Ch-54

•~•Aziel’s POV

The car came to a stop, and I felt the usual jolt of impatience hit me.

As my driver, Matt, opened the door and helped me out, I quickly shifted myself into my wheelchair, wheeling forward with swift, practiced movements.

My heart pounded in my chest with the weight of what I was about to do.

I had been so sure, so confident that I could handle this. But now, as I wheeled myself toward the entrance, just like the last time I made up my mind to tell her but failed, doubt crept in like the dark shadows of a storm cloud.

The door opened before I even reached it, and Irene stepped out, shutting it behind her.

Her face was a mask—expressionless, cold. That was strange. She always greeted me with a smile, fake or not, so why the coldness? Or maybe I was just overthinking things.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself.

"Come on," I said, gesturing to the car. "There’s somewhere I need to take you."

Irene didn’t respond. She just kept her eyes on me, narrowed and studying.

Then her lips parted, likely to say something, but before she could, the unmistakable sound of a car pulling into the driveway cut through the air.

Both of us shifted our gazes toward it. It was my mother's car, and just as soon as it stopped, Dominic quickly got out, opening the door for her.

Her expression, unlike Irene’s, wasn’t cold or blank. She looked rather tense—or was it panic? I could see it in her eyes and in her quick strides.

She stopped in front of us, her brow furrowing slightly. “I thought you’d go back to the office… What are you doing at home?” she asked, her voice a little fidgety.

I frowned. Something was definitely going on—something my mother probably didn’t want me to know but had gone out of her control. I was a hundred percent sure I wasn’t reading her body language wrong.

“I came to pick up Solane for a date,” I said, my voice calm.

She nodded, then turned to Irene, a small smile gracing her lips but it looked very much fake. “Uhm… Solane, dear, have you been home all day?” she asked, her tone more cautious than usual.

Irene’s face remained stoic, her mask unbroken. “Yes,” she answered flatly.

I noticed the way my mother’s eyes widened slightly at her response and the subtle, quiet breath she let out, as if to calm herself.

“I see…Uhm, did anyone come home?” Her voice was soft but charged with tension.

Irene’s mask finally slipped, and a frown formed on her face. Her eyes narrowed. After a few moments of silence, she spoke. “Yes.”

The breath my mother sucked in was sharp. Almost unnoticeable, but I caught it—and I was sure Irene did too.

“Who was it?” I asked, deciding to join the conversation.

Irene’s gaze flicked to me, her eyes narrowing even further. “He’s inside.”

‘He?’ I mused to myself. 

Who was this ‘he’? And why did I feel this unsettling weight in my chest at the thought of finding out his identity?

“Ma’am… Shall we go in?” Dominic’s voice cut through the tension, and my mother nodded, but still didn’t move.

I didn’t care if she remained there till nightfall. I wanted to find out who this ‘he’ was.

So I turned my wheelchair, pressing the button on the armrest, and wheeled myself toward the door. I pushed it open and entered the house.

My mother and Dominic followed closely behind me.

Irene stood by the doorway, her arms folded across her chest. I glanced around—and that’s when I saw him.

There, sitting on the couch with a bored expression on his face—Nathaniel.

My twin brother.

I froze.

My mind spun, like the wheels of a car stuck in mud.

He had woken up from his coma?

Since when?

How was he even here? And why?!

My gaze darted to my mother. Panic was etched on her face. I wasn’t sure if she could see the anger mixing with the confusion on mine, but I hoped she did. 

I mean how the hell could she keep this from me?

Irene broke the silence first, her voice sharp. “So… Can someone explain what exactly is going on here?”

She gestured toward Nathaniel, who was still sitting with a smirk now plastered on his lips. “Why does this man look exactly like my husband?”

Then, as if on cue, Nathaniel slowly stood, his eyes locking with mine.

“Hello, brother,” he said, his voice dripping with mockery. “You look…” He trailed off, taking in my appearance from head to toe.

“Wow... I guess being stuck in a coma for five years seems like a better fate than being stuck in a wheelchair, huh?”

I clenched my jaw, irritation flaring. The bastard had just woken up, and he was already pushing my buttons like he used to. 

“I’m not in a wheelchair because of that accident… You were the unfortunate one in that car crash, not me,” I shot back.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, a flicker of anger in his eyes, but the smug grin on his lips remained, probably to hide the sting of my words.

“Wait… You mean you guys are brothers?” Irene’s voice came through, her eyes bouncing between the two of us.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say anything, my mother rushed toward Nathaniel, her face filled with distress.

“Oh my God, Aziel…” she gasped, her voice thick with concern as she caressed his face.

Aziel?... Did she just address him as Aziel—My name?

Nathaniel’s expression mirrored mine, shock and confusion etching across his face as he stared at our mother.

She continued, “Why would you leave the hospital and come home on your own? You just woke up. You still need to be monitored by the doctors.”

Nathaniel opened his mouth to speak, but my mother quickly cut him off. “Come on, let’s get you back to the hospital.”

She gestured to Dominic, who had remained silent, as stoic as ever. The two of them began ushering Nathaniel toward the door.