CHAPTER 19
Rayne’s phone vibrated. The caller ID showed “Mom.” His heart raced as he answered.
(Rayne) “Mom, what happened? Are you crying?”
(Mom) “Son… please come back home right now. Please.”
Hearing her cry made Rayne’s chest ache. He had never seen his mother cry like this. Something serious had clearly happened.
He noticed Lucian looking at him with concern.
(Rayne) “Okay, Mom… I’m coming. I’ll come with Lucian.”
(Mom) “No. Don’t bring him. Just come home alone.”
She hung up immediately. Lucian stared at him, waiting to hear what she had said.
“Should we leave now?” Lucian asked.
“No. You stay with Lin. I’m going back home. I’ll return soon, don’t worry,” Rayne replied.
“But I heard aunty crying?” Lucian pressed.
Rayne sighed. “I heard it too, but I’ll only know the truth when I get there. So enjoy yourselves while I’m away.”
He waved at Lin and Lucian, then left, driving straight home. His heart pounded, and a sense of dread settled over him.
As soon as he stepped inside, he froze. His father knelt before his mother, who sat stiffly on the sofa. Behind them stood a man, thin—slimmer than Rayne—watching silently.
“Mom? Dad?” Rayne called, rushing forward. “What happened, Mom? Why are you crying?”
Her eyes were swollen and red, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Even his father was crying, the guilt and fear written across his face.
“Rayne, my son… I have made a grave mistake,” his father confessed.
Rayne’s eyes widened as his father explained. During a business trip, he had a one-night stand with a dominant omega. At the time, during his rut cycle, he hadn’t intended for it to happen.
The omega had been the owner of a bar. Later, his father had given him money and left, never expecting that the omega would become pregnant—or that she would give birth to a dominant alpha son.
Recently, when his parents traveled to that country, the omega came to see him—already dying—and revealed the truth. After her death, his father had brought his son, Rayne’s stepbrother, home.
“That’s why Mom is so broken,” Rayne realized.
“Honey, I’m sorry. I got carried away at that time. I never meant to cheat on you… please forgive me,” his father repeated, still kneeling.
Rayne didn’t know whose side to take; both were so important to him.
“But Dad, how can you say you got carried away? Do you realize that because of your mistake, our family could break apart now?” he said.
Rayne’s attention shifted to the young man, the dominant alpha his father had brought home. His hair was white, and his eyes a clear blue. Jasmine-scented pheromones surrounded him, revealing his dominant nature. He stood quietly, head down, looking at the floor.
“I loved you all these years, not knowing you were sleeping with omegas under the pretext of business trips!” Mom yelled through her tears.
His father’s face darkened with guilt.
“No one can take your place, you know that. Everything happened only because that omega was dominant. I swear I have only ever loved you in my whole life… and I will continue to love you,” Dad said.
Rayne’s father looked at him, then lowered his head, guilt written all over his face.
“You say you love me, then why did you bring this guy here? Just because he’s the son of your one-night-stand omega?” Mom shouted, her tears gone but her anger sharper than ever.
“It’s not like that,” his father replied quietly. “I brought him here because his only parent has died. He’s alone… and as his father, I should take responsibility and support him.”
Rayne hated to admit it, but both made sense.
“Rayne, can you please take Kerry to his room?” Dad asked, pressing his forehead to Mom’s feet.
“I’ll take you to your room, Kerry,” Rayne said gently.
The young man looked up, glasses slipping slightly, eyes red from crying.
“Oh man… you’re crying too? Don’t cry. Come with me,” Rayne said, motioning for him to follow.
Kerry walked quietly behind him as they went upstairs to the guest room. He hesitated at the entrance.
“Come on in, Kerry. Why are you still standing there?” Rayne asked.
Kerry stepped inside and sat on the bed. Though his build was similar to Lucian’s, he seemed timid and fragile.
The room fell silent, awkward. Rayne pulled a chair closer and sat down.
“Umm… so, how old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty,” Kerry replied.
Rayne noticed him go quiet again. He didn’t know what else to say, and just pouted silently.
“I’m sorry,” Kerry said suddenly.
Rayne raised an eyebrow. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because of me… your parents are fighting, and their marriage is about to break,” Kerry said, guilt heavy in his voice.
But it wasn’t really his fault. Even though Mom was angry with Dad for bringing Kerry home, their marriage wasn’t breaking because of him.
Rayne spoke softly to Kerry. “Well, not exactly because of you. It’s something adults will sort out. But you must be sad too… your dad died.”
