Chapter 76: Nothing Says Love Like Disowning Your Son

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The impact jerked Richard’s arm back violently, his ruined hand twitching as if it didn’t belong to him anymore.

The metallic scent of blood hit the air immediately, mixing with the sharp tang of gunpowder.

Everything happened at once. Richard screamed...a raw, primal sound that tore from deep within, clutching his maimed hand against his chest, blood pouring from between his fingers.

Lydia and Blair screamed... I stumbled back, the noise hitting me like a wave, my ears ringing so loudly that everything else began to feel distant, as if I was submerged underwater.

I stared at father. Blood pooled on the carpet, soaking into the fibers and turning its pale design a dark, ugly crimson.

I reacted before I thought, tearing at the hem of my shirt, ripping off a strip of fabric with shaking hands as I rushed toward him.

I didn’t care about the carpet, about Lorenzo, or anything else—my father was bleeding. That singular thought consumed me.

I dropped down. "NO! FATHER!"

Strong arms wrapped around my waist before I could reach him.

"Nikolai, let me go!" I screamed while I fought against him.

"Sir!"

"Let me go!" I struggled even more, "He needs a doctor! Lorenzo, what did you do?!"

Richard kept screaming, clutching his hand against his chest while Lydia hovered over him, completely frantic. Blair shouted for someone to call an ambulance.

Everything blurred together. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, mingling with blood and the lingering scent of expensive perfume.

And amidst all this chaos stood Lorenzo. He looked almost untouched, his suit perfectly in place, his expression calm.

He holstered the gun as if he had just finished signing a document, then ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

"Get him out." His guards sprang into action. "And make sure he understands something."

Lorenzo’s gaze locked on Richard. "If he ever steps foot on this estate again, kill him."

My struggles ceased and Lorenzo’s voice remained chillingly calm. "Then dump his body into the south river."

Richard’s eyes widened in horror. Lydia began shouting and Blair was crying harder.

Her performance was much less of a performance and more real now.

I looked at Lorenzo and he met my gaze. For a fleeting moment, something almost human flickered in his eyes.

Regret, but not for what he had done, but for what I was witnessing.

Then he turned and walked toward the door.

"Lorenzo!" I yelled through tears. "Are you fucking insane?!"

He paused, I didn’t know what I wanted him to say. Apologize? Stay? Assure me everything would be alright? None of those options felt feasible.

He glanced back at me. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. His expression softened just a fraction before he walked away.

The door clicked shut behind him.

I tore myself from Nikolai’s grasp.

"I’m sorry." I wasn’t sure who I was apologizing to...everyone, myself, the version of me that had spent years believing that if I could just be good enough, quiet enough, useful enough, my family would eventually love me.

I dropped to my knees beside Richard.

"Father." He looked at me, his face drawn and pale with pain. "Let...let me see."

I reached for his injured hand, but he shoved me away violently. I stumbled sideways onto the carpet.

For a moment, I just stared at him. His breathing was harsh. "Get away from me!"

"Father! Please... I can stop the bleeding!"

"Get away from me!"

"I was just trying to help."

"You always make things worse!"

Those words were familiar, too familiar. For a brief, strange second, everything faded, and I was back in my bedroom, having broken something, spilled something, or said something wrong, and Richard looked at me just as he was now, like my existence was a burden he had to tolerate.

My throat tightened. "I...I didn’t—" ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"You bring nothing but shame to this family!" His voice was filled with pain and rage. "You always have!"

Lydia grabbed his good arm. "Richard, we need to get you to the hospital."

He ignored her, still focused on me. "And now look what you’ve done to me!"

I was speechless.

"You brought him here!"

I couldn’t breathe.

"You brought that psychopath into our lives!"

"I didn’t bring— it’s not my fau...!"

"You think you’re some kind of victim?!" His laugh was bitter and broken. "You’ve always been a disgrace! Just like your mother!"

Something inside me broke. Not with a loud snap, but quietly, deep within, knowing I wouldn’t be able to piece it back together.

"Your face, your eyes, your hair, everything...just like her! I’ve always detested it! To the point I can’t even stand looking at you!"

Richard glared at me with palpable hatred. "From this moment on, you’re not my son!"

I froze...those words should have stung. They did, but not in the way I’d expected.

A part of me had been terrified of hearing them, yet now that they were here, I felt simply exhausted. So utterly tired.

Richard continued, breathing heavily, "You’re nothing to me!"

Blair was still screaming about the hospital. Lydia shoved me away as she tried to help Richard stand. I stumbled back.

"Don’t touch me," I whispered. She pushed me again and I fell to the floor.in shock.

My father never hated me because I was a male Omega.

He hated me because I was a carbon copy of my mother.

A woman who I had never even met.

The guards dragged Richard as they led him toward the door.

Lydia followed, still yelling. Blair cried out, still insisting they needed to get to a hospital fast.

Then the door closed, and they were gone.

The room fell silent and I stayed on the floor.

My cheek burned where Lydia had shoved me, my shoulder ached, and my ears still rang faintly from the gunshot.

I glanced down at the torn strip of my shirt still clutched in my hand. I had ripped it for him, for Richard.

Even after everything he’d done, even after he had told me I wasn’t his son.

A stubborn part of me had crawled toward him when he was bleeding because I couldn’t bare to see anyone get hurt.

I almost laughed, though it wasn’t funny at all.

Oddly, my heart had developed a terrible sense of humor on it’s own.

As I sat there among the blood stains on the carpet, staring at the fabric in my hand, the tears came quietly.

They slid down my face without my permission, one after another, and I didn’t even bother wiping them away.

For once, I didn’t have anyone to convince. Not Richard, not Lydia, not Blair, and not even Lorenzo.

I simply sat there in the wreckage of everything I had tried to survive, listening to the distant silence of the estate.

And when I finally lowered my head, I realized I was completely alone.

No family at all... whether abusive or not.