Chapter 21 - "Natalia has never been on a mission with Lucius."

"The psychiatrist said you've been doing much better. You even look more alive; the new medication must be working. I'm so happy to see that."

Charles forced a smile, but his eyes did not follow. His shoulders were broadened, his arms were folded, and he was not engaging in the conversation whatsoever. The atmosphere around him was cold and inapproachable, which made Dante swallow hard; he wondered if his son was still upset about their last encounter.

"Charles, listen," he sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, alright? I should've listened to you and been there for you, and I'm sorry I wasn't."

"I'm not mad about that, Dante."

That made Dante flinch; it was very rare that Charles called him by his first name. He furrowed his brows and turned towards Nate's quivering gaze.

"It's because I came this time, isn't it?" Nate mumbled sadly, already starting to push himself to his feet. "I knew you weren't going to be ready, but your dad insisted that I come. I'm sorry, I'll go—"

"I'm not mad that you're here, Nathan."

His tone was very dry and cold, and as Nate slowly sat back down into his seat, he glanced towards Dante who was staring back at him with a bemused look. It didn't matter though since Charles couldn't hold it in anymore.

He leaned his elbows onto the table and asked, "Can I ask you two something?" They both vigorously nodded their heads. "How did you two meet?"

They eyed one another uneasily; they had never been asked that question by him before, he had never seemed much interested in their story. Nonetheless, Dante took the lead.

"Well...uh...Nate and his aunt were driving and we got into an incident," Dante started very slowly, ensuring that Nate agreed as he nodded his head as well. "Then, I followed him back to his place and...asked for his number and that was how we started seeing each other."

Charles' eyebrows furrowed. "It wasn't because you forced Nate to do sexual favours for you or else you'd kill him, was it?"

Instantly, both their gazes sharply turned to him.

The glee in their faces fell, both their eyes narrowed, and it was clear that it had struck both of them a nerve. And between the two of them, Nate was the one with no patience for a background check on their story.

"Who told you that?" he snapped without any care on how harsh and cold his tone had been.

Charles shrugged his shoulders. "What about the fact that you sliced your mother's neck as if it was a piece of pie, is that true as well?"

"That's not true," Nate corrected, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table. "She wasn't a mother to me."

"But you did do it?" Charles' insisted with widened eyes. "You killed someone?"

"That was ages ago," Dante intervened, shaking his head. "Times were different back then and we had been going through a lot of other stuff."

"Like what?" Charles continued to challenge, raising an eyebrow as he spat, "The loss of your younger sister, the one Cesar killed when she was only fourteen years old?" Their eyes widened even more. "Or the fact that he's the one that got your limb sliced off and your eye removed?"

"Brother," Dante corrected with a glare. "Molly was my brother and you better not get that wrong again."

Nate inhaled a sharp breath. "How do you know about all of that?"

"Does it matter how I know or the fact that you both have been lying to me for ages?" Charles snarled back, gritting his teeth as he leaned in towards them.

Nate had been taken aback by how harsh Charles' tone had sounded. He was staring at them as though they were not even his family, his fathers. Nate was trying his hardest to stay calm, but the fact that his past was returning to bite him was infuriating to the limit. "I never lied to you," he replied calmly, shuffling in his seat. "These are things that have absolutely nothing to do with you and you don't need to know what was done twenty years ago."

"That's where you're wrong, Nathan." Charles slammed his palm against the table, which caused a couple eyes to shift in their direction; both Dante and Nate flinched. "I should have known that my family were a bunch of murderers and psychopaths—!"

"We're not murderers and psychopaths, Charles," Dante hushed quietly, trying to bring down their voices since their surrounding had gotten much quieter than a minute ago. "It is true that we've committed horrible acts, but we've also payed the price for them and we've been much better ever since then."

"Much better ever since?" Charles shrieked in disbelief, throwing his hand in the air in shock that they believed that. "You all blamed me for not saying anything about Natalia, but yet, you've been allowing her to go on missions with Lucius, where she's doing the same things you've all claimed to have stopped doing!"

Both of their eyebrows furrowed, Dante and Nate exchanging a look. It was as if they tried to see if the other knew what Charles' was talking about, but the confused gaze in each their eyes made it clear that they both had no clue.

"Natalia has never been on a mission with Lucius, he promised he would never do that," Nate stated firmly, to which Dante nodded his head.

"I can't believe this," Charles chuckled in disbelief, shaking his head. "You all claim to be one big family meanwhile, you're all lying to one another. You know what?" He pushed himself to his feet, raising both his hands as he hissed, "I'm done, with all of you. I'm done."

"Charles, wait," Nate panicked, rushing to his feet as well, feeling his heart start to race as Charles started distancing himself from them. "Please, hold on," he exhaled, finally stepping in front of Charles and placing quivering hands on his shoulders. "We're sorry, alright? No," he placed his palm on his own chest and specified, "I'm sorry, okay?" He tried to keep his voice quiet since someone walked by. "I didn't think you needed to know these things, but I'm sorry I kept you in the dark about everything."

"But that doesn't mean I don't love you because I do, your well-being means everything to me." Even though he was speaking through his heart, it wasn't phasing Charles whatsoever, the disdain remaining in his eyes as he scoffed and looked away. "When you come home, I'll tell you everything, okay? Baby, please look at me Charlie," Nate begged, his voice starting to coil. "I can't lose you. I need you, okay? I need you so much more than you realize and it's been killing me that you haven't been home these last couple days. I'm not perfect, I've made mistakes, but I'm really trying to be for you. So please," Nate reached for Charles' hands, uncertain when he would feel them next and that was tearing his heart apart, "don't do this to us. Don't do this."

Charles paused for a moment, observing the way Nate's eyes quivered, even the metallic one. And that only caused the anger to climb higher and higher, because that metallic eye and arm that he thought was unbelievably cool, had been caused by Cesar, who he had believed was the most angelic being on this earth.

They had all lied to him.

Charles snatched his hands apart from Nate. "Isn't it crazy how my hallucinations care more about me than my own family? I begged you to believe me and you didn't," Charles' eyes twisted to Dante who was standing behind Nate, "and now look how stupid he made you two look. He told me the truth, and for that," he shook his head, walking towards the door, "I'm never trusting you two again."