Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 21: Interrogation

“I was walking down the street. And then I slipped. That's when I saw it.”

“And you took it with you?” Nyx looked down at the little kitten. She assumed that its fur was most likely white, but the little animal was so dirty, most of its body was covered in mud. Its belly was white though... kind of...

James raised the kitten higher up, bringing it up close to his face. “It looked so pitiful.”

“You’re going to raise it?”

James lowered his head. “I actually thought...that... you..."

Nyx looked at him in disbelief. Why is this dude coming here, gifting me responsibilities?

“Why would I want a cat?”

“You said that you feel lonely late at night in your apartment.”

Nyx couldn’t believe her ears. How could this idiot interpret that like THAT?! He's five fucking years older than her! Isn't he supposed...

Love, I was fucking flirting!

But now Nyx was too embarrassed to say that out loud to James. Cursing herself in her heart, she grabbed the kitten from James’s arms with a sullen look on her face. “I don’t know if you’re doing this on purpose or not, but either way, it worries me.”

***

Neil didn’t like this feeling. The woman in the picture James showed him was like a ghost that had returned to haunt him. The guilt and the sudden anger pricked at his heart, leaving a bad aftertaste in his mouth. He didn’t like this.

Did he remember anything?

The possibility of it scared Neil so much; only now did he realize how heavy his guilt was. But at the same time, he felt like what he did was right. He didn’t do anything wrong. What he did was the right thing to do...

Neil stealthy glanced at his brother, expecting to see him frowning, scowling, angry, disappointed... anything, but James was calm, thoughtfully staring at his phone with his brows furrowed. He didn’t look like he was showed him that picture of Nyx on purpose. He didn’t seem to be taunting him.

James behaving like this meant one thing.

He didn’t remember that woman.

Which raised the question... Why did he have that photo of her?

Just as Neil started to suspect Nick having something to do with this, he remembered a little detail he had forgotten because of the shock. James said that he liked this woman. Everything became clear after that.

It's not that James remembered anything nor did he find something out. It was this woman’s fault. She had gone after James even after Neil clearly told her to leave. Why now? Was it because she found out that James got divorced?

The more Neil thought about it, the angrier he got.

This woman was obviously playing around with his brother!

On the other hand, even though James appeared not to be paying attention to his brother, it was actually the opposite. Neil was trying hard to conceal his feelings, but it was useless. Yet no matter what Neil was thinking or feeling, James realized that his brother wasn’t going to tell him anything. Instead, he would keep hiding the truth from him, pretend like nothing was wrong.

This realization broke James’s heart.

For the first time in his life, he felt betrayed.

He couldn’t bear sitting on the same table with Neil, knowing very well that he was lying to his face. He didn’t want to see him feigning ignorance. If no one was going to tell him anything, then he was going to force the truth out of them.

“Something came out at work.” James stood up, putting his phone in his pocket. “I have to go.”

Neil's thoughts weren’t exactly one James at the moment, so when the latter gave him a lousy excuse, he simply nodded absentmindedly. James left the café and drove his car to the police station.

When he arrived there, everyone familiar with him noticed that something was wrong but didn’t dare to ask him. James was usually very friendly and polite and unless he was interrogating witnesses, he rarely looked angry. However, today the man was clearly in a bad mood. Because they were used to seeing him smiling all the time and at most frowning a bit when he was tired, seeing him like this for the first time scared them.

As a result, no one approached James for the rest of the day.

It wasn’t until it was time to go home that James put his folders and paperwork aside and texted Nick.

James: [Can you meet me at the interrogation room? I need your help with something.]

Nick: [Sure. I'll be there in a minute.]

Poor Nick, who got targeted by an angry James, didn’t find this request strange at all and happily walked to the wolf’s den with his own two feet like a little silly sheep. It wasn’t until he walked inside the interrogation room and the door slammed loudly behind him that he vaguely felt that something was wrong. But it was too late for him to run away.

Looking like a villain in the making, James locked the door of the interrogation room, put the key in his pocket and glared at Nick as if he had stolen that piece of cake he had saved to eat later. Such a hostile look scared Nick to such an extend he might as well have started shitting bricks.

“J-J-James? What-what are you trying to do?” Poor Nick didn’t know where he went wrong.

