Chapter 185 Hidden Twin

Chapter 185 Hidden Twin
Elara's POV,

Not...

me.

Us.

His father and him.

As though they’ve never existed separately. As though there has never been a world where one wasn’t waiting for the other. Before he notices the tears gathering in my eyes, I pull him into my arms.

He squirms immediately.

“Mum!”

I laugh through the ache.

“I know.” I kiss the top of his head before setting him down. “I just needed a hug.”

He nods, satisfied, and reaches for his iPad again. Children move on so quickly.

I close the bedroom door behind me, and only then do I let the tears fall.

One.

Then another.

Then another.

You have to leave him. The thought crashes through my mind over and over. You have to leave Lucien. Remember why. And if that’s what it takes... make him hate you.

Because if I don’t, my little boy will spend the rest of his childhood waiting by the front door, believing I’ll come back.

Just because...

I always have.

As I pass the library, a whisper catches my attention.

“Psst.”

I stop and nearly have a heart attack.

“...Viktor?” He peeks around one of the bookshelves. “What the fuck?” I whisper-yell. “I thought you were in Venice.”

“I was, and I came back.”

“Yeah, no shit.” I fold my arms. “Why are you lurking around the library like some haunted Victorian ghost? Did Lucien kick you out again?”

“No?”

I blink.

“That’s not a question you answer with a question.”

He sighs impatiently.

“This isn’t important.” His expression hardens. “It’s about Levi.”

Everything inside me stills and I walk toward him without another word.

“What?” Hope rises so quickly it almost hurts. “Did you find him?” I take another step. “Where is he?”

Viktor doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he opens his laptop and places it on the table between us.

“After you told me about the Levi boy you met at the Seraph, something didn’t sit right with me, so I spent weeks digging.” His fingers hover above the keyboard. “I went into the darkest parts of the internet. Contacted reporters who were fired after covering the Kórvacs.”

“What does the Kórvacs have to do with him?” 

“...Recovered deleted articles,” he continues, ignoring me. “Archived websites and forums that were supposed to disappear years ago.”

He looks at me.

“And I found something.” A strange feeling settles in my stomach. “Are you sure you want to know?”

My mouth goes dry.

“...The Kórvacs bought him? Is he…” I swallow sand. “Dead?”

Viktor’s expression twists.

“Worse.”

He slowly turns the screen toward me, and the colour drains from my face. Two young men stare back at me.

The two of them I know. One is a younger Lucien, who looks just like Asher, in a way. The other—

My breathing catches.

He looks different, and not identical. But undeniably… Brothers.

“He was Lucien Kórvac's brother.” Viktor’s voice sounds impossibly far away. “Is this the boy you saw in your memories?”

My world tilts.

“Now if you disappear…” His fingers intertwine with mine. “I’ll still know it’s you. And if you leave someday…” His blue eyes meet mine.

“I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”

The page scrolls and a wave of nausea crashes through me. Another archived photograph. Another recovered article.

Another piece of a life that shouldn’t exist.

“Didn’t you say you’d follow me to the ends of the earth? Why does it feel like you’re already halfway gone?” 

Scroll. 

Another photograph.

“I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth,” he says, kissing my forehead. 

Scroll.

“And you are mine,” he whispers against my lips. “Our love stays forever.” 

He stops at a paragraph, and everything does too. My heart, my lungs, my thoughts.

The headline fills the screen.

KÓRVAC'S HIDDEN TWIN LOSES IT—KILLS HIS BROTHER FOR POWER ON THE SAME DAY HE MURDERS HIS FATHER.

Below it...

There’s a photograph of Lucien standing with his white shirt soaked crimson. Levi...

He’s on the ground.

His face...

I don’t—

I can’t—

No.

No...

The scream tears itself out of my throat before I even realise I’m making a sound. The laptop slips from my hands and crashes onto the floor.

I stagger backwards.

“No…”

That isn’t Lucien. It can’t be.

It just can’t.

Because the man standing over Levi's body is the same man who kisses my forehead every morning. The same man who carries Asher to bed. The same man who whispers that his love is forever.

No.

This has to be wrong.

This has to be fake.

Because if it isn’t...

Then the man I love now killed the boy who promised to follow me to the ends of the earth.