The storm raged fiercely, carrying a biting cold that gripped and pierced his heart. The disappointed gazes of the people around him felt more painful than the cold air. They seemed unable to believe the reality before their eyes.
His face and body were adorned with reddish blotches, and on his slender neck, the love bite was clearly imprinted, like a lingering burn mark. Azka didn't even know how all those marks could have appeared on his body.
"Didn't Mom tell you, Azka? Don't wander around at night, especially going to nightclubs and drinking alcohol!" His Mom's voice trembled, reflecting her anger and frustration. "Your alcohol tolerance is low, Azka! You can't drink alcohol!"
"Look at yourself now!"
Azka was silent, looking down dejectedly. His fingers tapped against each other, the only sign of his unease. "Sorry, Ma... Azka thought it wouldn't be like this if he only drank a little alcohol with friends," his voice was soft, almost inaudible. "B-but it wasn't Azka who started it, Azka doesn't even remember anything."
Madeline Sinclair, Azka's mother, sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips, looking at her disheveled youngest son. His hair was messy, his clothes were rumpled, his eyes were swollen, his lips were puffy, and the red marks on his body were hard to hide. Whatever happened last night at the nightclub had left Azka in this chaotic state.
Azka looked up when he heard his Mom's footsteps getting closer. He didn't dare to look at the face of the woman who had raised him. In just one night, his mistake had broken his Mom's heart.
The woman crouched in front of him, then lifted Azka's bowed face. Her eyes were watery, almost tearing up. She caressed Azka's still slightly chubby cheeks, making him look adorable. Especially when he cried like this, like a lost little fox.
"Ma..." Azka choked, his voice barely audible. "Forgive Azka, Ma... Azka really didn't know this would happen. It's even hard to remember anything."
"Azka only remembers being with friends, Ma. Then suddenly, Azka woke up naked in a room," he said softly in a trembling voice.
"Mom has told you many times, your alcohol tolerance is nothing like your Dad's and your brothers'. Why did you still drink it? How much alcohol did you guys drink?" his Mom snapped. How many more times did she have to explain that Azka's body couldn't tolerate alcohol?
Previously, their family had even done ALDH2 and ADH1B genetic tests to find out how low their children's alcohol tolerance was. All of that was done to prevent unwanted incidents in the future. But look at Azka's condition now!
And how did the Xavier family manage to find Azka's location? It was all thanks to his friends who finally confessed to taking him out to have fun without the family's bodyguards. Azka and his five friends disguised themselves so they wouldn't be recognized, but that reckless act had put them in danger.
When Azka's friends lost track of him, they tried to find him in various ways, including through the nightclub's CCTV footage. However, all they found was footage of Azka being taken away by a strange woman in an unknown direction.
Azka nodded, wringing his fingers anxiously.
"You have no idea how worried we were when we got news that you and your friends weren't at the penthouse at all! The guards couldn't find you, and we only found out about your whereabouts after one of your friends told us that you disappeared, taken by an unknown strange woman," his Mom said, her voice trembling as she held back her emotions.
The mystery of how his family got his new number was solved. It turned out, his five friends were the ones who gave it to them.
"You are such a naughty boy! Since when have you disobeyed your Mom like this? You have to find that girl as soon as possible!" his Mom snapped. "Find her quickly and take responsibility!"
Azka's ears felt like they were ringing from his mom's thunderous shout. Now, he could only stare at his mom with wide, watery eyes. His lips trembled, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to spill.
Seeing Azka's pitiful face, the woman's heart melted. Endearingly, she ruffled her son's hair. "Go take a shower and clean yourself up!"
Azka grabbed his mom's hand as she was about to leave. "Mom won't kick Azka out, right, Ma?"
The woman was silent. Slowly, she turned around and looked at Azka, who was looking down with a pleading gaze. Her feelings of annoyance, disappointment, and all her emotions were replaced by pity.
Madeline sighed. "Mom won't kick you out... unless you don't find that girl as soon as possible! Now go take a shower!"
