64 – Cypress Mosaic

A ​contemptuous ​tone, ​as ​if asking a ​question ​he ​was ​already ​certain of the answer ​to.

It ​was an attack ​from an unexpected ​direction. ​Elian’s ​brow ​furrowed ​at ​the insolent, unwarranted ​question.

“Even ​if ​you don’t get ​along, brothers really are ​brothers.”

“What do ​you mean ​by that?”

“Your ​manner of ​speaking—the ​way ​you completely disregard ​your listener—is ​strikingly similar.”

Lorenz straightened his ​hunched posture and turned ​fully toward him. Because ​of his ​rigid ​stance, it felt as if a ​high wall had suddenly ​risen. ​The ​gaze ​he ​leveled at Elian ​was overbearing. ​Perhaps ​because he had ​suddenly ​downed a strong drink, a ​glint flickered ​in ​those pale green ​eyes ​that ​usually ​appeared ​so cold.

“Wasn’t ​the ​situation enough ​for one to think so?”

“Did he and ​I look like ​that to you? ​Like lovers?”

“Then what are ​you?”

Lorenz took ​a step closer.

“Just ​what ​exactly is the ​relationship [stolen content]between you ​two that ​that ​bastard unauthorized copy[stolen content]comes ​all ​the way ​here ​and acts ​so ​entitled ​regarding you?”

“I have ​no ​reason to ​be ​interrogated ​like ​this by Mr. Lockhart. It is not my fault that he came here.”

Stride. The distance between them closed by another step.

“If you know Joshua, why on earth haven’t you told me until now? There were plenty of opportunities to bring it up naturally.”

“Because it isn’t a relationship that could be described as ‘knowing’ each other.”

Lorenz continued his interrogation as he slowly approached Elian.

“Then what kind of relationship is it? What is this ‘bar’ he mentioned? You… just where exactly were you working?”

Lorenz’s face distorted violently. It was as if merely uttering the words, or even imagining it, was painful.

Elian felt a sense of pressure, as if he were undergoing a sharp interrogation by a seasoned detective. Unconsciously, he stumbled back a step or two.

“I’m saying, there is no reason for me to be questioned like this…”

“Mr. Elian Bellotti.”

In an instant, Lorenz was right in front of him, placing a hand on Elian’s shoulder. No, rather than placing it, it was closer to gripping it with forceful strength.

Lorenz’s hands usually gave a neat impression, thanks to his straight, [unauthorized copy]long unauthorized copyfingers and well-trimmed [unauthorized copy]nails. However, the hand currently touching Elian’s body felt larger and thicker than expected, making him acutely aware of the physical power contained within. It felt as if that hand were pressing down on Elian’s very existence.

“You are residing in my home, caring for a child who is legally my brother. I have the right to know everything about you.”

A grip that felt as if it would crush his shoulder.

Elian twisted his shoulder, trying to escape his grasp.

“Just because I am Lucas’s counselor doesn’t mean you have that kind of right…!”

Lorenz’s face lunged forward. At a distance where their noses nearly brushed, he spoke in a low, grinding voice.

“If you had a relationship with Joshua Lockhart and intentionally hid that fact, then at least regarding that matter, I have the right to know.”

His pupils reminded Elian of a lush green forest frozen cold. A green forest completely covered in white snow and ice. One that could not be melted by any light or heat.

As if those neat hands were strangling his throat, Elian found himself unable to speak.

“Even if you don’t tell me, I can investigate it as much as I want. Wouldn’t it be better if Mr. Bellotti confessed it himself?”

The gripped shoulder began to ache.

Elian felt that he was only now facing the true nature of Lorenz, a man who had lived his life to become the successor of the Lockhart family. The attitude he had shown during their first meeting was merely the tip of the iceberg. It wasn’t simply a lack of social skills or communication ability. He was a man who could drive his opponent into a corner using any amount of cunning reasoning and logic to steer a situation in the direction he desired.

The corner of Lorenz’s lips twisted. He narrowed his eyes and frowned, as if blinded by a glare.

“No, should I call you ‘Rian’ too?”

“……”

“Or is that a sweet pet name reserved only for you and Joshua, forbidden for someone like me?”

Elian twisted his body more violently than before. He pushed against Lorenz’s chest with all his might.

“Let go. It hurts. My shoulder hurts…”

Upon hearing that it hurt, Lorenz abruptly let go and stepped back, looking startled—as if he hadn’t realized his hand was there, or hadn’t known his strength was that great.

