"What sort of nonsense are you saying?" Mr. Wallace’s voice thundered, his expression twisted with barely restrained anger.
Xander remained still, unfazed by the outburst. He had anticipated this reaction.
Samantha, who had been silently watching from beside him, glanced at Bruce, expecting him to intervene. But her father remained impassive, arms crossed, face unreadable. And he also gave her a few looks with aning she completely understood. One, he was silently threatening her not to say anything and she understood it. Second, he was wondering why she’d co with Xander to Radiantia. She never travelled alongside with him before.
Xander knew his question had been too direct—blunt, even—but he didn’t care. His relationship with Mr. Wallace had always been strained, if it could even be called a relationship at all. Whether the man was truly innocent or not didn’t matter to him right now. He just wanted the truth.
"You heard ," Xander said, his tone unyielding.
Mr. Wallace took a deep breath, his fists clenching at his sides as he gnashed his teeth together.
"Can you even hear yourself? You’re accusing of murder! Murdering soone I don’t even know?" His voice was laced with disbelief, but Xander’s sharp gaze caught the flicker of unease in his eyes. "Have you completely lost it or sothing?! How did you co up with such an accusation? Who put this idea into your head?" Mr. Wallace’s voice rose. "I am your father, Xander! For God’s sake, you think so little of that you believe I could be a murderer?" His tone was laced with hurt this ti around.
At this, Xander gave him a look—a cold, knowing look.
"And since when have you ever acted like a father to ?" His voice was quiet, but there was an undeniable edge to it.
Mr. Wallace’s jaw tightened.
"Yes, I made mistakes," he admitted. "I never acknowledged you the way I should have. But that doesn’t make a murderer." He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Whatever grudge you have against , it doesn’t justify throwing such baseless accusations around. I’m still your father afterall and I care about you."
Bruce snorted in his mind, resisting the urge to scoff out loud.
Xander remained silent.
The man had a point. His father could be a lot of things—apathetic, dismissive, neglectful—but was he really capable of murder?
For years, Xander had been certain—absolutely certain—that Xavier had been the one who killed Arabella. The police report, the fingerprints, everything had pointed in that direction.
But now... things weren’t adding up. Why was he suddenly here in Radiantia, accusing his father of soone that he didn’t do. Xander almost believed that he’d been put in a trance.
However, there was this inkling feeling that sothing wasn’t right. And what if...what if Xavier was right? What if their father had been the one to murder Arabella and pin the bla on him?
Xander didn’t think he would be able to forgive himself if sothing like that ever happened. He’d taken Xavier’s love away from him because of his hatred towards his brother. If everything he’d been told was a lie and he was harming Xavier for absolutely no reason, Xander didn’t think he would be able to take that regret.
He was afraid.
He sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
"Forget it."
Mr. Wallace blinked, caught off guard.
Xander exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable. Why am I even here?
He looked up at his father one last ti, searching for... sothing. So kind of confirmation. So kind of sign.
But all he saw was a carefully constructed mask.
"I spoke without thinking," Xander said, the words surprising even himself.
Samantha’s head snapped toward him. Even Bruce looked slightly taken aback.
Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, only narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between his son and Bruce as if trying to decipher if this was so kind of trick.
"You don’t go around accusing soone of murder," Mr. Wallace said after a long pause, his voice tight. "Be careful with your words, Xander."
"I know," Xander murmured, glancing down.
And for a mont, he almost believed it.
**
Xavier sat at his desk, fingers moving swiftly across his keyboard.
His screen was filled with data—blueprints, schedules, confidential reports—all related to the Regalith sex trafficking ring.
It had been days since Izara had taken them down to see the horrific reality of what was happening under the city’s pristine surface.
Xavier had seen a lot of darkness in his life, but what he saw in Regalith had sickened him.
He had spent the past few days digging deeper, uncovering the extent of the royal couple’s cris. The more he uncovered, the more he realized—Regalith wasn’t just corrupt. It was rotten to the core.
