CHAPTER 3

ARIS.

The minute I was done signing, he let out a satisfied exhale as he took the papers, gathering them.

“He's in there?” A faint voice from the hall, accompanied by hurried footsteps reached me.

My head turned towards the door just as it opened. Someone stepped into the room and shut the door.

When he turned around, my jaw fell—t’was safe to say to my feet because the man standing there was a perfect replica of me. Same eyes, face, height, build—everything.

A gasp escaped me.

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked him in a voice that cracked on the last word. But he ignored me, his eyes flickering over to Illuis.

“Is he the one who would be taking my place in the marriage alliance, father?” The question instantly caused my ears to ring. Take his place? I was taking his place?

“What the fuck?” I gasped, turning to look at Illuis. “Am I?”

“Yes, Aetios,” Illius answered. “He has signed the papers already.”

My chest suddenly began to grow tight with something I could not even pin point at that moment.

“You brought me back so I could take his place?” I murmured.

Illius didn't even spare me a glance at all, just tucking the marriage document into an envelope.

“Answer me!” I demanded, stomping my foot hard on the tiled floor to get his attention.

It was Aetios who turned.

“Aren't you too old to be throwing tantrums?” He asked, unmasked irritation evident in his voice.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, my eyes sizing him up.

While my style of clothing was humble, his was extravagant, his hair stylish. He looked like the ideal version of me while I looked like a certified piece of crap. I didn't need to be told by anyone; I knew.

He let out a soft hiss before slowly clasping his hands together.

“Let me tell you,” the boy started, his voice cold enough to chill the blood running in my veins. “You are here to take my place and marry into the Aetrakis family.”

My brows rose.

“Because I don't want to marry any monster,” he hissed.

My entire world rotated around its axis at the words, and crashed.

I was brought back to replace him and not because they finally found me after a long search? Or because they truly wanted me back?

They brought me here just so that I couldn't act as a stand-in for him?

This was their goal all along.

“So you are using me?” I asked just as the door to the library opened and Lena took a step in.

“Who's using who?” She asked, her eyes resting on my face. I blinked the tears in my eyes away.

“Both of you,” I whispered, the words coming from a place of pain. “You brought me back to use me, not because you found me.”

Lena's right brow raised as a soft sarcastic laugh escaped her lips.

“Using you?” She asked, disbelief evident in her tome. “You are the one using us! You asked us to pay for that woman's hospital bills the first chance you got, remember?”

I swallowed hard.

“So who the fuck is the user, or the gold digger here?” She hissed.

“Because you asked me to come home and I couldn't leave her there, all alone, unattended,” I said. “And you asked me to come home.”

A dry scoff left her mouth.

“Isn't it normal for a child to return to his family?” She yelled, sounding like she had been wronged.

“Not if it's because you want me to replace my twin in a marriage that you do not want for him!”

My voice rose a notch.

“You are giving me something he rejected because it isn't good. You don't care if it's good for me. That shows that you don't fucking care about me at all! It's just—”

“Shut up!” Illius cut me off, his pheromones rising around him. “I have had enough of your voice.”

Aetios winced, doubling over slightly from the effect as Lena rushed to his side, holding him.

“Stop this, Illius!” she snapped at her husband. “He's unwell.”

The pheromone release seized at once and Lena glanced at me.

“How can you be unaffected?” She asked me, eyes scanning me.

“I'm a beta.”

The laugh that left her lips was completely genuine, meaning that she was amused beyond doubt.

“That's fucking funny,” she said when she could speak again.

My brows rose.

“Why?”

“We left you at the hospital because you were a defective omega. I never expected you would become a beta after all of that. It's a good thing we abandoned you when we could.”

My eyes grew wide.

“Why?” I croaked.

“How could we bring a defective child home to a family that has only produced pure omega for more than five hundred generations?” She asked. “Wouldn't it be a huge stain on the family's name?”

The words pierced my heart like an arrow through water, deep. My lips parted, but not even a single sound came out of my mouth.

I was shocked, down to my bone marrow. How can a mother say such things to her long lost child that she just managed to find?

Maybe she didn't.

They had always known where I was, but they never came to get me because I was useless to them.

Because I was defective.

“You never actually wanted me back.” My voice was so low that I doubt they could even hear it.

“Humph!” She flared. “Want you back? Why would I want you?”

It felt like I had been punched right in the gut.

“Do you know the amount of health complications I suffered after giving life to failure like you?” She continued. “Now you want me to marry off my son who has pure omega blood to a monster when we have a defective son like you?”

The words were just another jab to my chest. Another deep reminder that I was just a useless child.

My chest twisted painfully, rage filling every part of my body as my fingers clenched into tight fists.

“Since I am so useless, I need not take my brother's place. I want to return to my grandmo—”

“Return to your grandmother, and watch her die?” Lena completed the sentence bluntly. “Listen, we are already helping you get what you want. You have already signed the contract, and you have to honour it. If you don't, who will?”

She took a step forward.

“It can't be my son. Not Aetios. I can't let him get married to those monsters in the Aetrakis family. They… no, he will kill my son.”

I cocked a brow at her.

“And I won't die?”

“Dying for your grandmother is totally worth it!” she said with a haughty look. “One worthless life for another worthless life.”

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Actually it was worth it. I was just useless anyway. But why does it hurt so much learning that my own parents don't even want me?

“That old woman took you after you were born and raised you. If you turn out useless, and leave her to die, then you shouldn't have been born at all, defect!”

Aetios scoffed.

“Tsk! Brother, listen. Getting tied to the Aetrakis family might not actually be bad for you. At worst, you would die, but death can be a relief too. Don't you think so?”

He took a step forward before doubling over with a wince, his palm clutching his chest.

“Aetios dear, you should go and get some rest. You look so pale,” Lena immediately focused on him.

Her hands ran over his face in order to check his pulse, as if he was some gem, and I… I was a wood.

A defective wood, maybe?

So this is how it is?

They couldn't bear to let their beloved gem marry someone they believed would cause his death.

But they didn't hesitate to give me away when it was my turn because I was defective like they said.

“If you do this,” my father said in a calm voice which didn't suit his authoritative image at all. “You would not only be saving your grandmother, you would be helping us with this alliance as well. This can be a good thing to be remembered by.”

I could not even get angry.

All I could do was remain quiet, process everything, while my eyes stung so hard. I wanted to let out the unshed tears, but I couldn’t. Not in front of them.

Even if I don't want to be someone's tool. I can only think of my grandmother. She took care of me even when I was defective, brought me drugs, and for once, she never actually complained. I never doubted her love.

Fairs. I have already signed the contract anyways.

This is the only thing I could do for her.

“But if you still want to leave, that's up to you,” my father said. “Will you still back out?” He asked.

I noticed how everyone was staring at me as if they would kill me if I backed out—maybe it would.

Someone would die.

Just not me.

And I couldn't afford that.

After a beat of silence, I swallowed softly before looking up.

“No,” I voiced quietly. “I'll get married in his place.”