Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 205: Azrael’s home

Chapter 205: Azrael’s home

The scene was sickeningly similar. Diego’s hands gripped Lyssana violently, his face twisted in that same grotesque expression of control and cruelty. Lyssana was struggling, her body bruised, her spirit defiant but weakening.

She was struggling, crying, and calling out Rage’s name while Diego rammed himself into her without stopping.

Azrael clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as the memory of his father flashed in his mind. The pain and rage he had buried for so long resurfaced like a tidal wave. But he didn’t move—yet.

His plan was working. He had orchestrated this. He had led Diego into his own trap, knowing the man’s depravity would eventually reveal itself. But it didn’t lessen the disgust Azrael felt, watching history repeat itself—to the one who made it first.

Diego laughed; madness laced in his voice as though he was rejoicing that the whispers in his ears were finally fulfilled by him. He remained oblivious to Azrael’s presence.

The cruelty in his voice sent shivers down Kayden and Sandro’s spine, yet Azrael stood unaffected. His face was devoid of any humane emotions.

When it seemed like Lyssana was losing consciousness, Azrael finally moved. He turned to Sandro and said, "Tranquilizer."

Sandro stepped forward and gave the dart gun to Azrael, who immediately shot Diego in the shoulder. The man slowly stopped moving and finally fell on top of Lyssana. Azrael then called some of his men and ordered them to lock Diego away.

The three alphas entered the room smelling of semen and sweat. Lyssana’s body was curled, and the few pieces of fabric remaining on her torn clothes were what covered her.

Azrael stood over Lyssana’s trembling form, his icy eyes scanning her bruised body without a hint of compassion. Her once beautiful face, now marred by pain and defeat, contorted in fear as she lay vulnerable on the floor.

Diego had been dragged away moments ago, leaving nothing but the echoes of his twisted laughter hanging in the air. The woman who had orchestrated the destruction of his family was now at Azrael’s mercy.

Lyssana gasped for breath, her chest heaving as she clutched her arms around herself, trying to regain some semblance of control. She was weakened, but her spirit, twisted and deluded as it was, hadn’t fully shattered.

She looked up at Azrael, desperation clouding her eyes. "Please, Azrael... free me," she pleaded, her voice hoarse and broken. "I never meant for things to go this far. It was Diego, not me! It was him! I was there to help your omega, to help him get the ledger!"

Azrael’s lips curled into a bitter smile, the shadows in the room growing darker as his temper simmered beneath the surface. He crouched down, his face inches from hers. "Spare me your lies, Lyssana," he said coldly, his voice laced with contempt.

"I already knew everything you did. You did this to my father, and you planned for Knox to experience the same! How does it feel? To be under that man, writhing and whimpering while calling for Rage?! Do you think he’ll come to you? No, Lyssana. To him, you’re nothing but a parasite, clinging to whatever sick delusions fuel your twisted desires."

Lyssana flinched at his words, her eyes widening with shock as she realized that he knew. That he had always known. Her lips trembled as she tried to form a response, but the words stuck in her throat. She had no more lies to spin, no more manipulations to weave.

Azrael’s eyes darkened as he rose to his feet. "You wanted to be my mother, is that it?" he continued, his tone colder than ice. "You wanted to take my father’s place in my life. You thought you could replace him, replace my real family—"

"No!" Lyssana interrupted, her voice rising with hysteria. "I was your family! Rage was supposed to be with me, not your pathetic omega father! He chose wrong, Azrael! He—"

Azrael silenced her with a swift, brutal kick to her side.

She cried out in pain, her body curling up as she whimpered on the ground. His face remained expressionless; his eyes devoid of any pity. "You don’t get to rewrite history to fit your delusions, Lyssana. You’re not my family. Never was, never will be."

Lyssana sobbed softly, clutching her bruised ribs, but even in her pain, her eyes gleamed with the same madness that had driven her all these years. "Knox isn’t good for you, Azrael," she whispered, her voice trembling but resolute. "He’ll ruin you, just like your father ruined Rage. He’s weak, a burden—he’ll drag you down!"

