103

"You may have a man's body, but you're still a scared, affection-starved child," Richard sneered. "You probably still think about your dead mother and brother."

Nathan's body tensed at those words. His heart pounded with fury, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"Your words won't work on me, Richard," he replied coldly, not letting his emotions show in his voice.

Jarek, who had remained silent, stepped forward. His voice was firm and authoritative.

"You should turn yourself in and stop this nonsense. I have no patience left for you. I've wanted your head for a long time."

At that moment, another group of men stormed into the room. The security around them had been compromised, and a growing unease spread through Nathan.

Richard's laughter echoed in the space, a laugh full of malice and satisfaction.

"No one’s going to stop me now. You’d better start doing as I say."

The tension in the air was palpable. Suzanne, heart pounding, watched the scene with a mix of fear and hope.

Jarek stepped forward, approaching Richard with a determined stride.

"If you want revenge, take me wherever you want. I won't resist, but leave my grandson and his family out of this."

Richard looked at him with a mixture of mockery and surprise.

Nathan watched his grandfather with admiration and fear. The sacrifice Jarek was willing to make moved him, but it also filled him with dread for what might happen to him.

"You think that’ll fix anything, old man?" Richard said, stepping closer to Jarek. "I don’t care about just your life. I want to see all of you suffer."

Jarek’s eyes met Richard’s, full of unbreakable resolve.

"Do whatever you have to do to me, but leave the others out of it."

Nathan felt a lump in his throat, his heart beating wildly. He wanted to intervene, to protect his grandfather, but he knew that any wrong move could spark a tragedy.

"Jarek, you don’t have to do this," Suzanne said, her voice trembling. "We can find another way."

Richard looked at her with disdain.

"You don’t understand anything, Suzanne. This is between your grandfather and me, so shut your mouth."

Jarek raised a hand to calm Suzanne and stared directly at Richard.

"End this now, Richard. Take me and let the others live in peace."

The tension was nearly unbearable. Richard’s men stood alert, weapons ready to fire.

Jarek’s men were also prepared, waiting for the signal to act. In that instant, the fate of everyone present hung by a thread, and any movement could trigger a deadly outcome.

The air was thick with long-held grudges and promises of revenge. Jarek, his face marked by time and sorrow, stood beside Nathan and Suzanne.

The tension between Jarek and Richard was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Nathan watched from a corner, his heart pounding hard, sensing that something terrible was about to unfold.

Jarek raised his voice, calm in a way that only made the threat beneath it more evident.

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised, Richard. Natalia is alive."

Richard’s eyes widened in disbelief. He took a step forward, his lips trembling, his voice loaded with barely contained fury.

"You're lying... She's dead! I... I saw the blood! I was convicted for her death!"

But Jarek snapped his fingers, and one of his men nodded silently before exiting the room. Not even two minutes passed before the door opened again, and, supported by a young nurse, appeared a frail woman with a distant gaze and a face pale as the moon. Her hair, once radiant, now hung limp over her shoulders. Natalia.

Richard froze. The world seemed to stop around him as the woman he had loved madly stood in the doorway, staring at him as though she didn't quite recognize him... and yet, something in her soul seemed to know.

"Natalia…" he murmured, taking an unsteady step forward, his eyes glassy. "My love... it's you…"

But before he could get closer, Jarek stepped in, standing tall, his icy gaze piercing through him.

"Not another step. You don’t even have the right to breathe near her."

Richard felt hatred boiling under his skin. His jaw clenched, his hands trembling with rage and despair.

"Why?! Why did you hide she was alive?! I spent years in prison, consumed by her death, convinced that I—"

"—That you had killed her," Jarek finished coldly. "You didn’t. Barely. But you did kill your son."

Nathan, who had been listening in silence, felt a chill run down his spine. His brother. Georgie. The name he barely remembered, the one his mother murmured through her madness.

Richard shook his head, stumbling back as if he’d been struck.

"It was an accident! I never meant for that to happen!"

Jarek clenched his fists, his eyes burning with an ancient grudge.

"Accident or not, Georgie never got the chance to grow up, to fall in love, to start a family. He died because of you. And Natalia… she shattered. Her mind broke. She’s been trapped in that day ever since, unable to see the world without weeping."

Richard fell to his knees, as if Jarek's words had been a bullet to the heart.

"I… I would have given my life to stop it… to make it right…"

"But it’s too late," Jarek cut in with cold finality. "Don’t come here with empty regrets. Get out the way you came in, or I swear I’ll end you myself."

Richard slowly stood up, his eyes blazing with a mix of pain and fury.

"I loved her. I loved Natalia… and our little Georgie. She valued me! We were the same, made for each other!"

"Don’t you dare compare yourself to her!" Jarek roared, finally losing control. "You're nothing! You're a sewer rat, an opportunist hiding behind false morality and good manners. But I saw your true face long ago!"

"You’re rambling, old man…"

"No, I’m not. You’re even worse than I thought…" Jarek turned to Xander, who had been silently observing, lips pressed into a thin line.

"This bastard who calls himself your father didn’t just go after my Alexandra… he also went after my wife. My Juliana!"

"What?!" The revelation hit everyone like a slap, leaving even Richard as white as a sheet.

Nathan narrowed his eyes, feeling as though everything he thought he knew about his family was collapsing in a single, devastating moment.

"What…?" Richard whispered, completely stunned.

The past had returned with fury, and the truth had begun to devour them all.