ADAMAS walked towards the doctor and grabbed his coat. Pabagsak niya itong pinaupo at hinarap ang medical record na hawak niya.

"What is this?! Explain this to me!"

Napalunok naman ang doktor. "W-well, Adamas is--"

"And you better not lie." Dinuro niya ito. "I could tell when you're lying or not. Once that mouth spills out other than the truth, you will go straight to hell."

"O-okay. Okay." Muli itong napalunok. Nanginginig ang mga kamay nito habang ang noo ay namamawis. "When Adamas was sent to the hospital, his body was c-covered with bruises and cuts . . . deep cuts. I ran a test and he had internal bleeding due to a heavy head collision."

"W-what?" Anais' eyes filled with shock.

"But t-that wasn't what killed him. Adamas died due to a high dose of Epinephrine which causes him to have an attack," paliwanag nito. "And that high dose was injected to him i-intentionally."

Napasinghap si Anais sa gulat habang siya naman ay napakuyom. He was right. Someone tampered Adamas' death. He didn't die just because of Takotsubo, but he was killed and used his condition to mask their crime.

"Who did it?"

Hindi kaagad sumagot ang doktor. Nagdadalawang-isip ito. Bakas ang kaba sa mukha dahil sa tagaktak nitong pawis.

"I d-did." Mabilis nitong inangat ang tingin at kaagad na dinugtungan ang nangyari. He put both of his hands up as if he was surrendering. "But I was just following orders. Believe me!"

"And who ordered you?" He put his palm on the table.

"It's Azure. He told me to finish Adamas. Binantaan niya ako, kapag hindi ko siya sinunod, maaalanganin ang pamilya ko."

"No . . . way." Napatakip si Anais sa bibig, hindi kayang tanggapin ang narinig. Hindi ito makapaniwala na pinatay ang kaniyang kapatid. At ang pumatay ay walang iba kundi ang sariling kadugo rin.

"Azure, Asnael and Azaliah brought Adamas to the hospital already beaten up. Imbes na pagalingin ang pasyente, ibang utos ang nakuha ko." Niyuko nito ang ulo sa lamesa. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I was just left with no options. Ayokong mapahamak ang pamilya ko kaya ko nagawa iyon. I'm sorry, patawarin niyo 'ko."

"Apology?" Mapakla siyang natawa. He looked at his sincere, regretful emotion. Kagayang-kagaya ito sa nakita niya kay Asnael. But what was the purpose of it, anyway? It would never change anything.

"What you did is irrevocable!" Hinampas niya ang papel sa ulo nito. "You only say that to satisfy your conscience, human. Forgiveness only works if things can still change, but if it is something worse like involving a life, I will never forgive you!"

He kicked the table, hard as he could, putting all the anger towards Dr. McKinsron. Napasalampak ang doktor sa sahig at muntik nang matabunan sa lamesa. Nagkalat ang mga papel nito dulot ng kaniyang pagwawala. The nerve on his jaw showed up as he gritted his teeth. "You killed him and make my Noa suffer. You killed the only person who can make my Noa happy!"

Heart almost bursting, he couldn't keep his emotions in. He rarely felt alive like how humans do, and when that emotion struck him, it was always either pain or madness. And it made him feel more annoyed that the love he had for Noa wouldn't make him feel alive like how he wanted to avenge her.

For a moment, he almost thought his love wasn't enough. But, oh, silly him, what kind of thing driving him to madness, anyway? He was dumb for not realizing it fast. It was the love he had for his author.

He would never feel so alive, so mad, and so hurt without his love.

"I will kill you. I will execute judgement on you!" His domineering voice echoed around the office.

He was ready to summon his black threads when Anais ran toward him and held his hand.

"Get away, human." He glared at her. Inalis niya ang pagkakahawak nito pero ang braso naman niya ang hinawakan ng babae.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but please calm down. Let's not make a scene here," bulong nito sa kaniya.

Inikot naman niya ang tingin sa paligid. Walang malay ang isang lalaking sinipa niya kanina habang ang secretary naman ng doktor ay naestatwa na sa kinatatayuan.

"We only came here to get Adamas' records. And now that we learned the truth, it's time to leave."

"How dare you tell me what to do?" Tinuro niya ang doktor. "That human killed your brother and you want me to do nothing and let him live?! Get away from my sight and do not hinder me!"

Tinulak niya ito pero muli itong kumapit sa kaniyang braso. He cursed at the back of his head while trying his best not to hurt the woman clinging to him. Noa didn't include 'patience' as one of his traits. He hate people who had the guts to interrupt his businesses. If Anais wasn't a good person to Noa, he already cut her limbs off.

"Please. We should be paying attention to Azure. He was the one who ordered Dr. McKinsron kaya siya dapat ang sisihin natin."

Hindi siya sumagot at mariing pinikit ang mga mata. Inuna muna niyang pakalmahin ang sarili.

"Umalis na tayo rito, please."

"Let go of me first. Don't touch me without my permission." Muli niya itong tinulak. Napabitiw ito sa kaniya.

