Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 184: Confrontation [2]

Chapter 184: Confrontation [2]

The room fell into a tense silence as Raine Montgomery’s words hung in the air. The gravity of her words, her confession, seemed to weigh heavily on everyone present, especially Kayden who held Azrael dear to his heart, while Luis and Sandro both sighed in great relief.

They weren’t sure if what the older female alpha said was true, but the heaviness in their chest felt lighter just hearing those words, even when they were uncertain.

Kayden’s gaze locked on his mother, he wore an expression of disbelief and subsiding anger. With a tone lowered yet still suspicious, he asked his mother, "Are you telling the truth?"

Raine gave him a curt nod. "You know I don’t lie to you, Kayden. You and Kayla are precious to me, and so is Azrael."

Kayden scoffed. "If he heard that you’ve been aiding his father all along, he’d never want to hear from you again. You, of all people, should know what he went through growing up."

Raine was rendered speechless. She couldn’t refute what her son said. She rubbed her temples, a growing headache in her head. She responded in a low voice, "Right. That kid is brave; braver than me and his father."

A flicker of anguish and nostalgia flashed in Raine’s grey eyes. She leaned her back and sat comfortably, the tension on her body somehow decreasing after she finally told them the truth. She gestured the seats to the other two, Luis and Sandro who were still standing by the door, and then gave his son a resigned look.

"You caught me already. There’s no need to hide everything from you. Take a seat and I’ll explain everything to you," Raine remarked.

Luis and Sandro exchanged glances, while Kayden remained motionless. His mouth moved after a minute of scrutinizing his mother’s intentions, "You were willing to overlook everything just to keep uncle’s favor, even when he’s hurting innocent people, how can we know you’re not just spewing lies to sponge his name clean from all of this?"

Raine’s face distorted with anger and sorrow, feeling hurt by his son’s faithless words. She spoke firmly, "I could have overturned this situation by not letting your men capture mine and take away that wretched person since I know how soft you are when it comes to me, my dear son. I know you won’t be able to proceed if I fought back, but I didn’t. So, hear me out. You may not trust my words, but you can reap some reliable information from the doubts I will sow in you."

Sandro initiated to sit opposite Raine, startling Kayden and Luis. Soon after, both of them followed.

Raine nodded in appreciation. She then began, "It’s true that I’m the one behind the clean-up. I’m trying to erase traces of your uncle’s illegal activities, and covering up his connections with outlaws, but it’s not because I wanted your cousin to suffer and be discouraged.

"Though I prefer that, instead of fighting against each other, they should compromise, but as I said before, a parasite has blinded your uncle."

The three looked at Raine with curiosity and frustration.

Raine continued, a deep sadness lurked in her eyes as they lingered on her son, "My loyalty to Rage blinded me to the consequences of his actions. I didn’t see the full picture until that wretched man came to me, demanding me to pay for the years he spent in prison after he followed my orders."

Raine’s expression darkened. "I didn’t even know him. I’ve never met him. But he attacked me, and when he was caught, he shouted he’d reveal to the public what I did. I was baffled. However, that confusion dissipated after he recited what ’I’ ordered him to do, more than two decades ago."

Sandro’s eyes were full of shock and understanding. He mumbled unconsciously, "It wasn’t you?"

Raine slowly shook her head. "Never did I order someone to harm another. I was astonished on top of being disgusted. But I couldn’t turn away that criminal, not unless I found out who used my name. So, I pretended like I needed him again.

"People like him had no backbones and their principles were nonexistent when you fanned money on their faces. He was good at cleaning messes, along with a few men, I asked him to do that."

"Why?" Kayden asked, still suspicious of his mother.

Raine sighed, getting used to the skeptical gaze of her son. "Do you know why Rage wasn’t as meticulous in cleaning up his tracks as how he executes his plans?"

No one was able to answer her. So, she continued, "It was because of his way of dumping everything on someone once a transaction went haywire. He’s like a lizard, cutting off his tail if he’s caught, and that tail will shoulder all the crimes he did, no matter how loyal that is to him.

