I officially quit wattpad..

Cara's POV.

Come to the car. I am leaving.

With the phone held between my fingers and with my eyes focused on the bright screen, I read the few words his text message held. I sucked into a deep breath before I locked the phone and placed it in my pocket. I wiped whatever mess was left on my cheeks and tried to fix my hair before I got to my feet. I went to Katherine's room, forced a smile and told Ashton we're leaving.

"I'll be back in the morning," I added as I closed the door behind me.

With heavy steps, I went out of the hospital down to the parking lot. Cold air pelted my skin, the night deep. Dull lights seeped across the lot. Spotting the car few miles away, my legs ever so slowly walked me closer to it. I stood at the passenger door and sucked in a breath. Fear constricted my chest, I didn't want us to fight more.

I'll just try and keep silent for now.

Exhaling a deep breath from my lungs, I finally unlatched the door and sat down in the seat. Silently, Alex placed the car in reverse, backed out, and pulled out onto the street with not once glancing at my side.

The ride home was short and still the longest of my life. Alex didn't say a word, just kneaded at the steering wheel, the only sound in the car is the air that pushed in and out of our lungs.

Unspoken words strained between us, fighting for a release.

Truth was, I didn't know what to even say. I didn't know if I should apologize or explain or maybe I was just waiting for him to say something. I didn't know what he wanted to hear, so I just allowed the silence to swallow us in.

I was pulled back in when the car took a stop and I became aware of the house ahead of us. Alex parked the car and turned off the engine, but he stayed still in his seat. From the side of my eye, I saw the nervous tapping of his fingers over the steering wheel before he released a breath. He turned his head toward me and I did the same.

"What I said about your father.." He started, his tone giving nothing in, "I am sorry, I didn't mean it." He stared at me blankly almost as if he didn't mean what he just said, it's like he's forcing the words out of his mouth. His hands left the steering wheel, "But I meant everything else." And with that, he got out and went inside the house.

I stayed in my seat and tilted my head backward, pressing the back of it against the headrest. I closed my eyes and ran my hand over my face. It's always like this; when one thing goes right, something else must go wrong. Now that Nikolas is no longer a threat, Alex probably hates me.

Okay, I know I am not all at right here, I know that I messed up and that I am not acting rationally but come on.. how am I even supposed to act rationally after everything that has happened?

I pried my eyes open and shook my head. I am just sick of everything. I opened the door and was about to get out, but something hit my feet as I moved them. I turned the light on inside the car before I leaned down to see what's that by my feet. I saw what seemed to be a crumpled paper, I pulled it out and took a better look to figure it's a picture. A frown creased my forehead as I smoothed the edges and stared back at the two people inside it. I was confused at first, but it didn't take me that long to figure out that the little boy in the picture is Nikolas and that women by his side must be no one but the infamous Leya, his mother.

Their mother.

I couldn't help but wonder how such a picture reached Alex's hand but I didn't dwell long on that thought as my eyes stayed focused on her. She was really beautiful, I couldn't help but notice. No wonder she raised hell between two brothers.

The more I looked at the picture, the more I made sense of everything that had happened before. I remembered the shock on Nikolas's face when I first told him Lilly's name, how that was the first time he held her and after that he treated her as if she's his own. How he always told me she's special to him. It all makes sense now.

His words rang in my head again, how he once said that I remind him of her. Now I know who's her.

"They think we're the same-" I said, my voice low as my gaze never once wavered from the picture. I shook my head, "But we're not... I am nothing like you."

"You made Alex pay for a mistake he didn't commit-" I brought my hand and pressed it against my belly, my gaze drifted away from the picture down to my hand, "I am not going to do the same."

The doubts that swirled my thoughts just hours ago; now it all faded away. I am not going to hurt this child in any way. I am keeping him and I am going to give him a life he deserves. I can do it.

"You made two brothers enemies." I said, "I have to make sure that I never do that."