Kerry’s voice was quiet as he replied. “Whenever I used to ask about my alpha father, my dad said he made a mistake. That alpha was a married man who already had kids. But he said he was the one who seduced that alpha and even drugged him to trigger his rut cycle. So when he later fell sick, Dad said it was karma for what he did.”
Hearing Kerry, Rayne’s heart ached. It must have been so hard for him, knowing all of that—and watching his father get sicker every day made it even more heartbreaking.
But Rayne knew he needed to tell his parents the truth—that his father had been drugged. Dad didn’t know he had been manipulated to trigger his rut cycle. He needed to inform them before anything worse happened.
Rayne stood. “Kerry, you take rest. I’ll go talk to Mom and Dad now.”
Kerry didn’t respond, staring down at the floor. Rayne walked out of the room and saw his mother standing near the door, trembling with anger and hurt.
“I don’t want to live with a man who gets carried away just by seeing any omega,” she said.
“Mom, wait!” Rayne called, rushing to her. “I just found out from Kerry that the omega had drugged Dad to trigger his rut cycle. He later felt guilty for what he did… so please, it’s not entirely Dad’s fault. I mean, it is, but… please don’t leave. Don’t leave me, at least.”
The words tumbled out all at once. Rayne was terrified—if he sided with Dad, Mom would get hurt. If he sided with Mom, Dad would break. He felt completely torn.
“So if someone drugged your father again, he might do the same thing?” Mom said. Her words were sharp, but they made sense.
Rayne glanced at his father. If he couldn’t protect himself, and someone manipulated him again, there was no guarantee this wouldn’t happen in the future.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m not a good husband,” Dad admitted, his voice low.
Mom began crying again, and Rayne quickly turned to her. “Mom, please calm down. Let’s sit and talk about this properly.”
But she wasn’t listening. She trembled, lost in her pain.
Then something fell behind Rayne. When he turned, his father was gone—he had gone into the kitchen. Rayne rushed after him, and his heart froze.
His father was on the floor, blood dripping from a wrist cut. He was sitting there, crying.
“Dad!” Rayne shouted, his voice breaking. Mom rushed in immediately.
Her eyes widened in shock at the sight, guilt and fear written all over her face.
“Mom, call 911!” Rayne yelled. She grabbed her phone with trembling hands, sobbing even harder.
Kerry also ran in and froze at the sight.
“What happened to your dad? Did you call 911?” he asked, rushing forward to help. He lifted Dad off the floor and laid him carefully on the sofa. Then he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, tying it tightly around the cut and wiping the blood.
Rayne’s clothes were already stained with blood. Panicked, he hurried forward. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
“My major is medical. I want to be a doctor, so I know a bit. But he needs to get to a hospital soon,” Kerry replied.
Rayne nodded, still in shock that his father had tried to take his own life. Mistakes like these could happen once in a lifetime, but regret would last forever.
When the ambulance arrived, they all went to the hospital. Rayne, Mom, and Kerry sat in front of the emergency room, tension and fear hanging heavy in the air.
“Please God, don’t let anything happen to my father. If you want, give all his bad luck to me instead. I can endure it… but not him,” Rayne prayed silently.
Mom wouldn’t survive without him. They loved each other too deeply. Rayne tapped his foot anxiously, unable to calm down. Kerry sat silently beside him, muttering to himself.
“Because of me your father is like this… I’m bad luck. Because of me my own dad died, and now yours too,” Kerry said, biting his nails.
Rayne quickly smacked his hand. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t give Dad the knife. And stop biting your nails—they’re bleeding.”
Kerry looked shocked. Mom leaned her head on Rayne’s shoulder, and he gently patted her. Today had been the worst day—everything seemed to have fallen apart. He rested his head against her shoulder.
After a while, the doctor came out. All three—Rayne, Mom, and Kerry—stood up.
“How is my dad? Please, he’s safe, right?” Rayne asked, shaking.
“He’s out of danger now. There’s nothing to worry about. You brought him in on time. And thanks to that handkerchief around his wrist, the bleeding had slowed down. That helped a lot,” the doctor explained.
Rayne silently thanked Kerry for tying the handkerchief. Because of that, Dad had survived.
“You can take him tomorrow. He needs to rest today,” the doctor said before leaving.
Mom and Rayne went inside to see Dad, while Kerry stayed outside. Mom sat on the chair beside the bed. Rayne looked at his father lying there, and suddenly his mind flashed to Iosif, his ex who had cheated on him and ended up in the hospital once.
No. This wasn’t the time to think about that. Right now, he needed to focus on Dad.