Chapter 94 Chapter 94
Chapter Ninety-Four
Dimitri
I was shocked.
Completely and utterly shocked.
Irina actually said yes. She was allowing Alexei to see the baby.
What was she thinking? Alexei was clearly unstable. He was dangerous. He had no right to be near that innocent child.
Alexei looked at me with triumph in his eyes. He actually stuck his tongue out at me like a child.
This was crazy.
"You see?" Alexei said. "She will always choose me over you."
Those words made something inside me snap. Pure rage flooded through my body. The rage I had been bottling sprung up.
Before I could think, my fist was flying towards Alexei's face.
The punch connected hard with his face. I felt his nose crunch under my knuckles.
Alexei stumbled backward. His head hit the wall with a sickening thud.
Then he collapsed.
Blood began pooling on the floor immediately. Dark blood spread across the white tiles.
Alexei was completely limp. He wasn't moving. He had stopped breathing.
The room fell silent.
Irina gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth.
Mikhail cursed under his breath.
And I stood frozen, staring at what I had done.
"Alexei?" Irina whispered.
But there was no response.
"Alexei!" She screamed louder.
Still nothing.
"Call the doctors!" Mikhail shouted. "Now!"
I fumbled for my phone. My hands were shaking. Blood was on my knuckles. Alexei's blood.
What had I done?
The doctors rushed in within seconds. They dropped to their knees beside Alexei.
"Is he breathing?" One of them asked urgently.
Another checked his pulse. "Yes. His pulse is weak but it's present."
I let out a sigh of relief.
They worked quickly. Checking his head. Stopping the bleeding. Lifting him onto a stretcher.
"Is he going to be okay?" I heard myself ask. But my voice was shaking.
The head doctor looked at me grimly. "He hit his head hard. We need to get him to surgery immediately."
"Surgery?" Irina's voice was shaking.
"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "There may be internal bleeding in the brain. And after the surgery… he might have temporary amnesia."
For some strange reasons, I felt a small surge of satisfaction. If Alexei couldn't remember anything, Me, Irina or his son, maybe he would leave us alone.
Maybe we could finally have peace.
I mentally hit myself. How could I have such a wrong thought towards my own brother?
They wheeled Alexei out quickly. The door slammed shut behind them.
And then we were alone again. Me, Irina, and Mikhail.
The blood was still on the floor. Dark and spreading.
I looked down at my hands. At the blood on them.
What had I done?
I looked up at Irina. Her eyes were wide with shock. Her whole body was trembling.
She was staring at me like she didn't recognize me.
Like she was afraid of me.
"Irina," I started.
"Don't," she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Don't come near me."
"I didn't mean to..."
"Don't come near me!" She screamed this time.
I stopped moving. My heart felt like it was being crushed.
Mikhail stood quietly in the corner. Saying nothing. His face was completely blank.
"I should go back to my ward," Mikhail finally said. He sounded very tired.
He walked out slowly, favoring his injured side.
And then it was just me and Irina.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to hit him that hard. I just... he said you would choose him and I..."
"Stop," Irina interrupted. "Just stop talking."
"But I need you to understand..."
"Understand what?" She asked. Her voice was rising. "That you almost killed your brother? Again?"
"He was taunting me," I said desperately. "He was saying horrible things."
"So you hit him?" Irina asked. "You solved it with violence?"
"I... yes," I admitted. "I lost control."
She looked at me, saying nothing.
"The doctors said he might have temporary amnesia when he wakes up." I added quickly. "Irina, for some reason, that makes me feel better. If he has amnesia, he won't remember wanting the baby. He won't remember any of this. He won't remember you."
I was expecting Irina to feel the same way. But when I looked into her eyes, I regretted saying those words.
"What did you just say?" She asked coldly.
"I just meant… Huh…"
"You feel better?" She asked. Her voice was shaking with emotion. "You are glad you hurt your brother so badly he might lose his memory?"
"No, that's not what I..."
"You are becoming a monster," Irina said. Each word was like a knife. "Can't you see? You are becoming exactly like Alexei."
"No," I said immediately. "No, I am nothing like Alexei."
"What's the difference?" Irina said. "Tell me."
"I am not like that bastard!" I thundered, frustration building. My body was trembling so bad, I couldn't control it.
Why does Alexei always win?
Even now, he was winning. He had successfully turned irina against me.
Irina flinched. I could see fear in her eyes.
"You’ve always been a monster, Dmitri. You have just succeeded in deceiving everyone into thinking you're a saint. Into thinking you're better than your brother."
Tears were streaming down her face now. And it broke my heart.
I went on my knees. "Irina, I swear on that little boy fighting for his life in that incubator, I am not my brother. I am Dmitri, your husband."
"Are you?" She asked. "You just put your brother in a coma. How is that different?"
I shook my head desperately. "I would never become like my brother. Never."
"But you already are," Irina said bitterly. "You just don't see it yet."
Tears began falling from my eyes. I couldn't stop them.
"I didn't mean to," I sobbed into my hands. "I didn't mean to hurt him."
Irina stood up slowly. She was still shaking.
"I can't do this anymore," she whispered. It sounded bitter.
I looked up at her through my tears.
"What?"
"This," she gestured around. "All of this. The violence. The anger. The constant fear. I'm done."
"Please," I begged. "Please don't leave. I will fix this. I promise."
"I'm sorry," she said firmly. "But I cannot raise my son in this environment. Around this violence. It's overwhelming."
My heart stopped. "What are you saying?"
Irina wiped her tears. She l
ooked at me with determination I had never seen before.
"I'm leaving," she said suddenly.
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"No," I said. "No, you can't."
"I can," Irina replied. "And I am." Her voice was the coldest thing I’ve ever heard.
Before I could stop her, she walked out and slammed the door.