The door to the Stone family's guest suite slammed shut with a finality that made Louise jump. Martin turned around, his face purple with suppressed rage, while Lilly paced the floor like a caged animal.
"Do you have any idea what you've done, Louise?" Martin hissed. His voice was low, but it cut through the room like a blade. "What if your father hears about this? He won't touch you—you're his precious heir. But us? He'll have our heads! He'll blame us for 'corrupting' his perfect son!"
Louise kept his head down, his knuckles white as he gripped the hem of his jacket. The sharp ache in his body was nothing compared to the suffocating guilt rising in his chest.
"Louise, look at me," Lilly broke in, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and disappointment. "You've always hated this lifestyle. You hated the parties, the crowds... why the sudden change? Or were you just waiting until you left Riviera City so you could finally act like a degenerate?"
"Aunt... no. That's not it," Louise whispered, his voice cracking. "I never intended for any of this to happen. Please, you have to believe me..."
"I think Lilly is right!" Martin snapped, stepping into Louise's personal space until they were chest-to-chest. "Maybe you've been hiding this for years. Why else would you rush to the University the second we arrived? We told you to wait until Monday! We told you to start fresh. But you couldn't wait even one morning, could you? You were so tired of living your 'fake' life that you ran straight into the gutter!"
"Uncle!" Louise suddenly roared. His head snapped up, his eyes bloodshot and swimming with tears. "Attack my choices if you must—talk about my mistakes! But do not attack my character. You have no idea what I've been through!"
The room fell into a stunned silence. Louise had never raised his voice to them before. He stood there, trembling, struggling to remain upright as the pain in his body flared. He felt like he was suffocating under the weight of their expectations and his father's shadow.
I was wrong to come here, he thought bitterly. I am trapped no matter where I go.
Just as the tension reached its peak, a sharp, melodic ringing broke the silence. Louise reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the caller ID.
It was his mother.
Louise stepped onto the balcony, the cool morning air biting at his skin. He closed the glass door behind him, muffling the sounds of his arguing aunt and uncle. With a shaky hand, he pressed the phone to his ear.
"Hello? Baby? Are you okay? What are you doing?"
The voice of Tina Stone was soft, like a warm blanket in a storm. Louise tried to hold back a sob, but the moment he heard her voice, his strength vanished. He slowly slid down the wall until he was huddled on the balcony floor, his legs giving out. He burst into tears.
"Oh! Losy! Losy, what happened?" Tina's voice turned frantic. "Are you alright? Tell me why you're crying!"
"Mom... I don't think I should have come here," Louise whispered, his voice breaking into jagged pieces.
"Why? Did Jacob find you? Is he there?" Tina gasped. "Don't tell me you're suffering because of him even there!"
"No, Mom... no. He hasn't found me yet," Louise wiped his eyes, his chest heaving. "But trouble follows me everywhere. I've only been here one day, and I already feel like I can't breathe."
"If you can't be there, where else can you go?" Tina's voice turned stern with motherly fear. "If you come back to Riviera, your father will force you into a marriage with his cousin's son. What about your dreams? Tell me, what happened at that University that made you feel this way?"
Louise looked out at the city skyline, his eyes red and raw. "Yesterday... I met a group of students. They're thugs, dealing drugs at a young age. They work for a local boss of the Oligarchy here. And Mom... they said the leader of their entire network is Dad. People are suffering and turning into criminals because of him! I came here to escape him, but I'm surrounded by his sins again!"
There was a long, heavy silence on the other end. "I'm sorry, son," Tina finally whispered. "You knew your dad was a leader in the Oligarchy, but I kept the truth from you—about how far his corruption spreads across the country. I raised you in my mother's house, away from the blood and the business, because I didn't want you to be like them. If you had grown up here, you'd be working for him right now. Thank God you didn't."
Tina sighed, her voice sounding older, more tired. "Listen to me, Louise. I know you want to help those students because of your guilt, but don't make a reckless decision. Remember, your grandmother Tara forced your father to let you live your own life. He gave you permission to go to that city only because he thinks you're pursuing your ambition. But for us... it was about escaping Jacob. Your father would have killed him if he knew the truth."
"But Mom—"
"No, Louise. Stay there. If you come back, your life will be harder than you can imagine. Your father... he is not a good person. We already lost one child to his business. I cannot lose you too. If anything happens to you, I won't survive it."
Louise's heart chilled. We already lost one blood. He knew she was talking about a secret his father had buried long ago. He sat in the silence of the balcony, realizing that the "Stone" name wasn't just a title—it was a curse that spanned the entire country.