Five years later, when Steven finally awoke from his coma, he could not bear to dislike Denise, even when she became a woman who picked fights with others and was evil–minded.
He knew she was a projection of their parent’s true personality. The crueler she was, the more it proved just how wicked and twisted their parents were.
He had tried to make it up to her and to look after her so she could find herself back, but…
He had a hard time breathing the moment he imagined Denise going to the slums to atone for her mistake desperately, all on her own.
He looked at Gwen and asked, “Are you willing to help me to rescue Denise?”
Gwen nodded instantly. “Yes.”
It was not because Denise had helped her before, that she did so because they had a deal.
She was simply not a person who would stand by the side and do nothing.
“Tell me, what can I do for her?”
Gwen asked.
Steven was stunned to hear Gwen’s offer. He never thought she would willingly aid him to rescue Denise without the slightest hesitation. He assumed that she would hate Denise, what with being good friends with Bethan and Yannie. She must have known the things Denise did.
Gwen smiled as though she could read Steven’s mind. “Is it that hard to believe I want to do a good thing?
Flustered, Steven shook his head. “I don’t mean that. I..”
Halfway through the sentence, he frowned and stopped himself from talking.
“You know, Denise talked a lot about you yesterday.”
Seeing how Steven was visibly struggling to reply, Gwen curled up her lips and smiled. “I know Denise isn’t really a bad person.”
That sentence shocked Steven. After a while, he curled up his lips and smiled bitterly. He stood up and walked outside as he took his jacket.
Sighing, he said, “I thought you were like the others and assumed Denise is a horrendous character. What did you two talk about?”
Gwen stood up and walked with him. “Denise said…maybe you’re the last person in this world who truly cared for her. She even said…”
She paused for a while before deciding to tell Steven everything Denise said to her. “She said she doesn’t want you to become Luke and doesn’t want to see you disappear from this world. Also…”
She sniffed and gazed into the distance. “Everyone, including me, only cares about Luke and forgot that you, Steven, are a person too–someone with his own life. He’s a real person who shares an existence in this world too. There are people who miss him and the people whom he misses too.”
After that, she looked to the side to look at Steven. “I know that you’re thinking of consulting the doctor to help me get Luke back, but that’s not necessary. I think Denise has her point too. I shouldn’t blame you for what happened to Luke. There are people who miss you too. I shouldn’t destroy everything about you just because I miss Luke.”
Steven was taken aback by her confession. He looked at Gwen with eyes widened as he found it hard to believe what he heard.
After spending a few days with Gwen, he thought he finally understood Gwen’s personality–a woman who would do anything for the man she loved.
He admired her bravery in pursuing her love. He also envied Luke because he had a woman who loved him so deeply.
It was at this moment, however, that he realized he did not understand Gwen as much as he thought he did upon hearing her confession.
Maybe he underestimated her instead.
He thought Luke was all she cared about, not knowing Gwen would think like this and feel sorry for him because he had taken Luke’s body after hearing what Denise said.
With those thoughts in mind, he said, “Actually…I’m fine.”
He knew he should have died five years ago. It was more than enough for him after being in a vegetative state for five years and waking up in Luke’s body five years later. As a person who should have passed away, he should never interfere with, or be in the way of, other people’s relationships.
Gwen paused as she looked into Steven’s sincere eyes. She did not want to continue with this topic.
“So what should we do now? Do you have any ideas on how to rescue Denise?”
Steven thought for a while and said, “I’ll bring some of my men with me to look for her in the slums. You go and look for Brettley and Thomas. If they’re still in the hotel where they were, get them to stay there longer. Whether or not I find Denise after this, I’ll go meet them an hour later.”
Gwen frowned. “What are you going to do?”
“If I find Denise, I’ll bring her to go look for Thomas and tell him everything. Based on Denise’s personality, she’d never forgive herself if she knew what she did was wrong, and Thomas never said that he had forgiven her. But, if I fail to find Denise…”
Steven narrowed his eyes. “I’ll make Thomas pay for the things he said tonight.”
With that, he straightened himself and walked out. Gwen stood there and looked at Steven leaving. She felt helpless and massaged her aching glabella. For some reason, she felt like Steven was beginning to resemble Luke.
It was not just the face…
The way he talked, and even his gaze, were starting to resemble Luke’s, especially when he said he was going to make Thomas pay. There was a moment when Gwen thought Steven was Luke. Maybe she missed him so much that she could not differentiate between both men, she told herself.
After a while, she took a deep breath and took out her phone to call Bethan. “Tell me where you are now.”
Whether or not Steven could find Denise, she promised him she would help. Therefore, she would go look for Bethan and the others as she was told.
Bethan was confused. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you once I’m there,”
Gwen answered.
After she hung up the phone, she called for a taxi and headed straight to the hotel where Bethan and the others were.
At the hotel…
Yannie was planning to leave the hotel with Thomas and Riley. It was already 10 p.m., and Riley needed to rest. After knowing Gwen was coming to meet them, she hesitated. In the end, she told Thomas to stay and that she would leave by herself with Riley.
That was why when Gwen was there, she only saw Bethan, Brettley, and Thomas in the room. Once she knew where Yannie was, her taut brow relaxed. “It’s…good that Yanie and Riley left.”
Regardless if Steven could find Denise or not, what they were about to discuss was related to if Denise had slept with Thomas. If Steven failed to find her, there would be a fight the moment he would come into this room.
It was not good for Riley to be here, and Yannie was a timid person unable to compose herself in such a scene. It could easily scare her.
“Steven is going to make me pay, he said?”
Once Gwen explained the reason she was there, Thomas sneered. He leaned back on the chair and crossed his legs elegantly. “I’ll be here waiting, then.”
He was about to let this thing slip since Denise had apologized sincerely. It was unexpected for Steven to put his feet into this matter.
He wanted to know how this man, who had been in a coma for the last five years, was ‘going to make him pay’.
Bethan and Gwen exchanged looks before Bethan walked to Brettley’s side and whispered into his ear, “Do you think you should send some people to go look for Denise too?”
According to what Gwen said, if Steven managed to find Denise, he would bring her here to apologize to Thomas again. In that way, this matter would end happily. On the other hand, if Steven failed to find her…
Brettley glanced at Bethan and said, “No. Don’t worry.”
Steven’s men were more familiar with Saigen City than his men. If Steven’s men failed to locate Denise, then it was useless for him to send his own.
Bethan paused and sighed. In the end, she went over to sit with Gwen.
The ambiance in the room turned quiet and suppressive again. Very soon, an hour passed.
They could hear footsteps coming from outside of the room.
Has Steven returned?
Gwen stormed out the door.
Steven was heading in her direction, and Gwen noticed that he was alone. She furrowed her brow and stared at him. “Denise…”
“I couldn’t find her.”
Steven frowned and sighed, his face full of despair and helplessness. “I’ve dispatched my men to search the entire city, even the slums on the outskirts of town, but none of them could find her. “When she last appeared in the surveillance tapes, she was with a strange man I had never seen before. They walked out of view of the cameras, and we couldn’t find any trace of them after that…”
Steven’s voice was full of sorrow. “Perhaps…we’re already too late.”
Perhaps Denise had taken Thomas seriously and relented to sleeping with a strange man.
Steven felt his breath catch in his throat.
Denise had lost everything she had: Her parents hated her guts, Tina had been using her all this while, and Thomas–the man she thought she loved–wanted nothing more than to see her dead.
Therefore, there was nothing else in this world for her to hold onto anymore.
Steven was terrified that he would soon receive the news that someone had discovered her dead body somewhere.
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.