Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 55: Trapped by the devil [3]

Chapter 55: Trapped by the devil [3]

The morning began in uproar inside an entire floor filled only with unaligned desks stacked with disorganized papers and folders, monitors blinking, keyboards clacking from fingers typing nonstop, heels hitting the stark white tiled floor running from here and there when a young girl slid past the entrance in a hurried manner and shouted atop her lungs.

"BIG SCOOP!! THE SOLE HEIR OF DV GROUP AND THE FOURTH HEIR OF HORIZON FOUGHT OVER AN OMEGA!!"

Her words echoed through the entire room. The heels tapping the tiles halted, and the fingers rapidly pressing the tiles on the keyboards froze as though they were caught in a time freeze. Heads turned to the young girl who was in her early twenties, an apprentice under a not-so-well-known journalist, with tired faces filled with bags under their eyes and wrinkled lines from lack of sleep.

A moment of silence settled. Then, in a blink, the place exploded with words bombing the news bearer.

"Where the hell did you get that?!" A bald man appeared and shouted back. He was an editor in that small newspaper outlet.

Another journalist called out, "What’s your source, girl?! Spill it!"

"It should be worthy of our time for disturbing us like this!" An infuriated tone followed.

The young female apprentice surrounded by veterans in that career felt pressured under curious and anticipating gazes. When she received that rumor from her source, all she could think of was to leak the news to her superiors, now that she did, she suddenly felt cornered by hungry gazes, like a weak animal getting threatened if she won’t give what she has. The young female apprentice gulped and stammered, "M-My friend working at the HZ Clothing Brand saw it herself. She told me what happened."

Her superiors exchanged glances. The bald editor then walked to her and put his saggy arms over her shoulders, "Now, why don’t we talk about this in the office? This is a good opportunity for you! Let’s talk inside."

The two then entered the office and the shocked faces of the other ones in the room from the news were replaced with hopeful looks. If the news were proven true, then that would be a big scoop indeed.

A rivalry between two alphas, heirs to their own kingdoms, for the affection of an omega! Not only a scandal will break as one of those alphas is currently engaged to a famous personality. There’s no way the editor-in-chief will let the young female apprentice take over.

They went back to their desks with arrogant smirks waiting for their big break.

Meanwhile, the omega involved in the two alphas’ rivalry was driving back to his apartment unit after visiting his parent’s graveyard one more time. In the back seat, Shawn and Knoa were listening and bopping to the music coming from the stereo.

The lively music was keeping them awake from the warm and golden light of the sunset hitting them from the car’s window.

The drive had been fun and the two days one night the three of them spent together was like a vacation trip.

"We’re here," Shawn yawned as he glanced at the familiar parking lot of Knox’s apartment building.

Knoa jumped from his seat excitedly, "Yay! I miss Uncle Franz!"

"Uncle Franz is in the café. Let’s eat dinner with them later," Knox stated. As he parked the car, his phone rang from the dashboard. The caller’s name was registered unknown and he hesitated whether to answer it or not.

Shawn and Knoa looked at him, puzzled. He reached for the phone and slid the green button in after mouthing to the other omega, "Go ahead first."

The younger omega obliged. He took Knoa and some of their bags and then stepped out of the car. Knox put the phone against his ears and parted his lips to ask who it was when a slightly familiar voice echoed from the speaker, "Knox, are you okay?"

It was Althea, Athan’s older sister, the one who recently got divorced from her husband. Her voice sounded weak but Knox could hear worry laced with it. He was a bit surprised to hear from her again, so he couldn’t answer immediately.

Althea continued, "Have you read the news?"

Knox’s brows knitted in confusion. He slightly shook his head, "I haven’t. What news?"

"You should check it. I called because I worry about you and Knoa. I heard from Steve that you visited the main house and that father blamed you for Athan’s situation right now. The media hasn’t learned of your identity yet, so don’t worry," she coughed and Knox straightened his back in concern. He was about to ask about her condition when the woman spoke again, "Just don’t step out of your house in the meantime. I have to go now, be careful, Knox."

