Alex POV
I pace restlessly in the hallway as I wait for the nurses that rushed Max and Ariel into the ward to come out and tell me how their health is. I went there this morning to see Max since I’ve been calling him nonstop and he never answered any of them.
I was shocked when I got there and found Ariel in a pool of her blood, and Max was on the verge of passing out. I have always known him to be hemophobia since childhood, and I don’t know what would’ve happened if I wasn’t there to help them here.
Pushing all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I take a deep breath and sit on the bench before I run my fingers through my hair. At this point, I don’t even think I have the mind to hurt Max anymore. He has been through a lot already, and as much as I need this, I also don’t want to cause him any harm, because he never deserved any of this. All he did was love me with everything in him. All he ever did while we were growing up was take care of me and made sure he protected me. He was the best brother to me, the best friend I ever had. Yes, I always asked myself if things would remain the same if he knew that I was not born by his mom, but does that matters? We are still brothers, anyway.
I feel the need to do the right thing. He loves Ariel and he’s going through all this because he wants to stick by her side, shouldn’t I help him in whichever way I can? I said I love Ariel, right? Shouldn’t I protect her and whoever I know would cause her heartbreak when she loses the person? Maybe I was being greedy all along. You may be wondering why I changed my mind too quickly, but that doesn’t matter. I can choose to give up even before the battle starts, and that only makes me a brave man, and not a coward, because I’m doing this to protect someone.
The sound of my phone ringing pulls me back to reality, and I check the screen to see that it’s from my dad. I know what this man has been doing. He was the one that talked some companies into canceling contracts with Max, and the scandal that befell the company yesterday was also his doings.
“Hello,” I say once I answer the call.
“Hey, son. It’s all done. I will tell him the second option now, and I guess he won’t have any option by then,” The way he chuckles after he utters those annoying words makes me fume in anger. For some seconds, I imagine how painful it would be if I was in Max’s shoes. I will lose my mind if I wake up to find out that the one person that was supposed to be my best protector, is actually the one causing me destruction. I won’t be able to take it.
“Alright, dad. Thanks a lot,” I reply to him. I’m giving up at this juncture, but everything has to continue, anyway. I can’t let him know that I’ve changed my mind. People need to see the kind of monster he is to be treating his own son this way. I know he can do this to me too, because why not? He gave birth to me the same way he did to Max, right? What will then make me think he wouldn’t do such a thing to me?
“I have been calling Max, but he isn’t answering the call. Has he heard about the scandal yet?” He inquires, and I grit my teeth angrily. The goods that were sent out by the production company, one of Dante’s empires, were poisoned, and one of the consumers that ate it was already hospitalized. Max is currently being bashed on the internet and people are already waiting to devour him since they’ve been accusing him of doing that. It was all dad’s doings.
“I guess he must be tired and still sleeping. I will go over to his house and check on him,” I reply to him before I end the call.
‘I am doing this because of you, Alex. I want you to have a good life. Max will cast you away once he finds out that you were not born by his mom. He will hate you and may hurt you. He would feel like you are in competition with him’ recalling those disgusting words gives me more energy and the need to let Max know the truth, but I’m also scared. What if he hates me for real? I need to warn him to be careful around that man, I need to tell him everything that has happened in the past, but I’m also scared because he may change toward me after I tell him.
“Just tell him, Alex. You need to protect your brother. He has always protected you,” My subconscious mind says to me, and I made up my mind to tell him.
“Alex?” Just when I’m about to go check up on them, I hear my voice and I raise my gaze to see find Max standing there with tears in his eyes while holding on tightly to his phone.
“Max?” I call surprisingly as I stand up to my feet.
“Why are all these happening to me? I didn’t do anything, did I? Why are they doing this to me?” Tears finally stream down his cheeks, and I feel a sting in my heart.
“It’s all over for me, Alex. It’s over for me,” He mumbles as he staggers back, but I quickly hurry over to him and grab him in my arms, hugging him tightly to myself as tears stream down my cheeks. Will he forgive me when he finds out the truth?
“Where is that bastard? I heard he is here,”
“Bring our Max this moment,”
“That monster must pay for his crimes. How dare he sell poisonous candies out? Where is that bastard?” A group of angry mobs storms the hospital, protesting and demanding to see Max. The nurses try to stop them, but they advance toward us.
“We need to get out of here, Max,” I try to pull him with me, but his body is stiffened. He suddenly grabs his chest and wince, the vein in his neck and hands pop out, and his breath becomes slow and difficult. He must be suffocating. I can’t allow the mobs to get to him. They will harm him.
With all the strength left in me, I force him on my back and rush out of the place before they get to us, but just when we are almost out of the place, I stumble over nothing, and we both fall roughly to the ground, with me on top of him. I try to stand up to my feet, but a stick hits me on the head, and that is all I remembered, as I feel my vision suddenly go blank…