Dominion of The Beast Masters

Chapter 80: Tragedy



The moment Eratz stepped into the living room, the air felt heavy, almost suffocating His parents and siblings, were there, face to him, for the first time in months.

Cassie stood in front of them, trembling, her face wet with tears. Her arms shook as she hugged herself tightly, trying to hold herself together.

Roger was beside her, his face filled with shock and concern. He stood like a wall between her and the confrontation, but even he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes.

They hadn't expected Eratz to come home this early, he wasn't supposed to be back until Sunday. They had hoped, prayed, that he wouldn't see this.

But now, their worst fear was unfolding right in front of them.

"Eratz..." Cassie's voice was barely a whisper.

She didn't want him to witness this, didn't want him to be a part of this ugly scene. But it was too late, it wasn't a nightmare anymore, it was a tragedy.

On the other side of the room, Eratz's parents turned their heads sharply when they saw him. Their eyes widened with surprise.

This was what they had been waiting for, the moment they could finally confront him face- to-face.

At long last, they had won, their efforts had been rewarded. Their sick, twisted wish had come true.

Kian and Lila flinched when they first saw their older brother, but they quickly regained their composure, crossing their arms, their expressions hardening as they stared at him with cold eyes.

Their expressions mirrored the anger and hatred that had built up over the year, known and always present.

It was clear, this was not just a family matter; this was a battlefield.

Eratz paused in the doorway, his body tense, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

His red eyes darkened as they locked onto his parents, the anger inside him bubbling just beneath the surface, but he didn't move, he didn't speak.

His words never found the correct intensity with which they wanted to come out, and before he could even begin, Liora's voice sliced through the tension like a whip.

"Finally!" she spat, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and satisfaction. "I knew it, I knew you'd show your face sooner or later. Those chronic liars kept saying you wouldn't come."

Her gaze snapped to Cassie and Roger, her expression one of disdain.

"As if we wouldn't eventually find him. You pathetic clowns."

Cassie winced at the words, her face crumbling slightly, Roger's hand rested on her arm, just barely holding back the urge to speak.

"Eratz," Liora continued. "It's time to stop this foolishness. Come home. You've disgraced this family enough. Living here with these people... it's beneath you."

From the corner of the room, Mercury's eyes narrowed. She didn't like the way Liora spoke about Cassie and Roger who had done nothing but care for Eratz, but also herself and Milo.

Milo stood closer to Colin, his small hand gripping hers tightly. He was old enough to understand some of what was happening but too young to fully grasp the depth of it.

He was too young to understand the truth that the troubling similitude between Liora and Eratz's faces were saying.

Colin's eyes darted between Liora and Eratz, her hands trembling as she clutched Milo's.

The tension in the room was so thick, it was almost suffocating her. She, in opposite, knew the identity of the new people in their house, and It made her chest tighten with fear for everything.

Marcus stepped forward, his face calm but his voice carrying a sickly sweet tone, like he was trying to play the part of the reasonable parent.

"Now, son," Marcus said, his voice smooth, as though he was trying to soothe the situation, "let's not make this worse than it already is. We understand that you've been... confused. That maybe you got caught up in the wrong crowd." He gestured vaguely toward Cassie and Roger, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "But we're your real family. We've always wanted the best for you."

He paused, taking a step closer, trying to reach out to Eratz.

"You know that, right? You know we just want to help you get back on track. We made sacrifices for you, son, and we also made some mistakes, but we're a family. Let's go home together."

There was a sweetness to Marcus's words that made Eratz's skin crawl. Marcus took another step forward, extending a hand, and Eratz, watching a hand who didn't exist months ago, felt the slow boil of blood starting to reach the surface.

"We sacrificed for you," Marcus added. "We did everything we could to give you a future, and I know we've made some mistakes along the way. But we're family. Let's put all this behind us and go home."

Liora, who had been glaring at Eratz with thinly veiled contempt, softened at her husband's words. She nodded in agreement.

"You've been here long enough, Eratz," Liora said. "Living with these people, wasting your time. They've filled your head with lies, made you believe things that aren't true. You need to come home, where you belong."

Eratz's breathing grew heavier, each word from his parents cutting into him like a knife.

The months of isolation after his expulsion, the layers of insults they put on him, the abandonment, everything flooded back into his mind.

They hadn't even tried to believe him. They hadn't fought for him. They had left him to rot, and now, they were standing here, pretending to care, after so long, after everything he went through, just when nothing seemed to be able to reach him.

"Confused," Eratz said, finally speaking, his voice dangerously low. "You think I'm

confused?"

Marcus and Liora exchanged glances, clearly not expecting him to respond like this.

Marcus nodded, taking another step closer, trying to maintain his role as the concerned father.

"Yes, son," Marcus said softly, "you've been misguided. We understand that. But we're here now, and we can..."

"Misguided?" Eratz cut him off, his voice rising. He looked between his parents, his red eyes burning with a quiet fury. "You blamed me for something I didn't do, you refused to listen to me, and you abandoned me, and I am the one who was misguided?"

Liora's face hardened, her lips pressed into a thin, angry line.

"Eratz, we didn't abandon you. We gave you time to figure things out. You were the one who distanced yourself. We tried to reach out, but that bitch refused to let us..."

"You're talking to ME!" Eratz's voice exploded through the room, louder and more intense than anyone had expected.

