Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother-Chapter 448: Emotionally Challenged

Colin returned to his office, all shaken and enraged.

"Mr. Hartz, they have threatened to kill you to your face—what do we do now?" the assistant asked. "The Riverdales are the most powerful, and fighting with them means losing everything."

Colin sat quietly for a while before saying, "They are not the most powerful. There is someone else. We just need to give them a reason to go against the Riverdales."

The assistant thought for a moment and said, "But they always stay away from such conflicts between two parties. Their aim is only to serve their own interests, and they hold all the power to control the mafia world and kill whoever challenges them. They want to dominate the mafia world but avoid any conflicts that don’t concern them."

"That’s why I said we need to offer them something of interest," Colin replied. "If we gain their support, no one in the entire world would dare challenge us—let alone the Riverdales. Riverdale wouldn’t be dominating the mafia world if they had decided to show their authority. Now’s the chance for them to do what they’ve been holding back on."

"They’re known to be the most cruel. What if they don’t like our proposal and we end up making them our enemy?" the assistant asked. "In the past, some mafia organizations and businessmen tried that, and their failure led to their own doom. Those organizations were wiped out, and those businessmen lost everything."

"I’m doomed anyway at the hands of the Riverdales. Even if I have to die, I’ll die while leaving another enemy for Riverdale, and they’ll regret going against me," Colin said with determination. "Send them a message—that I want to talk to their boss."

"Their boss never talks to anyone," the assistant said. "But I’ll try to reach them."

"He won’t be able to reject our offer," Colin said with confidence.

-----

Aaron didn’t return to the penthouse the entire day and worked from the NextEra office. Justin couldn’t wait and came to the office to see him in the evening.

"Seems like you’re getting more comfortable in my office?" Justin commented. freёnovelkiss.com

"Better to put it to some use when the owner is chilling outside," Aaron replied, focused on his work.

Justin settled into the chair and asked, "So, how was it?"

"He ran with his tail between his legs," Aaron replied.

"Hmm, good."

Just then, the office door opened and someone entered the office, only to be shocked by the scene ahead. "Holy moly. Am I dreaming?"

"Hayden, stop overreacting and get lost," Justin said coldly.

Hayden’s expression soured from surprise, but he asked, "One Justin—I mean Aiden Handrix—is already a pain in the ass. When did you clone another one? I’m totally not pleased. I might prepare my resignation for real."

"He’s my twin brother, Aaron," Justin said, ignoring the dramatic reaction.

Hayden and Aaron’s gazes met, only to have Hayden say, "I can tell—not just by looks, even by character, he’s like you." He walked toward the desk and placed a file on it. "I’m going on vacation for a week. Don’t have the energy to deal with two of your kind."

Justin let out an annoyed sigh while Hayden left. Aaron was already aware who Hayden was. It was not the first time Aaron was here, but no one knew it was Aaron and not their real boss.

The two brothers resumed their talk.

"Have you called the doctor for Natalie?" Aaron asked.

Justin hummed.

"Everything alright?" Aaron asked again.

Justin hummed again. "Need to wait for the result."

The two brothers continued to talk about the next plan.

-----

In the night, Colin received a call from his assistant.

"Mr. Hartz, they liked our offer and agreed to help against the Riverdales," the assistant informed.

Colin, who was under great stress and drinking wine in his study, stood up from his chair as he suddenly cheered up. "What else did they demand?"

"Nothing as of now. For now, they’ve only agreed to help us get rid of the Riverdales. They will wait for your orders—when and how to do it."

"Great."

The two talked for a while to plan further, and Colin hung up the call after instructing a few things.

-----

Deep in the night, when Natalie and Justin were sleeping, there was a movement in the bed. Justin stirred in his sleep, his breathing slightly ragged and his expressions a little unsettled.

He looked at Natalie, who was still asleep, and quietly got out of bed, making sure not to wake her. He poured himself a glass of water to soothe his dry throat and went to stand by the floor-to-ceiling glass window, holding the glass and sipping the water slowly.

There was nothing but an unusual quietness surrounding them as he stared outside silently.

After a while, a pair of delicate hands wrapped around his waist, and a soft body pressed gently against his back.

Justin didn’t flinch, knowing it was Natalie, and said, "Did I wake you up?"

"I was already awake," she replied, and asked while holding him from behind, "You’ve been like this for the past few nights. I thought to ask you before, but then decided to give you some time. Will you tell me now?"

There was silence from his side, and Natalie waited patiently.

"Having the lost memories return is certainly not a pleasant thing in my case, I guess," Justin answered.

Realization dawned on her. "You regained your memories? All of them?"

"Not sure if all of them, but..."

Natalie understood that the memories he had regained must be painful. She tightened her grip around him, trying to comfort him. After a while, Justin turned around and looked at her.

As their gazes met, he spoke, "One should feel emotional to remember it all, but here I am—I feel only anger and a strong desire for revenge. It’s true that I was an emotionally challenged kid, who especially failed to show sadness or tears."

She shook her head. "No, you are not—"

"I worry—if our kids are born like me, what would we do?" Justin interrupted her, his concern evident in his voice. "It was so difficult for my mother to handle me. I was like a little monster who only knew anger, hurting others, or even trying to kill someone without blinking an eye. I’m still the same, but I’ve just learned to hide it behind a mask. Maybe that accident—drowning in the sea and losing my memories—must have changed something in me. But I’m still that little monster from the past, and I know it."

"Will you listen to me now?" Natalie said, after giving him enough time to say it all.

Justin simply looked at her. "Natalie, I don’t want our kids to be like me. I want them to be normal."

"You are the most normal person I had ever seen, Justin," Natalie said, her voice gentle and comforting. "Just because you can’t show your emotions like others, just because you’re unable to shed tears, doesn’t mean you are emotionally challenged. You feel every other emotion stronger than anyone else could—like kindness, care, strong sense of responsibility to protect others, compassion and so on—and the strongest of all is love. No one can love anyone the way you love.

"You say you can’t feel sadness and pain, but I say otherwise. You definitely feel sadness and pain, but unlike others, you show it through your anger. The angrier you are, the stronger the sadness and pain you must be feeling. You do feel it, you know. And I’m fine with the fact that you won’t shed tears but show it in your usual way. I don’t care what medical science says—because for me, you are not emotionally challenged at all."

Justin felt as though he had never thought of it this way before, and her words comforted his disturbed thoughts.

"Don’t say you don’t want our kids to be like you?" she continued. "In fact, I’d be happier if they were like you. You are the perfect person to look up to, and if our kids are like you, I won’t ever have to worry about them. They would be capable of fighting for themselves and protecting themselves perfectly, and I would be the happiest and most relaxed mother."

Justin stared at her for a moment before embracing her tightly in his strong arms. "I prefer your version over medical science and doctors."

"That’s so smart of you," she smiled, burying her face against his neck.

Grumble!

Just then, there was a sound—from Natalie’s stomach. Justin let go of her and she looked at him, her lips pressed into a thin line in an apologetic manner. "I didn’t know my stomach would break our moment."

He smiled and held her hand. "Let me make you a late-night snack."

Hearing that, she smiled and followed him anyway. "I’m truly starving all of a sudden."

"I know."

In the quiet of the night, their conversation continued to echo through the house, along with the sounds from the kitchen, where Justin was cooking something for his wife.