"My mom taught me that is was books before boys, so I started creating them in my book." -Me

What was going on here? Those were the first words that run through my mind.

I stood there dumbfounded, trying to process the situation. Had Rafael just referred to himself as Alexander's brother?

"It can't be," Sebastian spoke taking everyone by surprise. Those were the words we were all thinking.

We were all in disbelief, in our own way trying to process the situation.

I looked at Alex and then at Rafael trying to find any resemblance in their features.

Alexander had dark hair with piercing grey eyes, Rafael's hair was more of a golden brown with pale blue eyes, they didn't have much of a resemblance except that they were both tall with sharp jaw lines and a similar skin tone and maybe a few similar facial features. You'd never guess they might be related.

Recalling the painting of Alexander's mother, if this was true, they both got their looks from their fathers.

I took a moment to stare at both Alex and Rafael, it wasn't even out of curiosity anymore.

Of all the things at this moment, I can't believe I was trying to compare who was more handsome.

"You don't have to deny me again, you already did that at birth when you abandoned me," Rafael spoke coldly.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the situation. Did Rafael know this the whole time? Why didn't he ever tell me anything about this? We spent hours together while he listened to all my problems, but he never thought once to tell me that 'Oh, I might be Alexander's half-brother'.

Did he use me this whole time to get close to Alex?

This made me feel even more stupid, I thought this whole time that Alexander was Sebastian's son and now it turns out that he has a half-brother. I would have never seen this coming.

The real question was how did any of this happen?

If I was this confused, I could imagine how Alexander felt. He spent his whole life thinking he was alone and now it turns out he could have a half-brother. I can't even begin to imagine the kind of thoughts that were racing through his mind.

We all needed an explanation for this whole situation.

Sebastian moved closer to Rafael, almost as if he was trying to see if there was any truth to this.

"You have your grandfather's eyes," Sebastian commented. "It really is you." He muttered. Tears whelmed up in his eyes, he was clearly trying to hold them.

Rafael stepped away from Sebastian. Whatever it is that happened to him, I could tell it wasn't easy. This moment was just as hard for him.

"I never abandoned you, we were told you were dead the moment you were born," Sebastian explained.

Alexander looked at them in disbelief, running his hands through his hair.

"Don't lie to me. My grandfather told me exactly who you are. It's your fault he wouldn't even raise me himself. I wasn't a constant reminder to the woman who abandoned me." Rafael yelled infuriated.

Sebastian shook his head vigorously. "What's not what happened, we were told you had died." Sebastian insisted.

"You are lying, you never ever cared about me." Rafael shook his head, blocking Sebastian's words from his mind.

After nearly fifteen minutes of non-productive arguing, I was able to gather a few things.

Rafael's side of the story was that his grandfather who, surprise! also happens to be Alexander's grandfather on their mom's side. He had him adopted because his mother couldn't stand the fact that he was an obstacle in her path to marrying Alexander's father and that he was a constant reminder of the mistake she made. He thinks Sebastian didn't want him to. His grandfather raised him along with his adopted family, but he never allowed him to have any contact with the family. He lived on the side-lines his whole life, alone and abandoned.

Sebastian's side of the story was that he was told that Rafael didn't make it after birth. The pain separated him and Claire. His guess was that it was all part of Alexander's grandfather's conspiracy who never liked him from the start and always wanted him out of the way.

Both stories sounded altered crazy, like something straight out of a telenovela. Why would their grandfather go that far? Turns out manipulation runs in his family.

Either one of them had to be lying or Alexander's grandfather was the bad guy in this whole story.

This was a telenovela unfolding right in front of me.

Alexander was pacing up and down the room, I couldn't quite tell what was running through his mind, but he was about to lose it any moment.

I stood silently in the corner, listening in on everything.

"I don't believe any of your words, there are all lies. You are just saying that to manipulate me. You have your daughter and you have him, you have the family that you've always wanted." Rafael said pointing at Alex.

I nearly choked on my spit.

Does Sebastian have a daughter? How come no one ever mentioned this? I didn't think he was capable of loving anyone besides himself and Alex. Maybe Rafael was right.

I didn't know who everyone was anymore, at this point I needed a five-page essay from everyone explaining who they really are. Now I understand why rich people insist on background checks.

"You have no idea what I've had to go through," Rafael continued.

"You should just stop being dramatic, why should we even believe any of this is true. I must say, this is a creative way to try and get money out of me." Alexander barked.

"Believe me, I want nothing to do with this family either. Let alone your filthy money" Rafael answered replicating Alexander's anger.

"Something we can all agree on," Alex muttered.

