MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: APOCALYPSE, INSTRUMENTAL VERSON.
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Alanis clenched his jaw, every emotion crashing into him at once, regret, guilt, a sense of profound emptiness. All the moments he'd brushed aside, all the signs he'd chosen to ignore. The ashes in the vase… his son's ashes.
He couldn't even recall the last time he had seen his son. All the times Alex tried to call him he always ignored or hung up. And now his son was dead?
Alex was dead?
This was the reason Harlow had so willingly relinquished full custody of their son because she knew their son was gone. It was also why she had agreed so easily to the divorce. The pieces fell into place now.
Gus still couldn't grasp why his boss was so calm, so restrained after receiving the news of his son's death. Shouldn't there be tears? Heartbreak?
But Alanis merely clicked his tongue, a hint of regret flashing across his otherwise impassive face. Regret for never taking his son to that amusement park he'd begged to visit.
Regret for how he'd treated both Harlow and Alex with cold indifference. This, he realized, was the price of his own negligence, the loss of his only child, his son and heir.
"Find my wife. Quickly," he commanded, his tone deceptively calm.
The word "wife" slipped out again, and Gus hesitated, surprised. Alanis had never before acknowledged Harlow as his wife. In fact, anyone who dared refer to her as such usually faced his wrath. Yet here he was, asking for her by title, not just name.
Gus cleared his throat. "Sir, there's no need. Mrs. Blackwood was rushed to the hospital this evening. She... she had an accident after being thrown out by your family."
"Kicked out by my family?" Alanis's eyebrows knit in confusion. "Did she not see the divorce agreement? I left her the house, along with a substantial amount of money."
"She did, sir," Gus replied carefully. "But she had it amended. She told the lawyer she wanted nothing from the Hamiltons, that she was better off on her own."
For the first time, Gus saw a crack in Alanis's composure, a flicker of disbelief, followed by a bitter smile. "Better off on her own, without money?" His voice rose, the calm facade beginning to fracture.
Gus saw his boss struggle to hold it together, the normally unflappable man visibly shaken.
"And… two accidents in two weeks? Does she have a death wish?" Alanis muttered, as if to himself, his fingers drumming against the table as he wrestled with his thoughts. He shook his head, trying to refocus. This couldn't be real. Was Harlow pulling some final trick, a desperate attempt to drive him insane?
He thought back to Claudia, his trusted confidante. She had reassured him, even shown him medical reports, all confirming his son was perfectly fine. That was why he'd distanced himself. Why he hadn't worried. But now, questions clawed at his mind. Was it Claudia who had lied? Or had Harlow been telling the truth all along?
"Find out which hospital she's at," Alanis ordered, the command barely concealing his desperation.
"On it, sir." Gus left the room, leaving Alanis alone with a silence thick enough to suffocate. He dropped back into his leather chair, pressing his temples as he fought against the haze of stress and doubt clouding his mind.
His gaze drifted to the vase on his desk, a meaningless object in any other moment, but now it seemed weighted with every unanswered question swirling in his head.
Could that child really have been his son? Had Hazel tried to warn him, only for him to ignore it? And why had his family turned on Harlow so viciously, casting her out of the home that was supposed to protect her?
How much had she endured in silence? How much pain had he overlooked in his blindness?
His thoughts were interrupted as Gus reentered, looking pale. "Sir, there's no need to search for your wife. She… she and the baby passed an hour ago."
For a long moment, Alanis just stared, the words sinking into his bones like ice.