Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 183: Confrontation

Chapter 183: Confrontation

The three arrived at a discreet location, a house hidden from tall trees with tight security. It wasn’t that far from the place where Sandro and Luis were kept.

A few men were stationed aside, wearing their usual uniform of black suits, each wearing earpieces and wandering around the area actively, scouring the surroundings for any suspicious activities.

Another man welcomed their arrival, and he silently led them to a room guarded with another two people by the door, and holding Raine Montgomery inside.

The door swung open, and Kayden’s mother stood by the window, looking out at the forest-like scenery of the place, her eyes distant and blank.

In a moment like this, Kayden, who entered the room with an unreadable expression, showed nostalgia and felt a sense of familiarity with his mother’s stance and position, reminding him of his Uncle Rage.

Raine Montgomery slightly turned to them, only her eyes moved, glancing at them with those sharp, grey eyes, calm and collected. She then whirled around completely, and walked to the couch.

She sat with her legs crossed and her hands on her lap, implying her readiness to answer any question they would throw at her. "Kayden, I didn’t expect to see you. You should be in the hospital doing your rounds. Did Kayla drag you into fulfilling your so-called duty in the name of Montgomery again?"

Kayden did not hesitate.

Without settling himself on a seat and just standing directly opposite his mother, he spoke in a voice accusing yet laced with a hopeful tone, "The conversation down the basement was recorded and heard by me and sister. Now, answer us, Mom, did you all this for uncle? Are you still compliant with him, doing everything he wants, everything he asks? Did he threaten you, perhaps?"

Raine’s stoic face flickered with exasperation. She responded, "You really don’t have any faith and respect toward your uncle, my dear son."

Kayden scoffed, "Mom, I don’t want to be rude, but...his morals are twisted, and the way he executes his plans is cruel and merciless. I don’t want to respect such a person. Even his own son doesn’t respect him anymore."

The female alpha’s countenance displayed sadness shortly and immediately disappeared in her impassive mask. "Azrael has reasons to, but do you have any? If anything, your Uncle Rage has been my constant support ever since your father died. His ideas and goals might be unconventional, and his ways might be extreme and cruel, but he knows how to care for his family, Kayden."

"He kidnapped Azrael’s partner!" Kayden shouted, giving his mother an incredulous look.

Luis and Sandro stood by the door, silently watching the son confront his mother. The questions Luis rearranged in his head on their way there, scrambled upon realizing that more than him, someone was dying to find answers and get justification for believing a person innocent, but might have committed a hideous act toward their closest friend.

Kayden was torn between his mother and his cousin, whose life had never been peaceful and happy.

Raine sighed, her eyes softened. "That’s true. But at that time, he didn’t know that he was Azrael’s partner. Rage was just thinking about your cousin’s engagement with Diva, and what the consequences would be if the agreement was broken. He thought that...that poor omega was just one of your cousin’s flings, so he acted rashly."

The son laughed bitterly at his mother’s words. His voice subdued, restraining the emotions that wanted to explode inside him. "You’re doing it again, Mom. Trying to justify his actions when we all know it’s wrong. Why are you so...why are you like this? Even when Dad was around, you’d always choose Uncle’s side. You’d rather believe him and blindly follow!"

Raine, "I’m just loyal to my twin brother, son."

Kayden looked at his mother intently, his voice pained dripping with bitterness, "Blind loyalty isn’t loyalty, Mom. You’re just...just..." Kayden stopped. He wanted to blame his mother, to say she was only encouraging his uncle to continue that way instead of pulling him into the right path, but his words were caught in his throat.

Raine was saddened seeing her son with a resigned look on his face. She sighed and remarked, nostalgia dancing in her eyes, "When you were at your lowest, and a family did everything to take you out from that pit of shameless, revolting, and pitiful darkness, you’d see that family as your hero, and you’d start thinking that you wanted to give back, even if it’s through the smallest thing you could do."

A subtle smile tugged on her lips as she continued, "Rage is someone like that to me. The Del Valles have a strict upbringing and set their goals according to their benefits and not to the best of their children.

"We were born from the same womb, on the same day, yet the gap between us is just...huge. I was lacking...in many ways, and your uncle was achieving everything, every goal set for him, but I...I slowly drowned in a pit of jealousy, envy, parental neglect, self-reproach, and depression. Everyone saw me as the insignificant twin, a useless one that only shared the same space with Rage but completely undeserving.

"I expected him to turn his back on me too, but Rage is the only one who stayed, pushed me up, encouraged me, and protected me. Anyone who dared to insult me, he’d shut them up and support me. Gradually, I learned not to compete. He has ambitions, and I let him take all over it. Unlike him, I wasn’t expected to do this and that, and maturing, I realized how lucky I was."

Raine’s expression softened, "Rage was raised like that, and those ways latched on him. He set goals for Azrael, and he wanted Azrael to achieve that, in any way. I just wanted to...let him do what he wants since it was something taken away from him."

Kayden was rendered speechless. The room fell into a deafening silence, that was then broken after a few minutes, by Sandro’s voice.

"So, you hired someone to violate your brother-in-law, to ruin his relationship and kick the omega out of his way, all because of your blind loyalty?"

Luis gasped. He was amazed that Sandro confronted Raine Montgomery in a sarcastic, accusing, and contemptuous tone, something that Luis hesitated to do because he considered Kayden’s feelings.

But Sandro was different. He pursed his lips and asked again, "I don’t understand. Why did you free us? And why did you let your son catch you? To convince us to stop getting in your brother’s way? Or...is there another reason? What are you really after?"

Raine responded, giving each of them a regretful look, "I might have been too blind with my loyalty that I failed to see a parasite take over my twin brother."

Everyone was baffled at her words. Raine then added in a voice dripping with honesty and sincerity, "I did say that I wanted Rage to do what he wants, but the first thing he wanted, the first thing he, himself decided, was to marry Ashler Ford. He was like a guiding light to my brother. So, how could I ever do something so horrendous to him?"