Chapter 40

Axel

I've been gone for a few years and Nathan has already gone crazy . I have to change that . He knows, better than to move on from us . Him and I are going to be together until death does us apart. No freak will ever come between us.

I quickly call on my maid to clean up the mess of a dinner she made then get myself ready to go out . Nathan has been avoiding me, but for how long? I wonder . He can't stay away from me forever . Eventually he will realise that he's mine, mine only . No one else's .

" Sir, you have a visitor." One of my personal maids says to me .

" Let them through" I reply her. I lean on the couch, staring at the blank screen in front of me . Who would be visiting at this time of the night? .

" Axel ." A familiar voice says, I don't need to turn around to know who the voice belongs to .

" So your little slut told on me?": I chortle. Thinking how pathetic it might have been when Lucas cried to Nathan about me .

" I don't want to fight or anything. I want us to get one thing straight ..." Nathan reveals himself. He decides to stand in front of me. Staring down at me with an indifferent face.

" That Lucas is off limits and I should leave you alone?" I taunt.

" Is everything a joke to you in my life?"

" Nathan, babe" I sigh heavily " You turned your life into a joke the minute you got involved with whatever Lucas is. I just want to help ."

" You can help by leaving me alone ."

" Or you can make things easier for me and come back to me , how about that for a win?"

" Why do you even want us to get back together while we don't love each other Axel? "

" But you do love me, I know you do . You always have and you always will. You are just blinded by this little infatuation you have for Lucas . Is it because of that thing you two created? "

" That 'thing' is my son and it's not an infatuation . It's fucking 'love' but what do you know about that? You have never loved anyone but yourself ."

" We both know that's not true. I loved you . You were my everything and still are. "

" Yeah, loved me enough to fuck me over multiple times and leave me in a pit of depression . " He scoffs.

" Can we just skip this and fuc--"

" Fucking leave my family alone!" Nathan snaps angrily. His furious eyes meeting mine .

" Okay, whatever!" I roll my eyes . He huffs and walks out of the room . I'm definitely not in the mood to deal with an angry looking Nathan .

I'm about to head to bed when my phone rings. I check the ID, not even recognising the number .

" Hello?"

" Axel, I heard that you are trying to get rid of Lucas in Nathan's life. "

" Yeah? So?"

" Let me just say, you are not the only one who wants to see those two separated . Wanna join forces and take them down?"

" What are you proposing?" I settle back down on the couch. Now, interested in whoever the person has to say .

" I'm saying, it's simple. I have known them so long, spent a lot of time in their house to know that there's only one thing keeping them together " The person Chuckles weirdly from the other side .

I tap my finger over my chin " What is that exactly?"

" Their son . Get rid of him . Then you will see how pathetic their relationship is . "

" Are you ...are you implying that we should kill the kid?" My eyes widen at the thought.

" Perhaps we should talk about this in person. I will send you a private address tomorrow, so we can talk . " Then the person hangs up .

***

Joshua

As I sit here, repeating the words that Tyron said to Lucas, I can't help but think that he might be right . Indeed, loving someone more than yourself is the most dangerous thing. It's like giving them power over your feelings, everything about you . I gave that all to Wylder. My everything . Then some day, he woke up and decided that I wasn't no longer good enough for him .

I remember that fateful day like it was yesterday. The cold eyes he gave me when I tried to plead with him not to break my heart. It's like the once loving person I fell in love with disappeared and was replaced by a very hateful person . It was devastating . My whole world came to a huge standstill that day . And since then, I have been trying to get myself to move on but I can't .

" Umhm Josh ."

I turn to the voice, to find Elizabeth leaning by the bedroom door " breakfast?" She raises her brows at my confusion .

" I'm good ." I wave her off when she tries to protest. She has been doing a lot of that lately . Whenever I skip dinner, she becomes awfully worried about me .

She sighs heavily then leaves. I get myself under the covers and hug myself tightly. I have been doing a lot of that lately. Somehow that brings me more comfort . Sometimes I imagine as if Wylder is hugging me. He used to give me the best hugs, especially during my worst days . Now I have nothing but myself to do that .

I try not to think about the past but no matter what I do , Wylder crosses my mind . That makes me more angry at myself for thinking of him while he's busy enjoying life . I hate that I allow the feelings I still have for Wylder drive me insane .

