Chapter 284: Things Were Far From What They Seemed
Susan died.
From the police report, her car had ran into a tanker truck, she died immediately from the impact. They identified the driver by running the plate number, and from there they conducted their investigation.
Kayden was listed as her only emergency contact, which was why he received the call.
But it wasn’t just the news of Susan’s death that came, with it came the news of his mother’s passing.
That day at the hospital, Brooke couldn’t get it out of her head.
"Hey, old man, what the hell do they mean by my mother’s dead? Why am I the only listed emergency contact? What the hell?!" Kayden grabbed Julian by the collar, lifting his feet off the ground.
Crying, Brooke tried to separate them, but Thane held her back. He signalled the guards just standing by to intervene, which they promptly did.
Struggling against their hold, Kayden yelled, "Tell me! What do they mean my mother’s been dead for years?! Tell me, you coward!" His demands left Julian completely unable to speak.
On one hand his sister had just been pronounced dead, and now he had his son agonizing over his mother’s covered up death.
Tears filled his eyes, "I’m sorry, forgive me." Was all he could say.
Kayden could see the hurt in his eyes, and knew instinctively that he had been decided. The strength left his legs, causing him to collapse onto his knees, his spirit completely broken.
Brooke tried to go over to Julian, but Thane held her back by the elbow. "Where do you think you’re going?"
"He’s hurt, I want to be there for him." She said, her tone pleading.
Thane sighed, "Come with me." He said, then pulled her away with him towards the nearest corner.
Once they were out of hearing distance, Thane said to her, "We’re going home. It’s late, and you have a scene to shoot tomorrow morning."
But Brooke did not comply. "What do you mean? How can I shoot when they’re going through so much-"
He cut her off. "Their family is going through a lot, not yours. Brooke, I’m your family, in case you’ve forgotten."
"Not everything has to be about you Thane, Mr Julian let himself get stabbed because of me, the least I can do is be there for him." She argued.
"Brooke-"
She peeled his touch off and walked off, ignoring Thane’s voice calling out to her.
She went over to Julian, who refused to get off the floor and helped him to his hospital room. The whole night, she stayed next to him, holding his hand and listening to him cry about his regrets.
The night was long and chaotic. While Kayden and Julian mourned Susan, Brooke and Thane had met another stumbling block in their relationship.
The next morning when Julian woke up, he surprised Brooke when he asked her to leave the hospital.
"How could I leave when you’re in such a state?" She sniffled, her eyes scanning his pale features.
Julian replied, "My son wants nothing to do with me anymore, he completely resents me. I heard you and your husband get into a fight last night, you can’t afford to ruin your relationship because of a coward like me."
Brooke shook her head, "He’s just being hard headed-" her eyes watered, as with each word she said the sadness in her chest continued to swell.
She had barely known the woman. She met her just for some hours. And yet....and yet...
Julian rested his hand on her shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze, "Brooke, I’m the hard headed one. You got into a fight with your husband because I was too nosey. Don’t miss your shoot because of my family’s mistakes."
Brooke wanted to point out that while he tried to comfort her, his hand was still shaking, his body was still feverish from crying all night, his eyes were still swollen. He looked like a mess, but he was telling her that he was fine.
She sniffled.
’This must be how I seem to Mr Grayson.’ she reasoned, wiping her tears.
She got up and gave Julian a tight embrace, crying into his shoulder, she said, "Please, if you need me, just call and I’ll be here as quick as I can."
He gently rubbed her back, "I’ll be fine. I know Susan wouldn’t want me to break down like this. For any of us to act like this." He assured her, leaving Brooke with those parting words.
Outside the hotel room, Brook, was met by Cassie and Serena, who were dressed in all black.
"Cassie, what the hell are you doing here?" Brooke balled her fists, her anger rising.
Serena twisted her lips into a smirk. "Brooke, that is not how someone in mourning should sound. Unlike you, once we heard about Susan’s death, we rushed to comfort Julian-"
Brooke cut her off. "Enough with the bullshit. I know that you two aren’t capable of empathy."
Cassie faked cried, "My aunt just passed and you’re out here causing a scene. Aren’t you ashamed?"
Brooke glared both of them down. To Cassie she threatened, "If I find out, that you had anything to do with what happened to Susan..." she walked forward and whispered loudly, "I’ll kill you myself."
Her words sent a shiver down Cassie’s spine. She looked at Brooke to see if she was joking, but the bloodlust in her gaze was unmistakable.
Watching Brooke walk away, Cassie sharply asked her mother in a lowered tone, "How did you manage to take care of that pest?"
But Serena was just as stunned as Cassie. "I didn’t do anything."
Cassie scoffed, "Then that brother of yours finally decided to be useful?"
"No, this wasn’t Scott, he had no idea about any of this. All last night he tried calling Sarah to know what happened to the plan, but she still can’t be reached." Serena revealed.
"What? Then did that bitch really die because of an accident?" Cassie questioned, on the verge of laughing out at her good luck.
But Serena had a feeling that things were far from what they seemed.
*Grayson Mansion*
Thane reached into his drawer and pulled out the brown envelope he had earlier from the hospital. He reached inside and pulled out a piece of paper, a report.
A test result rather.
He narrowed his eyes at the names written closely to each other, Brooke Larson, Julian Reginald and at the word spelled out in bold capital letters at the bottom of the DNA test result.
POSITIVE
After he had finished reading through it, he folded the result back into the envelope and shoved it back into his drawer...
Author’s Note: The first arc is officially over. And we will begin the next arc as swiftly as possible. Anyways, sorry for the late drop guys.
Quick question, who is your favorite character from the first story arc and your least favorite character.