Mr. Miller shook his head.
“All the information in his brain. including his memories, higher thinking, and logical reasoning, are all Steven’s.
“We simply borrowed Luke’s body as a vessel, but its core still belongs to Steven.
“This was the only way to bring Steven back to life. “The Hughes family were unwilling to accept a gangster as their son, and we, the Miller family, are unwilling to let our daughter marry a man whose heart belongs to someone else.
“Now, Steven is the perfect being, the one who strikes the perfect balance for both families.”
Clang!
Brettley squeezed the glass in his hand so harshly that it burst into smithereens. He lifted his head to stare coldly at Mr. Miller.
“Do you honestly think that Steven is perfect now?”
Brettley had previously thought that ‘Steven’ was just Luke, whose memories had been wiped. He never thought the Miller and Hughes families would do something like this!
They had used Steven’s heart to save Gwen, then wiped Luke’s memories from his mind and instilled Steven’s consciousness into Luke’s body, rendering him an entirely different person altogether!
However, Luke was also a member of the Hughes family; the unwanted son they had abandoned as a child! The only reason they had tracked him down so many years later was because Steven had ended up in a coma. Now that they had extracted Luke’s consciousness, all that remained was an empty husk of a human being, a vessel for their beloved Steven.
They loved Steven and even went so far as to change Luke into Steven! A chill spread through Brettley’s entire body at the thought of this. He was outraged by this. Luke’s life had turned out to be such a tragedy. He had been looked down on and used even until the last moments of his death.
Even though, in the end, he had crawled to the top of the food chain and become a well–feared and well–respected gangster, he failed to protect the woman he loved just because of his past.
In the end, even after Gwen fell ill, he could not protect her at all, and the only solution he could think of was to sacrifice his own life and literally give her his heart.
Little did Luke know, this would not be the death he expected.
The Miller family did not let him die at all and instead wiped all his memories, thus separating his physical form from his consciousness and turning him into someone else. He had become someone that, in their opinion, was of clean background and whose heart did not belong to another woman.
Both the Miller and Hughes family never treated Luke like a human or showed him a single ounce of respect. The only thing they wanted was Luke’s body, one that was identical to Steven’s!
At the thought of this, Brettley narrowed his eyes, and the entire room seemed to drop a few degrees colder abruptly.
“You’re saying that Luke has now become another person entirely, right?”
Not only had he lost his memories, but everything–his thoughts and cognition–that made Luke the man he was.
“That’s right.”
Mr. Miller did not dare to say more when he sensed Brettley’s anger. “You can’t call this a simple amnesia…
“Well, all I can say is that now, everything about Steven belongs to Steven, apart from his body”
Brettley tightened his grip around the glass,
Despite the broken glass cutting into his skin and blood seeping out, he could not feel a single ounce of pain
The pain in his heart seemed to surpass anything he could feel physically, This was Luke, his best friend. Even if he had not sought out the Miller and Hughes family, Luke would have given his life for Gwen anyway.
If that had happened, Brettley would have grieved and missed his best friend However, after finding out the truth, Brettley was overcome with pain and pity toward Luke The Hughes family could have thought of another solution Steven Hughes should have died five years ago. However, God had spared his life, perhaps so that Steven could live until the Hughes family tracked down Luke
The Hughes and Miller families could have allowed Luke to return to his family after donating Steven’s organs to Gwen. As Luke’s friend, Brettley knew that apart from being a skilled fighter, Luke was also a smart man that could easily pick up running a business. Even if the Miller and Hughes families did not want to choose this option, they could have helped Luke find alternative solutions to cure Gwen so that they would not need to sacrifice Steven at all!
However, they chose not to.
They had planned to take Luke’s life and render him a container for Steven’s mind since the start.
This was why they had sent Kate to Merchant City to keep an eye on Luke. This was why Kate’s feelings toward Luke had always appeared fleeting and ambiguous.
Sometimes, she would appear to be head over heels for Luke, but other times, Brettley could not help thinking that she was cold and indifferent toward him.
This was because Kate had never loved Luke at all; the only thing she loved about him was his face.
The face that was identical to Steven’s.
At the thought of this, Brettley narrowed his eyes and turned to stare at Mr. Miller. “What if I want to turn Steven back into Luke?”
Mr. Miller lowered his head.
“That’s not possible, Mr. Morrison. I know you miss your friend and long for him to return, but…”
He sighed. “There’s no way we can do that, just as there’s no way to retrieve something that has been washed away by the ocean.
“We’ve already replaced everything that belonged to Luke with Steven’s, and it’s as though his entire brain has become Steven’s brain, now.
“Even if we removed all of Steven’s memories and cognition from his mind, it’ll only render him an empty husk of a human being, but never become Luke again.”
With that, Mr. Miller lifted his head to glance sheepishly at Brettley.
“Besides the fact that his body is still very much alive, everything about Luke is already dead now. “Luke had planned to donate his heart to Gwen so she can live, and we’ve done the same, just with Steven’s heart instead.
“Since we’ve fulfilled Luke’s dying wish, you should all treat this as though Luke has truly died instead of trying to trouble us even further, isn’t it?”
Brettley’s expression turned dark upon hearing this. He stomped over to Mr. Miller and lifted him by his collar. “Since you’re capable of replacing Luke’s mind with Steven’s thoughts, you’ll surely be able to do the opposite.
“I’m going to give you two weeks’ time, and by the end of two weeks, I want to see Luke return. If you fail…”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll make it my mission to bankrupt both the Hughes and Miller families. Not only that, but I will expose all your wrongdoings and sue you in court.
“I want everyone to find out what a horrible crime you’ve committed!”
With that, he let go of Mr. Miller, wiped the blood on his white shirt, and stormed toward the door.
However, the moment he reached the entrance, the door creaked open from outside.
Kate strode into the house, clinging onto Steven with one hand while holding some shopping bags in the other.
Both of them froze in shock when they came face–to–face with Brettley. Kate furrowed her brow as a bad feeling sunk into her heart.
“What’re you doing here, Brettley? “
“What do you think?”
Brettley glanced first at Steven, then at Kate.
“I have to admit that I underestimated you, Ms. Miller.”
The color drained from Kate’s face.
From the moment she caught sight of Brettley in her house, she knew that he was here because of Luke and Steven. When she saw how pale her father looked, as well as Brettley’s declaration, she instinctively knew that Brettley must have found out about everything.
She curled her lips into a forced smile and said with a hint of helplessness.
“I never thought Mr. Morrison would be so swift.”
Brettley had only met Steven once that morning, and because of this, Kate thought she would at least have one or two days to be in the clear.
To her surprise, Brettley had managed to piece everything together within 12 hours and even showed up at her door to confront her.
She had always heard rumors about Brettley being a brilliant man, but she had never once witnessed the extent of his intelligence and quick thinking.
This was the first time.
Brettley could not help smirking when he heard this.
“I should’ve known. However…”
He glanced coldly at Steven and sneered.
“It’s not too late yet.”
With that, he reached his hand out toward Steven.
“We meet again, Mr. Hughes.”
Steven had no idea what Brettley and Kate were talking about, but when he saw Brettley extending his hand toward him, he shook it nonetheless.
“Nice to meet you again.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.