The force of it made the walls seem to close in, the air thick with a sudden, suffocating

tension.

It wasn't just loud, it was filled with raw, barely contained fury, and everyone felt it.

Cassie and Roger flinched, their bodies tensing as if the air had shifted, while Colin clutched Milo's arm tighter, eyes wide and nervous, both trembling.

Even Mercury instinctively stepped back.

Eratz's gaze burned into his mother, his chest rising and falling with each angry breath.

"I'm the one you're dealing with," he hissed. "I won't allow you to insult them again."

Liora's attitude faltered, her mouth opening and closing as if words had failed her for the first

time.

Eratz let out a bitter laugh, the sound harsh and cold.

"I distanced myself? How? I was in my own house, I was always there, all day long, since I

wasn't even allowed to go outside. When did I get distant? But you... You have a really bad

memory, haven't you?"

Marcus flinched, but he quickly regained his composure.

"We had to give you space. You were lost, making poor choices..."

"Stop taking me for a damn kid!" Eratz snapped, stepping forward, his body tense with rage,

forcing Marcus to step back.

"I told you what happened at the academy, I told you for three damn hours what happened,

but you were so busy screaming at my head that you never listened. I tried again, for six fucking days, but what happened? YOU shouted again, YOU refused to listen, You did a better job at burying me than the academy could ever do."

The air in the room felt like it had been sucked out, the silence deafening. Kian and Lila, who

had been standing smugly behind their parents, suddenly seemed unsure, their faces paling as Eratz's anger filled the room.

"Act like adults for once, You have kids, it's the proof you have balls. Say the things, You

threw me away. I didn't get confused. I didn't get lost. You just didn't want to deal with the inconvenience of having a son who was accused of aggression. You didn't even need any evidence, if it was a murder I would be dead now."

Liora's face twisted in anger, but she stayed silent, struggling to keep her composure. Marcus, however, stepped forward again, his hands out in a calming gesture.

"Eratz," he said, trying to keep his tone even, "we're not trying to hurt you. We just want you

to come home. We want to fix this."

Eratz's eyes blazed with fury.

"You want to fix this? You can't fix this. You abandoned me. You gave up on me when things

didn't go the way you wanted. You never even gave me the chance to prove myself. You didn't

believe in me."

The weight of his words hung in the air, and for the first time, there was no response from his parents. Marcus's calm mask finally cracked, his face tightening with frustration. Liora's eyes flashed with fury, but she remained silent, her fists clenched at her sides.

Eratz took a deep breath, his anger still simmering just beneath the surface. His voice dropped lower, filled with an intensity that sent shivers through the room.

"You're not my family anymore," he said, his voice steady, controlled. "You made that choice

a long time ago."

Eratz's words cut like a razor, the tension in the room snapping like a taut rope. His fists

clenched, veins standing out on his arms, his eyes blazing with fury.

Marcus's calm mask shattered, his face twisted with rage.

"You little piece of shit... You think you can talk to us like that? After everything we've done

for you? The sacrifices we made??"

"Sacrifices?" Eratz spat. "What fucking sacrifices? You threw me away the second things got tough! What kind of sacrifices have you made? Where were you to deserve any kind of reward???"

"You were an embarrassment!" Liora snapped, her voice rising with fury. "A fucking disgrace to this family! What did you expect us to do? You had a future an you ruined everything!" "That's your reason to ditching your own son?! You didn't even listen!" Eratz shouted, his voice cracking with rage. "You didn't ask a single goddamn question! The second they accused me, you both turned your backs. You didn't need proof, you didn't need the truth, you just

wanted me gone!"

Kian, who had been lingering behind Marcus, suddenly stepped forward, his face flushed with

anger, eyes glaring.

"Maybe if you hadn't been such a disgrace, none of this would've happened! You're the one who ruined everything for us!"

Lila, fueled by her brother's outburst, stepped up, her voice laced with venom.

"You're the reason we lost everything! You ruined our lives, Eratz! You destroyed everything

we built! We had to..."

"Sit down and wait till I finish with them. Don't make me come over there and show you what

real parenting is." Eratz cut their rising.

The weight of his words was enough to make Kian and Lila freeze. Without another word, theyn/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

slunk back behind their parents.

"Eratz..." Mercury's voice was low, quivering, her hand trying to reach for him.

Marcus stepped forward, his eyes narrowing with fury.

"We gave you everything, you ungrateful little shit. We built you a future, and you're the one

who threw it all away..."

"Threw it away? You think I wanted this? And how on earth does that give you any right? Why

are you here now??? What the Hell are you expecting?!"

The room was thick with tension, Roger, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke,

his voice firm.

"That's enough, all of you. This isn't helping..."

"No, this has to be said, and this has to be said now. You two, You don't get it, do you?"

Eratz's voice lowered, filled with contempt. "I don't need you. You're not my family. You haven't been for a long time now."

Liora, her face contorted in rage, finally exploded.

"You arrogant, ungrateful little bastard! You think you're better than us now? You think you

can keep playing house with these fools? We're your real family, and you'll never escape

that!"

"As if being better than you was a feat!" Eratz shouted, his voice raw.

Cassie's sob broke through the chaos, her body crumpling as she fell to her knees.

"Stop it, please, stop!" she cried.

Liora's face contorted with rage, her eyes burning. She took a step forward, her hand rising

before anyone could stop her.

A sharp crack echoed through the room.

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