CHAPTER 329: DIMITRI’S CONFESSION (PART 1)

Augustine came home early, just as he had promised. Anne was already waiting, and the moment he stepped through the door, she rushed into his arms.

"Welcome home," she greeted him with a radiant smile. "How are you feeling? Any headaches? Any discomfort?" Her eyes searched his face carefully, but all she found was his bright, reassuring smile.

"You worry too much," he teased gently. "I’m fine, just a little drained. Endless meetings, endless files." He sank onto the sofa with a heavy sigh. "Even my fingers are stiff from signing documents all day."

"Stay there. I’ll bring some oil and give you a massage," she said, starting to rise.

But he caught her wrist before she could go. "No need. Just sit with me. Having you here is what I need."

Anne slipped down beside him. "Then I’m not going anywhere." She wrapped her arm through his and rested her head against his shoulder. But almost instantly, her body went rigid, pulling upright.

Augustine stilled too. "What’s wrong?" he asked anxiously.

Anne drew a sharp breath, her hand flying to her stomach. "It’s happening again."

"What is it?" Augustine’s voice rose in alarm.

Her eyes met his, glimmering with emotion. "The baby... he just kicked. Twice."

"What?" His heart jolted.

Grabbing his hand, Anne pressed it against her belly. "Here—feel it. He moved."

Augustine held his breath, waiting, straining for the faintest flutter beneath his palm. His pulse hammered with restless hope. Seconds dragged, then a whole minute, but nothing came.

A heavy sigh escaped him. "Why won’t he move?" he murmured, disappointment clouding his voice. "Maybe... he doesn’t like me."

Anne chuckled at his boyish sulking. "The baby adores his daddy. He is just a little disappointed because you’ve been away too much. If you coax him, he’ll respond to you."

Regret surged through him. He sank to his knees before her, placing both hands over her protruding belly. "I’m sorry, little one. Daddy hasn’t been by your side lately. But I swear, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll spend more time with you."

Bending lower, he pressed his ear against her bump as if trying to hear the baby’s heartbeat. "I’ll tell you bedtime stories, play with you, and rock you to sleep. I’ll give you whatever you want. But if you ever make Mommy upset, I’ll scold you."

Anne burst into laughter. "Augustine, you are being ridiculous."

He lifted his head, eyes locking with hers. "I’m not joking, Anne. No one will ever hurt you. Not even me."

And then, suddenly, a faint flutter stirred beneath his palm. Augustine froze, his eyes snapping to her belly. "What was that?" he gasped, utterly stunned by the sensation. "Was that... the baby?"

He looked up at her, hope written all over his face.

Anne nodded, a tender smile curving her lips. "It’s the baby. He hears you."

A startled laugh escaped him, half wonder, half joy. "He really can hear us." His chest swelled, emotions tumbling over each other. At last, he was living the moment he had been yearning for.

"He moved, Anne. I felt it... I really felt it." His hands trembled with awe and excitement. "Tell me I’m not imagining this. It’s real, isn’t it?"

Anne cupped his face. "It’s real," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "Don’t you feel it?"

"I do," he whispered back, voice thick with emotion.

"Then what you felt just now... is reality."

"You can’t imagine how happy I am." Cradling her head, he pressed his lips to hers.

When they finally parted, both panting softly, Anne’s cheeks glowed crimson, her body alight with the rush of the moment. Flustered, she stood quickly, afraid of losing control.

Augustine had just come out of the coma. He was still recovering. Although Anne desired to give in to the fire burning within her, she couldn’t ignore the fact that he needed rest.

"You should freshen up first. I’ll go warm dinner." She started toward the kitchen, then paused as a thought hit her.

"Oh—Dad sent over some documents for you," she said, glancing back. "I left them in the study. He mentioned they need your signature."

"Alright," Augustine replied, rising to his full height. "I’ll take a look."

"And don’t forget to check the parcel Grandpa sent," she added before slipping into the kitchen.

Augustine went into the bedroom, and after a quick wash, he made his way to the study. On the desk, he found a folder. Settling into the chair, he opened it and discovered legal papers for claiming his share of the Beaumont estate.

