I gasped and peeked into the room, risking being caught. Nikolai, thankfully, was looking back at Matthew, who, instead of lying unconscious, was sitting now, his eyes filled with tears. He had tossed the oxygen mask to the bed, and the computer still kept beeping, obviously set to beep no matter what.
"What are you doing? What are you doing to yourself, Matthew?"
Matthew swallowed hard, then used the back of his hand to wipe the tears away. "I.... I love her, Nikolai. I do."
"This isn't love."
"Then I don't know what else it is. Mum claimed to love me so much that she adopted you just so she could conveniently give you up to dad and keep me with her, knowing dad was what he was, but I still watched her cry for you every night. I watched her bake a cake for you on the day she adopted y
