Gwen pursed her lips upon hearing this but did not reply. After a long time, she finally sighed and said, “Alright. I promise.”
In the past, she had failed to consider that Steven, too, was someone with loved ones and family. Since Steven and Denise were both willing to pay the price of what had happened…she did not have the right to continue depriving Steven of the right to his life and freedom, and he was not at all obliged to do anything on behalf of Luke.
This was the best outcome any of them could ever hope for.
“Thank you.”
Denise let out a sigh and got off the bed, then sat down in Bethan’s chair. She stared at the audio files on the laptop screen and asked, “These are all the recordings of the conversation between Steven and Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, correct?”
Gwen fell silent for a moment, secretly a little annoyed by the fact that Denise had sat down in Bethan’s chair and looked at her laptop without permission. On second thought, after what Denise just said, Gwen decided not to be so cynical about this.
After all, there was nothing else on Bethan’s laptop besides these recordings since Bethan had already delegated her work before coming to Saigen City.
Seeing that Gwen did not stop her, Denise went ahead and clicked on another audio file.
It was a conversation between Steven and another person.
“Hi, I’d like to inquire about a question I’ve been having. If someone’s mind and consciousness have been replaced …is there a way to regain everything?”
Gwen’s entire body stiffened when she heard this.
Denise, too, was shocked to hear this. A split second later, she smiled wryly and said, “Ms. Larson, you heard my brother–he, too, wants to make things up to you in the best way he can.
“He has no idea that you even planted the recording device on him, so he’s not just saying these for your sake.
Gwen bit her lip and clenched her fists.
Denise was right; Steven was not faking this for her sake.
Did he truly want to return Luke’s body?
Did he know that since his body had already been buried and his heart transplanted to her, replacing Luke’s thoughts into his body would…effectively erase everything about him?
Returning Luke’s body to him meant that he, Steven Hughes, would die.
At the thought of this, Gwen bit her lip and could not help wondering if she had been too harsh on Steven.
In the past, she always thought Steven was a spiteful person that hated her above anything. She never thought that Steven would turn out to be such a kindhearted, selfless man.
“That’s extremely difficult, Mrs. Hughes.”
The other person’s voice quickly pulled Gwen back to reality.”
Erased and evacuated thoughts can never be recovered, or rather, it’ll be a long, extremely difficult process. “If you truly want to try, I can help you with that, but you must reconsider all this. If you want to regain all the thoughts and consciousness of the person whose body you’re occupying…it will mean that everything about you will gradually be lost. Can…”
The man paused for a moment. “Can you accept that?
“This will be no different from committing assisted suicide.”
A long silence.
Finally, Steven’s voice rang out in determination, “I’m willing to accept this.
“None of this belonged to me in the first place, and besides…there’s someone out there who loves and misses the owner of the body I’m occupying, and I don’t ever want to see her sad.”
Gwen could no longer hear anything Steven said after that.
She bit her lip, and despite her gaze remaining on the laptop screen, her thoughts had already drifted far, far away.
These days, all her interactions and conversations with Steven flashed through her mind.
Then, a memory of Luke.
The two of them were lying on the roof at midnight, stargazing, with Luke’s arms around her.
He curled his lips into a smile and said, “Gwen, sometimes I really wish we could go back in time.
“If only I hadn’t gone into this business, and if only I had met you before I became a gangster.
“Sometimes, I wonder if things would be better if I became a kind, handsome gentleman with a good family background and education.
“If I were someone like that, no one would ever dare to bring up your past, and everyone would give us their blessings.
“Gwen, I really hope that if we do meet again in our next lives, we won’t have to deal with something like this again.”
Gwen bit her lip and wrung her hands when she recalled this.
When Luke had said this to her, she thought he was just spouting nonsense.
It was after a long time that she finally realized these were his deepest, most heartfelt thoughts.
He truly thought he was not good enough for her, and he blamed himself for the things that happened to her, which was why he had chosen to sacrifice his life in exchange for hers.
However, by chance, he accidentally became Steven, the kind, handsome gentleman he spoke of.
Gwen closed her eyes.
Denise was right; she had misunderstood Steven.
When Steven first said he would return Luke’s body, she thought he was just trying to provoke her. This was why she was so furious when she heard this.
However, at this moment, she could not help second guessing herself when she heard the recording.
She had slipped this recording device into his pocket without him noticing, so Steven could not have known they were eavesdropping on him.
Therefore, all the things they overheard…were his true thoughts.
“Gwen.”
Denise sighed when she saw Gwen staring dazedly at the computer. “Do you now understand why I hope you’d leave my brother alone after all this is over?
“Your existence causes him tremendous guilt, and he truly wants to return everything to you and Luke.
“He’s a kind–hearted soul, and he’d rather sacrifice himself just to return what was rightfully yours and Luke’s. He’s not the selfish person that you think he is.”
A twinge of pain shot through Gwen’s heart.
A split second later, she opened her eyes and turned to stare at Denise. “Don’t worry; I promise I will stay away from Steven after all this is over.”
Steven would never force her and Luke to stay apart just for himself, so how could she let such a selfless person give his life up for her?
She was the one who should not even exist.
On the balcony.
Bethan let out an exhale and regained her composure before finally dialing Yannie’s number.
Denise wanted to know what was going on with Thomas, and in Bethan’s opinion, no one would know this better than Yannie.
Yannie picked up the phone almost immediately. “Hello, Bethan.”
Bethan pursed her lips. “Yannie, how…how are things on your end?”
Yannie paused for a moment, then turned to glance at the Thomas room. With the help of the doctors and nurses, was slowly putting his clothes back on. “I…can’t say.”
For some reason, Thomas had suffered amnesia regarding the events that had transpired. He could not remember anything that happened at Howard Mansion, or, to be precise, he could not seem to recall anything that happened after Senior Howard got shot.
His memory seemed to have stopped there.
However, he could vaguely recall that someone had spiked his food, and he had some recollection of sleeping with a woman, but he did not know the identity of said woman.
Therefore, at Rachel’s suggestion, Yannie decided to admit that she was the one whom he had slept with to stabilize his emotions.
This seemed to be the answer Thomas wanted to hear. It seemed to also significantly reduce the guilt of realizing he had harmed his own father.
Therefore, with the doctors’ and nurses’ help, Thomas was getting ready to go visit his father.
Yannie sighed, and as she glanced at Thomas out of the corner of her eye, she could not help feeling even more defeated.
Every time she thought of what happened between Thomas and Denise, she could not help feeling as though something was crushing her. Just to keep Thomas’ emotions in check, she had no choice but to pretend that she was the one he had slept with.
However, no one seemed to be concerned about her feelings throughout all this. It was as though her thoughts and feelings did not matter in the face of such events.
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.