim expression to a friendly one after seeing them.

Azrael came from behind the man, and introduced him casually, "This is Sandro, Knox. He’s the one who helped me purchase this unit."

Sandro extended his hand to Knox, aiming for a handshake, "I’m Azi’s college friend. Nice meeting you."

Knox stood from the floor and shook his hand, "Knox Arden. Same here."

Sandro smiled mysteriously, "I know."

The omega displayed a confused look, but before he could utter another word, his hand was snatched from Sandro by Azrael who drilled holes in his friend’s smirking face. Sandro just put up his hands like a criminal caught in the corner.

Knox looked at Azrael, baffled. The other alpha has a mysterious air surrounding him, and the way he looks and smirks feels like he knows something or he could see everything. What could be the reason the two were meeting? And judging from the serious face Sandro showed when he appeared, something tells Knox it was not something good.

"Is there something going on?" Knox whispered to Azrael.

The latter gently pulled him away and answered, "It’s nothing. Just something about business, we have to talk about in private."

Knox stared at the man, weighing the truth in his words. Azrael sighed and tucked some of the strands falling in Knox’s face in his ear, as he tried to explain again, "It’s not something you should worry about."

Azrael reassured Knox. He skillfully hid the truth behind his eyes and pretended like it had nothing to do with them. However, as he recalled the last request he asked of his friend, he was certain it had something to do with Knoa.

But Azrael didn’t want to worry Knox, so he kept it to himself and just flashed a reassuring smile.

The tip of Knox’s eyebrow twitched. Something tells him the alpha’s smile wasn’t genuine, but he didn’t have any idea why would Azrael lied to him.

’If it’s because of business, is he afraid that I’ll be disappointed if I learn about the dark side of his businesses? After seeing him almost kill a person, I don’t think there’s anything that can frighten me again,’ Knox pondered to himself.

He witnessed the turmoil in Azrael’s grey eyes that he’d been trying to hide, which made Knox surrender. ’If he couldn’t say it yet, then I’d just have to wait like he always did for me.’

"Okay," Knox replied, resigned. He then carried Knoa and added, "Then, we’ll go back to our unit for now."

Azrael furrowed his brows, "You can just stay here."

Knox shook his head silently and started to walk to the door after nodding at Sandro. Azrael, sensing the change in Knox’s mood, quickly grabbed the latter’s arm and faced him. "Look, Knox—

"I understand, Azrael. You don’t have to explain," he smiled at the alpha, before walking away. Azrael watched Knox’s retreating figure, contemplating whether to include him or just leave him in the dark.

In the end, until Knox and Knoa disappeared, he was unable to utter a word. Sandro cleared his throat to catch Azrael’s attention. He succeeded as the latter turned to him with an urgent look, gesturing him to spill his report.

Sandro showed his phone to Azrael and spoke, "As you’ve requested, I put some men to watch your father’s home. They didn’t find anything out of the ordinary at all, just the same routine your father also has. However, the other day, one of my men sent me that photo. Do you know who is she?"

Azrael took the phone. On the bright screen displayed a capture of a woman driving out of the gates of his father’s mansion. The car window blurred the face, but as someone who grew up in that place, he could easily recognize who the person was.

He nodded, and told Sandro, "Lyssana Sanchez, she’s the mansion’s chief maid. She’d been serving my father even before I was born."

"That’s a freaking two decades and nine years already then," Sandro remarked, amazed at the loyalty the woman holds for her employer.

Azrael stared at the photo. It was easier for him to recognize her since she basically raised him.

After his omega father left him and Rage; his father was devastated, the only time he saw his father show emotions; Azrael was neglected and lost, as he was only seven years old at that time; and it was Lyssana who became the beacon that pulled them into that pit of darkness that omega pushed them into.

He resented Rage for kicking out his omega father, but after learning of what truly happened from Lyssana’s mouth, his resentment was directed to that person instead. The devastation, the longing of a child for his mother’s embrace, the rage, all those emotions pit in the depths of Azrael’s heart that he developed a condition called omega aversion.

