Chapter 32 A Dark Memory Lane
The dull thud of fists pounding against leather echoed in the private underground gym beneath Julian’s mansion.
Sweat dripped from his temple as he threw another sharp hook into the punching bag. Across from him, Vincent matched his rhythm, the two of them moving in wordless synchronization- like a ritual both were accustomed to.
When the round timer beeped, Julian dropped his gloves and yanked them off. His chest rose and fell with steady breaths, though his face showed no sign of exhaustion.
He walked toward the wall mirror, wiped his face with a towel, and leaned his weight against the edge of the table beside him. Vincent followed quietly, pulling off his own gloves.
They’d both watched the interview earlier, where Damien and Talia were smiling and twisting words in front of cameras like the snakes they were. Vincent was the first to break the silence.
“So,” he said, taking a sip from his bottle, “what’s your plan for your brother and that Moreau girl?”
Julian reached for his towel again, ran it down his neck, and said in a calm and low tone, “I’m barely bothered.”
Vincent gave a short scoff. “You should be.”
Julian’s gaze lifted in the mirror, one brow raised.
“Well,” Vincent continued, stepping closer, “I just think a man should be bothered about the twin who made their father send him into exile for a crime he didn’t commit.”
That sent Julian’s mind to the past he hated revisiting. His hands clenched, knuckles whitening.
Damien had lied against him and their father and easily believed Damien. If anybody had told him that the day would come where his father would turn against him blindly like that, he would have called them bluff.
Once upon a time, he was his father’s bestfriend. Especially after their mother divorced him and left without coming back.
He knew about most of his dealings- both good and bad ones because he was the one who cleaned his messes, did his dirty jobs, and together, they would pretend it never happened.
But when that incident happened, where his father’s boy-toy a.k.a his father’s colleague and sexual partner was killed, he was at the casino that night, to fulfil some of his father’s errands as usual.
But Damien had called and he had rushed to meet him at a rooftop. There was blood all over Jeff’s body. He was dead. He was still asking Damien how it happened when their father arrived and Damien immediately pinned Jeff’s death on him.
Their father believed him. But Julian knew for sure that it was Damien who killed Jeff. He just didn’t have the evidence- yet.
And for a reason, Damien had always envied him because of his closeness with their father, so he had been joyous after he lied and Victor sent him to exile.
He stared at his reflection again- eyes tracing the healed faint scars on his body. People avoided him because his father painted him as a mentally unstable man.
For a fact, he knew it was because he had gone against his father at some point and threatened to spill his secret if he didn’t stop his dirty works.
Victor had felt threatened by him. But instead of talking things out- he went all insecure mode and chased him away. Buying Damien’s lie was cheap, the enmity was personal.
He could still remember how he had been emotionally exhausted that night and needed to feel alive. He had gone to the club for a drink or two, but saw her— Seraphina.
The attraction was magnetic and instant, before he got laid with her. A decision he never knew would shape today. more like Karma?
Then his father had sent a message about the dead person that night. Which was the one he later got to know Seraphina saw and got scared about. He had left to get somethings, but when he came back for her, she was no more in the room.
“I have my plans, Vincs.” He said with a chilling smirk.
He was going to avenge. He punished bad people now, and his father wouldn’t be an exception. Damien too. And his thirst for vengeance had just doubled after Damien had recklessly spilled about Phoenix on the screen like that.
It had taken every ounce of his restraint not to smash the tablet where they watched the interview on the wall.
And as for Seraphina, he would help her get her revenge. Now that he had the real will, he would help her acquire all that was stolen away from her. He owed her that. Especially for a reason only known to him for now.
And after one year, when the contract expires, he will let her go.
“You always have your plans, and I always trust that.” Vincent said proudly.
He moved closer, resting an arm on the ropes of the ring. “That kid,” he started carefully, “the one we saved. Is he still at your place?”
Julian nodded once. “He is.”
Vincent frowned. “You still haven’t told me whose kid it is. Are you keeping him cos you think that man named Keith would still go after him? He didn’t put up a real fight when we escaped. That was weird.”
Julian’s face hardened at the same time his voice dropped. He knew Keith too well. That man was not going to stop henceforth. Especially since it was him who had what he wanted.
“That’s because Keith knows better than to follow me. But he’ll come for the boy again. And when he does…” he paused, gaze fixed on the mirror, “…I’ll be two steps ahead.”
Vincent nodded. “I will be with you through it all.” He suddenly paused, folding his arms. “I’m wondering if I’m wrong or… You look… attached to the boy.”
Julian didn’t reply at first. He appeared to be silently contemplating before he let the words out of his mouth.
“I don’t look attached, I am attached.”
Vincent straightened, blinking once. “Okay?”
Julian turned to face him. “Because the boy is my son.”