Chapter 162 MEMORY RETURN
Chapter 162 MEMORY RETURN
Henry's gun never wavered. Its muzzle remained fixed on Julian.
“Don't even think about it. You corrupted my son. You ruined him. My son is a man not a woman, but you ruined him anyway. Haven't you done enough?”
Julian looked at the weapon only briefly before taking another step forward.
Henry's finger tightened on the trigger.
“I said stop.”
Julian didn't. Instead, he looked straight into Henry's eyes.
“I see you despise being alive.” Henry said, his tone giving nothing but a warning Julian ignored.
“The last time you shot me, the bullet went through my chest and lodged into your son's head. I was fine within days but your son wasn't so fortunate. He almost died. He spent close to a month in a coma, and when he woke up, half his memory was gone. Now he thinks he's seventeen.”
Henry's jaw tightened.
Julian continued, calm despite the rage boiling in him. “You knew that bullet would hit your son, but that didn't stop you from pulling the trigger.”
“You almost killed your own child.” Anton added, stepping forward. “And that wasn't even the worst thing you've done.”
Henry's eyes shifted toward him.
Anton spoke evenly. “You brought a quack doctor to drug him, for what? To make him no longer gay? You didn't care how much you were hurting him, you ignored every bit of pain you caused him, you just wanted to “cure” him of being gay.” A cold smile appeared on Anton's face as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “I owe you a good beating for being a terrible father and I'm gonna pay it to you today. I heard you've been hired to kill me,” he spread his arms. “You’ve finally got your chance. Why don't you fight me? If you win… you can do whatever you came here to do.”
The challenge hung in the air.
Before Henry could answer—
Victoria suddenly screamed,
“This is all fake!”
In one swift motion, she snatched the pistol from Matteo.
The movement startled everyone.
A deafening bang echoed through the factory warehouse as she shot at Julian. The shot missed Julian and struck the concrete wall instead.
Fragments scattered across the floor.
The sudden noise broke everyone's concentration.
Anton reacted instantly. He pulled Eli away from Henry's grasp and shoved him toward Damien.
“Hold him!”
Damien caught Eli before he collapsed. “I've got him.”
Eli could barely stand. His soaked clothes clung to his body as he struggled to breathe.
Anton turned back just as Henry lunged. The two men crashed into each other, disappearing behind stacked containers.
Across the room, Julian grabbed the pistol in Victoria's hands.
“Let go!”
She struggled fiercely. “I won't let you take everything from me!”
The gun twisted between them, letting loose stray shots.
Another shot rang out.
Then another.
Neither seemed to know where the bullets were going.
One round struck the metal support of the water tank.
Another shattered part of the thick glass, cracks spread like spiderwebs across its surface. Water burst through the fractures, cascading across the storage room floor.
The loud reports echoed through the building.
Each one seemed to strike somewhere deep inside Eli's mind. His breathing became uneven, his vision blurred as voices suddenly flooded his head.
So many voices.
“You can't be gay. You're my son. You’re a man. You can’t let that bastard win me twice.”
Another voice.
“Till death do you part.”
Then another.
"Your dreams are just dreams.”
“If this drug doesn’t fix you… I’ll kill you.”
“You're useless to him, he already used you for what he wanted. He used you to steal from me!”
“You’re nothing but a fucking stupid weakling who wouldn’t stop bringing me shame.”
“How do you like being tied up and beaten with a stick like the little animal you’ve always been?”
Eli squeezed his eyes shut. His head throbbed violently.
“No…” He whimpered.
The memories refused to settle. They crashed into one another like broken pieces of glass.
More voices flooded in… familiar voices…
“Feelings aren’t crimes,” “Desire isn’t a sin.”
Eli shook his head, trying to shake off the voices.
Damien tightened his grip around him before Eli's legs gave way completely.
“I've got you. It's okay.”
But Eli barely heard him as the voices only grew louder.
_______
Henry barely had time to steady himself before Anton crashed into him again. The impact sent both men slamming into a stack of metal crates. The entire rack groaned.
Henry recovered first, and his fist came like a hammer.
Bang.
Anton took it across the jaw. His head snapped sideways.
Henry didn't stop. A second punch, followed quickly by a third.
Anton staggered back.
Henry grabbed the front of Anton's shirt and drove him hard against a shipping container.
The steel boomed.
“You think you can lecture me about raising a son?”
Henry drove a knee into Anton's stomach.
Anton doubled over, and laughed.
Henry frowned. “What the hell are you laughing at? What's so funny? Must be your approaching death.”
Anton spat blood onto the floor. “I'm laughing because…” he straightened. “...that's the hardest you've hit me.”
His fist exploded into Henry's face.
Crack.
Henry's nose broke instantly. Blood burst across his lips.
Before Henry could even register the impact, Anton grabbed him by the collar and rammed his face straight into the side of the container.
BANG!
Again.
BANG!
Again.
BANG!
Henry's forehead split open. Blood painted the steel.
Anton finally let go.
Henry stumbled… only for Anton to kick him square in the ribs.
Henry crashed through a wooden pallet.
Splinters scattered across the warehouse.
“You’re so unpleasant to look at. Every time I look at you, I fight the urge to butcher you. Julian was a child! You're the monster, not him. You made him watch you slowly kill his father, he was a child!!”