"Hey, Azi!"

Sandro’s voice pulled Azrael back into the present. He blinked, then he gave the phone back to his alpha friend and asked, "Yeah. She’s very loyal to that old man. She was the one who took care of me after that person left. She lives in the mansion since she doesn’t have any family. She’s an old maiden."

Sandro scrolled through his phone as he spoke, "I see. Well, I wouldn’t think too much about this if she just went out to pick up some groceries, but..." he showed the screen to Azrael again, "I told them to tail whoever exit the gates and did a background check, but I didn’t expect to receive this. That maid volunteered as a cleaner in a daycare center."

Azrael froze. ’A day care center?’ His eyes darted on the screen with all seriousness. Lyssana was talking to a kid. He felt relieved that it wasn’t Knoa, however, the kid’s uniform was similar to Knoa’s!

He snatched the phone immediately, as though the picture would disappear if he didn’t look at it properly. He even zoomed in on the place and was then convinced it was the same clothes.

Throwing Sandro a darkened and dangerous look, he asked, his voice laced with poison, "What did she do?"

Sandor gulped. He was an alpha, yet Azrael’s pheromones still overwhelmed him sometimes. He replied abruptly, "She applied as a cleaner. She just cleaned the place, played with the kids, and went back, according to the report."

Azrael asked with gritted teeth, "Did she approach my son?"

"My men didn’t know who your son is, so they couldn’t tell," Sandro answered with a headshake. He was about to add something to that, when Azrael turned back and bolted out the door, carrying his phone.

"Hey, Azi, wait!" Sandro called out, thinking, ’Does he intend to show the photo to the kid?’ He followed his friend immediately. But after stepping out of the door and just the door closed behind him, his body was immediately pushed onto the wall and a crumpled face appeared right before his eyes.

Sandro’s eyes widened with shock and disgust. His face scrunched and he snarled, "Dude, what the f*ck are you—

"Shut up," Azrael whispered, his voice tinged with repugnance, yet his face was inching closer to him.

As they almost had the same height, if seen from another angle, the two of them could be mistaken for kissing.

At first, Sandro was utterly oblivious to what was happening. He even thought that his friend had finally lost his head out of anger, but when incoming footsteps were heard behind them, he finally realized the cause of that revolting deed after witnessing the face of the person approaching them.

"Ugh, dude, do you think he won’t recognize you if you did this? Are you in some f*cking movie that lacks logic?" Sandro exclaimed, lifting his hands and placing them on Azrael’s ears. "Your pheromones, reined them a bit, I’ll shower you with mine to hide the rest!"

With an extremely distorted face, Sandro pulled Azrael and buried his face in his neck, and then he showered him his pheromones to hide his lingering scent. He acted like they were making out, so when Athan Horace passed behind Azrael, as someone who was raised in a decent family, Athan frowned and looked away, whispering incomprehensible words at the two alpha’s shameless act.

He quickly rang the doorbell. The door opened. Azrael and Sandro sighed in relief, however when they heard a loud gasp, they both turned their head in that direction, only to be met with shocked and wobbly green eyes.

Athan’s voice came from inside, "Knox, are you coming?"

"O-Oh...ah...uhm, hmm...c-coming..."

The teary-eyed omega shut the door quickly before Azrael and Sandro could explain. Azrael dashed to the door and rang the doorbell, panic etched all over his face. If Sandro hadn’t dragged him by the collar quickly and thrown him inside the unit 01-20, Athan would have caught them already.

Sandro shouted, "Calm down, dude! Do you want to be found out?! What’s the point of that act if you’re just going to barge in?! Calm down. He probably realized what happened, but was just shocked at what he saw. Just explain it to him later, after his brother leaves. Or maybe, call him!"

Azrael quickly called Knox, but the phone just kept ringing, and soon the automated voice answered him. His hand clenched on the phone and the other ran over his face frustratedly. He cursed loudly and glared at Sandro, but the guy was already gone, leaving the door open.