I kept the picture with me as I got out of the car and went into the house. Warmth spread across my skin as I walked further inside. It was mostly dark except for the light coming from the living room. I stopped at the threshold of the door as my eyes fell on Alex; He was staring so intently at the laptop's screen in front of him. I inched closer and at the sound of my footsteps, he lifted his head, as a reflex, he lowered the laptop's screen, not wanting me to see what he's working on. I didn't give that a second thought as he gave me a questioning look and asked, "What?"

I placed the picture beside his laptop and said, "I think you forgot this." His eyes flicked to it and the muscle in his jaw ticked.

"Can I ask something?" I said, his gaze fell on me again as I continued, "If you hate Nikolas that much then why did you tell him to run away the other day?"
Shock dilated his eyes and I nodded my head, "Yes, I heard that."

He shook his head, "I just didn't want my father to get what he wants."

"Is that what you convince yourself with?"

His eyebrows pulled together, "What do you mean?"

"If it's so then why also that day you let him go-" I said referring to the time when I was in my father's old house and both of them went there, "He was alone, you could've captured him, you could've killed him, why you didn't?"

His frown grew deeper, "What are you trying to do?"

"I am trying to open your eyes," I answered.

"To what?" His voice raised and he shot up from his seat, on the verge of losing his nerves.

I gave him a half-hearted shrug, "You know what." I said before I turned around ready to walk but he grabbed my arm from behind making me halt in my steps. My gut twisted into the tightest knots when he made me turn around to face him, "I am still talking with you." He said stressing on each word, "What do you mean by that?"

"It means that you don't want to hurt him." I said and it looked like my words slapped him in the face, "I understand why you wouldn't but don't blame me if I asked help from Roman, not from you." I shook my head, "I don't want to be like her...I don't want to be the reason that made two brothers enemies... I don't want to be the one asking you to hurt your own brother."

He let go of my arm and took a step backward, he shook his head, "You are not the reason that made us enemies. He is. He started this.." He said, "And everything you said is wrong because no one wants to hurt him as much as I do." His eyes seemed to be fighting some internal war as he continued, "So don't pretend that you had me all figured out."

Emotion slammed me, "You see that's the thing. I feel like I know you better than anyone else in this world but there is still a huge part of you I don't know at all." The words tumbled out in an agonized confession.

This seems to be heading toward another fight and I don't think I have it in me to argue with him again. My shoulders dropped down in defeat before I turned around and walked upstairs not giving a chance to even respond.

********

Alex's POV

What the fuck is wrong with everyone?

Why they all keep pointing the brother thing out; Why they keep saying that I don't have it in me to hurt him when every cell in my being wants to see him slowly suffer?

I roughed a hand over my face and tried to push every other thought to the back of my mind. My eyes fell on the picture laying in front of me, with a loud sigh, I flipped it to the other side not having it in me to see their faces now. I opened my laptop again to see that all the files have been successfully transferred from the USB to the laptop.

There were too many to go through so I started searching for anything that held Nikolas's name. I opened the first file that came; And inside it was too many other sub-files. Frustrated air puffed from my nose. This is going to take so long.

I clicked the first one that was labeled under the title "Patient's Medical Report."

A page opened, and I took a quick scan, at the top was the hospital's name, doctor's name, date, and many other details. Under it, the report was divided into many parts, introduction, case study, treatment and many other parts.

I pulled into a deep breath and started reading from the top;

"Child abuse is a serious global problem and can be in the form of physical, sexual, or emotional. These factors can leave the child with serious, long-lasting psychological damage. In the present case report, a 13-year-old boy was physically abused by a close relative who caused actual bodily and emotional trauma to the boy...."

I skipped the unnecessary parts and landed later on: "The boy suffered physical harm as a result of a deliberate attempt to hurt him. He was subjected to physical punishment inappropriate to his age...." More and more words and details," ...Sexual abuse arose from subjecting the child to inappropriate exposure to sexual acts..."

What the fuck?

I went further down the document; "The patient was found with too many scars covering his body, mostly on his back, some new and some seemed to be almost one year old. The biggest and deepest one went from the back of his ear to the length of his neck then down to his chest.."

