Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ novel Chapter 67

His death I felt as if something had hit my head. I could see Aren’s lips moving as he was still on the phone with Agent Collins, but I could no longer hear them. The constant high-pitch sound distorted everything else, aside from my hectic heartbeat. What the hell had just happened? Callan was the most arrogant bastard I had met. He wouldn’t bother to bribe the guards and drain Augustus’s pockets to hire an army of lawyers to get him out of that prison, but I was certain that he couldn’t have committed suicide. That just didn’t make any sense. I mumbled, “He didn’t do it by himself.” Aren looked at me. His eyes were filled with concern. He said something briefly on the phone about calling Jack later before putting his arms around me and pressing my head against his chest. “Calm down, sunshine. Calm down…” he whispered. “I’m… I’m just shocked,” I said, “but more importantly… how do you feel?” “How do I feel? Am I supposed to feel anything?” He smiled bitterly. I hugged him tightly. “No matter what, he was your brother.” He huffed mockingly. “I stopped considering him as my brother the moment he tried to drown me in the pool when we were six.”

I looked into his eyes, slightly frowning. “I’m serious, Aren.”

“So am I,” he said softly before pressing me back against his chest. “He meant to kill me that day… even though we were only kids. I fought for my life and managed to swim to the surface only after biting his hand real hard, but because I did, I was the one punished, not him. No one believed me, or rather, it was more convenient to believe Callan-the stronger son.”

I felt so much bitterness in his tone that my heart began to ache for him. My hands started to stroke his back gently as I kept inquiring, “Why was Callan considered stronger than you?”

Aren chuckled coldly. “Because I was given half the food portions he was having. I was also given food that was rotten from time to time. Vanessa was in charge of that. I would have died if it weren’t for Mei Lien. She had to steal food for me from the kitchen.”

I leaned back to look at him, my eyes filled with tears. “Jesus… Aren…” My hand went up to stroke his cheek. “What about your father? Why didn’t he do anything about it? He must have known that something wasn’t right… Why did he just allow Vanessa to do that…?”

His lips twisted into a wry smile. “My father is a selfish, ignorant man. He always pretended not to see anything, even when Mei Lien told him and begged him to stop neglecting me.” “What about your grandfather?” I asked as anger boiled the blood in my veins.

“He knew about everything, but he did nothing. He wanted to have a strong heir, so he considered Vanessa’s doing as a part of natural selection-survival of the fittest,” he said sourly.

“How could anyone be so cruel?” My tears flow down my cheeks unknowingly.

Aren brushed them with his thumb. “Does my wife feel sorry for me?” he teased, making his voice sound deeper.

I sighed and lowered my head. “I just thought that you used to have a better relationship with Callan…”

“He wanted me dead since I can remember. I have never done anything to hurt him, but I will not feel sorry because he died. I know that he didn’t kill himself since you need guts to do it. Nonetheless, he brought his death on him, so don’t expect me to feel sad after hearing the news,” Aren stated coldly.

I couldn’t blame him. Shamefully, I had to admit that there were times when I wished that Callan was dead, and yet hearing that he died just hours after I saw him made me numb. I wouldn’t call what I felt sadness. It was just… hard to process.

“This just complicates everything for everyone,” Aren squeezed through his teeth. I knew what he meant. Callan died while being arrested, and because he was a wealthy family son, it was more than certain that the family would seek justice, blaming the FBI, NYPD, and, of course, those who testified against him. The lawsuits were coming, which would probably mean that further investigation would be put on hold until the whole matter of the suicide was