Chapter 174: Years of Choices, Mistakes, and Silence
Richard stood at the foot of the bed, his face carved with worry as he watched Theo lying motionless, the sedative finally pulling him into uneasy rest. Evelyn sat on the edge of the mattress, her hand brushing tenderly over her son’s arm, but her eyes, sharp and snapped to Liam the moment the silence grew heavy.
"What the hell did you say to him?" Evelyn’s voice trembled, not with fear but with restrained fury. "And why is he being discharged? The doctor didn’t tell me anything..."
Richard’s jaw tightened as he turned to his youngest son, his stare no softer. "Liam. Answer your mother."
"Why are you both acting like I planned this?" Liam shot back, his eyes flashing. "He’s not nineteen! He’s twenty-nine! He’s the one who demanded to leave, not me." His fists clenched at his sides, voice rising. "What was I supposed to do, chain him to the bed?"
"You should’ve told me..." Evelyn’s voice lost some of its sharpness, softening under Liam’s snap, but her eyes still burned with accusation.
"What? Told you what exactly?" Liam’s laugh was bitter, clipped. "That your son—our Theo... screamed like a child because he thinks he’s nineteen again? That he called me a liar for telling him the truth?" His chest rose and fell quickly, words spilling like fire. "Would that have made it easier for you? For him?"
The whole room was silent until Liam’s voice broke through again, low but unrelenting.
"Mom... for God’s sake, you can’t keep doing this. His mental health isn’t improving because you and Dad refuse to face it. You coddle him, you cover for him, but you don’t help him." His jaw tightened, eyes glistening with restrained frustration. "When Daisy came into his life, I finally saw change in him. He smiled. He fought. He lived again. But now? He’s back to square one, and you really think lying to him and playing along with his delusion is going to fix anything?"
"We are not lying to him... we just—" Evelyn’s voice cracked, her hands trembling at her sides.
"You said the same thing nine years ago!" Liam snapped, his voice echoing through the room like a whip. His eyes burned as he glared between them. "And look where it got him! Look where it got all of us!"
Evelyn flinched, lips parting but no words coming out, while Richard’s face darkened, the weight of the past pressing down on them all.
"He blocked himself every freaking time," Liam’s voice shook with both fury and grief. "Every time he tried to reach out, you smothered him with silence, with half-truths, with excuses! You think that’s helping? No... it’s killing him slowly. And now he’s trapped in the only time he thought he was safe, because you never let him face the damn truth!"
"I—I never did that..." Evelyn wavered, her voice low and shaky as she shook her head weakly. "I just... tried to protect him..."
"How? After every word you said when Julian died, both of you fell into silence. And after he created Elias, abandoned himself—both of you played along—"
"We didn’t, Liam!" Richard snapped, his voice thunderous. "We sent him for treatment. We did everything we could!"
"Ah... your everything..." Liam sneered, a bitter laugh scraping from his throat. "You call piling the whole company on his shoulders ’everything’? You thought if he was busy enough, he’d forget? That burying him under responsibilities would fix his mind?"
Richard’s jaw tightened, but Liam pressed on, voice raw. "It didn’t heal him, Dad—it broke him. You chained him to a burden his mind wasn’t ready for, and instead of moving forward, he collapsed further into himself. That’s not treatment... that’s denial dressed up as discipline."
Liam turned sharply, heading for the door, when Richard’s voice cut through the thick silence. "Where are you going?"
He froze, shoulders rigid, then slowly pivoted back, eyes blazing. "Why? So you can dump the company on me now that Theo can’t carry it?" His laugh was hollow, sharp. "What is it with you... thinking the cure to every damn problem in this family is handing someone a crown they never asked for?"
"I am trying to help him... that’s why I’m asking you to step in with the company. But all you do is play outside, make headlines, ruin our family’s reputation." Richard’s voice was cold, steady, his gaze fixed on Liam like a hammer about to fall.