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
"What are you doing?"
Kace’s voice was casual, but when he leaned in to get a look at Xavier’s screen, his eyes widened.
"Wait. Isn’t this Regalith?"
His reaction earned a sharp glance from Maxwell, who had been seated across from them.
"It is," Xavier replied, his voice steady.
Kace frowned, taking in the disturbing images and files spread across the screen. "You’re investigating them?"
"I was able to confirm sothing," Xavier said. "The royal couple of Regalith aren’t just involved in sex trafficking. They’re the ones running it."
Kace stiffened. "What?"
"And they’re not trafficking won," Xavier continued, his voice colder now. "They’re trafficking n."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Kace looked stunned. Maxwell’s expression remained neutral, but Xavier didn’t miss the way his fingers twitched slightly.
"Those sick bastards," Kace muttered, shaking his head. "And you’re saying no one knows about this?"
"No one dares to speak because they fear for their life," Xavier replied. "But that’s about to change."
Kace’s hands curled into fists. "We need to expose them," he urged.
"We will," Xavier said. "But there’s sothing else."
Both Kace and Maxwell turned their attention fully toward him now, waiting.
Xavier leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping idly against the desk.
"You rember Fiona?" he asked, his tone deceptively casual.
Kace frowned, trying to recall the na. Maxwell, on the other hand, stiffened just slightly.
"Yes," Kace said. "She’s the girl from high school, right? The one who might’ve seen what happened to Arabella the night she’d been killed?"
Xavier nodded.
"She finally decided to talk."
Silence.
Kace and Maxwell exchanged a glance.
"What do you an?" Maxwell asked carefully.
Xavier’s gaze didn’t waver.
"I an, she was a witness to Arabella’s murder," he said, watching them closely. "And she knows who really did it."
Maxwell’s jaw tensed and Kace’s expression twisted in shock. However, Xavier didn’t seem excited about the truth which could only an it was sothing they perceived as good news.
Xavier’s lips curved into sothing that wasn’t quite a smile.
"I never killed Arabella," he said. "It was our father."
The room felt too quiet.
Kace looked like he’d just been punched in the gut. Maxwell, however, was more than surprised.
"That’s impossible," Kace muttered. "Dad wouldn’t—he wouldn’t do sothing like that..."
But his voice lacked conviction.
Xavier leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "Think about it, Kace. Father has been eting up with Bruce behind our backs. He’s been hiding things from us for years. Fiona has no reason to lie, and the pieces are finally falling into place."
Kace swallowed hard, his shoulders slumping. "This is insane."
Xavier barely spared him a glance before turning his attention back to Maxwell.
"And what do you think?" he asked, watching him like a hawk.
Maxwell took a breath, his face unreadable. Then, finally, he said, "If this is true... then Mr. Wallace needs to face justice." His tone was about to stutter but he managed to say his words flawlessly."
Xavier’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Was that genuine? Or was he covering his tracks?
He couldn’t be sure. Not yet.
"After we handle Regalith," Xavier said, "we take care of this."
Kace nodded, his jaw tight. "He needs to pay for what he’s done."
"Agreed," Maxwell said.
For a while, they discussed their upcoming mission in Regalith, making plans to expose the royal couple in a way that the world wouldn’t be able to ignore despite their status and make sure they were served proper punishnt.
Eventually, Kace excused himself to call Alice who used to be Anastasia’s makeup artist back when she was still an actress.
Maxwell stood as well, saying he needed the restroom.
The mont he left, Xavier opened his laptop and switched to the live security feed he had planted earlier.
One cara showed Kace on his phone with Alice.
The other showed Maxwell in the restroom.
Texting soone.
Xavier’s jaw tightened.
At that sa mont, Xander’s phone vibrated back at where he was with Bruce, Mr Wallace and Samantha.
He pulled it out, his expression unreadable, but the mont his eyes landed on the familiar na, Fiona, sothing in his chest tightened.
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