Aidan.

Many days had passed, yet my life had slowly turned into something I could barely recognize anymore. A constant weight pressed down on me, suffocating and unrelenting. Vanessa’s pregnancy had become a chain around my neck, and no matter how I turned, there was no easy way to escape it. Every decision, every move, every thought felt restricted. I was trapped in consequences I was still trying to fully understand.

I sat in the room, my eyes fixed ahead, but my mind was elsewhere. Across from me, my brothers occupied the seats in silence, each of them positioned in different corners of the space like soldiers waiting for an explanation. Their expressions were hard, unreadable at first glance, but I could feel the tension radiating off them.

Their eyes never left me.

It had taken me days—long, exhausting days—to even get them to sit in the same room with me like this. Days of silence, avoidance, and anger. And now that they were finally here, I could already feel the storm brewing again.

The air was thick, heavy, and uncomfortable. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Then finally, the silence broke.

"It’s all your fault she left, Aidan." Adrien’s voice cut through the room like a blade, sharp, direct and unforgiving.

I was grateful to him for breaking the awkward silence but then, I didn’t respond immediately. I couldn’t. The words sank deeper than I wanted to admit, even though I kept my face steady.

"Ignoring everything else, why the hell did you get Vanessa pregnant?" Davian added almost immediately, his tone rising with frustration. His hands curled into tight fists on his lap, knuckles whitening as he struggled to keep his composure. "You were the one who preached the most about waiting. About doing things properly. On our wedding night, you said...."

"I know what I said," I interrupted sharply, my jaw tightening.

But he didn’t stop.

"And not just that, Aidan," Damien suddenly snapped, pushing himself up from his seat. His chair scraped loudly against the floor as he stood. His anger was immediate, unfiltered. "We were so close to making her stay. We had everything under control, and you ruined it."

Before I could even react, he was in front of me.

His hand grabbed my collar, pulling me slightly forward, forcing me to meet his eyes. The sudden movement made something inside me snap.

I scoffed under my breath, irritation flaring instantly.

"Coming from someone who hasn’t marked her yet." I said coldly, before shoving him away with enough force to make him stagger back a step.

The room went tense again.

Damien stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he quickly regained his balance. For a moment, he looked like he might lunge again, but he stopped himself.

His gaze shifted between Davian and Adrien, then back at me.

"What?" I said, my voice low, challenging.

"You haven’t marked her?" Davian and Adrien asked at the same time, their voices overlapping in disbelief.

I leaned back slightly, my expression unreadable, though my jaw tightened.

Because honestly...at that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care about their shock.

"Shut up!" Damien snapped sharply, his voice echoing through the room as he glared at them both.

The tension spiked instantly, but Davian didn’t sit back. His expression tightened as he pushed himself up from his seat.

"That’s truly impossible," Davian said, his tone firm and edged with disbelief. "There’s clearly something wrong here." He turned slightly toward Damien as if trying to reason with him, though his frustration was evident.

Since we were kids, Davian and Damien had always been closer to each other than the rest of us. Their bond had always been different, more aligned, more reactive. It wasn’t surprising that they were reacting this strongly together now.

"So what now?" Adrien asked, breaking the rising tension. His voice was calmer, but there was still an underlying irritation. He tilted his head slightly as his gaze shifted across the room. "I don’t think you called us here just to announce that Damien hasn’t marked Maria." He added with a faint scoff.

"Yes," I said firmly, drawing their attention back to me. "I called us here to figure out how to get Maria back."

For a moment, silence hung between us.

Then Adrien let out a short laugh.

"Really?" he asked, taking a step forward. His expression darkened slightly, his eyes narrowing. "And how exactly is that supposed to work?"

He stopped, crossing his arms as he looked at each of us one by one.

"Look," Adrien continued, shaking his head slightly, "I don’t care what you all do, but don’t drag me into getting even more hated by Maria."

I rolled my eyes instantly.

Adrien had been getting more and more difficult to deal with lately, more selfish, more detached. It was almost as if he had already mentally stepped away from everything that concerned Maria, that involved us acting together. And I couldn’t help but wonder what made him think he could just have her all to himself without consequences.

"Shut up, Adrien," I said coldly, my fists tightening at my sides. "Let’s all sit down and focus on finding a solution."

Adrien scoffed in response, clearly unimpressed.

"Oh, spare me the authoritative tone, Aidan," he said flatly. "You’re the reason all of this is happening in the first place."

My jaw tightened at his words, but before I could respond, Davian stepped forward.

"Can you all just keep quiet!" Davian roared suddenly, stepping between Adrien and me. His voice carried authority, forcing both of us to pause. "Just sit down and think properly for once."

For a moment, none of us spoke.

Slowly, the anger in the room settled, and one by one, we returned to our seats.

The silence that followed wasn’t empty, it was heavy, thoughtful and calculating.

We all sat there, staring ahead, each of us lost in our own thoughts, trying to force our minds toward a solution.

Minutes passed.

Then, finally...

"I have an idea," Damien muttered.