“But… even though she treated me like that, I never thought of killing her, forcing her to death, or harming her…” The man’s voice trembled with pain as he spoke each word slowly and deliberately.
Leland Burns tried to vent the deep-seated anguish in his heart, but it was futile. The pain remained as intense as ever.
No matter how much others beat him or how much he fought back, some pains lingered deep inside, as if only by cutting out that piece of his heart would the agony cease.
Pinned beneath him, Garrison Reeves’s face contorted with rage, his eyes bloodshot and glaring. “You never thought of it? But her death is because of you! If you hadn’t stubbornly taken her away from me, she wouldn’t have died!”
Leland Burns’s expression hardened, a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes. “Taken her away from you?”
He stood up and stomped on Garrison Reeves’s chest with force, an action full of humiliation. Garrison Reeves struggled in fury but couldn’t break free; Leland Burns’s foot held him down like a giant clamp.
Leland Burns looked down at him with deep-set eyes. “She was never with you. How did I take her away from your side? Do you even know what it means to be together? Did you sleep with her? Share a bed, spend every day together? Did you ever touch her?”
Each question from Leland Burns was like a slap to Garrison Reeves’s face, turning it from pale to red.
“If it weren’t for you, she and I would have been married! Leland Burns, so what if you touched her? You never had her heart. She always loved me from childhood to adulthood. To her, you were just a stand-in! Do you think having her body means being together? No, you’re the one who doesn’t understand what being together means. You’re a disgusting worm who only knows how to fantasize, forcing a woman and taking pride in bullying the weak. You’ll never understand the feeling of loving someone and being loved back. You’re truly pitiful!”
“Shut the hell up!” Leland Burns kicked Garrison Reeves hard in the waist and abdomen, producing a loud sound.
Garrison Reeves spat out blood immediately. His men finally reacted; one stepped forward to protect and support him while another blocked Leland Burns from attacking further. Only the assistant stood aside, looking lost.
Ms. Protich rushed out without even opening an umbrella when she heard the commotion inside. She feared Leland Burns might kill someone in his rage. She quickly intercepted him. “Mr. Burns, he’s bleeding already, stop…”
Seeing Garrison Reeves coughing up blood reminded Ms. Protich of Winifred Dawson, realizing he must be someone she knew well.
“If Miss Dawson knew about this fight, she wouldn’t be happy…”
Leland Burns said coldly, “I want to kill him!”
Garrison Reeves coughed up blood while laughing like a madman. “Go ahead and kill me, Leland Burns! If I die, I’ll join Winifred in the afterlife and reincarnate together. Next life, I’ll meet her first.”
The first one to arrive always wins; no matter how powerful you are, Leland Burns, once missed is forever missed-a stand-in remains just that.
Leland Burns tried to rush forward but was held back by Ms. Protich. She urged Garrison Reeves’s men to take him to the hospital immediately.
Two subordinates carefully helped Garrison Reeves up while the assistant held an umbrella over him. As they walked away, Garrison Reeves turned back for one last look. His once-white shirt was now stained with blood and mud.
Their eyes met briefly; Garrison Reeves smirked mockingly or perhaps self-deprecatingly. Blood at the corner of his mouth made his face look as pale as paper.
Leland Burns didn’t move again; even without Ms. Protich holding him back, he wouldn’t have charged forward. He stood still as he watched Garrison Reeves leave through the gate and get into a car until it drove away.
Standing in the pouring rain felt like being pelted with stones-painful.
Ms. Protich released him gently. “Mr. Burns, it’s raining heavily; you’ll get sick if you stay out here too long. Let’s go back inside; take a shower and rest well without thinking about anything else… We still need to wait for Miss Dawson’s return…”
There were 15 days left until the three-month mark; they both knew Winifred Dawson probably wouldn’t come back this time-she couldn’t be found.
Leland Burns looked at Ms. Protich; when he had locked her up here hoping to force Winifred Dawson’s return, Ms. Protich’s hair was still black. Now it had visible strands of white within such a short time frame. Standing in the rain with him, her hair clung wetly to her face; her clothes soaked through made her look frail and worn out.
He noticed Ms. Protich holding his arm and was about to pull away when he realized his pinky finger was bare.
“Where’s my ring?” Panic set in as he asked urgently, “Have you seen my ring?”
Ms. Protich let go and looked at his open hands-both empty of any rings he had worn for half a month.
She shook her head slowly: “I didn’t see it… Maybe it fell around here…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Leland Burns bent down frantically searching for it; rain seemed to weigh down his back inch by inch until he squatted on the ground looking for it desperately.
This path was covered in pebbles with overgrown weeds due to neglect-it would be hard finding such a small plain ring without any decorations here.
Still unsure if it had fallen nearby or not,
Leland Burns searched frantically-his face twisted in agony worse than when Garrison Reeves had beaten him earlier-looking lost and helpless while trembling hands sifted through sharp stones until kneeling on muddy ground digging faster harder almost self-harming trying desperately paying some unknown debt through pain inflicted upon himself
Ms Protich watched helplessly unable approach fearing worsening situation seeing man who’d lost something vital feeling he’d die without it like bird losing wings fish out water.