Chapter 108. Isaac and Lucas.
Isaac sat in the quiet of his room, staring blankly at the framed photograph placed on the table in front of him. A single white lily lay beside it, wilting slowly—just like the warmth that used to fill his chest.
The picture was from the funeral—Lucas, captured mid-smile in a photo he used to hate. "It’s too cheesy," he had complained once. But Isaac had always loved it. It showed a rare softness on Lucas’s usually stern face, a vulnerability that only Isaac ever got to see. Now, it was all he had left.
He reached out and brushed his fingers against the glass, as if he could still feel Lucas’s warmth through it.
A lump formed in his throat, tightening unbearably.
"I thought I’d have more time," Isaac whispered.
The memories came in a flood—uninvited but relentless.
He remembered the first time he saw Lucas—truly saw him. Back then, Isaac had been shadowing Adrian from a distance, tailing him with an old telescope from the top floor of a nearby building. It was ridiculous now that he thought about it. Creepy, even. But he had been so... lost. Not in love with Adrian, but obsessed, infatuated by the chaos that swirled around his half-brother’s life.
That’s when Lucas had appeared.
He had come to Adrian’s apartment building on a cloudy afternoon, medical bag in hand, dressed in his white coat and wearing his usual scowl. Adrian was pregnant at the time—something Isaac hadn’t even been able to process properly. Lucas checked him over like a professional, never smiling, never speaking unless necessary.
But Isaac had caught it—the flicker of concern in Lucas’s eyes. The quiet patience in his voice. The way he wiped Adrian’s forehead with care, even as Adrian swatted his hand away.
Isaac had leaned closer to the telescope lens, heart thudding oddly.
Who was that man?