ALEX

Shit! I curse under my breath.

I catch her before she hits the floor, her weight folding into my arms like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Athena!" I shout, lowering her gently, cradling her head as panic ws up my throat.

"I need a doctor right now!"

Isabelle is instantly beside me, checking Athena''s pulse, her expression calm, but

I can see her resolve cracking.

It''s her best friend, after all.

"We need a stretcher!"fn3a8f Read full story at f?ndnovel/fn3a8f

A nurse rushes in with one, and I lift Athena onto it carefully, my hand refusing to

let go of hers even as Isabelle moves to wheel her away.

"Let us take it from here, Alex," Isabelle says gently.

But I hesitate.

For a second, I think if I just hold on tighter, maybe I can keep her from slipping further away and from shutting me outpletely.

But I nod and step back.

She disappears down the hall, and I''m left standing in the silence that follows.

Noah drops into a chair, his hands buried in his hair while his shoulders shake with quiet despair.

He looks so out of it. I don''t think he''s even aware of what''s happening.

I didn''t thinkn would fall for any woman. He looked so engrossed in his work and oving to his father that he was capable of taking over Quins Foundation.

Mum clutches Dad as though he''s the only thing anchoring her to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"Now Athena too? What is going on?" She cries.

Unable to move,

I remain standing.

Because if I sit, I won''t get back up.

Because the truth is staring me right in the face.

Athena passed out from the weight of it all.

Sloane is alive... but barely.

And I''m the reason they both ended up here.

Because I let a snake into our lives.

Because I didn''t protect them.

Because I believed Leah.

And I don''t know if I''ll ever earn the chance to make it right.

"This is all your fault!" Noah spits angrily. "If you had just listened to everyone instead of yourself and stayed married to Athena, Sloane would still be okay!" His nose strills ir from the anger his holding.

Noah and I never see eye to eye. He has an inferiorityplex, and I''ve never had the time to calm his tits down and boost his ego.

But I understand why he''s angry.

It''s his sister who is hurt and may never walk again but I''ll try everything I can to make sure she gets back on her feet. He''s not the only one who loves her. Sloane is my favorite cousin, and I''ll avenge her. That is the only reason I don''t knock him out for what he says next,

"Alexander King! The Golden Boy. The one we should all worship and kiss the ground he walks on. Look at you all. None of you have called him out for his bullshit.

Yet you gathered the tools he needed to punish Leah. She''s a bitch and I''ll kill her once Sloane stabilizes! But what about Alex, will he just walk away scot free? Even after what he did to Athena?"

"Noah if you don''t shut the fuck up-" I snarl but the idiot doesn''t.

He steps closer, his chest heaving, "You''ll what? End me? I''m sure you can,

seeing your mother is the most powerfulwyer so covering-"

In a split second he''s being pinned against the wall so fast none of us see iting.

"Eli!" Mum rushes forward but Dad is extremely angry.

"I understand you''re upset. But you will not disrespect my wife. Do you understand?" He growls, the air thickening.

"I''m your brother''s son! Isn''t that enough reason to protect me, to protect Sloane?" But Dad doesn''t buy the maniption as he presses him further into the wall.

Luca stands but I shake my head telling him to stand down.

"You don''t speak to your aunt like that. I don''t care if you''re my brother''s son or the damn President," he growls, pressing Noah harder into the wall. "This family protects each other. We fall, we bleed, but we do it with dignity. What you just did? That was cowardly."

Noah''s eyes snap with fury, an emptyugh bouncing off the hospital walls.

"Oh, so now we care about respect?" he spits. "Where was all this righteous anger when Alex was destroying Athena day by day? When he used her of every sick thing Leah nted in his head?"

"Noah-" Mum starts, but he cuts her off with a harshugh.

"No. Don''t ''Noah'' me. You all let it happen. You watched her get humiliated. You watched him engage Leah. You watched him tear her apart and no one said a damn thing because it''s Alexander King. The golden boy. The heir to the throne. The one who never gets med."

"Noah, that''s enough." I growl. "Dad let him go. This is a hospital dammit!"

Noah turns to me with a scoff, "You''ve always been shielded. Coddled. Protected. You get to screw up lives and still be forgiven. Everyone bends over backwards to make excuses for you. But I''m done pretending."

"I know I fucked up," I say, my voice low. I''m a man who owns up to my fucking mistakes. "And I''ll carry that for the rest of my life."

"No, you''ll walk away like always," he snaps. "Sloane might never walk again because she protected your Athena. Athena copsed because of your mess. And somehow, everyone still treats you like you''re the fucking victim."

I grind my jaw and run a frustrated hand through my hair. But I don''t respond.

Dad releases him as Noah turns toward me. "If roles were reversed, if I had done even half of what you did, Dad would have buried me because of his fear for uncle Eli. But you? You still get sympathy. You get grace. And I''m fucking sick of it!"

"Noah. I know you''re angry-"

"I don''t need your damn apology! I''m just d Athena sees you for who you fucking are and hates your guts. But don''t worry, since you''re the father of her son, she might just invite you to our wedding. Because I will marry her and heal every fucking thing you broke inside her!"