Chapter 128 Sibling
Kian
His eyes were dark, coated with a silent fury—the type that threatened not to leave me unscathed if I opened my mouth to speak or even step forward.
He stared at me like someone who was silently plotting, tension swirling in the air around us.
I couldn’t even think.
All I could focus on was the pounding of my heart in my chest and the big boost of confidence that slowly evaporated.
When he drew his hand out of his pocket and stretched it to me, my heart had almost leaped out of my throat. No. My life flashed before my eyes.
I thought he wanted to draw out a pistol or send a pocket knife flying at my neck but then his darkened gaze fell on the phone that I gripped. Verena’s phone.
And with trembling fingers, I handed it to him.
That's calm. That terrifying calm. It made my stomach turn. I was scared—scared of my uncle, feared what was coming next.
He looked at the picture used as the lockscreen and a muscle pulsed in his jaw. At that moment, I knew that the thoughts running through his mind were definitely not good.
Adrenaline was a deceiver. It led me to this point and left me to face the consequences alone.
“I saved her life…”
He didn’t even allow me to finish and stepped into the apartment fully, his presence overshadowing the place like he owned the goddamn apartment.
I saved her life… and then I kissed her. Not just that. I kissed her while she was unconscious, took pictures, and uploaded them with that caption. I was completely screwed.
There was no reasonable explanation for what I’d done hours ago. None that wouldn’t make me sound insane. The only truth was that I’d wanted to prove something—to show him I wasn’t afraid of him or his final warning.
Fuck.
He probably even figured out that I was the one who sent the email.
And now that he knew where Verena was, he was going to manipulate her into not leaving!
As he walked past me, I didn’t dare touch him or even ask him to stop. My eyes followed him until he disappeared completely from my sight while I released a long sharp breath.
I ran my hands through my hair. This would have gone well if…
Anger surged to life deep inside of me as I shot a glare at the one person whom I would have never believed would do this to me.
“I thought you were my person?”
Jaden pushed away from the wall. “I am. I still am…”
I shook my head, a silent scoff of disbelief escaping me. “No, you’re not. If you were, you wouldn’t do this to me,”
“I was only protecting you before you could do something rash to her and yourself. Don’t you see how serious this is? If the media got wind of…”
I cut in, a growl leaving my mouth. “No one would have found out about anything if you had just kept your mouth shut,”
His shoulders fell, eyes bleeding with emotions. “Even if I kept quiet, what about Verena? What would happen when she opens her eyes? Do you think she would stay silent and do you plan on locking her in here forever?”
“If you had stuck with the plan of allowing her to gravitate towards you naturally. We wouldn’t be here,”
I swallowed hard, fingers clenching into fists because as much as I hated to admit that he made a lot of sense, I would never forgive him for betraying me in this way.
“Your resignation letter on Monday. This is me being generous,”
Jaden’s eyes softened. “Mr. Kian…”
Before he could finish, the hurried footsteps on the marbled floor made me whip my head up. My eyes widened when I saw my uncle rushing down the stairs with Verena in his arms.
She was already half-awake, sweat coating her forehead as she whimpered about a stomach ache.
Fear made my heart slam against my ribcage and as my uncle hurried past me with her in his arms, he shot me a look. One that sent a shiver slithering down my spine.
A look that said he would be coming for me soon.
Daxton
Crimson edged my vision, a burning fury settling in my veins as images of Kian’s lips on Verena’s body kept replaying in my head. I almost snapped the pen that I gripped in half.
He had touched her.
Kian had defied every warning and placed those fucking lips on her.
All I could see were those pictures, blood, and how beautiful it would look seeing life drain from those bright blue eyes.
I had almost lost my mind trying to find Verena, tearing through traffic, running red lights. It was one of those few moments in which I regretted not attaching a tracker to her car.
Kian had pushed me and this was the last straw.
