Chapter 81

Chapter 81 Chapter 81 +25 BONUS Right after leaving his house, Kris called Alden to meet him at their usual club. Alden was exhausted after the long night, but he reluctantly agreed, fearing Kris would go crazy if he had no one to talk to.

“So, did you ask your mother about what Karen said?” Alden asked after they had sat in silence for a bit, observing Kris taking shot after shot of vodka.

“Yes,”

Alden raised an eyebrow. “And?”

Kris looked annoyed. “What do you mean by ‘and‘? There’s nothing else to say because Karen is nothing but a manipulative snake. My mother is innocent. She isn’t capable of doing the vile things Karen did to Thalassa. She was just as shocked as I was to discover the truth.”

Alden nodded slowly, feeling a bit relieved. He’d had his doubts after hearing what Karen said, but he was glad Kris had been able to clear it up.

Kris poured himself another shot of vodka and downed it in one gulp. As he was about to pour another, Alden spoke up.

“Dude, don’t you think you’ve had a little too much to drink?” he asked worriedly. When he arrived, Kris had already drunk almost half of the bottle.

Kris shot him a scowl. “I didn’t call you here to lecture me on whether I can drink or not.”

A frustrated sigh escaped Alden. “Yes, you called me here to unburden yourself, but I’m not the one you should be talking to, Kris. The one you should be speaking to right now is Thalassa. Tell me, have you apologized to her yet?”

Kris downed another shot before answering grimly, “No.”

Alden shook his head. “Why not? Kris, the more you wait, the more she’s going to think that you just don’t care.”

“You don’t get it,” Kris gritted out, his voice slurring more than a bit. “You just don’t get it. I can’t... I can’t stand in front of her. Just the thought of even speaking to her fills me with so much shame because I know I don’t deserve even a minute of her time after everything I did to her. After everything I put her through.”

He seemed to be on some kind of rant, so Alden kept quiet and let him continue.

Suddenly, tears glistened in Kris’s eyes, though he didn’t let them fall. “She loved me, Alden. She loved me so much. She trusted me with everything–her pain, her love, her body, even her soul–and what did I do? I tore it all to shreds. I made her suffer so much. Yet no matter what I did, she continued to stay, and my conclusion was that it was because of my money.”

A curt, self–deprecating laugh escaped his mouth before his expression returned to one of abject misery. “We could’ve been so happy. So fucking happy if I hadn’t been such an idiot. Because of me, she lost our child.”

Alden’s eyes widened. “No, don’t blame yourself for that. We all know she was attacked, and that’s how she lost the baby.”

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” Kris poured himself another shot. “I should’ve protected her, yet when she told me about the pregnancy, I told her to her face that she was lying and still kicked her out of the house. If I hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have been attacked. It was all my fault.”

He drank the shot he’d poured and looked at Alden. “Now tell me, how am I supposed to face her?”

“You’ll eventually have to,” Alden reminded him.

1/2 +25 BONUS Chapter 81 Kris didn’t respond as he poured himself another shot. Alden poured his first shot and chucked it down his throat.

“I can’t believe you guys came here and didn’t invite me,” Henry’s accusing voice came from behind them before he appeared at the table, a bemused look on his face. “Has this turned into a two–best–friend group with one third wheel?”

Alden looked at him. “But you’re also here, right? And you didn’t bother to invite either of us.”

“It’s not the same. It’s only me, and it’s the two of you,” Henry mused, his expression even more bemused now.” In fact, this is not the first time. You guys have been up to something lately, yet you haven’t told me anything.”

“All right, take a seat then,” Alden pointed at the third chair, and Henry sat down before Alden began to explain everything that had happened–from the day Kris confronted Thalassa with the pictures to how Karen had just been arrested that night.

By the time Alden was done, Henry looked as pale as a ghost.

“Dude, are you okay?” Alden prompted.

Suddenly, Henry shot to his feet, glared down at Kris, and exploded. “You fucking had Karen arrested? What the fuck is wrong with you? How could you?”

Kris was equally bemused and glared at him but didn’t say anything. It was Alden who spoke.

“Hey, hey... What is wrong with you? Did you hear anything I said? What Karen did was a fucking crime. She had Thalassa drugged and assaulted, and that was how she got those pictures. And you’re still going to defend her?”

Henry was fuming. If Kris and Alden had involved him in the plan, he would’ve found a way to sabotage their efforts so they wouldn’t discover the truth. Now it was too late. All he could do was unleash his anger on Kris.

“And so what? Even if it’s true that Karen did all those things, why would you have her arrested because of that lowlife slu-”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before Kris’s punch connected with his mouth. The punch sent Henry flying back into his chair.

“I’ve already told you a billion times to respect Thalassa,” Kris growled and pounced on him, delivering punch after punch.

“Hey, Kris. What are you... Stop!” Alden hissed as he tried to pull Kris back to no avail. Despite being drunk, Kris was still strong and continued throwing the punches with precision.

It took the intervention of a bouncer before they could finally pull him off Henry, who was left with a busted lip and a bleeding nose. Kris was breathing heavily as he was held back, his furious eyes glaring daggers at Henry.

Henry slowly got up with a groan, some of the blood on his face dripping onto his shirt as he looked at Kris with equally furious eyes.

“You dare treat me like this because of that stupid bitch? Just wait and see how I make you regret it.”

With that promise, he stormed out of the club.