Chapter 91 Breaking point
“No time to think, I just need to get him back,” Alex responded.
“Exactly what I'm talking about. Where do you think he would go?” Jason pressed. “Home?”
Alex shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t go to his father's.”
“Then his sister, Emily?”
Alex started to give it a thought in his confusion but stopped pacing. “Yes…if she stays on her own but she stays with their father” he muttered weakly.
“Where is Lucas living?”
“He stays at Nathan’s.”
Jason nodded. “Good, we start from there but I’m driving.”
Alex didn’t argue this time. Within minutes they were in the car. Jason sat behind the wheel as the engine roared to life. Alex sat rigid in the passenger seat, dialing Lucas again and again but the number was still off.
Every unconnected call tightened the knot in his chest.
“What if he doesn’t want to see me again?” Alex whispered, staring at the dark screen of his phone.
Jason kept his eyes on the road. “Then you stand there anyway, you apologize anyway and you explain anyway. If he sends you away, you come again the next day.”
The city lights blurred past them.
Alex’s mind replayed Lucas’s broken expression on a vicious loop.
We are nothing. It’s over. Those words taunted him and it made his chest burn.
“Drive faster,” Alex urged.
Jason pressed harder on the accelerator.
For the first time in his life, Alex wasn’t afraid of losing money. He wasn’t afraid of losing his reputation. He was terrified of losing Lucas.
The car screeched to a halt outside Nathan’s apartment building. Before Jason could fully park, Alex was already out, slamming the door and striding toward the entrance with frantic urgency.
“Easy!” Jason called after him. “Don’t make it worse!”
But Alex wasn’t listening.
Meanwhile, earlier, Lucas had returned home mumbling inaudibly. Inside the apartment, he sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, fingers loosely clasped. His eyes were dull, unfocused. He had returned nearly an hour ago, drained and shattered.
Nathan had noticed immediately.
Lucas wasn’t the type to sulk.
“What happened?” Nathan had asked earlier.
“Nothing,” Lucas replied.
But there was something because Nathan could see it in the way Lucas avoided eye contact. Or the way, he forced a smile that never reached his eyes. In the meantime, he had gone completely silent afterward.
He was still trying to get him to talk when the door code started beeping.
Nathan frowned and turned to Lucas. “Did you give our code to someone?”
Lucas stiffened and shook his head negatively.
The beep continued and
Nathan stood and walked toward the door. The moment the door opened, Alex stood there.
He was disheveled, breathless with red eyes. You could see panic written all over him. As he stepped in, Nathan’s expression darkened instantly. He didn’t need a detective to connect the dots.
He glanced back at Lucas who had gone completely still at the sight of Alex behind him. Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“You?” he said coldly.
Alex swallowed. “I need to see Lucas.”
Nathan stepped halfway out, blocking the entrance. “To do what? Finish whatever you started?”
Alex flinched.
“Lucas came home broken,” Nathan continued, voice rising. “He wouldn’t tell me why or even say a word. He just sat there like someone ripped his heart out of his chest.” His eyes burned into Alex. “And now you show up looking guilty as hell.”
Jason reached the door behind Alex, trying to steady the situation.
“Please calm down, let's just talk calmly.” Jason pleaded.
Nathan cut him off sharply and passed a question to Alex. “What did you do to him?”
Alex opened his mouth, but no immediate defense came. Because there wasn’t one. He managed and muttered hoarsely, “I messed up. I accused him of something he didn’t do.”
Nathan let out a bitter laugh. “Accused him? Do you even know how hard it is for him to trust someone? Do you?”
Alex’s chest tightened.
“I didn’t know,” Alex whispered.
“Exactly!” Nathan snapped. “You didn’t know because you didn’t ask and you didn't investigate that.”
Nathan paced and chuckled, “Oh let me guess. You were going through the footage and saw something. Then you jump to conclusions, and next you accuse him. Right?”
The words struck clean and precise. Behind Nathan, Lucas looked away, unable to meet Alex’s eyes.
Alex’s voice cracked. “I thought the girl was his girlfriend.”
Nathan blinked. “What girl?”
“Emily,” Alex responded feeling ashamed.
Nathan stared at him for a long second as the realization dawned on him.
“What the heck, Alex. You accused him… over his sister?”
Jason winced as a long silence stretched in the sitting room.
Nathan ran a hand down his face in disbelief and muttered, “Unbelievable.”
Lucas closed his eyes briefly.
The humiliation of it burned all over again.
Alex shifted and finally looked directly at him. “Lucas… I know the truth now. I know she’s your sister. I was wrong. I was jealous and stupid. I'm sorry for not letting you explain.”
Lucas’s throat tightened, but he said nothing.
Nathan crossed his arms. “Apology accepted?”
Lucas shot to his feet and looked at Nathan, then his voice came quiet, fragile. “I'm not interested in any apology. As I said earlier, I'm done. We're over.”
Alex felt his heart drop all over again. His eyes burned with unshed tears.
The words had barely settled when something inside Lucas snapped. His jaw tightened and his fists clenched. He had made up his mind and no apology could change that.
Without another word, he turned sharply and strode down the hallway toward the bedroom.
“Lucas, please” Alex called, startled.
The bedroom door slammed. The sound echoed through the apartment like a gunshot.
For a second, Alex just stood there, stunned. Then instinct took over.
“No, no, it's not over.” He rushed after him. “Lucas, please, wait, just listen to me!”
He pushed the bedroom door open. Lucas was pacing, running a hand through his hair, breathing hard. His eyes were red, not weak, but furious with hurt.
“Baby, I said I’m sorry,” Alex rushed in. “I know I messed up. I know I didn’t let you explain. I was jealous, I panicked, I…”
“Stop it!” Lucas shouted.
Alex froze.
“I’m tired, I don’t want to hear it!” Lucas’s voice cracked, but his anger held strong. “You didn’t trust me. Not even for a second.”
“I do trust you!”
“No, you don’t!” Lucas shot back. “If you did, you would have let me speak!”
The words hit like blows but Alex stepped closer, desperation all over his face. “I was scared, okay? I thought I was losing you…”
Lucas laughed bitterly. “So you decided to lose me first? It's done now, you should be happy.”
The truth of it hung heavy between them. Alex reached out, trying to hold him. “Please… don’t end this. I love you.”
Lucas shoved him hard. “Don’t touch me!”
Alex stumbled back a step, shock flashed all over him.
“I’m not interested anymore!” Lucas yelled, voice breaking now. “I don’t want you accusing me like I’m some liar sneaking around behind your back!