At the mention of Knox, something in Azrael snapped. His hand shot out, grabbing her by the throat and yanking her upward, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Don’t you dare speak of Knox," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "He is my husband. He is everything you could never be. You will suffer worse than the fate you made my father experience. I won’t kill you. You will beg for death yourself!"

Lyssana’s eyes bulged as she struggled to breathe, her hands clawing at his grip. Her voice rasped out, desperate and choking. "I was only trying to protect you, Azrael! Knox... Knox is like that slutty omega—he’ll betray you, just like he betrayed Rage!"

Azrael’s grip tightened, his rage boiling over as the memory of his father’s tragic fate came crashing down on him. The betrayal, the lies, the manipulation that Lyssana had spun to destroy his family—now she was trying to do the same to Knox.

His heart raced, and for a brief moment, he considered ending her life right there, ending the misery she had brought upon him and his family.

But he didn’t. Instead, he threw her down, releasing her from his grasp.

Lyssana collapsed in a heap, coughing and gasping for air, her eyes wide with terror.

"You’re delusional," Azrael spat. "You’ve convinced yourself that your actions were justified, that you were the victim in all of this. But you’re nothing more than a coward, hiding behind your twisted fantasies. Rage let himself be ruined by my father because he loved him. I understand now—his devastation, he lost himself upon loving my father, but you...you f*cking brought his demons back. You poisoned him to believe you and resented my father. What do you think Rage will do if he learns that it was all you’re doing? You made him hate that only person he was capable of loving. And that person will never be you."

Lyssana lay on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, her hands clutching her throat as she trembled before him. She had lost. Every manipulation, every plan, every deceit had crumbled before her, leaving her broken and exposed.

Azrael turned away from her, his heart heavy with disgust. He ordered coldly to Sandro who was watching the scene unfold with Kayden by the door, "Lock her away. Keep her barely alive, and don’t let her kill herself. I’m not yet done with her."

Sandro nodded, signaling for the guards to come forward. They grabbed Lyssana, dragging her away as she continued to sob, her cries echoing down the hall.

Azrael remained in the empty room even after a few minutes. His hands balled into fists, his chest rising and falling with his deep breathing, and his eyes were blankly staring at the floor. He felt the weight of years of pain and anger lifting, but it left behind a hollowness, a silence that rang louder than any scream.

Everything seemed useless because his father was long dead and no matter how much he avenged him, it won’t bring him back. The nine years he spent with him were overshadowed by the two decades filled with hatred, while he...suffered alone.

He might have confronted the monster who had torn his family apart, but the wounds she left behind—on him—would take far longer to heal.

Azrael exhaled slowly, looking up at the ceiling; his eyes moist. He cleared his mind and focused on the next person he had to confront—Rage Del Valle, his own father. They were both victims of Lyssana’s selfishness and delusions, but it didn’t weaken Azrael’s resolve to end everything with him.

Maybe, when the names they both carried pridefully and obsessively were no longer worthy of respect and had no honor and fame, only would they feel peace.

"Rage will arrive tomorrow. Chairman Horace has already taken action. If tomorrow...everyone involved is to be apprehended...," Azrael turned to his companion. "I already briefed Luis on what to do, and Sandro, make sure to cooperate. Any tiniest detail that may put you in jeopardy, blame it on me. And Kayden...take care of Knox and my...brother."

"You knew...?" Kayden mumbled in surprise. The results hadn’t come out yet, but Azrael sounded convinced.

"Knox told me what Edna Russel—the woman who raised Ragel and took care of my father—said to him...and how could anyone mistake it? Ragel...resembles Rage more than me. I’m glad he wasn’t raised by him." Azrael walked out of the room and headed to his car. He looked lost, which worried Kayden and Sandro the most.

Before he could get in the car, Kayden grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"

Azrael replied dazedly, "Home."

"Get in. I’ll drive," Kayden pushed him to the passenger seat and gave Sandro a nod, leaving him to take care of the matters at that place for a while. He drove smoothly even though his knuckles were white from clenching the steering wheel so tight.

Home—Azrael said, but to Kayden, Azrael’s home was Knox. So, without permission, even when he knew that Azrael probably wanted to meet his demise and welcome the police alone, he headed straight to the Horace Mansion.

Azrael did not complain despite that, which only confirmed Kayden’s thoughts that his cousin was truly...lost.