He gasped for breath, his pride shattered, his confidence splintering under the weight of Alex’s long-restrained wrath.
For the first ti in his life, Jasper was the one on the receiving end of humiliation. And Alex?
Alex had never felt more liberated.
With one last, final punch, he sent Jasper collapsing onto the floor, groaning in pain.
Alex straightened, adjusting his sleeves with an air of complete indifference.
Then, without sparing Jasper another glance, he turned toward the door, stepping past Camila, who stood frozen in silent horror.
His voice was quiet, but it echoed with finality.
"This house was never a ho to . I’m leaving. And this ti, I’m never looking back."
Then he turned toward Camila and said with cold expression,
"I was truly lucky that I avoided a shitty person like you."
Camila’s face turned pale.
The night air was crisp as Alex stepped out of the villa, leaving behind the remnants of his shattered past.
His footsteps were slow and asured, yet unwavering as he walked away from the grand estate that had never felt like ho.
The bruises on his ribs throbbed with every breath, and the sting on his cheek where Jasper had struck him burned against the cold breeze.
But Alex didn’t falter.
He had endured far worse.
He had survived years of tornt, degradation, and humiliation—tonight was simply the final act.
A taxi pulled up at the curb, its headlights piercing the darkness.
Alex slid into the back seat and gave the driver an address—a small apartnt where Mary, the only person he could truly call family, was waiting for him.
By the ti he arrived at the apartnt complex, exhaustion weighed heavily on him, yet he forced a neutral expression onto his face.
He didn’t want to show his gloomy side and make the first impression on the Waters family wrong.
Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell and stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets.
A mont later, the door swung open, revealing Adriana.
Her dark eyes instantly scanned him, and before he could even force a smile, her expression hardened.
"Alex," she said slowly, her voice controlled but firm. "What happened to your face?"
Alex blinked, feigning confusion. "What? Nothing. I—"
Adriana grabbed his chin, tilting his face towards the light.
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she took in the evidence of Jasper’s assault.
The red imprint, the swelling, the faint discoloration blooming across his cheekbone.
Alex, on the other hand, was stunned.
In the entire 22 years of his life, no one bothered to care about the bruises and slap marks on his face.
But now, suddenly, his half sibling, whom he had hardly t once, was concerned about him.
Honestly, he was taken aback.
After all, what he focused on was living with Mary. He forgot about all of his half siblings.
Suddenly, Adriana left go of his face and said calmly,
"Don’t lie. Mother would be upset if she saw the slap mark. Wait here."
Alex tensed slightly at Adriana’s words.
He cleared his throat and forced a small chuckle.
"It’s nothing, really. Just an argunt that got a little... heated."
Adriana didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push further. Instead, she stepped aside, allowing him to enter.
"Co in. Mother’s been waiting for you."
The apartnt was much smaller than he had expected, and for a mont, Alex even wondered if the Waters family would even allow him live with them.
Within 4 steps he reached the dining room, where all the mbers of the Waters family were sitting.
Alex spotted Mary. She had a tensed expression on her face. Not the loving and nervous expression he expected.
Adam had a grim and gloomy aura, while Olivia and Theodore looked uninterested.
Lucas stared at the table, lost in thought.
Just from the atmosphere, it was clear that no one welcod him.
For a mont, Alex wanted to turn around and leave.
Why did they even invite him in when they weren’t interested in eting him?
He even started to regret raising his voice against Jasper.
Seeing him remaining standing, Lucas spoke without looking in his direction,
"Co and sit."
Alex gulped and walked up to his chair.
The cold welco had destroyed the little bit of hope he had in his heart.
Alex lowered himself into the seat, his back straight and his hands resting tensely on his lap.
Then, Olivia, who had remained indifferent until now, let out an audible sigh and leaned back in her chair.
"Look," she began, her tone devoid of warmth.
"Since we invited you to stay here, you shouldn’t start expecting too much from us. Just because we share blood doesn’t an—"
Her voice faltered as her gaze flickered toward Alex’s face.
For the first ti, her carefully crafted detachnt cracked.
The slap mark.
The vivid imprint of Jasper’s hand, red and glaring against the pale canvas of Alex’s skin, stood out in stark contrast to the rest of his face.
Olivia’s brows knitted together in a frown as she turned to Adriana, her voice taking on an accusatory edge.
"Really, Adriana? If you were going to slap him, you could have at least told first. You should’ve held back a little."
A sharp silence followed.
Adriana’s expression darkened, her posture stiffening. She exhaled sharply, her patience clearly fraying.
"I didn’t slap him," she said flatly, irritation flashing in her eyes. "Do you think I would waste my energy on sothing so ridiculous?"
Her denial was firm, but Olivia, still unconvinced, continued to study Alex’s face.
Before anyone could interject, another shift in the atmosphere pulled Alex’s attention. A soft rustling of fabric, a barely perceptible inhale—Mary.
She had been silent, unmoving, since the mont Alex arrived.
But now, as her eyes locked onto the mark marring his cheek, sothing in her deanor changed.
The tension that had kept her shoulders rigid lted away into sothing raw, sothing almost fragile.
Her fingers twitched at her sides before she instinctively reached for him.
But halfway there, she stopped.
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