Rafael let out a laugh. "You are exactly who I thought you were, just a spoiled rich brat who doesn't care about anything else. You probably got that from your father, I'm sure that he is also responsible for separating me from that woman."

He spoke so bitterly of Claire; I wonder what exactly he has been through.

"You can say anything you want about me, but I will not allow you to insult my parents," Alex spoke.

This time it was Sebastian's turn to keep quiet, he was probably trying to process everything. After all, he had just found out that his dead son was alive.

Could he really have abandoned him? No, he couldn't. He is so protective over Alex that I can't even imagine how he would be over his own children. I could tell this was destroying him too.

"I want you to just leave my house," Alexander demanded.

"With pleasure," Rafael answered.

He started walking towards the door, then stopped in his tracks.

"Zoe, you should get as far away from these people while you still can. They will destroy you with their toxicity or worse, turn you into one of them." Rafael warned.

"Leave her out of this," Alex spoke. He stood in front of me, almost as if to shield me.

Rafael gave Sebastian a final look before marching out of the house.

The was an uncomfortable silence, no one really knew what to say.

"Alex, he really is your brother. I just know..."

"The door is that way," Alex spoke, cutting Sebastian off. He pointed at the door.

Sebastian didn't press on it further, he had bigger issues to talk about with his son.

I watched him walk away like a dog holding its tail down until I heard the door slam shut.

I returned my attention to Alexander who now looked distorted.

I could tell he had been trying to hold himself together, but he was falling apart now.

He was once again pacing, holding a fist full of his hair in frustration.

I couldn't begin to imagine how he felt.

"Everyone lied to me," He exclaimed.

I could imagine what kind of questions were running through his mind: Why anyone hadn't ever said something like this to him, If Rafael truly was his half-brother and most importantly, what this was going to mean for him if he really was his brother.

"This was way too low of him. I met him a couple of years back, he wanted me to invest in some stupid idea. I turned him down and now he thinks he could come here and get his revenge. My parents never separated anything, they shared everything. Using my mother, he could get a lot of the company shares. It would be the quickest way to make money." Alexander explained.

I've never seen him this broken and destroyed. He always seemed so collective and in control. He has always worked to keep his family name and company intact, now it was all falling apart.

I watched him kneel to the ground.

I should probably walk away right now and leave him alone. Maybe then he would feel the pain I did.

But no, I could never be that cold.

My petty revenge was nothing compared to what he was going through. He probably felt as if his entire world had been destroyed.

I slowly walked to him. I sat next to him and held him in a tight hug. I didn't know who needed this more, him or I?

Almost immediately he held me back, his arms tight around me.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to him. "You'll figure it out."

I stroked his hair as I watched him sleep. It took a while before he could finally calm down, when he did, all he wanted was to sleep and not talk to anyone.

I stared at him sleeping peacefully. I loved at hated him all at once. I could put a pillow over his head and kill him in his sleep and all my problems would be solved. But my love for him overwhelmed me.

༻❁༺

I woke up to Alexander laying on my lap.

I looked at my wristwatch to see that it was already eight p.m.

Time had already gone by so fast that I hadn't even noticed.

It broke my heart seeing him like this, so broken and powerless. Throughout the time that I've known him, he has always been in control of everything, but this was beyond his control.

I should probably leave, seeing him like this would only make me fall in love with him even more.

'But he needs me right now,' My heart spoke.

Screw my stupid heart.

If I was ever going to get over him, I should probably stop being in these kinds of situations with him and put some much-needed distance between us.

It was my heart that got me in this position in the first place, I should have never fallen in love with him. Maybe if I was away from him, it would be better, I had already ruined so much of his company image, Sebastian was right.

I took the pillow next to me to support his head, maybe I could leave without him noticing.

He shifted at the slightest moment.

He opened his eyes, raising his head from my lap.

He noticed what I was about to do.

I couldn't even sneak out of his place right.

"You can stay here for as long as you want." He spoke.

Spending the night here wouldn't be so bad, I already had a nice comfortable bed here. Maybe I could stay.

But no, I shook my head. That was probably the sadness talking, last I checked he didn't want me here. Since we've met, both our lives have turned into disasters.

I shouldn't stay here. It was time I stopped my heart from convincing me into doing stupid things.

"It's best that I go, I think that it's best if we put some distance between us," I spoke heavily. "I need some space."

It took him a while to respond.

"Okay," He answered downheartedly.

He wanted me to stay because he was sad now, as soon as he wasn't, he would kick me under the carve. I needed to protect my heart first, I've already let my guard down too many times. This was going to be good for us.

I gathered my things and left his apartment.

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A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Please check out my short new story, The perfect gentleman. It's funny, cute and most importantly, you don't have to wait for me to update. It's already completed.

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