Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 150: How to fix it?

Chapter 150: How to fix it?

Azrael paced back and forth in the living room, the phone next to his ear and his other hand on his waist, clutching it as if it would help him relieve his tension and subdued anger. He wanted to call his father and scream at him, but there was someone more important he needed to reach.

"Answer it, Knox Arden..." he muttered. He couldn’t help but worry after the news broke. He began to feel nervous. His agitation only doubled after he remembered bits of his dream.

The ringtone ended and he was sent to voicemail instead. Azrael ran his hand over his face in frustration. He swept his hair back and yanked on it after the phone rang again, but this time it wasn’t Knox, but Lyssana.

He contemplated whether to answer or not. Seconds later, the phone was back on his ear, and beyond a worried voice came out.

"Are you okay, young master? I saw the news. I’m sorry about this. I feel like I’ve wronged you greatly. Your father only wanted confirmation, and that’s what he told me. I didn’t expect him to do this! If I had known, I would have talked him out of it. You—

"Enough, Lyssana. I don’t want to hear anything about him right now," Azrael spat angrily and ended the call. He then muttered sarcastically, "She didn’t know? She’s been working under him for two decades already and she still dared to say she was not aware?!"

He should have known! Why did he leave that place without hearing his father’s plan first? Maybe if he listened to it and pretended like he was so interested, his father would have given him a heads-up first before releasing it to the public.

And why is the public so invested in his life?! Azrael thought that once Diva was no longer involved with him, the public’s interest would shift towards her and leave him alone. Yet the recent events, the kidnapping, the identity reveal, and even the buried issue of his fight with Athan Horace were resurfacing.

"It says, ’the truth behind the dispute that almost led to a fiery court trial between two opposing powerful and influential families had been revealed! The reason was zeroed into none other than the illegitimate son of Chairman Horace, Knox Arden, who was then working as Athan Horace’s secretary. Is CEO Del Valle claiming his lover and his hidden son back, and the HZCB President Horace objecting their union be the cause of the royal squabble?’. Pfft, royal, my ass," Diva sniggered after reading a paragraph on one of the showbiz news online.

She scrolled through the comments and shook her head, "Geez, Azi, you dumbass, look at all the comments showing their support in this drama-like love story of the century. So, why the hell are you so mad about all this?"

Kayden snatched the tablet to Diva and zoomed the comments. He wasn’t wearing his glasses or contact lenses so he had to squint his eyes to see it properly, "The majority are cheering for your love story, but there are also bad comments insulting Knox, saying..."

His words trailed off. He just stopped reading and passed the gadget to Sandro who was silently sitting on the edge of the couch, wondering why he was even present in that get-together. Sandro took the gadget and passed it to Rian without even glancing at the screen.

Rian winked at Sandro and mumbled, "Thanks."

Sandro shuddered; goosebumps rose all over his body. Rian Lee is famous for dating both men and women, no matter what their gender. He was the all-loving alpha back on their campus, while Kayden was the nerdy guy who always carried books but would yell curses and shout in the hallways whenever Azrael was talking with him. And the female alpha...

’Never mind,’ Sandro thought, avoiding his gaze to land on the mentioned alpha. He stood from his seat and looked at Azrael, "I’m going. I don’t think I can help you with something. I mean, is there something I can help?"

Azrael stared at him for a while. After a few minutes, he asked, "Can you locate Knox? I’ve been calling his phone since earlier, but he wasn’t answering. It just kept on ringing. I’m worried."

"Maybe, his brother confiscated his phone and brought him home already," Kayden remarked.

Azrael raised his brows, "Without picking Knoa?"

"Who knows, maybe Knox lied that the kid was with his friends," Kayden replied intelligently. He shrugged his shoulders and added, "If it was Shawn, then Athan wouldn’t be bothered."

"Unfortunately, it wasn’t him," Diva chipped in, showing the phone to Azrael. On the screen displayed was short footage of Athan and Shawn hiding Knox from the sea of reporters crowding the parking lot of the HZCB company building.

Azrael sprung and snatched the phone from his friend. The news where the clip was attached was taken half an hour ago.

Rian spoke, "It was probably a disaster at their company. So, Knox didn’t have time to answer your calls. Moreover, I bet he couldn’t, if his brother was with him."

