'Something has happened to Bryce?
What could have happened?'
Lance had said it in such a serious and worried tone, surely it couldn't be a joke.
The manner in which he had spoken, anyone would worry about Bryce and would want to know if he was in some trouble!
"Lance, are you serious? What are you talking about? What happened to him? Didn't you tell me that your people had lost track of him and couldn't find him? What is this now?" Gabrielle was apprehensive. She just couldn't believe it.
"Listen to me, Gabrielle. My men found Bryce this noon. He was in a bad state, all covered in blood. It seems like he had escaped from somewhere. After my men took him to a safe place, they reached out and informed me. But Gabrielle, he is seriously injured." Lance didn't want Gabrielle to worry about Bryce anymore. But he couldn't hide the fact from her that Bryce was severely injured. She had every right to know about his condition.
"Tell me, where did your men find him? From where do you think he escaped? How could he end up with blood all over his body? You're telling me that he is seriously injured. How serious is his condition?" Gabrielle was anxious. "Tell me!" she shouted.
Whatever had happened between them was a different thing. Bryce had been her brother for many years. Though he disliked and hated her, he was her nominal brother. She regarded him as her sibling, even if he didn't.
She had often thought that he would be punished for all that he had done. But she didn't expect that it would be such a serious punishment.
"Honestly, he is very badly injured. Fortunately, he's still alive. Don't worry, I've hired the best doctor for him. But I'll need to go to Bangkok to see him personally. Only then, I can tell you about his condition." Lance was actually telling the truth. He had not seen Bryce himself so he couldn't tell exactly about him.
Only after seeing Bryce in person, he would be in a position to tell about the specific situation.
As a matter of fact, Lance wasn't even sure that there would be news about Bryce so soon. He had never thought that they would end up getting a bad news.
And that news came unexpectedly, when it was at Christmas.
"Seriously injured? He's alive now? If you're saying like that, then it must be really serious. You haven't set out yet, right? Where are you now? I want to come with you to Bangkok." Saying that, Gabrielle quickly hailed a taxi and got in.
"In that case, come to my place. There is no flight to go there now. So, we will have to take a private plane." Lance didn't want to take her along with him. But he knew he wouldn't be able to convince her to stay back.
He was confused. On one hand, Bryce was in serious danger and he was afraid that Gabrielle might not be able to take it.
On the other hand, she was so worried and anxious about Bryce, he felt it would be wrong to leave her. She had every right to be there.
Gabrielle urged the driver to increase the speed all the way. Finally she arrived at Lance's villa in the shortest time.
"Lance, tell me everything now. Please!" As soon as she got off the car, she ran inside to meet Lance. Once she got hold of him, she just couldn't stop her questions.
Earlier, whenever she asked Lance about Bryce, he always told her there was no news about Bryce. And now, suddenly there was this terrible news.
It was horrible to even imagine the trauma he was in.
"Gabrielle! First thing you need to do is calm down. I can't take you with me, if you don't calm down. Bryce is injured and is in a coma. We won't know what happened to him until he wakes up. But before he fainted, he blurted a name. I think it was the name of the person who imprisoned him." Lance stopped abruptly and stared at Gabrielle.
"What's the name, Lance?" Gabrielle was eager to know who it was. But at the same time, she was scared of whose name would come up.
She was apprehensive because she already had made a guess. There was already a name in her mind.
"Gabrielle, you are well aware and close to that man now." Lance looked at her calmly as he spoke. He was anxious because he didn't know how to tell her the truth.
"I'm aware and close to him?" Suddenly, it looked like a secret had revealed itself upon Gabrielle.
She took a deep breath and said, "Lance, just tell me the name." She didn't want him to speak in riddles. She just wanted him to tell her the name said by Bryce before he fainted.
She didn't care about anything or anybody now. She just wanted to know the name of the person, who had imprisoned Bryce in Thailand.
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