Chapter 23

“Ellie...Ellie, please, help me! I can’t go to jail - you know I can’t! I’m the eldest son of the Harvey Family - what would mom think if she were to see me get thrown into prison? She would never be able to rest in peace! Please, please Ellie, I beg you - save me...please…” Bryan pleaded anxiously. Ellie didn’t know what to say in reply - she simply stared back at her brother, completely tongue-tied and at an absolute loss for words. “Ellie, please - our family has always loved and doted on you. You are the reason why the Harvey Family has ended up like this - yet, no one has ever blamed you over the past two years. Don’t you think that you’re being too cruel by sending me off to prison? What would mom say? Do you think that she would ever forgive you for doing this to me?” Eliana swallowed and tried her best to hold back the tears that had welled up in her eyes and the guilt that was bubbling up within her - Yes. It’s true. It’s all my fault - I was the one who’d destroyed the Harvey family. I was the one who’d killed my mother. I was the one who’d brought pain and agony upon my father and brother. I was the one who’d ruined my own life. Everything...it’s all my fault… ...but why is Bryan, my very own brother, doing this to me at this very moment? He’s putting words into my mouth and claiming that he’d done things that he’d never even done...just what is he playing at?! “So, what now?” Aidan piped up as he whipped out his phone, “Shall I call the police on you now?” he said to Bryan, whose eyes went wide with helplessness and despair. Just then, Eliana chimed in - “No, please don’t. That won’t be necessary.” the former said in resignation - even though everything that her brother had just uttered was completely untrue, she had no choice but to go along with it for he’d brought up her mother; there was no way that Eliana would ever go against her mother, whom she’d already disappointed and let down. And so, Eliana was left with no other choice but to go along with everything that Bryan was claiming had happened - “Yes, I remember, I remember everything - it’s all...it’s all my fault. I was the one who’d conspired everything - Bryan has nothing to do with this at all.” Aidan’s face instantly hardened at this “revelation” - even though Eliana had always been an unscrupulous and despicable woman in his eyes, he never thought that she could stoop this low. Then again, he couldn’t help but feel unsurprised at the “revelation” - after all, destruction was all that Eliana seemed to be capable of. Bryan turned to look at Aidan - he begged apprehensively, “Please, brother-in-law…” “Don’t you ever call me that again.” Aidan cut him off coldly before he could complete his sentence, “After everything that your repulsive sister has done, you have no right to call me your brother-in-law.” “Okay, okay - but please, Second Young Master, as my sister had confessed, I have nothing to do with this matter. You should be holding her responsible, not me - so please, just let me go...please…” Bryan stammered cowardly. “Fuck off.” Aidan spat coldly. “Alright, alright - I’ll fuck off, I’ll fuck off right now.” Bryan spluttered as he turned to dart out of the room as quickly as he could. He sprinted off so quickly that he didn’t even bother to glance back to look at his weary-looking sister, who could do nothing but watch on as her back-stabbing brother walked out on her. As soon as Bryan shut the door behind him, Aidan whipped his head around to jeer at Eliana, “Eliana, oh Eliana - are you still going to insist on being this stubborn? You’ve dug a hole for yourself so deep that you’ve become a laughing stock - how much worse do you want to make everything, hmm?” Eliana swallowed her pride and muttered, “Well, since I’ve...since I’ve already confessed what I’d done, how I’d wronged my mother...I promise that I would make it up to her - I’ll make it up to her...with my life.” Aidan scowled, “Do you really think that you can fix everything by dying? Dream on, Eliana - I want you to continue to suffer to atone for the gruesome and treacherous sins that you’ve committed. I want to make your life a living hell.” Isn’t it already a living hell - how much worse can it get? Eliana couldn’t help but scoff internally - she shot back, “Alright, so you what me to live huh? But what about your precious Laura, whom you love the most in this entire world? You know that me living would mean her death, right? Would you really let her die just like that?” “Of course I wouldn’t,” Aidan retorted ruthlessly, “Not under my watch - but when your body recovers, I’ll be sure to gorge out your liver and give it to her - it’s what you deserve after all of the misery and suffering that you’ve caused her, you vicious woman.” Eliana could do nothing but to stare back at the man whom she’d once loved to the moon back - never would she have thought that things would end up like this. … Meanwhile, Bryan whipped out his phone and punched a number as soon as he was out of the hospital - when the call got through, the person on the other end sneered, “Didn’t I tell you not to call me without my permission?” “Aidan got me to confront Eliana,” Bryan replied nervously. “What? Did you do it?” “Of course I didn’t say what actually - I already told you that I would throw Eliana under the bus just like you want me to. Laura...don’t you forget what you promised me.” Laura chuckled, “Of course, don’t you worry, cousin - unlike Eliana, I’m not an ungrateful and disloyal person who ditches her family altogether once she finds a man to provide for her. I’ll honor my promise and ensure that you become the President of the Harvey Family Group as long as I retain my position as the wife of the President of the Niren Group.” Bryan immediately sighed in relief at this. Just then, Laura thought about the liver transplant that she badly needed but had yet to undergo - and so, she said into the phone, “Oh, by the way, cousin, there’s just one more thing that I want you to do for me…”