Chapter 46

Aidan frowned as he asked in annoyance, “What sort of trouble is he up to this time around?” Robert swallowed slightly before revealing what had happened in a somber voice, “Well, he’s...he’s dead.” Aidan furrowed his brows in disbelief while Travis’ eyes widened in surprise - “What?” he gasped, “What happened? How could that be possible?” “The loan sharks called...and said that they’d thrown Bryan onto a construction site and forced him to do some manual labor...only for a falling construction material to hit him while he was at work...he was pronounced dead by the time that the ambulance arrived…” Aidan’s expression darkened at the news - alas, he stayed silent. Travis glanced at him worriedly, “We...we’ve got to tell Eliana about what happened. As much of a bad person that he was, Bryan was, after all, still her brother.” Aidan seemed to ponder about this for a long while before finally heading downstairs. … Eliana was in the same position that she was in when he’d left the room - she was still lying on the edge of the bed. She didn’t even flinch or move a muscle when she heard footsteps coming to the door. Aidan walked over to her - “Come with me,” he murmured in a low voice before going back to the door...only to turn back and realize that Eliana hadn’t moved a muscle. He furrowed his brows, walked back to the bedside and tugged at her, “I said, come with me.” he repeated himself. “Go easy on her, won’t you?” Travis chided as he hurried over, “Her feet are injured - why don’t I carry her out?” Instead of accepting his offer, Aidan ignored his friend and scooped Eliana up into his arms before walking out of the door. Travis did not say anything and followed closely behind them. Eliana looked up groggily at Aidan - What is he going to do to me? How does he intend to torment me this time around? Even though Aidan felt Eliana’s eyes on him, he paid her no mind - noticing this, the latter couldn’t help but sigh. You know what? Fine, whatever - he can do whatever the heck he wants to me. I hope he kills me at some point in time...after all, I’ll be free if I’m dead. Eliana soon found herself being carried into a car by Aidan - Travis thought about it for a moment before he decided to follow them. After all, he’d known Aidan ever since they were children - he supposed that his friend wouldn’t mind him tagging along, especially for something as somber as this. ... Night had already fallen by the time that they arrived at the construction site. Eliana was pulled out of the car by Aidan - she furrowed her brows slightly when she noticed more than a dozen workers huddled together and looking at something from some distance away. She was puzzled as to why Aidan had brought her to such a place. Travis arrived right after Aidan and Eliana - after getting out of the car, he glanced at the two of them before walking over to the workers. He came back after a while, shaking his head at Aidan. Aidan then turned to look at Eliana to reveal what had happened in an icy voice - “Your brother, Bryan, is dead.” he stated monotonously, “He was hit by a falling object and died on the scene a few hours ago.” Appalled by this unexpected piece of news, Eliana’s legs gave way as she crumbled onto the ground, only to be supported back up by Aidan, who grabbed the former by the arm. Eliana squatted slightly as she looked at where the workers were through hazy eyes - Bryan...my brother...he’s...he’s dead… “Bryan...he’s dead?” Eliana whispered so softly that you almost couldn’t hear her. “No, that can’t be possible...how could he possibly be dead? No, it can’t be…perhaps they’d mistaken him for someone else?” As she thought about this, Eliana placed her palms against the ground to support herself up and staggered forward - she wanted to see for herself if that person was Bryan or not. Aidan tried to pull her back and carry her away, only to be shoved back by Eliana. She warned, “Don’t you dare touch me.” Aidan’s eyes flashed with anger - fearing that he might do something rash, Travis stepped in and stood in between the two of them. The former glared at his friend at this - alas, all he did was mutter under his breath and not do anything. The workers stepped aside to make way for Eliana when they saw her coming through - she immediately spotted a man lying on the ground. His head had been covered with a pair of dust-coated overalls, and the soil directly beneath it was absolutely soaked through with crimson red blood… No, it can’t be him...it can’t be Bryan! Bryan was born into a wealthy and distinguished family, a silver spoon in his mouth from the very day that he was born...how could it possibly be him? No, it can’t be… Even though Eliana was trembling violently, she reached out with shaky hands to lift the overall so that she could see the face of the corpse. Even though Aidan tried to stop her, Eliana ignored him and pulled the clothing off forcefully. She burst into tears as soon as she saw the corpse’s face…