Chapter 81: 81
"Giovane padrone Liam is back!"
The butler’s voice echoed through the marble halls, half a shout, half an announcement. He had barely caught sight of the sleek black car pulling up at the entrance before hurrying outside, eager to assist the young master with his bags.
But Liam brushed past him, his focus far from the family’s formalities or their elaborate traditions of welcome.
"Where’s my sister?" he asked sharply, handing the man his jacket without waiting for a reply.
"On the third floor, sir," the butler replied quickly, bowing.
Liam started toward the grand staircase but stopped midway, glancing toward the elevator instead. Impatience won. He crossed the foyer and pressed the button, his pulse quickening.
He had imagined this day countless times, the day he would finally see his twin again. Ever since the media had reported Carmela’s death, his world had shattered, leaving him hollow. When he later discovered it was all part of his father’s orchestrated deceit, he’d felt relief, anger, and dread all at once.
Now, standing before the elevator doors, he realized just how much that mixture still churned inside him.
The elevator chimed softly, and moments later he stood outside her room. His hand hesitated on the doorknob. What was he supposed to say? Hi, I’m your brother, the one you never got to grow up with because our father decided fate should play puppeteer with our lives?
He exhaled slowly and pushed the door open.
The rhythmic beeping of machines filled the air steady, cold, and mercilessly clinical. His eyes swept across the room, and for a heartbeat he felt his spirit leave his body and then slam right back into his chest.
The room looked nothing like what he had envisioned, no warmth, no comfort. It was a miniature hospital, sterile and suffocating, wires crawling across the bed like silver veins.
And there she was, laying motionless, her skin pale against the white sheets. Tubes and monitors surrounded her, their mechanical sounds the only proof that she was still tethered to life.
Liam’s breath hitched. His chest felt tight, and before he knew it, his vision blurred with tears.
"Liam."
He turned sharply. Sai stood in the doorway, her expression soft with understanding. She didn’t speak at first; she just stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
"She’ll be fine," she whispered, gently patting his back as if to keep him from falling apart.
"How did she end up like this?" he asked, pulling away, his voice thick. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "I saw her, Sai.. even if it was just from afar, I saw her months ago. She looked fine. Perfectly fine. So why is she like this now?"
Sai placed a finger to her lips and guided him farther into the room. "Shh... keep your voice down," she said softly, glancing toward the sleeping figure.
"Elisa is..." she began, her voice faltering slightly as she looked back at Carmela, "...in between two worlds one where she’s fighting to live, and another where she’s already given up."
"Elisa?" Liam echoed, the name strange on his tongue.
Sai nodded slowly. "Uncle forbids us from calling her by her old name. He insists that Carmela is dead and.. "
But Liam raised a hand sharply, cutting her off, his expression hardening. "I care less about what my father thinks or believes," he said coldly. "Either way, where’s Nix?"
His eyes swept across the room, scanning every corner as though the man might step out of the shadows. When he turned back, he caught the hesitant, disappointed look on Sai’s face.
"Wait," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Don’t tell me he’s so busy that he’s forgotten his wife is lying here half-dead. I’ve heard rumors about his dealings with some dangerous people but I didn’t pay attention. So what’s his excuse? Where is he?"
Sai hesitated before answering. Her voice was almost a whisper.
"He’s not aware she’s alive."
Liam froze.
For a heartbeat, the room felt utterly still, the rhythmic beeping of the monitors fading into the background hum of disbelief. His mind raced through every possible explanation, each one more absurd than the last. Then, realization struck like a blade to the chest. His father’s lies. The false death. The silence.
All of it suddenly made sense.
"He’s trying to separate them, isn’t he?" Liam said, his voice rising. A sharp, bitter laugh escaped his throat. He ran a hand through his hair, pacing the floor. "Of course he is. He can’t control who she loves, so he’d rather rewrite her entire life instead!"
Sai reached for him gently. "Liam," she said softly, "getting angry won’t solve this. Even if Nix finds out she’s alive, there’s no guarantee anyone will be happy."
Her fingers trembled slightly, a sign of her own rising anxiety. She could already imagine the chaos if the truth reached Nix too soon. Her heartbeat quickened, her words tumbling faster now.
"The person in charge of her treatment is my fiancé," she continued, her tone hushed but urgent. "If anything happens to her, the alliance between our families will collapse. And right now, she isn’t responding to treatment at all. He suggested bringing Nix, but that’s where the real problem begins."
Liam frowned, tension drawing lines across his face. "What problem?"
Sai inhaled shakily before answering. "Carmela.. or Elisa is responsible for the death of Nix’s parents. According to Uncle, Nix still doesn’t know. Imagine if he learns the truth too soon. He might reject her completely... and if that happens, she’ll be broken. And Zamiel, my fiancé, he’ll take it personally and it will ruin everything."
Liam exhaled heavily, rubbing his temples as frustration overtook him. He turned away from the bed, his voice low but edged with helpless anger. "So what’s the plan, Sai? Do we just sit here and play along while Father puppeteers all our lives?"
