“Do you know those photos are fake? Why won’t you listen to my explanation and misunderstand me?”
“Sorry,” Hamish lowered his head, not daring to look at Elisa. He could imagine how disappointed she must be.
He feared Elisa leaving him, and even more, her words of “let’s end this.”
“Is that all you can say?” Elisa’s face was expressionless as she turned to look at Hamish.
His hair was disheveled, dark strands filled with dirt and debris, as if he had been rolling around somewhere. There were bloodstains on his white shirt, and his face bore wounds.
Elisa asked, “How did you get these injuries?”
Hamish’s hand, hanging on his thigh, suddenly clenched into a fist, his jaw tightening. Afraid that Elisa would worry, he wanted to say it was an accident, but before the thought could fully form, Elisa ruthlessly cut it off.
“No lying.”
The root of their problems was misunderstandings, mutual suspicion, and lack of trust. Regardless of whether the lies were well-intentioned, they shouldn’t continue.
Hamish admitted, “I got into a fight with Finn.”
Elisa wasn’t very surprised. “I thought as much.”
“You guessed?”
“I figured it out while having dinner with him. He’s been sowing discord. I thought it was just a little scheme, but I didn’t expect to fall into his trap,” Elisa said with a touch of bitterness in her expression.
Seeing Elisa’s dejected look, Hamish felt panicked. He wanted to reach out to hug her, but he didn’t know how to do it without hurting her. All he could do was blame himself, “It’s my fault. I was too afraid.”
Elisa never expected to hear the words “afraid” from Hamish. He had always seemed proud and arrogant to her. He was not good at apologizing or admitting his mistakes, let alone expressing fear.
Perhaps it was related to his environment and his status. In his world, problems were solved, not feared. Negative emotions like fear would only hold one back, and Hamish had always been someone who pushed forward with determination.
Now, as he looked at her with fear in his eyes, Elisa was deeply moved, but along with that came worry.
“Can you tell me why you’re afraid?” Elisa asked.
Hamish didn’t hide anything from Elisa. He honestly recounted everything he had experienced with the Burns family. The struggle for inheritance, his parents’ fatal car accident, and the son born to Finn, who shared the same father as him.
“Finn is your half-brother?” Elisa was surprised. She had thought Finn might be a business rival or even an enemy, but she never imagined they were actually blood-related brothers.
One named Snearl, the other named Burns-the Burns family was so extensive, how could they tolerate Finn’s surname? Elisa had never thought about it in that way.
“Yes, he believes that my parents caused his mother’s death. After joining the Burns family, he never changed his surname and stuck with his mother’s. He’s vindictive, always vying with me for the same things, including people. He can go to any lengths for a purpose, and his mind is insidious. Sometimes, I can’t see through him,” Hamish explained.
Elisa couldn’t help but shudder. She finally understood why Finn had approached him.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I was furious at the time, and when he sent me those photos, and you…,” Hamish lowered his voice involuntarily, “In short, I was wrong. I won’t misjudge you again.”
In reality, she was also at fault. If she hadn’t overthought and had been completely honest, there wouldn’t have been any misunderstandings between them.
To resolve the misunderstanding, Elisa didn’t want Hamish to kneel anymore. She softly said, “Get up. I won’t lie to you again, and I will definitely stay far away from Finn.”
She detested people with ulterior motives. Knowing Finn’s true nature, she wished to stay as far away from him as possible.