I stopped reading at that point; I couldn't help but stop for a second and take in a deep calming breath. Guilt throbbed somewhere deep within me. I tried to silence its voice but I couldn't run away from the fact that I was partially responsible for that. Even though he deserves the worst now; back then, he was just a child and I hate being a part of what ruined him.

I decided to read whatever is left from this later. I went back from the report and took a quick look at the other files. A one named as "Videos Supporting the Case." grabbed my attention. I clicked on it and a bunch of videos showed up. I clicked the first one and it started playing.

At first, the screen went black and incoherent noises came from somewhere in it. Few seconds and the picture became clearer. The first thing I noticed and recognized was the boy sitting on the hospital bed. Too many images slammed against my consciousness... I never did forget that face. I paused the video and took a closer look. A twinge of pain jabbed me as I noticed how different he looked from the last same I saw him back then.

He looked thinner, weaker and...sick.

Sucking in a steeling breath, I pressed play again and watched the rest of the video.

"Nikolas-" What seemed to be a doctor said as she sat by his side, "We found these pills under your bed." She said as she extended her hand, something laid on the inside of her palm, but it wasn't clear because of the video's low quality.

"Did you hide them there?" She asked, and he slowly nodded his head.

"Why you don't want to take your medicine?" She asked softly, "Don't you wanna get better?"

He nodded his head, so she placed her hand on his arm, "Then tell me, why you are hiding them away?"

He started back at her for a short while before he answered, "Because they make me sleep."

"And you don't want to sleep?" She asked, somehow confused.

He shook his head, "No." The word left his mouth as a mere whisper.

"Why?"

"Because it's scary." He said and shook his head again, "He is there when I sleep." He rubbed his eye and brokenly said, "Please don't make me take them, don't make sleep, it's so dark and..and he.." He covered his face with both his hands and kept mumbling incoherent words through his tears. The doctor inched closer and tried to calm him down, "Okay okay I won't, just look at me and tell me what do you see. Tell me so I can help you."

He sniffled and lifted his head up. He scratched the side of his neck; "I was running because..because I wanted to go to my mom but he followed me and he took me, he always catches me before I reach her and then he..he killed her and I wanted to scream but I couldn't and-" he rubbed his eyes, "I don't want to sleep, please I don't-"

I paused the video and rubbed at my burning throat. A slow dread settled over my consciousness making me exit the video right away. I leaned back on the couch, that dread pounding at my ribs dropped like a rock into the pit of my stomach. What the fuck am I trying to do?

What the fuck did I think I would achieve by digging up his past?

Figure out his weakness? Finding the suitable way to destroy him, hurt him...kill him maybe?

Or am I searching for ways to redeem him?

The thought blasted through me making me slam my eyes shut. Somewhere deep down in me, I knew the reason up to why they all think I can't hurt him.  A part of me thinks the same too.

I can't hurt him now because..I already did.

Becuase for some fucked up reason every time I look at him, a part of me doesn't see the monster but that...little-broken boy.

********

Cara's POV

I walked down the stairs, heading to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. My steps paused when my eyes caught the dim light coming from the living room; Is Alex still awake?

With curious steps, I walked closer to get a peek. A low sigh left my lips when they adjusted to what beheld me. Alex was fast asleep on the couch, his head tilted at a very uncomfortable angle and the light was coming from the laptop placed ahead of him on the table. Why wouldn't he just come and sleep beside me? Why does he have to be so damn stubborn?

I went back to the bedroom and grabbed a pillow and a blanket. I approached him with light steps, trying my best not to wake him up as I placed the pillow on the couch, I wanted to pull him to it but damn he is heavy. I placed my hand on his cheek and stroked it gently, "Alex." I whispered.

"Hmm-" He said with his eyes still closed.