Azrael clenched his jaw. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed frustratedly. All of them halted when they heard a sudden cry from the bedroom. Azrael quickly dashed and checked his son.

He cursed himself for forgetting about Knoa for a moment. The kid was curled on the bed and crying when he entered. He immediately took the child into his arms and lulled him back to sleep.

"What is it, baby? Are you having a nightmare?" Azrael asked, worried. He rocked the child leaning on his chest as he patted his back, but Knoa’s cry wasn’t’ stopping. Azrael was at a loss. Knox was the one who consoled him when he cried at the orphanage.

’So, what did he do? How do I make him stop crying?’ Azrael anxiously pondered. He spun to the door when he heard it clicked. Only to find the four alphas’ heads peeking inside.

They looked like stones stacked up together in the corner of the door. Azrael scrunched his face and mouth, ’What the hell are you all doing here?’

Knoa kept crying. Rian, whose head was in the second lowest above Sandro, leaped away from the three and carefully entered the room. He stretched out his hands and mumbled quietly, "Give him to me. I have more experience in making crying babies stop."

Azrael was skeptical. He wanted to console his child himself and chase away whatever was making him cry. But the kid kept wailing and even choking on his sobs already. Concern etched all over his face that the three alphas by the door gawked at him in disbelief.

He gave Knoa to Rian, and Rian gently shoved him away, saying, "Leave the room. I think your unsettled pheromones are what makes him cry even more. Go out and calm yourself, man."

Azrael understood. He sighed and walked out of the room, glancing at Knoa once more. He was tempted to smack the three heads following his every movement like he was some unforeseen discovery.

They all went back to the living room. Diva breaking the silence. "That’s the first time I saw your kid in person, and damn, he’s really a carbon copy. No wonder Uncle realized it already."

Sandor cleared his throat and answered, "I think it was likely because they found Knox’s belongings." The three alphas threw him a quizzical look. He patiently explained, "Remember the kidnapping. The bastards ransacked his home. How likely it is that they grabbed one of the photos and sent it to your father?"

"He only found out after a month?" Kayden asked, doubtful.

Diva pursed her lips and remarked, "It was probably because he was swamped with fixing the situation and evading the case. I still can’t believe that your father would do such things. I mean, sure, your family isn’t innocent at all, but this..." she shuddered and hugged herself. "Oh my gosh, I was again reminded how I almost married you, Kay. I’m glad Uncle recognized you immediately!"

"Don’t be glad. Because of that, Knox was almost...raped," Kayden nervously replied. He walked away from Azrael.

Diva bit her lower lip and gave an apologizing look at Azrael. She sighed and asked afterward, "So, what are you going to do? Uncle used the most powerful weapon, the public’s opinion. It exerts more influence. The Horaces are favored by the public because of their unerring dedication to practicing noblesse oblige, as well as their honest and dignified living."

Kayden agreed, "Their reputation was already stained when Knox’s existence was revealed. Now, another scandal involving him arose again. I just know, Knox is the one having the hardest time here. He barely got accepted by the Chairman, and then this happened. What are you going to do, cousin? How are you going to fix this?"

How? Azrael pondered to himself. If it’s all up to him, he has plenty of ways to fix it. But he won’t act alone. He wants to discuss the issue with Knox, to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.

He was about to call him again when the doorbell rang suddenly. The four alphas turned their heads to the foyer. Kayden, who was the closest in the entrance, stood and checked the screen on the wall, only to furrow his brows as he voiced out his thoughts, "Does he not know the passcode, Azi?"

Azrael’s full attention focused on his cousin, "Who?"

"Knox," Kayden answered as he pressed the unlock button. Azrael was too late to shout ’No’, as he had a hunch on why Knox rang the doorbell rather than entered the code.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the entrance and soon emerged Knox with swollen eyes. Azrael quickly flew to him, checking his face and expressing his worries. Kayden froze when behind the omega, Athan, and Shawn followed.

The room went into a deafening silence and the temperature became colder. Athan’s chilling gaze drilled into the unbothered Azrael, while Shawn furtively glanced at Kayden who avoided his gaze.

That silence was broken when a loud sigh came from the hallway connected to the bedrooms. Rian appeared and gladly exclaimed, "Dear Knoa is asleep, Azi~. He was covered in sweat and his clothes were dusty, so I wiped him and changed his clothes...oh, hello there, Mr. Horace, fancy seeing you here, haha."

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