Chapter 228

“Gabriel, I am scared,” Isla whispered into the phone. Her voice was low, almost shaky. “I don’t know what is wrong with our son.”

“You don’t need to be scared of him, Isla,” Gabriel replied calmly from the other side. “Lian is just different. That’s all. You only need to keep guiding him and talking to him.”-

“That is exactly the problem,” Isla said, rubbing her forehead tiredly. “It doesn’t look like the boy is doing anything wrong, Gabriel. Yet his attitude feels wrong for his age. He talks like an adult. He reasons like an adult.

Sømetimes, it feels like I’m talking to someone older than me.”

Gabriel chuckled softly. “I think you’re overthinking it, my love,” he said gently. “Some children just mature faster than others.”

Isla sighed. “Maybe.”

“I have to go now,” Gabriel added. “My meeting is about to start.”

“Okay,” Isla replied quietly. “Bye.”

“I love you, my love,” Gabriel said.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

The line went dead.Ista lowered the phone slowly and stared at the blank screen for a moment.

This was not the first time she had talked to Gabriel about Aurelian. She had raised her fears many times before. And every time, Gabriel brushed it aside like it was nothing serious. To him, their son was simply special.

But Isla did not see it that way.

In her heart, a child should act like a child. He should play, laugh loudly, get dirty, and do silly things without thinking too much. Aurelian did none of that. He watched more than he played. He listened more than he spoke. And when he spoke, his words carried weight-too much weight for a seven-year-old boy.

She didn’t want him to be different.

She wanted him to be normal.

Yet she knew there was no such thing as “normal.”

Everyone had something strange about them. Everyone carried their own burden in one way or another. Still, this was different.

Isla knew she wasn’t supposed to be this worried about what a seven-year-old did. But Aurelian was not like other children. He didn’t behave his age. He didn’t think like his age.

And that terrified her.

She walked toward the floor-to-ceiling glass window ofher home office and stood there quietly. Her arms folded across her chest as she looked out into the backyard.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus.

Aurelian stood outside, talking to a group of guards. From where she stood, it looked like he was explaining something to them. No-lecturing them.

Isla’s heart skipped.

Was she overthinking this too?

The strange part was not just that he was talking to them.

It was the way the men stood. They listened carefully.

Their heads slightly bowed. When Aurelian finished speaking, they nodded respectfully and bowed to him before walking away.

Isla’s fingers tightened against the glass.

No. This was not normal.

That was the last thing Isla could handle.

At that moment, something inside her snapped. Fear rushed into her chest so fast that she almost felt dizzy.

This was no longer funny. This was really getting out of hand. And she knew it then, that she had to do something about the boy.

She could not keep watching and pretending that everything was fine. She was his mother after all. It was her duty to protect him, guide him, and make sure he grew up right. There was no way she would allow this to continue like nothing was wrong.

But just before Aurelian walked away from where he stood, the boy suddenly stopped.

He slowly looked up to that window, his eyes met his mother’s through the glass window.

And then -He smirked.

Not a childish smile. Not a playful grin. It was calm. It was confident. The Knowing type.

He slipped his hands into his pockets and turned away, walking off like nothing had happened.

Isla froze completely.

Her heart stopped beating for a second.

“This… this is not possible,” she muttered, her voice barely audible.

At that very moment, Isla could swear that she had just seen Alfred Wyndham standing there-inside the body of her seven-year-old son.

A cold chill ran down her spine. Goosebumps rose all over her skin. Her legs weakened and she stumbled backward, shaking her head over and over again.

No.

No, it couldn’t be possible.

How? It felt superstitious, but she knew what she had seen. She recognised it clearly. And she refused to believe that she was imagining things or losing her mind. This was not madness. This was not a coincidence.

Yes, Gabriel and his brothers all shared Alfred Wyndham’s sharp looks. Even John looked like his father. So she understood why Aurelian carried that same face.

But that was not the problem. Wass it?

She could accept the resemblance.

What she could not accept was the attitude.

Sebastian and Elara looked like her. They laughed like her.

They played like normal children. They acted their age.

But Aurelian?

Even when he smiled, there was something unsettling about it. Something too mature, something too calculated.

That was the problem.

***

Hours later, Isla finally left her office and joined her children in the sitting room. She sank into the sofa and turned on the television, trying to calm her thoughts.

Sebastian and Elara sat on the rug, playing together. This

time, they were playing an educational game, laughing softly as they tried to solve puzzles.

Isla smiled despite herself. Her heart swelled with warmth.

The news played on the screen. It was about the next election. Isla found herself listening closely, even nodding once or twice.

Then, suddenly, something hit her. She had three children, not two. She turned her head slowly, to the side.

Aurelian sat on the armchair nearby. His sitting position was not new—one leg crossed neatly over the other, his back straight. What made Isla uneasy was not how he sat,

‘ but what he was watching.

He was focused on the news. He looked so invested in it.

He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t bored. But there was a strange expression on his face, like someone quietly pleased with their thoughts.

Isla frowned slightly.

How could a child his age find this interesting? Things like this should bore him. He should be restless, distracted, or asleep.

As if he could read her thoughts, Aurelian spoke.

“Mom,” he said calmly.”Yes?” Isla replied at once, startled.

“Do you like politics?” he asked.

“What?” The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it.

“Politics,” he repeated, turning his head to look at her. “Do you like it?”

Isla stared at him.

What did a seven-year-old know about politics? And why was he asking her this?

But then, something inside her relaxed.

Nothing he did or said could scare her anymore. She had already crossed that line.

So she answered honestly.

“No, I don’t,” she said. “But it is necessary.”

Aurelian nodded slowly and turned his eyes back to the television “Same with me,” he said. “I prefer security matters. That’s my favourite.”

Isla narrowed her eyes slightly. Then she smiled.

Was Aurelian… having a conversation with her?

If that was the case, then this was good. Very good.

Aurelian never discussed anything with anyone. Healways stayed on his own, except when he spoke to the estate guards.

Isla leaned back into the sofa, feeling calmer than she had all day.

Maybe this was her chance to reach him.

If she talked to him more, listened more, and stayed close, she might finally understand her son.

And that was all she wanted.