"Come here, put your head on the pillow," I said as I lead him, he leaned to the right before he dropped his head on the pillow. I took the blanket and covered his body before I crouched down by his side. My hand went and removed the few strands of hair that covered his forehead. A small smile touched my lips as I stared back at him, like a little kid, he is still fast asleep even though I moved him around. I leaned closer and left a kiss on his cheek, "I hate it when we fight." I whispered, more to myself as I pulled backward.

I shook my head, "When will you understand that you're the only man my eyes see."

I got to my feet and turned around, my eyes first fell on the laptop's screen. I was about to shut it down but then I remembered how Alex hid the screen from me earlier. Curiosity took the best of me and I circled around to face it. It seemed to be some kind of article, too many words that I didn't have the energy to go through. I was about to shut the computer down and but my movements paused when my eyes fell on what's written on the top of the page with bold big letters.

New York state asylum.

How does Alex know about this place?

My eyes widened in shock as I remembered the time Nikolas took me there. He was about to show me something but then he got a call about Lucas's death and made us leave the place right away.

Many thoughts swirled through my consciousness as a certain image stroke back. The card he was holding, I remember seeing the first two numbers...47.

I shot up straight when it suddenly all made sense.

'It's 474. Tell them your name and they'll let you in.' What he said when Roman caught him. Now, it made sense.

He wants me to go there. I need to go there. I have to figure out what else he's hiding.

********

When the morning came, Alex went somewhere and that Tony guy drove me to the hospital. On our way, I searched on the internet for the address of the asylum because I don't remember the way from when Nikolas took me.

Tony dropped me at the hospital and took off. Luck must be on my side today because he didn't stay and babysit me. I can't go there with him following every step I take. Once I made sure that he was far away from me, I stepped into the sidewalk and tried to stop a taxi. When a cap pulled by my side, I went in it and gave him the address and off to that asylum he drove.

It was kind of far and took us almost an hour to arrive. The taxi driver stopped by the main gate, I handed him his money and went down. I stood there and eyed the building that stood ahead of me. Anxiousness prodded my feet and my stomach tightened just at the thought of what may be waiting for me in there.

I walked closer to the main gate, one of the security guys stepped in front of me, "Your visit card please."

"Uh-" I had no idea what the hell he meant by that. I had no card or whatsoever. The other security guard walked to us, he whispered something in his ear making his eyes widen, "Sorry ma'am." He said with an apologetic smile as he pressed the button making the gate slide to the right, "Come in."

I returned the smile before I walked inside. My eyes roamed around taking into my surrounding before I went inside the building. I spotted the receptionist desk few miles away from me, I remembered how Nikolas took his card from there; I stopped at the threshold of the wooden desk and was about to tell her my name like Nikolas said but she surprised me when she handed me the card on her own, "Here is your card ma'am." She said with a very big smile.

My eyebrows pulled together as I stared at her extended hand. Does everyone here know who I am?

"You're Mr. Viarchi's wife, right?" She asked, shaking me out of my haze.

I nodded my head. Unfortunately, I still am his wife.

I took the card from her and looked at it, "Room 474." Was written on it with big bold letters.

"Take the elevator to the fourth floor-" She said making me lift my face from the card and look back at her, "You can ask one of our staffs there and they'll lead you to the room."

I nodded my head and mumbled a low thank you before I turned around and walked to the elevator. The card held tight between my fingers as if afraid I may lose it. My heart pounded harder as I felt myself getting closer to my destination. My finger's tightened more around the card when the ding voice echoed in the elevator before it opened allowing me to step out.

My eyes took a quick scan around me trying to find the room. The one in front of me was numbered as 470, so I turned right and walked into all the rooms that separated me from 474. My feet took a pause by the threshold of the door and for seconds I just stood there and prepared myself to face whatever is inside.

I heard light footsteps from somewhere beside me. I turned around to see a nurse passing by. I immediately stopped her, "Excuse me." I said. She stopped walking and looked at me, she gave me a smile and nodded her head, "Can I help you?"

I licked my lips and gave her light nod, "Can I ask something?" She nodded her head so I spoke my thoughts out loud, "What's inside this room?" She tilted her head to the side to get a look at the room's number before her gaze fell back on me.