"In some instances, he’s like a spider, weaving an intricate conspiracy to tear his enemies to pieces. He’d accumulate evidence, fabricate and change it, then hint them onto some upright prosecutors or overly ethical and righteous law enforcers, only for those pieces of evidence to point at someone, to point at his enemies who had been getting his own way."

Luis’ eyes shook. He immediately understood what the female alpha meant. "Can the chairman really do that to his own son, his own successor?"

Luis’ firm belief was shattered when Raine shook her head. His brows furrowed in confusion, then slowly, his eyes widened in correct realization.

Sandro and Kayden muttered a curse, after understanding Raine’s words and actions completely. Kayden even covered his mouth and wiped it down out of exasperation.

Raine voiced their deductions, "He won’t do it to Azrael, but he will to Azrael’s partner – to his family."

A deafening silence settled between them. Raine looked out the unobstructed window of the room and noticed the sky was dimming. It was sunny and bright in the morning, but it seemed that the day had just warmed them a bit, and would soon cry again.

Raine added, her eyes distant, lost in the disappearing clouds in the darkening sky, "Knox Arden, is it? He came from a foreign family rooted in nobility, a benevolent and respectable name. Imagine how devastated he would be if he brought upon the destruction of that proud name...all because he met Azrael."

The three struck with silence, shuddered from that notion. They couldn’t even begin to imagine how agonizing it would be for Knox, and how devastating it would be for Azrael, losing the bright light that pulled him from that darkness cast by his father.

Meanwhile, after watching the first movie, Azrael, Knox, and Knoa had lunch at the nearby restaurant. They ate in harmony, despite Azrael getting calls often that Knox was beginning to be suspicious.

"What is it this time?" In the end, he couldn’t help himself but asked in a bit annoyed tone.

Azrael looked at Knoa who was eating his food, appreciating every ingredient he knew the name of. He then leaned forward to Knox and whispered, "It’s just a call about Elise Chen and Owen Mills."

Knox’s eyes widened. He abruptly spun his head, forgetting that Azrael was just inches away from him. Due to this, their noses brushed, and a playful smirk tugged on Azrael’s lips. If he moved even just a bit, his lips would touch Knox’s.

Which he did, unhesitatingly. It was a peck, but the sound was enough to gather the attention of the nearby customers.

Knox’s eyes widened again, for a different reason. He slapped Azrael on his thigh below the table because they were in a public place, and right in front of their son. He nervously returned his gaze to Knoa, who he found looking at them, grinning from ear to ear.

Knox’s face flushed. Knoa giggled and pointed at the sliced tomato on his plate, and exclaimed, "Papa’s face is as red as this one!"

Azrael leaned backward and held Knox’s chin gently with his left hand, then he acted like he was inspecting Knox’s face, turning it right and left to his satisfaction. After doing that, he concluded seriously, pointing at the red chili sauce on the table.

Azrael then mumbled, giving Knox a sexy look, "It’s as red as this one, buddy. Red and hot."

His comment earned another slap in the thigh. He groaned and moved his leg away, rubbing the part where Knox slapped twice.

Knoa showed interest. He leaned forward and stretched his little arms to reach the small cup of red chili sauce, then he dipped his tiny finger quickly. Azrael and Knox were too late to catch the retreating hand that went faster on the little guy’s mouth.

Knoa’s hand froze on his lips, then slowly, his eyes twitched uncontrollably and his eyebrows furrowed greatly. His face turned red and his shoulders went up, his arms suspended in the air, shaking from spiciness.

"Water, water!" Knox immediately grabbed the water despite ordering Azrael around. He quickly helped the little guy drink water, while Azrael asked the waiter for colder water and a sweet dessert.

After the waiter gave all they needed, and Knoa calmed down, despite his reddish face and swollen lips, the little guy savored the chocolate mousse served to him to alleviate the burning sensation on his lips, making his fathers laugh in disbelief.