Chapter Two Hundred and Four
The ride to the Villa was silent. Markus drove while Aht sat beside him, staring out the window. His mind kept replaying Cole’s words.
His jaw tightened. Whoever had done it... He would make them regret it.
By the ti they reached the estate, the anger sitting in his chest had hardened into sothing colder. Sothing dangerous.
They entered the house without speaking. The servants greeted them, but Aht barely acknowledged anyone as he walked straight toward his father’s study.
Markus sighed quietly. "This won’t end well," he muttered before following.
Aht pushed the door open without knocking.
His father looked up from the desk, clearly surprised.
"Aht?" he called.
But Aht didn’t waste ti.
"Did you send soone to harm my child?"
The question landed in the room like a bomb. For a second, his father simply stared at him. Then his brows slowly drew together.
"Have you lost your mind?" he asked, his voice dangerously calm.
Aht didn’t back down.
"Answer the question, Dad."
His father rose from his chair slowly, disbelief written all over his face.
"You barge into my study and accuse of trying to harm my own grandchild?"
Aht’s voice hardened. "Did you send soone after Asli or not?"
The temperature in the room dropped instantly.
"You are out of your mind," his father said sharply. "What kind of question is that?"
"Then deny it!" Aht shot back.
"I just did!"
Their voices rose with every word.
Markus stepped between them quickly, raising both hands.
"Okay, okay, let’s all calm down for a second," he said, glancing from one to the other. "Maybe we should lower our voices before the entire Villa hears this."
Neither man listened.
"This is the first ti you’ve ever raised your voice at ," his father said, his tone turning cold.
Aht didn’t flinch.
"That’s because this is the first ti soone has tried to take sothing like this from ," he replied.
His hands clenched at his sides.
"I’ve never had soone pregnant before. And now that I do, soone tries to steal that opportunity from ?"
His eyes darkened.
"I will never forgive whoever did that." The words hung heavily in the air.
His father’s expression shifted slightly. He was no longer angry. It was sothing more complicated.
"I would do anything to protect my family," his father said firmly. "If protecting them requires to move mountains, then so be it."
Aht held his gaze.
"But," his father continued, his voice hardening again, "there is no universe where I make peace with Marco."
The na alone filled the room with old bitterness.
"That man destroys and among the many things he destroyed," he said. "was my best friend and his family." His jaw tightened. "I will never forgive him."
Aht stepped forward.
"Asli had nothing to do with that," he said firmly.
His father didn’t respond.
"She shouldn’t be paying for sins she didn’t commit," Aht continued. "Whatever happened between you and Marco... it wasn’t her doing."
His voice lowered, but the determination remained. "She deserves to be pardoned."
"If only it were that simple," his father said, shaking his head slowly. "You won’t understand. And I hope that one day, when the truth cos out, you won’t bla for not protecting you."
Aht let out a humorless laugh. The sound carried more frustration than amusent.
"Protecting ?" he repeated, running a hand through his hair. His patience was wearing dangerously thin.
"Maybe if you actually told sothing," he said, his voice tightening, "maybe if you gave Markus and what we’ve been asking for all these tis, we’d finally understand why you and Marco hate each other so much."
He gestured sharply between his father and the space between them as if Marco stood there.
"At least we know the man is evil," he continued. "We’ve seen enough of that ourselves. But what I don’t understand is why Asli thinks the sa thing about you."
His father frowned.
"Aht, I don’t know why she hates ," he replied. "I told you already, I didn’t even know she existed until we found out that she was behind all those mischiefs."
The answer only made Aht’s frustration boil over.
He paced a few steps across the room, dragging a hand down his face.
"That makes no sense," he muttered.
He stopped and turned back toward his father, disbelief written all over his face.
"She ntions your na like you ruined her life," he said. "Like you destroyed everything she had."
His hands spread slightly in the air, as if trying to physically grab the explanation out of the room.
"And you’re telling you don’t even know who she is?"
The silence that followed felt suffocating.
Aht clenched his jaw. Every conversation with his father ended the sa way. Why was he holding back the truth?
He slamd his palm lightly against the desk in frustration.
"Do you know how insane this sounds?" he demanded. "There’s a grudge between two families that has lasted for years, and now a baby is involved... yet the two n at the center of it still refuse to say why it even started."
His eyes burned with restrained anger.
"How are we supposed to protect anyone when we don’t even know what we’re fighting? Well, Asli and I are having a baby and you know we protect the family at all costs. I’ll fight for this and so I’m warning you, if you have anything to do with the incident, you better not try anything again."
Aht left the study before his father could say another word.
The heavy doors slamd shut behind him, the echo following him down the hallway as he strode through the house. Markus called his na once, but Aht didn’t slow down.
He kept walking. He passed the living room. Passed the guards stationed at the entrance.
Straight toward the lower wing of the estate where the underground cells were kept.
The air changed the mont he stepped down the concrete stairs. It grew colder, and thicker. The faint sll of rust and damp stone clung to the air.
Four guards straightened imdiately when they saw him approaching.
"Boss."
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