CHAPTER 109: 109

"Doc... Doctor Zamiel," Elisa called out, her voice tight with confusion. Zamiel only chuckled low, and amused, not entirely out of place making her brows knit in deeper uncertainty.

He tilted his head, giving her a knowing look.

"Aren’t you one impatient man," he said, narrowing his eyes at Nix.

Nix didn’t respond. He merely leaned back into his seat, the silence rolling off him heavier than any words he could have spoken.

Zamiel scoffed as he moved closer and took the seat beside him.

"So you actually poisoned me," he said, disbelief sharpening his tone.

"You poisoned you, you cruel man," Zamiel corrected sharply as he finally settled into the chair opposite Nix. But still, Nix didn’t glance his way. Not even once. He remained stone-silent, rigid, refusing to acknowledge Zamiel’s presence at all.

The tension between them grew so thick that even Elisa felt it pressing against her chest.

And then her gaze drifted to Zamiel.

For a single, suspended heartbeat, their eyes locked an unspoken message passing between them, one she couldn’t quite decipher.

Only then did she step out, pulling the door quietly shut behind her. The moment she left, the air seemed to tighten even more.

"What if you discovered she lied to you... would you also.. "

Zamiel paused, the rest of his sentence dying in his throat the moment he caught Nix’s stare.

This stare of a razor-sharp gaze piercing into his skin and it felt like it sliced the air between them.

"You do have some guts," Nix finally said, his voice low and controlled, "coming back to me after your lies."

Zamiel rolled his eyes, but there was a flicker of tension beneath the gesture. "Can you please stop talking about that? I had no choice. And honestly.. " he exhaled, frustrated, ".. even if I did, I still wouldn’t have done things differently."

The room suddenly thickened instantly as a heavy pressure settled over them, as if the walls themselves were listening.

Silence stretched, dense and unforgiving.

The air felt charged like a storm waiting to break.

Two men bound by history, distrust, and something dangerously close to resentment stared each other down, neither willing to retreat first.

Every breath felt heavier. Every heartbeat louder

It wasn’t just tension, it was the kind that crawled under the skin... the kind that warned anyone watching that one wrong word could ignite everything.

Zamiel’s jaw clenched as he pushed on.

"Yes, I did wrong by lying to you fine," he said, his voice tightening. "But if I didn’t... if none of it happened, then those bastards you took down would still be plotting to get rid of both of you."

He leaned forward, his tone dropping. "While you were off on your little long vacation pretending it was just a honeymoon... or while you were busy mastering your new fatherly duties... they would have been preparing to snatch both mother and child right under your nose."

Nix’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t interrupt.

Zamiel let out a deep, exhausted sigh, forcing himself to keep his calm.

"I was wrong for lying. I admit it. But I had no choice."

His voice cracked slightly not with weakness, but with the weight of months of bottled-up frustration.

"I got engaged before you even approached her for marriage. But you.. " he gestured at Nix, bitterness bleeding through. "you already have your first child. And my marriage is nowhere in sight."

The words hung between them, heavy, personal, and painful.

"Are you saying I’m at fault for your wedding being postponed?"

Nix’s voice was low and dangerously calm the kind of calm that warned of the storm beneath it.

Zamiel exhaled. "...Partially." Then he lifted a brow. "But honestly, why did you have to make Camilo hate you that much? Why can’t you just try to be on good terms with him? He’s your father-in.. "

"How long will it take her to regain her memory?"

Nix’s interruption was sharp, cutting right through his words.

Zamiel froze for a second, then turned to look at him fully. He gave Nix the kind of expression that could only be described as pure frustration.

Eyebrows slightly raised. Eyes narrowed.

His lips pressed together as if holding back every insult he wanted to throw.. and finally a slow, exhausted shake of his head the universal gesture for "Are you actually serious right now?"

"About that..." Zamiel muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I honestly feel like hitting you with a pole over your head. Because tell me why exactly are you forcing yourself on my patient?"

"She’s my wife," Nix retorted without hesitation, his tone final, taking ownership like a line drawn in stone.