Suddenly a loud sharp ring fills the bedroom. I try to avoid it for a while but whoever is calling must want to talk to me so badly while I don't . I grab my cellphone from the nightstand and answer it without looking at the caller ID .

" Josh, thank God!" Nathan is heard on the other side" Where are you? "

" At home?" I reply him . Rolling my eyes a little at his stupid question . Where else would I be? I don't work, I'm single and obviously not broke .

" Lucas and I are trying to call as many people as possible . Tobias is missing!"

" What?" I sit up quickly . I may not be a fan of Nathan sometimes but Tobias is my little guy, I love that boy .

" We put him to bed, Lucas and I . The following morning, he was gone Josh . We don't...I don't know , he just disappeared!"

" I'm coming right now!" I hang up . Run to my closet, throw on the first thing my eyes land on . This is the second time Tobias has gone missing, but the mall incident seems innocent but this one? Going missing in your own home? Something is really really up .

On my way to the garage, I grab an apple. My mother tries to urge me to eat more but I dismiss her . I have no time for this .

When I get to Nathan's, he's sitting by the porch with his head in his hands. There seems to be two police officers in the house questioning Lucas.

" Hey" I take a seat beside him, placing my arm over his back gently . " Are you okay?"

" No . I don't think I will ever be okay until Tobias is found." He murmurs without sitting up .

" I understand." I say . My eyes drift off to the busy street in front of us . People driving past the house to work or God knows where , some kids are walking to school happily. To them, it's a good morning. To us, it's the beginning of another worst nightmare.

" I'm sure we will find him . It could be someone you guys are very close with . "

" Yeah, the police think so too. We are looking into everyone."

"Do you think Axel could have done this?" I question.

Nathan's back tense a little" Do you think he could have stooped that low?" He finally sits up . His wide eyes staring at me .

" Everything was fine until he showed up" I shrug .

" I need to go!" Nathan quickly runs back in the house . I sit on the porch for a while . Thinking of ways I could contribute to finding Tobias . Sitting on my ass, crying over Wylder isn't something I'm planning on doing.

" Hey, coming inside? It's getting windy ." Lucas calls out to me by the door a few minutes later.

" Coming!" I rub my cold hands together . Once I'm inside, the heater works its magic and I'm warm in no time .

I join Lucas in the kitchen, as he's making some dinner. The police are still around. Trying to find some kind of evidence or leads .

" How are you coping?" I eye Lucas as he walks around the kitchen, busying himself.

" Not so great . Last night was even worse. "

" What happened last night?"

" I officially broke up with Nathan, for good ."

" What the--why?"

" Because it's better this way . No one gets hurt at the end of the day . We both live a happy separate lives ."

" Why do I feel like Axel had some kind of influence on the decision you made?"

" Of course not!"He sighs" Maybe he did but it doesn't matter. I just don't want to be hurt and alone someday. "

" You know Lucas, you have lived long enough to realise that anything good is always meant to hurt you, it doesn't mean you should avoid being happy because of that . "

" You don't understand Josh . This is different. Nathan might love me but until when? Nothing is guaranteed in this world "

" Who cares about how long he lives you? What matters is now Lucas . What's happening now. Why are you worried about a 'tomorrow' that you are unsure about? You might wake up dead for all we know . So why not live now? Make every moment count now?"

" As someone who got hurt, I thought you would understand " .

" Oh God! Lucas, are you seriously comparing my relationship with Wylder to yours with Nathan? Come on now, you have lived with Nathan for five whole years, had a child with him . Don't tell me the Nathan you first met and the Nathan now are the same, if you don't see the difference then you are more dumber than me for falling for Wylder."

" You don't understand "

" I do understand. You just want to rob yourself of happiness because you find comfort in sadness . It's a pity that you won't even allow people to try love you . "

Lucas looks at me then back at the pot in his hands. His face slowly changes and out of nowhere, he starts to cry . I nimbly run by his side, feeling bad for being too hard on him .

" Hey, I'm sorry . It's okay!" I gently rub his trembling back . Taking the pot and place it on the counter . " I didn't mean to--"

" No....you are right! " He cries out . Throwing his arms around me tightly . " I'm so far up my ass that I can't see that people genuinely love and care about me"

" Well yes but I didn't exactly mean it like that . I'm sorry for making you feel bad, you are a human . You are imperfect. You have every right to do whatever you think is right to avoid getting hurt ..." I say to him softly.

***