He let out a heavy breath to calm himself first. When he calmed down a little, he eyed the doctor again and immediately rushed in his direction. No way he would leave him alive.

"Stop!" Humarang si Anais kaya bigla rin siyang napapreno.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Nangangati na ang kamay niyang kalmutin ang mukha nito sa inis kaya tumalikod na lang siya.

Padabog siyang naglakad palabas ng kuwarto habang ilang beses na nagmumura.

So damn annoying. Humans are annoying!

"Adamas!" Narinig niya itong sumunod sa kaniya at sinabayan ang kaniyang paglalakad. Lalo niya pang binilisan ang paglalakad kaya napabilis din si Anais. Halos tumakbo na ito para lang makahabol sa kaniya.

"Adamas--"

"Shut your mouth, human." Hinarap niya ito. "What you did is an insolence. How dare you stop me?!"

"I can't let you kill him there. What if someone will see us? His secretary is looking at us!"

"I will kill him too!"

"Kahit na. Isa pa, hindi ginusto ni Dr. McKinsron ang nangyari. Azure just cornered him."

"And what do you want me to do about that, huh? Do you want me to pity him because of his inability to protect his loved ones?" Dinuro niya ang babae. "Excuses are not valid to me, Anais. No matter how reasonable that is, if it's about my Noa, I will not open my pity to anyone."

Tumalikod na siya at nagsimula na ulit na maglakad. "I swear. Your interruption will cost us, human."

OUT in his car, his butler immediately opened the umbrella because of the hot weather. He was out of the country for a while, and now he was on his way back due to the massive report he received that his siblings went missing. Lalo pa itong lumubo nang kumalat sa news ang nangyari sa kaniyang ina.

"What's the update?" Azure asked as he walked inside the airport.

Kaagad na tumabi sa kaniya ang isa niyang guwardiya. "Until now, we still don't have a lead. We checked the rooftop of the hotel where your sister and mother last checked in. We found a pool of blood and a wrecked floor. Mayroon ding mga lights at table. The wasted food was looking like somebody had started eating it and was interrupted."

"And?" He paused.

"And we asked some guests in the hotel. Some of them saw your mom and sister going up on the rooftop."

Hinintay niyang magsalita pa ang guwardiya pero hindi na nito dinugtungan pa.

"That's it?"

"For now, yes, sir. But we are still furthering our investigation."

"The next time you report to me, make sure you already identify the culprit." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Muli na siyang naglakad papasok. He brushed some strands of his colored brown hair away from his forehead.

His phone rang making him stop for the second time. Kinuha niya iyon sa bulsa at tiningnan ang caller. Napakunot ang kaniyang noo nang makitang si Dr. McKinsron iyon.

Nakapamulsa niyang sinagot ang tawag. "Hello, doc. It's been a while."

The last time they talked and saw each other was when his little brother died. Doctor McKinsron was a loyal servant to him and his accomplice. Nakuha niya ito matapos niyang tulungan ang doktor na matanggap sa posisyon bilang medical director ng hospital na pinagtratrabahuan.

"What made you call?"

"Mr. L-laurien . . ." Kumunot ang kaniyang noo nang mapansing hinihingal ito. Bakas din ang panginginig sa boses na para bang takot na takot ito. "I'm s-sorry, Mr. Laurien, but Anais already knew the truth about your brother."

"What?!" His eyebrow furrowed. "What the fuck is going on, doc?"

"H-hindi ko rin 'yon ginustong mangyari. Hindi ko inasahang pupunta ang kapatid mo ngayon kaya hindi ako nakapaghanda. Wala akong nagawa kundi umamin."

"You dumbass." He clicked his tongue. "How the fuck did a girl make your tail curl up? As far as I know, Anais is not a violent woman, so how come you fucking spill the truth to her?"

"It wasn't him, Mr. Laurien. May kasama itong lalaki."

"A guy?"

"Yes, but I wasn't able to see his face because he was wearing a veil. He's a weird man. May corset pa itong suot sa robe."

"What the fuck? Are you toying me, doc? What could be the reason my sister brought a man wearing a freaking ass costume?"

"I d-don't know, sir. I don't really know. But that man almost k-killed me."

"Do you get his name?"

"It w-was Vondrov Riscarte, sir."

Napasingkit ng kaniyang nga mata. That name didn't ring a bell. Wala siyang kakilalang Vondrov Riscarte at ito ang unang pagkakataong narinig niya ang pangalan na iyon.

Hindi na siya sumagot pa at pinatay ang tawag. Masiyadong maraming nangyayari sa pamilya nila ngayon. Ang sunod-sunod na pagkawala ng kaniyang mga kapatid at ang pagkamatay ng kaniyang ina ay posibleng kagagawan lang ng isang tao.

Who the hell is shitting with us? Who the fuck is Vondrov Riscarte?

"Mr. Laurien. We have a report."

"That better be good." He glanced at the guy beside him.

"We found a CCTV footage, sir. Two people went inside Aivan's hotel room on the day he went missing."