Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 187: Azrael’s plans

Chapter 187: Azrael’s plans

Raine’s words hit Azrael like a sledgehammer. The room’s darkening atmosphere thickened with the weight of that shocking revelation.

Azrael’s eyes, already red from fury and other extreme emotions freed from years of resentment toward his omega father, shook in despair and regret.

"Lyssana...?" Azrael’s voice was a broken whisper, yet it held a fire ready to burn the name mentioned alive. His memories resurfaced once again, the following days, weeks, and years of his father’s disappearance, it was Lyssana who stayed and comforted them.

The head maid that Azrael always respected and looked favorably, now a face scratched in his memory, blotted with ink, and indescribable hatred soared in his chest. "How could she...why would she...?"

His words still held disbelief, but there was no doubt in them.

Raine Montgomery could barely meet his gaze, her own eyes swimming with unshed tears and regret. "I don’t know all the reasons behind her actions, but I suspect it was...her twisted affection and obsession toward Rage. Before Ashler came to him, Lyssana had been working in the mansion. But because she was a beta, to Rage who wanted the best of the best, she was like an unattractive item.

"What I do know is that she manipulated circumstances to make it look as though Ashler was the one at fault, to drive him away from you and Rage. Ashler...your father...suffered an unscheduled heat from what I heard back then, and that wretched man entered in the picture..."

Raine pursed her lips. She averted her eyes from his devastated nephew and continued, "But learning about all that, I now know that Ash told the truth. His heat was deliberately induced...Lyssana was after something else now, besides Rage. Have you heard of the man lingering on your father’s house already?"

Kayden was listening to their conversation attentively, but half of his focus was on Azrael’s wounded hands. Blood trickled from his knuckles and some shards of the glass table he broke unhesitatingly were stuck on his skin, yet his cousin looked numb from the pain.

Azrael stiffened after hearing about Ragel. He nodded his head, his eyes still lost from the truth and betrayal. "What does he have something to do with this?"

Raine swallowed hard. She couldn’t bring the conclusion running in her mind. Unconsciously, she glanced at Sandro with eyes asking for help.

Sandro understood and he began explaining to Azrael, "We suspected that he found out about who gave birth to him and sought your fa—

"Are you saying that Ragel Russel is my father’s son?" Azrael asked with realization and shock.

Sandro gave him a curt nod. "Though it was uncertain who is his other father. Your father or...that bearded man."

Luis added, "If Lyssana planned to have the chairman to herself only, then there was no need to bring up the other child. But if she plans to usurp the Del Valle’s wealth and take everything from Azrael, then there’s a possibility that she was the one who sought that guy first, telling him about his real father and bringing him back here."

"They might be colluding with each other. If a DNA test was to be done, we can’t be sure if it won’t be fabricated," Kayden commented. He knelt beside Azrael and snatched his hands.

Azrael resisted but Kayden glared at him and glanced up at Luis, "Get me the medicine kit in the other room."

Luis quickly obeyed, relieved that he found a chance to breathe fresh air instead of the suffocating pheromones of his boss.

Azrael acted stubbornly and pulled his hands back again, but Kayden clicked his tongue at his actions and remarked, "If Knox sees this, he’ll be upset and saddened. Don’t be stubborn and let me treat them."

Luis came back and Kayden started treating his wounds while saying, "Azrael, please. Calm down your pheromones. Mom has weakened already, and your secretary seemed to be having difficulty as well. I know this might be a lot for you to take, but don’t act rashly, Azi. You have a family. Remember them."

Azrael paused. He lowered his head and watched Kayden wrap his fingers with bandages, his head raced with the thought, how can I face them? My expression right now surely isn’t good...if I scare them...no, I should take care of this first before going back. Lyssana...father, how foolish are we to believe that sly woman all this time?

Raine stole Azrael’s attention again, seemingly aware of what was going on in Azrael’s head. "I hope you know that this...doesn’t justify your father’s behavior. Lyssana might have been the one behind it but Rage was still responsible in—

"I know, aunt," Azrael replied. "My father isn’t a man who lets someone walk over him. He was doing everything of his own volition, and if...what happened to Dad was not in his knowledge, and if he found out the truth, he’d be the one to punish that woman."

