Bryant had no intention of being merciful today.
"What about Mike? Do you remember him?"
Valerie became even more flustered at sound of the other man's name. She opened her mouth to say something but Bryant continued to talk.
"In order to get rid of Baker's rival, you used Leon to deal with Mike. You claimed that Mike molested you but..." Bryant paused. He felt that it was not appropriate for him to say something like that because he himself was a man so he changed his tone. "Was that true?"
The truth was that Valerie loved Baker back then, but she was not loyal to him.
Bryant knew her very well. Why?
Because, out of all the members of the Feng family, only Valerie treated him with kindness. She talked to him and helped him. She probably didn't think much of it back then, but to him, she had given him the rare gift of familial warmth affection.
So he paid special attention to her.
Aside from being smart and hardworking, Bryant was also good at observing people.
Valerie might have been good at pretending, but she was only scheming on the surface.
Without an inclination for conspiracy, how could one bear to live with a big family? It was a necessary skill in order to survive.
So Bryant thought there was nothing wrong if Valerie was a little scheming. At least she hadn't killed anyone. She didn't have the courage to do that.
He just hadn't expected his cousin to be the unfaithful type.
Bryant turned his gaze back to Valerie. It was not a look of anger or disgust but one of disappointment.
Just the mere idea of disappointment made people tremble with fear.
Everyone was afraid of disappointing the people they cared about.
When someone calmly expressed their disappointment toward another, they easily destroyed the fortress that the other person had built around their heart.
That person's spirit would crumble like sand and float away with the wind.
At the moment, the person that Valerie trusted the most was Bryant.
So when she saw the disappointment in his eyes, she became even more devastated. She covered her ears.
"Stop it! Please."
Bryant looked wordlessly at her for a second longer before going downstairs. When he returned, he had a glass of warm water in his hand.
"Drink some water first."
"Okay." Valerie's voice sounded nasally. She accepted the glass with lowered eyes.
After drinking two mouthfuls of water, she felt a little better.
She wished that Bryant would not continue this discussion.
But that seemed unlikely.
He pressed on.
"And the time that you pretended to commit suicide? That was very gutsy of you." Bryant sounded so calm that Valerie couldn't tell whether he was praising her or scolding her.
"You're good at swimming and capable of holding your breath for up to three minutes underwater. You thought that jumping into the sea was your only way out. Others thought that you wanted to die back then, but you didn't." A smile appeared on Bryant's face. This time, she could tell that he was praising her. "You made it."
Valerie remained silent.
"You went down this road out of your own volition. You should also be responsible for the consequences of your choices. It's a pity that you aren't. It was your decision to leave with Baker. But without his family's support, he was unable to give you the extravagant life that you were used to, and you openly disliked him for it. I can guess the reason why he beat you."
Valerie's face paled once more. She hadn't expected him to know this.
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