"Where is Alia?" Aiden demanded when he caught sight of Matteo and Ronan walking towards him. He peered anxiously over them, half-expecting Alia to be covered by their towering bulk.
"She’s resting at ho after all the nonsense she had to deal with. Now why are you here? If it’s rely to beg for Alia’s forgiveness, stop wasting everyone’s ti," Matteo said boredly. "Leave at once, before I get the building’s security to haul you out the door."
"My ti is mine to waste, and I’m not here to fight!" Aiden argued, grabbing his hair in irritation even as he took a wary step back. "Did you stop her from coming down to see ?"
"Why would I?" Matteo retorted, almost sounding bored. "Is it so hard to believe that Alia would want nothing to do with you after such a betrayal? What’s more, I still haven’t settled my scores with you. Were you the one that contacted Annalise and Catherine about Emline’s mishap?"
"Did you expect to keep quiet about it?" Aiden shot back with a question of his own. "I don’t like Emline― hell, I hate her, but if she’s on the verge of death, her mother deserves the right to know before the dia breaks the news!"
Matteo scoffed. Suddenly his brother was acting like a paragon of virtue, an upstanding mber of society. Did he truly believe that Alia was also in the carpark, hiding behind a pillar to eavesdrop on their conversation?
But in a way, he had Aiden to thank. He doubted his own brother knew the secrets behind Emline’s parentage.
Ronan stared at Aiden as though he was examining a particularly fascinating sample under the microscope. He cocked his head and drawled out lazily, "Are you honestly coming over with nothing but your sincerity in a bid to make ands? I must say, Aiden Montgory, you’re certainly becoming a cheapskate."
Matteo raised a curious eyebrow, wondering what Ronan was trying to do.
"What do you guys want?" Aiden asked warningly. "Do you expect to get on my knees and beg? Because if so, fine! Get Alia down here and I’ll even bark like a dog on all fours!"
"Please don’t expose Alia and my unborn child to your humiliation kink," Matteo said with disgust. "It was bad enough that she had to interact with your mother at the hospital."
Aiden’s face colored at the insult, and he looked like he was one step away from grabbing Matteo’s collar. Matteo raised his eyebrow, wordlessly taunting him. Aiden might be a good fighter if he went solo against either of them, but if he dared to try anything, Matteo was sure that he and Ronan would have the combined power to throw him into the incinerator.
"...What do you want?" Aiden asked after he gulped down several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down.
"A vial of Emline’s blood," Ronan said cheerfully, and Aiden blanched. "Why do you look so shocked? Alia already told us the news. Congrats on your impending fatherhood― I would have bought you a card, but it was too last-minute."
He technically had months before the child would be born― and that was even if Emline decided to go through with the birth of the child after Matteo inevitably razed her reputation to the ground. But even so, Ronan couldn’t be arsed to waste his spare change on a nice card for this human trash bag.
"If you want to prove that your apology is sincere, you should help us clear Matteo of this charge," Ronan continued. "Or are you simply too chicken to stick your neck out to where your dick was in?"
Matteo pressed his lips tightly so that he wouldn’t guffaw in front of his half-brother. He had to give Ronan credit for this little twist― he had no idea that the surgeon had already promised to help him. If the results of the two tests were to differ, then it would prove that Aiden, for all his fancy words of apology, was still unwilling to take responsibility for his own mistakes.
"How do you expect to get a vial of her blood?" Aiden squawked. "Am I supposed to stick a syringe inside her when she’s sleeping to steal it? That’s sick!"
"So is passing off your child as mine," Matteo pointed out, and Aiden’s face purpled at the reminder. "People living in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones."
"Can’t I just hold a press conference instead?" Aiden bargained. "I can admit that I’m the rightful father of Emline’s child. That way, she won’t bother you anymore."
"Unfortunately, this would just make people think that you were being coerced into taking responsibility for Matteo’s mistakes." Ronan didn’t even spare a second to consider Aiden’s suggestions before torpedoing it with his words. "I was not born yesterday. Stop trying to wriggle out of things!"
"Get Emline’s blood in three days, and I’ll let Alia know you’re serious about making ands," Matteo finished firmly. "Alia places more stock in actions, rather than cheap words. If you are sincerely remorseful for your actions, then you have to fix matters. Until then, don’t bother showing up here. Neither Alia nor I will entertain any more visits."
Aiden stepped forward, wanting to say sothing to help his case, but Ronan didn’t give him the chance to speak.
"Bye, don’t trip on the curb on your way out!" Ronan waved cheerfully.
Aiden hesitated, his eyes darting between the two of them. He couldn’t believe the ultimatum they gave him.
"Do you want to organize a red carpet for you?" Matteo prompted when he realized his half-brother wasn’t moving.
Aiden huffed, the back of his ears a humiliated red.
"Fine!" He barked out and then got on his bike. They watched his back slowly vanish.
"Very inspired of you," Matteo said approvingly.
"I didn’t spend all those years in school for nothing," Ronan said, as though their teachers had taught courses in creative extortion. "Now, let’s wait for good news."
***
Aiden lay on his bed, an empty wine bottle in his hand. He thought of the ultimatum that Ronan dared to give him and took another swig, only to sulk when he found that the bottle was empty.
Irritated, he threw it against the wall. It shattered upon impact, and glass shards littered the floor― so similar to the shards that fell when Emline tried to slam a vase into Alia’s body.
Urgh. Just the very thought of that made him sick. Alia and Emline’s faces blurred in front of him, causing him to retch.
How was he going to take Emline’s blood? That woman had very sensitive nerves. Even if he snuck into her ward while she was asleep, the entry of a needle into her skin would wake her imdiately.
And she would see him and scream loud enough to wake the dead.
Then, he had a brainwave. Since Matteo and the rest already knew that Matteo wasn’t the father of Emline’s child, he technically didn’t need to get Emline’s blood. He just needed the blood of another woman to use as a substitute!
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