Rubbing his gripped shoulder, Elian glared resentfully at the man before him.

“I don’t understand why you’re being so sarcastic and angry. I…”

However, he couldn’t finish his sentence. His emotions were becoming more intense than necessary. He didn’t want to show a side of himself that had lost self-control.

A wave of unfairness washed over him. He didn’t want to admit it, but it was a feeling akin to sorrow.

He had wanted to tell him the news that Lucas had started painting again and be happy together. That was all…

He swallowed hard and bit his lip. The hand Elian had used to cover Read on Read BL Novelshis shoulder slid unauthorized copydown, and he clenched his empty fist tight.

For a moment, Lorenz’s gaze wavered significantly. He couldn’t take his eyes off Elian’s profile as the other man looked down, his lips tight as if enduring something. The tips of Elian’s long eyelashes seemed to shimmer.

Lorenz froze. Even the anger that had been boiling in his head moments ago subsided quietly, as if it had never existed.

Though he had strode forward and gripped the shoulder forcefully just a moment ago, he now found himself unable to even approach. Maintaining his distance from Elian, Lorenz asked hesitantly in a strained voice.

“Are you… crying?”

“Of course not.”

Elian denied it immediately.

He wasn’t crying. Far from it, he wasn’t even tearing up. Since the time he had held Vincent and wept when their mother passed away, he had never shown tears in front of others. Even when alone, he wasn’t the type to wipe away tears of melancholy. Much less would he show tears before this man.

Yet, Lorenz could not shake his suspicion. His gaze obsessively searched Elian’s face.

“I didn’t… mean to make you cry.”

“I didn’t cry. You can see that.”

Looking straight at Lorenz, there were certainly no traces of tears in Elian’s eyes. However, the torrent of emotion, which was practically the same as crying, remained.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, so [Read on Read BL Novels]I don’t know why I have to hear these [visit our site]things and be despised.”

“No, I wasn’t despising you…”

“You were.”

Cutting him off firmly, Elian poured out the belated answer to Lorenz’s question to clear the unfairness.

“Yes, I worked at a bar in Troveca. As a part-time job for a few hours after leaving the center. It was a membership-only bar, but it wasn’t the kind of place that provided the services you’re imagining. Your brother came there as a customer, and he gave me his business card, telling me to contact him.”

“And what did you do?”

“What do you mean, ‘what did I do’?”

“I’m asking what you did with that card. Did you contact him? Have you been in touch with that guy until now?”

Lorenz gripped the backrest of a nearby sofa. Green veins bulged clearly on the back of his pale hand.

Lorenz was well aware of Joshua’s womanizing tendencies. The man didn’t discriminate by gender or second gender. If he found someone who piqued his interest, he had a temperament that demanded he approach them immediately and possess them right then and there. Unfortunately, for Joshua Lockhart, ‘possessing someone’ merely meant sleeping with them.

Once he set his sights on a target, he never let go.

He showered them with lavish gifts and had no hesitation in whispering love and making promises. From what Lorenz had heard from others, no one had ever successfully rejected Joshua’s ‘courtship’ until the end. No matter how haughty the partner, they eventually succumbed to the endless stream of presents, sweet talk, and that charming smile and face.

There were more than a few who had tearfully lamented being abandoned unauthorized copyafter being promised marriage. Back [visit our site]when their father, Damon [unauthorized copy]Lockhart, was alive, he had suffered many headaches trying to restrain the press from major scandals.

Lorenz felt suffocated.

He tilted his head and loosened the knot of his tie.

“Ah, it’s not a business matter. I found something rare after a long time, but it’s giving me a bit of a hard time.”

He remembered what Joshua had said at Pocontico Hills. The reason he hadn’t returned to LA was precisely because of Elian Bellotti.

It felt as if Elian, who was only glaring at him with resentment, was eating away at his very lungs. Without even knowing what kind of man that bastard was.

“Answer me. Have you been in contact with Joshua?”

Suddenly, a hurried knock interrupted them. It was Margaret.

Upon confirming her face, Lorenz waved his hand and gave a quick instruction.

“I am in the middle of an important conversation. We’ll talk later.”

“Mr. Lorenz, Lucas…”

The first to react was Elian.

“Did something happen to Lucas?”

With a dazed expression—a mix of surprise, joy, and confusion—Margaret answered.

“Lucas… has come out of his room.”