A smile curved her lips, "Oh it's Mrs. Viarchi's room, she is a such a sweetheart."

The deepest frown pulled at my brows as I tried to process her words, "Who?" The word left my lips as a mere whisper.

"Mrs. Viarchi." She said, "Leya Viarchi."

"What?" I asked in bewilderment before I immediately turned back to the door and with my shaking hand I pressed the card to the side of it. My chest heaved as I struggled for a breath. She must be kidding me or maybe I misheard her... This, this, it can't be...It can't be true.

I twisted the knob before I pushed the door open. I wasn't ready to witness this, I wasn't ready to face it but the moment I stepped in, my eyes fell on the woman sitting on the couch reading the book in her hand and nothing made sense in my head. She lifted her head and a frown pulled between her eyebrows before she took off her glasses and stared back at me, her eyes drifted from me to the door then back at me, "Who are you?"

Frozen, I stood there. Nothing made sense at all. The card slipped from my hand and fell on the ground, its sound echoed loud in my head. My lips parted but nothing made it out of my throat. I shook my head and whispered, "No.." I blinked, "How..how is this.. you are- you are alive?"

At my words, something flashed across her face. Something like fear. She placed the book and the glasses by her side before she stood up, she tilted her head, "Do you know me?"

Anxiety clawed at the walls and spilled out across the floor. Panic thundered through my veins, spreading like wildfire along the surface of my skin. I rubbed my hand at my burning throat before I said, "Of course I know you. For god's sake, I named my daughter after you."

Confusion emanated from her in waves, "What?" she asked, "What do you mean?-" Her frown grew deeper, "Who are you?"

Heaving the air from my lungs, I gave her an answer, "I am your son's wife." Both of them actually.

Her eyes grew wide before realization flashed across them, "You're the one.. you are the one Nikolas told me about." She seemed to be processing it all, "But you said you named your daughter after me, I don't understand... Nikolas doesn't have a daughter."

A wave of pain hit my chest, my lungs contracted painfully; "You do know that you have another son, right?" The words left my mouth in accusation. My thoughts drifted to Alex and I felt something inside me break. When he discovers this, he'll be devastated.

Tears glistened my eyes and I shook my head, "Why you all keep doing this to him?" I asked bewildered by everything happening. It all became heavy. My fingers twitched and I had to force the air in and out of my lungs. Oh my god, this will destroy him. This will ruin him even more.

"I don't understand." She said grabbing my attention to her.

I gave her a half-hearted shrug, "It's pretty simple actually-" I started, "The past simply repeated itself again." My jaw tightened, "Twenty years ago, Frank, Isaac, and you screwed everything up and twenty years later, we paid the price of that."

She rubbed at her chest, "What do you mean?" She asked weakly.

"I'll tell you and you figure it out." I started. Sickness clawed at my stomach as I talked further, "I am married to Nikolas but my daughter is Alex's daughter and I am now pregnant with Nikolas's child... Doesn't it feel a little bit too familiar?"

My eyebrow raised, "Do you have any idea what Nikolas have done? Or did he convince you that he was the victim in this one?"

"I know nothing, he didn't tell me anything-" She said as few tears rolled down her cheek, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I clenched my teeth, "Well, let's just say, what Frank did to you, Nikolas did it to me."

She shook her head, "No, no, don't say that, no-" More tears went unchecked down her face. She covered her mouth, "It can't be true.." She backed away till she reached the bed and sat by its edge. Tormented eyes looked back at me, "He won't do that."

A single tear escaped the corner of my eyes but I immediately wiped it away, "But he did."

I hated her, I don't know why but a big part of me blamed her for everything that has happened.

"Seeing the psychopath Nikolas turned out to be and the mess Alex became, I can assure you that you failed as a mother." I let my thoughts shape themselves into words with no boundaries. And they seemed to hit something in her. She closed her eyes and her head dropped down, her hand still pressed against her mouth as she choked back tears.