Azka nodded. Tears streamed down his cheeks, then he let go of his Mom's hand and walked unsteadily towards his room. He intended to clean his dirty body.
Arriving at his room, Azka immediately opened the bathroom door and closed it tightly. He took off his clothes one by one. Under the shower, he cried his heart out. Feelings of regret, shame, and fear mixed into one.
After showering, Azka's face looked fresher as he gazed at himself in the mirror. His eyes, which were previously swollen and puffy, began to subside. Likewise, the sadness and tightness in his chest slowly lessened.
However, the wounds on his body still stung. Suddenly, the reflection in the mirror showed his Dad standing in the doorway, making Azka jump in surprise.
"Dad?" Azka stammered.
Noah Xavier, Azka's Dad, smiled faintly. In his hand, the man held a tube of cream.
"Don't put it on. Lie down, let Dad treat your wounds," his Dad said, stopping Azka who was about to put on his clothes.
Azka was silent, looking at his Dad with a confused gaze. Slowly, he followed his Dad's instructions, taking off his clothes and lying on the bed. A chill still enveloped his body, but now curiosity and doubt began to gnaw at his heart.
Noah sat on the edge of the bed, opening the tube of cream he had brought. His face looked serious, but his eyes were full of affection.
A soft hiss escaped Azka's lips as his Dad's fingers applied the ointment to the red blotches on his body. This made Noah sigh, especially when he saw the red rash circling his son's wrists and ankles.
"Women are indeed terrifying," Noah murmured, recalling when he had experienced something similar. When his wife, who was weak against alcohol, had attacked him all night without enough rest.
His wife had only drunk a glass of alcohol that he had mixed into her soup to warm her body. However, something unexpected happened when his wife instead attacked him all night due to the effects of the alcohol.
Azka, his son, indeed inherited many similarities from him and his wife. However, if observed more closely, Azka tended to resemble his mother more, both in his likes, attitude, and very low alcohol tolerance. Both of them were easily affected by alcohol, even after just drinking one glass.
Unlike his mother who could become wild when drunk, Azka tended to be more silent and helpless when alcohol took over him. Seeing his son experiencing all this and having previously claimed to remember nothing, he could only guess that Azka's condition at that time was completely out of control.
Perhaps that was what caused Azka to spend a hot night with a woman at the nightclub, ending up like this.
Hmm, he was curious. How many glasses did Azka drink to end up like this?
"What do you mean, Dad?" Azka asked confusedly when his Dad said that while applying ointment to the red marks on his body.
Noah shook his head quickly and immediately changed the subject.
"Did that woman ever tie you up, Azka?" Noah asked, touching his son's wrist and applying ointment there.
Azka hissed in pain, then shook his head quickly. "I don't know, Dad. Azka doesn't remember anything right now. Only a few things Azka can remember," he said honestly.
"Like what?" Noah asked seriously.
Azka closed his eyes for a moment. "Like Azka went and drank at the nightclub with Azka's friends. Then..." Azka hesitated a little and paused his sentence, feeling embarrassed to say what he remembered.
"Then? Then what?" his Dad asked curiously.
"Then Azka kissed a woman and only remembers how that woman was on top of Azka's body," he said, burying his face in the sheets. He felt ashamed to say all that to his Dad.
"But... does Azka remember that woman's face?" Noah asked, frowning. He was still trying to dig up information from his son.
Azka shook his head faintly, only a murmur was heard. "That woman had long blonde hair. As for her face, Azka doesn't know. That's all Azka can remember."
"Did that woman know that you come from the Xavier family? Did she take advantage of that opportunity to spend a hot night with you so she could become a member of the Xavier family if she gets pregnant with your child and enjoy our family's wealth?"
"But, Dad thinks that's unlikely. If that girl really had such a motive, she wouldn't have left you alone in the nightclub room."
"Could it be because your handsome face made her crazy about you and willing to spend a night with you? Or maybe you were both so drunk that you spent the night together, then the girl woke up and chose to run away before you woke up, considering it all just a mistake?"