Chapter 173: you are your father’s son

The night was long, filled with an unsettling stillness. I sat by the window in the dimly lit room, my eyes lost in the swirling snowflakes outside, my thoughts far away. The fire in the hearth had long since burned low, casting only faint shadows across the walls. My mind raced, tangled in the events of the day. 

Sirius. 

His presence was like a storm, raging and unpredictable. But something had shifted when we spoke. He hadn’t seemed like the same man who left all those years ago. And yet, he was still Sirius, the same man I had once loved. But the anger, the bitterness, that was still there, lurking beneath the surface. And in his eyes, something darker, something more dangerous than I had ever seen. 

I closed my eyes, my chest tightening. He had been here. He had seen Aster. He had seen our daughter, Lira. And yet, now he was gone. After the tense silence between us, he had left the room without another word. 

"I need space", he had said. 

I didn’t know what I had expected. After everything, I should have known better than to think that one night would change everything. But I wanted to believe that we could find some kind of peace. That we could rebuild what had been broken. 

But deep down, a nagging feeling had settled in my gut. A whisper I couldn’t ignore. Something was wrong. 

I tried to push the thought from my mind, but sleep eluded me. The minutes turned to hours, and the house around me seemed to grow colder. My body grew heavy with exhaustion, but my mind kept racing, haunted by images of Sirius’s eyes, burning with anger, but something more underneath it. Something colder. 

And then, before I could drift off into a restless slumber, a sudden noise pierced the stillness—shouts, hurried footsteps, voices raised in alarm. I shot up from the bed, my heart hammering in my chest. 

Something was terribly wrong. 

I didn’t waste a second. I threw open the door and ran down the hallway, my breath coming in quick, panicked gasps. At the base of the stairs, I saw my aunt, her face pale with fear, running toward me. 

“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice shaky. 

She grabbed my arm, her grip firm. “Astra, come quickly, something terrible has happened!” 

I followed her without a word, dread pooling in my stomach. The cold hit me like a wave as we stepped outside, the snow crunching beneath our feet. The night had swallowed the world, leaving only the eerie light of the moon and the pale glow of the snow around us. 

The sight before me made my blood run cold. 

Yong. 

His body was crumpled in a pool of blood, his silver hair darkened with crimson. His face was frozen in an expression of shock, his hand outstretched as if he had tried to protect himself, but it was too late. My eyes filled with tears as I knelt beside him, my breath catching in my throat. 

“Yong...” I whispered, the word barely a breath. My heart ached, the weight of the loss crashing over me like a tidal wave. I reached for him, but my aunt held me back. 

I glanced around, my panic rising. “Where is Lira?” 

My aunt didn’t answer, but the look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. 

I turned, my legs like jelly, as I stumbled toward the small house where Lira had been sleeping. The door was ajar, the hinges creaking in the cold wind. I pushed it open, my heart pounding in my chest. 

Inside, the room was dark, the only light coming from the flickering flames of a dying candle. And there, lying on the floor, was Lira. 

She was peaceful, almost serene in her sleep, her tiny form curled up as if she were resting. But it was wrong. Too wrong. 

I ran to her, my hands trembling as I reached for her. I touched her cheek. Cold. 

Lira’s eyes were closed, her lips parted in a soft, almost innocent smile. But the blood at her neck told a different story. 

I gasped, choking on the air in my lungs. She was dead. My sweet little girl, taken from me in the dead of night. 

I stumbled back, my heart breaking, as I stood there, unable to comprehend what I was seeing. 

And then, it hit me, Sirius. 

He had done this. 

He had killed Yong. He had killed Lira. 

Tears streamed down my face as I sank to the floor, the weight of the grief threatening to suffocate me. How had it come to this? What had happened to the man I had once loved? What had he become? 

I didn’t know how long I sat there, just staring at Lira’s lifeless body, my mind reeling. The sound of footsteps in the snow broke through the haze of my grief. 

I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. 

Sirius stood in the doorway, his face a mask of rage and guilt. His eyes, those eyes, still so familiar, burned with pain, but there was something else there too. 

Remorse?

No. It wasn’t remorse. It was something darker, something colder. 

He stepped into the room, and my gaze locked with his. I felt nothing but disgust for the man who had once been my husband. The man who had killed the two people I loved most in the world. 

“You...” I started, but my voice broke. I didn’t even know what to say. How could I say anything when everything inside me screamed for revenge? 

Sirius didn’t answer. He just stood there, his expression unreadable as he looked down at his daughter’s lifeless body. 

“I didn’t want to do this,” he said finally, his voice hoarse. “But I couldn’t... I couldn’t lose you again, Astra.” 

I stood up, my heart pounding in my chest. “You think this is about me?! You think this is about anything other than the fact that you killed my family?” 

His gaze flickered to Lira’s body, and I saw a flicker of something, guilt? Maybe. But it was gone just as quickly as it came. 

“I did it because I had no choice,” he said, his voice cracking. “I thought you would never forgive me. I thought I would never have a chance to make things right. But I couldn’t... I couldn’t leave you and Aster in that place. I thought..” 

“You thought? You thought killing my daughter would fix things?” I demanded, my voice rising in fury. “You ruined everything. You’ve destroyed everything!” 

Sirius took a step toward me, his eyes wide with desperation. “Astra, please. I never meant to hurt you. I thought I was doing what was best.” 

“Best?” I spat, my breath coming in ragged gasps. “Best for who, Sirius? For you? For your sick need to control everything? You’ve taken everything from me.” 

Tears filled his eyes now, and for a brief moment, he looked like the man I had once known. The man I had once loved. But then, just as quickly, he hardened again. 

“I’ll never make things right,” he said softly, his voice shaking. “I don’t deserve to.” 

And with that, he turned, his cloak billowing around him as he walked out of the room. 

I stayed there, numb, staring at Lira’s body. 

And I knew then, there was no going back. 

No more trying to fix what was broken. The man I had loved was gone, and in his place was something monstrous. 

Sirius was beyond redemption.

He was his father's son.