"I've been through what you went through but I won't let that stand in the way of me being a good mother." I said, "I won't throw my son away and I definitely won't separate my children." My fingers dug into the inside of my palm, "And I'd never get in between two brothers and make them enemies."

She lifted her head and nodded, "You are right, I screwed up." She shrugged, "I was young, I was reckless and stupid." She said, "I did get between two brothers. I...loved them both but they both have hurt me in their own ways and when I woke up from that...it was too late."

"I didn't have a choice-" the words came so low out of her mouth, "I had to give Alex up, I couldn't risk him growing up there." Tears fell freely, "I loved him, so much and that's why I had to do it, you don't understand...I was protecting him."

I shook my head, "I think you did a pretty bad job at protecting him." The scars on his arm say it all.

She wiped her cheeks, "I want to see him, please-"

"Do you think you have the right to ask for that?" I shot back, "He hates you and he has the total right to and believe me once he knows that you are still alive, he'll hate you even more." I shook my head, "You made him live his whole life in the guilt of killing you and you never once thought of coming back and telling him the truth. You had twenty years for god's sake!"

She didn't say anything back. She couldn't. She can't defend herself.

"Please, I have to explain to him."

Tears fell from my eyes just at the mere thought of the pain Alex will go through, "You'll ruin him."

She bit back a sob, "He is my son but...I don't even know how he looks like now."

"Don't worry, he is not like you and not even like his father...he is different." Pain clogged my throat and few tears slipped free, "He is better than all of you, he is..perfect in his own way." My heart swelled and I just wanted to go back to him and fix whatever had happened yesterday; "I love him so much and I hate you for hurting him...because he doesn't deserve it."

"But I have to tell him. I can't hide this from him." I said before I turned around and left the room.

*******

Alex's POV

For some fucked up reason, I found myself opening my laptop and I went back again to that file that contained all the videos. I randomly selected one and pressed play. I took a large gulp of the water in my hand and prepared myself to watch.

"No, no, leave me!" Nikolas screaming voice was the first thing I heard. In the video, there was the doctor from before and two nurses by her side who were trying to keep Nikolas in his place.

"Nikolas, we are not going to hurt you." The doctor said, "You need this to get better." She said as she held what seemed to be a needle closer to his arm. "NO. GO AWAY." He said as he tried to fight his way out of the nurse's hold, "He used to do this too, you want to hurt me..let me go!" He somehow was able to free himself from them and jumped from the other side of the bed and ran away. They followed him and the voices started to overlap that I couldn't make sense of the words being said. I heard someone say, "Go get her. Maybe if he saw her, he'll calm down."

Other than that, no other voice was clear. But I saw how the nurse caught Nikolas and tried to keep him still but Nikolas made that impossible with his constant fighting out of their holds. Someone else stepped closer to him, "Nikolas, baby look at me." A voice said, a voice too familiar for me not to recognize. A frown creased my forehead as I leaned forward to get a closer look. The voice's owner crouched by his side, her back was to the camera and she placed her hands on Nikolas's arm and turned him around to face her, "Sweetie look at me-"

That voice..It's-

No, it's just not possible.

Nikolas stopped fighting when his eyes fell on whoever was ahead of him. His eyes went wide and tears slipped free down his cheeks as he stared back at her. His slowly brought his hand to her face and touched it.

"Yes baby, it's me." She said, her words choked with tears of her own.

My pulse thundered and something grabbed my throat in a tight fist; Beneath me, the image blurred and I only heard the voices, her voice. Same fucking voice.

Nikolas threw his arms around her neck and said, "MOM!"

At that moment, the glass of water that's in my hand slipped down of my hold and crashed to the ground.

And everything in my being fell apart again.

**********

So, whatcha ya think? What would Alex do now?
And do you like Leya or do you blame her too?
Sorry for late updates but my schedule is pretty hectic *gulps a whole bottle of Vodka*

See ya next chapter and I have a feeling it'll be heartbreaking *kidnaps Alex and hides him away from all this*
Love ya all❤️