The sound of the door opening pulled me out of my thoughts. “Sorry for keeping you waiting…” The doctor smothered a gasp when her eyes locked with mine.
“Are you okay? Your eyes…”
No, I wasn’t. I was drained from the dark thoughts that kept spinning in my head, exhausted from rushing her into the hospital, convinced I was about to lose her.
The memory of her body burning up still clung to my skin.
I’d felt terror, fear, and a whole lot of nerve-wracking emotions all at once.
The tension that had locked my muscles only left after I was told that she was now stable.
I jerked forward. “Verena? Is she okay?”
Skepticism rose in the doctor’s eyes and instead of prodding on the previous question, she answered. “Yes. She’s responding well to the treatment and has fully regained consciousness…”
I exhaled a breath out of relief.
“She was only reacting to some toxins that she consumed in excess. It irritated her stomach and we ran some tests and noticed a mild case of uterine scarring. Has she ever gone through a procedure,”
“Yes. She told me…” My words slowly trailed as my face morphed into confusion. “Uterine Scarring? How? She doesn’t have a uterus,”
The doctor’s eyes narrowed on me before she shook her head gently. “I don’t think that’s the case. She must have been misinformed. The tests we did clearly showed that there is an uterus and—”
I had stopped listening.
All the anger and emotions dissipated into thin air, my heart picking up its beat as the doctor’s words resounded through my head. “Wait…what! She has a uterus?”
Jane—confused—nodded. “Yes, and she will need to return for treatment…”
I pushed to my feet, my face breaking into a smile. “Oh My God…she needs to hear this,”
“Mr. Daxton. You…”
I was already out of the door before she could finish. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Verena’s face but with every step closer to the door, my excitement fizzled out.
Wonderful news. Yeah. Sure. But would she want to see me after that shit she read?
My steps faltered, trepidation knocking at my heart as I sucked in a deep breath and dialed Josh’s number.
“Boss. She is now awake,”
I closed my eyes, holding my heart in one hand. “Did you see her?”
“Yes. She asked to know what had happened…”
My chest tightened, a heavy lump lodging at the base of my throat. “Did she ask about me?”
Josh paused for a long second, my patience wearing thin. “No,”
That single word hit me like a sledgehammer. No.
I was sick in the head. What made me believe that she would want to see me after what she had read?
Ninety-nine percent of the bullshit Kian wrote was lies that spiraled from nowhere, but the one percent that wasn’t was enough to damn me.
It was true.
I was responsible for my mum’s death. Two deaths, actually. Hers and my unborn sibling’s. Both lives were lost because of a stupid mistake I made as a child.
That was the real reason I didn’t want children. A man like me didn’t deserve one.
And in Verena’s eyes, I was a cold-blooded murderer who killed his mum. Someone she probably regretted ever knowing.
I groaned into my palm, sliding my fingers up my face until I pushed them into my hair. I dreaded the look that would be on her face.
If there was one thing I feared, it was her looking at me like some sort of monster and I didn’t want to see that. Not now.
I took one glance at the door and left.
I sat in the hospital’s courtyard, anger churning my nerves as I read the ridiculous statement Kian had released. He claimed it was a glitch and they were old pictures but despite the damage control, the hate comments swamped both him and Verena—Verena took the worst of it and I had no choice but to deactivate the account.
“Fucking Coward,”
The moment I got my head straight, he was done for.
Above me, the sky darkened, heavy clouds rolling in like a warning. To worsen my day, it was about to rain.
Josh’s call came in again and for the third time, I declined it. I was about shoving it into my pocket when a voice—a sweet one—that caused me to freeze momentarily echoed down my ears.
“Why haven't you been answering your calls?”
My heartbeat slowed as I processed the voice one more time before whipping my head slowly. Beautiful brown eyes stared back at me, a slight flicker of annoyance in them.
Verena.
“I searched everywhere for you…” Her eyes were glossy with tears. “I thought you’d gone back home without seeing me. I was about to get mad.”