Mr. Kane Got Blacklisted (Stella and Keegan) novel Chapter 1641

There was a bottle of water beside Stella’s feet. It did not seem like she had the intention to end her life.

Marshall heaved a sigh of relief upon thinking about that.

There was a very steep drop just less than six feet away from Stella, and Marshall dared not to startle her. So, he sat down not far from her and accompanied her in silence.

It was past noon. Although the sun shone brightly, it felt chilly at the mountaintop.

Stella wore a windbreaker. It did not look very thick, and her exposed earlobes turned bright red from the coldness.

“Stella…”

Marshall called out to her softly.

Stella remained still, and Marshall did not know if she had even heard him.

Marshall gazed at the distant mountains surrounded by mist and spoke again after some time, “I had a younger brother called Ryan who was two years younger than me. Not only that he was adorable and well-behaved, but he was also incredibly smart too. He could say plenty of simple words before he was even a year old. He always had a smile on his face, and almost everyone who met him liked him.

“I was never a talented person, and I was always slower to learn compared to other kids my age. I was also introverted, and not many people in my family liked me. My mom often took her anger out on me, but when Ryan came along, the family’s attention shifted away from me to him. He was the reason why I could finally be myself, so I liked him a lot, too.

“The time when Ryan was born was one of the happiest times in my life, but it didn’t last long. On the second Thanksgiving after his birth, our aunt returned from overseas to celebrate with the family. Everyone was busy welcoming her.

“She brought a beautiful toy car from abroad for us. We loved it and played with it in our room.

“Many things were happening in the house, and all the adults were busy. The nanny who was supposed to take care of Ryan said she was going downstairs to prepare some fruits, but she didn’t come back up for a long time. Ryan started groaning as if he was not feeling comfortable. I thought he was thirsty, so I took his bottle and tried to feed him some water.

“So, I started becoming more diligent. I worked very hard to be like Ryan just so the adults could like me more. However, Grandpa still thought that I was dim-witted, and my mother just couldn’t seem to forget about Ryan.

“Then, I thought about how much better things would be if it had been me who died. But do you know what Keegan said to me?”

Stella, who had been sitting still, finally had some reaction upon hearing Keegan’s name. She tilted her head slightly away from her knees. Her eyes were swollen and red behind

her disheveled hair.

Marshall continued in a hoarse voice, “He said I was just a child, so why would the adults expect a child to handle something that even they wouldn’t be able to handle properly? The adults were only blaming me because they couldn’t own up to their own negligence. But Ryan wouldn’t. He’d always remember how much I loved him. Did you know that the first word that he learned to speak was ‘brother’?”

Marshall turned his face away, trying to calm himself down. After some time, he spoke again, “Stella, this world is full of uncertainties and hardships. You can grieve and feel sad, but life must go on. Uncle Wenham, Trevor, your grandparents, Felicity, and all your friends, we all want the best for you. I’m sure that this is what Keegan wants, too. Although he had left us, he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”