Chapter 012

༺ Kael

“You can't be serious,” I murmured, my chest suddenly tight, “How? When? How the fuck did this happen?”

“These aren't questions we are supposed to answer over the phone, Kael and you know that too well. That's why I'm calling you to invite you over to dinner on Friday night so we can talk about it.”

I swallowed, trying to concentrate on Elias' words but my head was spinning, “What's there to discuss?”

“The fact that the old man left seventy percent of his entire wealth to you - for whatever reasons.”

I couldn't ignore the jealousy I heard dripping from his words and it honestly wasn't surprising. Not at all.

Elias has always been jealous of me, always wanted everything I had despite being the older one. At first it was all cute until it became old and tiring feeling like I was forever in competition with my only brother.

It had went on, until I walked in on him fucking my fiancé at the time. That was when I had decided that I'd had enough and left home. Although that wasn't all the reason I left. But it served as a catalyst to make up my mind.

“I'm not coming.”

“Oh come on now Kael, don't be childish. If not for anything, do it to respect grandpa. You had always been his favourite. You owe him this little at least.”

The bastard was right. I hesitated for a moment before I sighed and agreed.

What was the point anyways? How long am I supposed to hide from my own home?

I ended the call as Elias chuckled, and dropped the phone on the bed, moments before dropping my head in my hands.

What sort of mess has life turned into? My life?

What was all this? There were so many things - so many things running through my mind that it was hard to just pick one and focus on it.

The pain and heartbreak of what I had just discovered about Thalia.

The complicated mate bond between Seraphina and I…a bond that she was determined to fight no matter what I did.

The things currently happening.

Now I also had to worry about my family on top of that. My grandfather…

I shuddered and shifted that away from my mind. I was already in too much pain from losing Thalia and my unborn child.

I have had enough pain so I would not think about anything else …at least not today.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

Friday came quicker than I expected- quicker than I liked. I had woken up to Elias' short text reminding me about the family dinner.

But the first thought that had occupied my mind was the fact that Sera was avoiding me for the past three days.

Or perhaps she wasn't. Perhaps she was just busy…or mourning her best friend, who knows? But there was something in me which told me that avoiding me was also in the mix of what was keeping her occupied.

I tried not to let that bother me too much as I drove into the very familiar compound that I had grown up in.

My heart squeezed painfully, as I parked my car in the garage and got out looking at the house. The house which had once been my home until two years ago when everything had crumbled.

Never did I imagine that I'd be back so soon, neither did I imagine that…the death of my grandfather would be the thing that'd bring me back.

Amongst the thing I never imagined to happen was how pained I was, as I recalled flashes after flashes of memories, beautiful and ugly as I walked towards the door.

Before I could knock, the door and Elias stood there, grinning ear to ear.

“Kael!” He yelled, “Oh little brother, how I've missed you.”

I stepped back when he tried to come closer for a hug and the bastard frowned, “Come on in, and please drop the attitude at the door. Everyone is waiting for me.”

My heart started racing wildly.

Everyone? By everyone who did he mean?

The whole family?

My knees buckled, but I hid it as I followed Elias into the sitting room which smelled the same way it always had, the same way it did the particular night that everything came crashing down.

We walked into the dinning and indeed, ‘everyone’ was there waiting. My sister, my mother, grandmother…and a face I never expected to see. Rebecca…my ex fiance, carrying an infant in her hand.

What was she doing here?

Did her and Elias' affair turn into marriage?

All their attention shifted to me the moment I walked into the room.

At first there was silence, then a broken sob cut through the whole room. I could barely brace myself before my mother came racing towards me, to envelope me in a big hug.

“My baby. My beautiful baby boy. Oh, I'm so happy to see you.”

“Hello mother,” I murmured with a smile when she finally released me. She wiped the tears on her face away and grabbed my arm.

“I've prayed. Every single night I have prayed for your return…for you to find your way back home. And here you are…the goddess answered my prayers!”

My sister stood up next, her face red and wet with tears as she approached me, “You bastard! I would be screaming your head off right now if I didn't miss you too much.” She hugged me and I returned her hug.

My grandmother hugged me next, sobbing into my neck as I held her tight and whispered into her grey hair that I missed her too.

Rebecca was just staring at me, with round eyes and a strange expression on her face but I completely ignored her as I turned to my mother.

“Elias told me what happened. I'm very sorry for the loss.”

“We all are,” my mother sniffed, “we really all are.”

“True,” Elias chipped in. “But we will talk about that later. There's another reason I brought you here…and after that we can then dive into the main topic of the day.”

I cocked my head, “What?”

Elias gave Rebecca a glance before looking at me, “Rebecca and I are getting a divorce.”

I raised a brow, looking as uninterested as possible, “And how's that my concern? I didn't know y'all were married to begin with.”

“The reason we are divorcing is because - The baby she's carrying…his name is Joel. And Kael…Joel is your son.”