James didn’t say anything but pushed Nick down to sit on the chair behind the metal table then took a seat at the chair opposite his. He rested his elbows on the table and with his hands clasped together, he lightly touched his lips. His dark eyes seemed to bore holes in Nick’s face, which terrified the latter even more than he already was.

What the fuck is going on?! Why is he looking at me like that?!!!

“You lied to me.”

Four words and Nick felt like fainting, or even better, fall in a coma and wake up a few years later. Why am I the only one suffering from these fuckers’ drama? First Nyx, now him? What did I do to deserve so much suffering?

Nick instantly understood what James meant by that sentence, but he didn’t dare to admit anything. At least not yet. Instead, he chose to play dumb. You can never go wrong with playing dumb. Dumb people live happier lives.

“W-What did I lie about?”

James was already angry with Neil feigning ignorance. Now Nick was doing the same. Suddenly, he was craving violence.

The animosity in James’s dark eyes horrified Nick. I was wrong! I was wrong! Dumb people don’t live happier lives. Dumb people die first! Wuwuwu!

Nick didn’t dare to continue with his act any longer. His survival instincts kicked in, telling him to better start talking, so that’s what Nick did. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. They made me do it.”

James furrowed his brows. “Who?”

“Everyone! Wuwuwu! Nyx did. Lucy did. Even your brother. Wuwuwu! Why does everyone threaten me? I haven’t done anything wrong.” James didn’t even get the chance to ask Nick another question before the man started spilling the beans on his own. “They all go out of their way to come and find me just so they can threaten me. I feel like I'm involved with the mafia. I don’t even owe anyone money. All because you don’t remember shit. How is that my fault? Why do I have to go through this? I'm already twenty-nine years old, but I still get bullied like I did in middle school.”

He was spilling the wrong beans.

“Nick...”

“I promised not to say anything. Why do they still bother me about it? Just as I thought that I could find some peace and quiet, Nyx comes out of nowhere and starts messing everything up. One day she tells me not to say anything unnecessary, and the next day she starts plotting like a vixen. How am I supposed to say no to her? Her mother is the scariest lawyer out there. Her father is an admiral, and her grandfather owns a whole company that makes fucking weapons. That whole family is scary, okay?”

James rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. His head was throbbing, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of Nick's word-vomiting or because he was sick. “Nick. Can you shut up for a second and calmly explain things to me?”

Whimpering, Nick finally stopped talking. He looked at James whose expression had changed from the angry one to one of annoyance and tiredness. His face flushed red from embarrassment. “Explain what?”

James leaned back in his chair. His eyes left Nick’s face to look at his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “Who is Nyx?”

YOUR MOM!

Nick almost said that. His face paled, not daring to answer that question. What if that vixen comes to fight me later? No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely, no. Whose shoulder will I cry on if she finds out I told him?

“Please...” James softened his voice, sounding almost as if he was about to cry.

How could Nick resist that pitiful expression of James? His heart couldn’t bear it at all. The guilt in his heart surpassed the fear.

“Your ex-girlfriend.”

Thud thud thud

The heart inside his chest started to beat heavily. A lump formed in his throat, choking him. The feeling of betrayal intensified. He felt pain all over. His head ached, his throat was sore, but worse than everything, his heart hurt so much, almost as if someone had punched it over and over again.

Why did she leave me then? Why did she come back now? Where was she when I was in hospital? Why didn’t she say anything? Why didn’t she come to find me?

Why do all this now, after so many years? To play with me? To have fun watching while she makes a fool out of me?

An emotion he had never felt before in his life bloomed inside James, like a poisonous flower opening its petals.

Hatred...

The hurt look on James’s face encouraged Nick to word-vomit again. “You two dated for a few years, but then you suddenly got into that car accident and Nyx got hospitalized. Things were complicated back then. Even I don’t know what exactly happened. All I know is that when she got out of the hospital two months later, you had already lost your memories and didn’t remember her.”

“So, she left me?”

The loathing in James’s voice startled Nick silly. “No! Of course, not. She loved you... it’s just that...”

James looked up from his hands, meeting Nick’s alarmed eyes. “Just what?”

“She was sick... and there was a fight. She... she had no other choice...”