To Save Our Families, Let's 'Marry' (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 12

By the time the two pretty men had returned to the office – following multiple detours for water, coffee, the bathroom and 'forgotten' belongings, as if they were two students prolonging their return to class – the mood had significantly shifted for the worse. While the Lore's and Reyes' has been ecstatic at how close their second sons were, the Q Group had struck again, leaving Samuel raging to his parents as he paced back and forth.

Both Joshua and Henry immediately felt guilt bubble within them, they had been childish cowards, avoiding returning to the meeting, only to find something had gone horribly wrong, something far more important than this sham of a marriage.

"Samuel, calm down. Breathe."

"Absolutely not!" the Reyes heir snapped back at his mother, his face lit red in anger. Henry immediately went up to his brother, stopping the pacing, as Joshua silently slipped back into his seat. "What happened?"

"The damned Q Group, of course! They tried to run Meera down! Outside the hospital! She miscarried again last week; she does not need this shit!" Samuel was trembling as his roar of a voice resonated throughout the office, his reaction suddenly making complete sense to everyone.

Up until now, all anyone else had seen was him receiving a short phone call from his wife's bodyguard followed by him revealing the Q Group went after his wife. No one had known the whole story.

Everyone in the Reyes family knew that Samuel and Meera had been trying for children over the past year, however it has come to multiple failure. The wife, whenever finding herself pregnant, would suddenly be ailed with high blood pressure, which in turn would elevate her stress levels dangerously high and resulting in a miscarriage.

Since the couple had started trying, they had succeeded in getting pregnant three times, however the unborn child would never make it to the end of the first trimester. The couple eventually stopped telling their family if Meera was pregnant or on any developments with the treatment; quite the feat when considering they live in Samuel's childhood home with his parents.

In reality, the miscarriage last week brought them to a staggering six miscarries over a 12-month period, and it had taken a heavy toll on both of them.

While the Lore's did not know about Samuel's wife's tragic pregnancy record, they did know the effects a miscarriage could have on someone. Hanna's younger sister having brought her life to an end due to the crippling depression she was faced with when she lost her own unborn child.

The temperature in the room had dropped considerably.

Henry's face, while not dramatically changed, had formed a serious frown. Despite his usually youthful look, at this moment he gave off a feel of cold maturity, not someone anyone would dare to wrong. However, this tough exterior hid just how guilty the young man felt; he should have been here from the beginning instead of parading around to avoid his parents.

"Is she alright?"

"According to Gar, she is mostly unfazed. But you know Meera, she's being tough. I told him to drive her here."

There was a moment of silence as Henry let go of his brother with a nod, stepping back. The silence was quickly broken by an unwavering voice.

"We have to go public with everything today. They are already involving other patients in Penelope's ward and now trying to kill your wife in bare daylight. Unless the Q Group understand the merger is not our desperate retaliation to their expansion, these attacks are not going to stop." Everyone looked to Archer as he spoke, not even giving Henry and Joshua a chance to even question what he had said about the Q Group and Penelope's ward.