Before Sai could respond, the soft sound of someone clearing their throat sliced through the tension.
They both turned toward the doorway.
Zamiel leaned casually against the frame, his phone in one hand, his expression unreadable but tinged with exhaustion.
"Excuse me," he said dryly, pushing himself off the wall and strolling into the room. "But I’m pretty sure my patient is tired of listening to every single one of your schemes."
He pocketed his phone and sighed, casting an almost protective glance toward Carmela’s still figure. "If you two are done plotting destinies and rewriting tragedies," he added, "I’d like to focus on keeping her alive long enough for any of that to matter."
"And you are?" Liam raised an eyebrow, his tone sharp and unreadable.
"He’s my fiancé, Zamiel," Sai said softly, forcing a smile, though the tension in the room could be sliced clean with a knife. Zamiel, however, didn’t even spare Liam a glance. His eyes were already fixed on the sleeping figure on the bed, his expression unreadable a mix of irritation and reluctant concern.
"I wouldn’t say I’m pleased to meet any Sorrento family member," Zamiel finally said, voice low and dismissive, "but I do hope you’re sane and different, just like my fiancée. I’m not sure what you’re planning, but I’ve already thought of something, I just need to... experiment.
Liam’s eyes darkened, the flower of suspicion blooming in the pit of his gut. His voice dropped, carrying a hint of protective rage. "Don’t you dare turn my sister into one of your lab rats."
Zamiel only raised a hand, hushing him like a child, and pulled out his phone. Without explanation, he dialed a number and placed it on speaker. The room fell into uneasy silence. The soft, rhythmic beep of Carmela’s monitor was the only sound that filled the air as everyone waited.
The call connected to the fourth ring. A familiar voice drifted through the speaker calm, dark, and dripping with irony.
"I now have to question how much you care about me, Mr. Dean. Not even a call or text message in the past three months," Zamiel said dryly, his voice carrying both mockery and fatigue. He knew how childish he sounded, demanding attention from a man who had buried his wife but he didn’t care.
"When are you getting married?"
The question came from the other end. Nix’s voice was smooth and cold, yet laced with something unspoken. The unexpectedness of it froze both Sai and Liam. Zamiel blinked, momentarily thrown off guard.
"Why do you suddenly feel interested in my affairs?" he asked, his brow furrowed.
"Aren’t you tired of being engaged for so long without marriage, Doctor Zamiel?" Nix’s tone sharpened into something almost playful, but it was the kind of play that hid a blade. "Or could it be that you have a reproductive disorder and that’s why.."
"What in God’s name would make you think like that?" Zamiel barked, fury erupting through his restraint.
A low, dangerous chuckle came through the speaker, and even Sai felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"I care less about your relationship status," Nix continued, his tone now dipped in venom, "I just want to meet my father-in-law. A little bird told me "your wife and mine are cousins."
Zamiel’s mind spun hearing what he said. The words echoed like a ticking bomb. He could almost hear the blood rushing in his ears. Nix never involved himself in other people’s affairs unless... unless he had a reason. A terrible one.
"You’re suspicious of him?" Zamiel asked
"Suspicious?" Nix’s chuckle was slow and deliberate. "Is there a reason I should be? Actually, I just wanted to say hi and greet my sister-in-law. Since I never got a proper chance to meet her."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Sai felt her pulse quicken. Liam’s fists clenched. And Zamiel... he hesitated. The wrong word could expose everything.
Finally, Zamiel said flatly, "Nix... Carmela is dead."
The world seemed to stop breathing. The steady beep of the machines now sounded louder. No one moved. On the other end of the line, Nix said nothing for a long, unbearable moment. Then came a quiet exhale one so soft it made Sai’s skin crawl.
When he finally spoke, his voice was lower, heavier. "You should never have said that, Doctor." The threat was quite almost tender but it carried the weight of death itself.
The line went dead.
Sai’s knees trembled. Liam turned to Zamiel, his jaw locked. "What was that for?" he demanded, voice rising.
Zamiel slipped his phone back into his pocket, looking toward the motionless figure on the bed. His eyes had grown darker. "Because," he said coldly, "sometimes the only way to wake a man up... is to burn the truth he’s avoiding."
"He’s suspicious of someone... but who, and for what reason?" Zamiel’s question drifted into the thick air, hanging between them like smoke that refused to clear. His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed the turmoil behind it the realization that Nix’s curiosity wasn’t random; it was the beginning of something far darker.
Sai opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in her throat when she noticed the faintest movement from the bed. Her breath hitched. "She.. she moved her hand!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with sudden joy as she jumped to her feet.
But neither man reacted.
Liam was staring blankly at the floor, mind clouded by panic and guilt. Zamiel stood frozen beside him, thoughts racing faster than he could breathe. What if Nix finds out? The question clawed at both of them. The image of Nix’s cold voice replayed in their heads, the threat beneath the calm and deadly promise wrapped in politeness.
"What if he discovers it?" The thought whispered through their minds, feeding the fear neither dared to speak aloud.