Zamiel let out an incredulous scoff. "She’s your sister-in-law, Nix. That is the identity she remembers. So please try to act according to the reality she’s living in."

He leaned forward slightly, his voice lowering into a warning.

"I don’t know what spell Camilo used on her, and I don’t know how deep it runs... but I’m begging you for the sake of her mental health, do not do anything that will complicate things. Not now."

The air between them tightened again, charged with a mix of unspoken fear, possessiveness, and frustration.

"...And my child?" Nix’s voice dropped, raw emotion threading through the anger. "Imagine how it feels to discover that my daughter grew up without even knowing I’m her father. I wasn’t there to see her take her first step... I wasn’t there to help my wife through her pain or any of it."

His jaw tightened, frustration simmering beneath the surface.

"And you expect me to just leave my little one behind?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"I won’t stay away from her. And I definitely won’t let her grow up in the Sorrento house. I’m taking Nyxella with me with or without that old man’s permission."

Zamiel gave him a long, unimpressed stare.

"So your plan is to kidnap both mother and child?" he asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. "Sometimes I genuinely question whether you’re a businessman or a thug."

He leaned back slightly.

"But either way don’t scare her. Keep your head low. If Camilo finds out that you already know her real identity, I promise you, he’ll hide them somewhere you’ll never find them. So be careful."

Nix clicked his tongue but didn’t argue, so Zamiel continued.

"...But speaking of kidnapping," Zamiel muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "is there any way you can lend me one of your islands? Because I swear... I feel like I might need to kidnap Sai too if I ever want to live in peace."

Nix sighed, eyes returning to his screen. "You can ask Liam. He’s been doing some island research for the past three months. I believe he and Kiara are planning to elope."

Zamiel’s head snapped up.

"Wait.. what? Since when did those two kindle a flame?" A laugh of disbelief escaped him.

"Damn... the Deans and the Sorrentos have turned into one complicated web of forbidden romances and secret alliances."

He leaned forward, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

"Don’t tell me this all started during that conference trip. I knew something was off when Kiara stopped insulting Liam every five minutes."

Nix didn’t look away from his laptop, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly the closest he ever came to amusement.

"Ask them yourself. I have enough trouble dealing with one runaway wife and one headstrong father-in law"

Zamiel leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples dramatically.

"At this point, Nix... your entire family tree needs deliverance. Not therapy."

Nix didn’t look up. "Deliverance won’t help. We need an exorcist."

Zamiel blinked. "For who exactly?"

Nix typed something on his laptop. "Start with Liam. That boy has been acting weird ever since Kiara nearly stabbed him with a fork on one of the nights I invited him for dinner."

Zamiel burst into laughter. "That was foreplay and you know it."

Nix finally looked up at him, expression flat. "If someone stabbing you is foreplay, you seriously need help."

Zamiel shrugged. "Hey, some couples bond differently."

Nix gave him a long, blank stare. "...I’m genuinely concerned for you."

Zamiel sat up sharply. "Concern all you want.. I still need that island. Because Camilo is starting to threaten canceling the alliance over the way I breathe."

Nix raised a brow. "Maybe... breathe less?"

Zamiel glared. "You’re the last person who should be giving marriage advice."

Nix scoffed. "At least I married mine."

"Correction," Zamiel shot back, "She still thinks of you as her brother-in-law, so you technically married your sister-in-law, who currently thinks you’re related and might put you on a family group chat."

Nix flinched like he’d been hit. "Don’t curse me."

Zamiel smirked. "No worries. At this rate, she’ll be calling you Brother Nix by Monday."

Nix threw a nearby pen at him but Zamiel dodged it easily.

"You missed," he teased.

"God give me strength."Nix sighed and rubbed his forehead. But Zamiel only snorted, already standing. "Strength can’t save you from a woman with amnesia and a temper."

Nix clicked his tongue. "Says the man whose who has never been married"

Zamiel gasped, offended. "He who laughs last laugh best"

"Only those alive can laugh.. remember that."

The two men stared at each other one exhausted, one exasperated and then both broke into unwilling laughter.

The room, once suffocating with tension, finally breathed.