Azrael’s expression slightly softened. He wore a forlorn look as he the traces of the word ’Dad’ left his lips. It was how he addressed his omega father, and for so many years, seldomly, that word was used to Rage, but it somewhat sounded different.

Raine answered, her voice barely a whisper yet sounding definite, "He probably...didn’t know at all."

Sandro and Luis, still recovering from the overwhelming scent of Azrael’s pheromones, looked at their boss with sympathy and concern.

The room fell into silence. The five figures inside were lost in their own thoughts.

After a while of silence, Raine patted Kayden’s shoulder and stated, "I have to go back, lest my disappearance might put Rage into suspicion. He’s already aware that I’m cleaning his tracks, and that he thought I was doing it to protect him. He scolded me and told me not to interfere, so I’m afraid that if he learned went out, he’ll think I disobeyed him."

Kayden sprung on his seat, already finished treating Azrael, "Mom, will you be, okay?"

Raine subtly smiled at her son and answered, "Rage could never hurt me. But I will make sure to be careful. You guys as well," he eyes Sandro and Luis sternly before turning to Azrael, "And Azrael, I know you’re itching to destroy everything that made Ash suffered, so...go and visit that man. But remember your priorities."

Raine’s words reminded Azrael of his family. His furious eyes faltered and for a moment, he wanted to forget his wicked intentions to the man who hurt his omega father.

However, the images of his father’s devastated face, his face soaked in tears and his lips quivering in despair, floated in his head again. His faltering resolve hardened and he lost himself to madness and vengeance.

After Raine left, he rose to his seat and ordered Kayden to bring him to that wretched man.

Kayden, who was a bit reluctant, was forced to comply. Luis stayed in the living room, knowing full well what was about to happen. Kayden was aware as well, so he merely escorted his cousin to the door leading to the basement room of that bungalow house.

Unlike the former place where Luis and Sandro were held captive before, the basement of that house has no source of natural light at all. It was completely dark, but a lot cleaner and organized.

Old furniture covered by white cloth and other objects and tools were kept inside.

Azrael walked in. The light coming from the only incandescent bulb in the ceiling illuminated the whole place, and his eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room. His blood boiled after seeing the man tied to a metal chair.

He instantly grabbed an old coat rack on his way and unhesitatingly struck the unconscious man with a powerful force.

Kayden winced and looked away. For a doctor like him who swore the Hippocratic oath, he was torn between his duty and his sympathy toward his cousin. In the end, he couldn’t stay any longer upon hearing the yelps and screams of the criminal.

He turned his back and went upstairs, tapping Sandro on his back, silently telling him not to leave Azrael in his madness alone.

The bearded man woke up with a bloodied forehead. He flinched upon seeing Azrael’s darkened face as soon as he opened his eyes. He unconsciously struggled futilely, forgetting that his arms were chained behind the chair and his feet were tied to its legs.

Only his mouth, who was free to speak, trembled and muttered, "Y-You...D-Del Valle..."

Azrael’s eyes blazed with abomination. In them, the image of the ex-convicted person was like a detestable insect he needed to squeeze and smash to death. His skin crawled with excruciating hatred that slowly ate his sanity unless he unleashed it.

So, without uttering another word, he picked up the broken coat rack and stabbed its sharp broken edges on the man’s legs.

An agonizing scream resonated the whole place.

Sandro looked away, enduring the ear-splitting scream. The bearded man lost consciousness after that. His bleeding forehead and thigh evoke no mercy from Azrael, instead, he feels compelled to wake him up again and subject him to more indescribable torture and pain.

After his attempt to wake the man up failed, Azrael whirled back to the door, muttering to Sandro, "Get me everything I will tell you."

He mentioned everything he needed to Sandro without failure. Slowly, Sandro realized his friend’s intentions, and he didn’t know whether to be scared or worried.