Liam’s jaw clenched, fury flashing in his eyes. "No. What you’re trying to do is bury your mistakes under another scapegoat. First Theo. Now me. You call it helping, but all you’ve ever done is push us where you want, not where we need."
Richard’s eyes hardened, his tone rising with conviction. "I did it for the sake of this family! The business is what keeps this family alive, what gives us stability, what—"
"What broke us," Liam cut in, his voice like a whip.
"Enough!" Evelyn finally snapped, her voice trembling yet firm as it cut through the room. She stepped closer, her hands clenched tightly together. "Both of you—stop this. Do you think fighting like this will help Theo? Will Julian be back?!"
The silence that followed was suffocating, each word hanging heavy in the air.
But then... soft, muffled sobs broke through.
All three of them froze.
On the bed, Theo lay with his eyes closed, his body still, but tears slipped slowly from the corners of his eyes, soaking into the pillow. His lips quivered, though no words left him—only the raw sound of silent grief he could no longer contain.
Evelyn’s hands flew to her mouth, her whole body trembling. Richard’s jaw slackened, his face paling, while Liam stood rooted in place, guilt slamming into his chest.
At first, they thought it was only unconscious crying, the kind that came from a wounded mind too fragile to wake. But then, faint words slipped past Theo’s lips, so quiet they almost missed them.
"I’m... sorry..."
Evelyn’s breath hitched, Julian’s name formed soundlessly on her tongue. But Theo’s trembling voice wavered again, cracked and low..
"Daisy... I didn’t mean to... forget you. I... I just... couldn’t carry it all..." His face twisted in pain, more tears sliding free as his voice broke into a whisper. "Weak bastard... I’m just a weak bastard..."
The room stilled, the weight of his confession sinking deep, shattering the silence that had been built on years of avoidance.
Evelyn pressed her trembling fingers to her lips, her eyes shimmering as she watched the tears slide down Theo’s face. The sound of his broken sobs clawed at her chest until she couldn’t hold it anymore. She shook her head, her composure cracking.
"I’m sorry..." her voice wavered, almost a pout, almost a plea. "I’m so sorry, Theo... for everything you had to endure just to be my son." Her shoulders trembled as she clutched at the edge of the bed, the weight of years pressing down.
The room fell into a heavy silence after Evelyn’s words, broken only by Theo’s faint, uneven breathing. None of them spoke, but the weight of her confession lingered in the air. Each of them, Richard, Evelyn, and Liam, sat in their own corners of regret, reflection, and unspoken guilt. Years of choices, mistakes, and silence replayed in their minds, louder than any argument could have been.
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Hours later, the house was quiet. Liam had dozed off on the sofa in Theo’s living room, his arm draped over his eyes, when his phone buzzed against the coffee table. He groggily reached for it, squinting at the screen.
Aurora.
He sighed, hesitating to pick up but ended up answering when the rang almost ended.
"Hello?" His voice was hoarse with sleep.
But it wasn’t her. A man’s voice, slightly strained, came through instead.
"Uh... sorry, man. You don’t know me, but you need to pick up these two girls from the bar. They’re dead drunk. One of them gave me this number before she passed out."
Liam sat up straight, instantly awake. "Who?"
"I don’t really know their names, but she shoved her phone at me and told me to call the first number on her favorites list," the man explained.
Liam frowned, still groggy. He pulled his phone away, staring at the screen again to confirm it was Aurora’s number. "Call her parents—"
"But—" the man quickly cut him off, sensing Liam might hang up. "You really need to come. Th-they tried to pay for the entire row of rooms earlier, and the amount was... a lot."
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, jaw tight. "Unbelievable..." he muttered under his breath before snapping at the phone, "Fine. Don’t let them out of your sight. I’ll be there." He hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket, muttering curses as he yanked his jacket from the sofa.
His mind was a storm, half furious at the recklessness, half sick with worry. What the hell were they thinking? At this hour?
He was already halfway to the door when a voice from above stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
Liam glanced up sharply. Theo stood on the stairs, pale from sleep, one hand on the railing, brows drawn in confusion.