A faint smile curved his lips as he carefully went through each page, signing wherever required. Once done, he closed the file and was about to leave when Anne’s words about the parcel from his grandfather resurfaced in his mind.

Opening a drawer, he discovered an envelope. Curious, he drew it out and pulled the contents free. Inside were a stack of documents and a pen drive.

"What is it?" he wondered, frowning.

Setting the pen drive aside, he focused on the papers first. His breath hitched the moment he realized what they were. It was his mother’s delivery report, and it stated clearly that she had given birth to two healthy baby boys.

"What?" His pulse quickened, disbelief flooding him. He had always been told he had a twin sister, stillborn at birth. So why did the record say otherwise?

"Two baby boys? How could that be possible?" His hands trembled as he flipped to the next page.

It detailed Jeanne’s admission to the hospital with severe bleeding, with signs pointing to miscarriage. The doctors had tried, but the child couldn’t be saved.

The truth was laid bare on the page—Jeanne had delivered a baby girl, who died during birth.

The contradiction struck him like a blow. His mind went utterly blank.

"What the hell is happening?" Augustine’s ears buzzed, his mind spinning with shock and disbelief. He didn’t know what to trust anymore.

’If Jeanne really lost her child back then, then whose son is Denis? Were he and Jeanne hiding an adoption? And what about my twin brother? Where is he? Why did my parents never speak of him?’

Questions crashed into him one after another, clouding his thoughts. His eyes dropped to the pen drive lying on the desk. He picked it up and slotted it into his laptop.

A single video file appeared. He clicked play.

The screen lit up with Dimitri’s face.

"I need to confess," the old man began with a heavy voice. "A secret I’ve carried for so many years... I thought I would take it with me to the grave. But I can’t anymore. The weight is too much. I am weary."

Augustine’s frown deepened, unease twisting in his chest. What secret had his grandfather guarded all this time? The anticipation gnawed at him, leaving him restless.

Dimitri went on, his expression etched with regret. "To protect this secret, I committed many mistakes. I wronged my own son, Gervis. I denied him justice. For years, I turned away from Augustine, my own grandson, just to shield this truth and favor my elder son."

He lowered his head, his remorse visible. "I believed I was doing it for the family’s good. I thought Gabriel and Gervis would resolve their differences and live in peace. But I was wrong."

He fought hard to keep his tears from falling. Yet his cracked, weary voice betrayed the storm of emotion within him.

"Gabriel is highly ambitious. He wants it all—the fortune, the empire. He always feared that Gervis would return one day to claim what was rightfully his. That fear, that insecurity, drove him to murder Gervis."

Augustine’s jaw clenched, rage flaring in his eyes. He had long suspected Gabriel’s hand in that accident, and for years, he had struggled to gather evidence. But time had buried the truth, erasing trails and corrupting leads. The fragments of proof he managed to uncover were never enough to hold Gabriel accountable for the murder of his parents.

Now, his grandfather’s words confirmed what he had always believed. Augustine’s blood seethed. A violent urge to storm in, to tear Gabriel apart with his own hands, surged through him.

Dimitri’s voice in the recording cut through his thoughts, dragging him back to the moment.

"I was powerless then. Even knowing the truth, I could do nothing. Gabriel threatened to kill Augustine, too. I had already lost my son—I could not risk losing my grandson as well."

He drew in a shaky breath, dabbing at the tears with his trembling, wrinkled hand. "To protect him, I sent Augustine away. I had no choice."

His gaze lifted toward the camera, heavy with regret. "Forgive me, Augustine. I failed you. Because of my guilt for cheating on my wife back then, I kept ignoring Gervis. To fulfill Gabriel’s demands, I pushed away my younger son, disregarded him, and never gave him what he deserved."

What came next shattered Augustine’s world.

"I even switched the babies," Dimitri confessed regretfully. "When Gabriel lost his child and begged for my help, I gave him one of Gervis’s sons and replaced the infant with the dead girl. Gervis and his wife never knew the truth."

Augustine’s face went rigid, his lips parting in shock. The revelation struck him like a thunderbolt. "Denis is my brother."

The very man he had despised, the rival he had spent his life determined to surpass in every way, was bound to him by blood.

Tears stung his eyes.