"Wait, Althea—

Clack.

"Hah...she doesn’t sound well at all," he quietly murmured as he leaned back wearily on the seat again. "I wonder what news she was talking about..." he clicked on the search engine to search for the news that day, but the recommendation appeared just from him typing the word ’news’ on the search box.

"Rivalry of DV and HC, who is the lucky omega..." his breath hitched after clicking the article and reading the content. "What..."

[Hot news from The Monday Bulletin

On June XX, a fight broke out between the sole heir of the Del Valle Group of Companies and the fourth heir of the Horizon Corporation leading one of the biggest clothing brands in the country, shocking the whole HZ Clothing Brand building where the commotion occurred.

According to the witnesses, the CEO of DV Group Azrael Del Valle visited the HZCB President Athan Horace unannounced and barged in the latter’s office without permission. A few minutes later, a fight broke out leading to President Horace throwing the CEO to the wall out of his office.

Witnesses claimed that the two fought because of a certain omega whose identity hadn’t yet been revealed. But from the spectators who had been present in the scene, a famous model slash actress was seen in the area. This famous personality had undergone a gender change from beta to a dominant omega. People are speculating that the omega was the reason the two alphas engaged in a brawl.

DV Group CEO Azrael Del Valle had filed a case of assault resulting in minor injuries against the HZCB president. The court had issued a subpoena but President Athan Horace had yet to answer.

As of this date, the...]

Knox dialed Athan’s number but only a busy tone was all he received. He could only leave a message for him, but it wasn’t enough to put him at ease. He thought of calling Althea back but he felt guilty bothering her, so he dialed a different number instead.

"What is it, Sir Knox?" Steve’s monotone voice came from the phone.

Knox, not beating around the bush, asked promptly, "Did the chairman see the trending news? What did he say? Will he really not help Athan with the case?"

Steve cleared his throat and answered indifferently, "The chairman had already spoken with the young master. The case will proceed as it is, but the chairman has already expressed his disinvolvement with the matter."

Knox rosed from his slacking pose and responded quite loudly, "But Sir Steve, Athan’s company will suffer losses if he loses! He might even get thrown in jail! If his father helped him, then Mr. Del Valle could have been talked into withdrawing the case—

"Enough. Don’t speak as though you know everything."

The low and angered voice trapped Knox’s words in his throat. The chairman spoke without any hint of sympathy toward Athan. The call ended after that. He threw the phone onto the passenger seat in dismay.

The news speculated that it was because of that famous omega, but Knox already knew it was because of him. Athan refused to talk but Knox was certain Azrael said something to him, provoking Athan into attacking him.

He slammed his hand on the wheel out of frustration. Athan’s company and reputation were on the verge of ruin just because of an insane alpha who won’t let Knox off the hook.

"This is my fault...damn you, Azrael," he glared beyond the windshield, staring at the big letter A written on the column as a parking lot guide. He peeked at his phone lying on the seat next to him and stared at it for a few minutes.

Lots of thoughts were running wild in his head but a particular one was acing the race. That one reached the finish line and Knox grabbed the phone, opened his contacts, and cursed at the name ’Bull Dozer’ before pressing the call icon.

The phone rang once and immediately got connected as if the one from the other side had been waiting for it. Even without seeing Azrael or hearing his voice, Knox somehow could picture his cold appearance with a wicked grin on his face.

"Let’s talk," Knox demanded after gathering his courage. Once again, he was ready to step inside the bullpen for the sake of his brother. Only this time, he was uncertain what conditions to meet in exchange for the mad alpha withdrawing the case.

A deep voice answered, a sinister delight in his voice, "I’ve been waiting, Knox."

With that, the car’s engine once revived again, and the driver steered the wheels out of the parking lot. With a heavy yet determined heart, he headed to the mansion where the beast awaited his return.