How could Luke return when all his memories and consciousness had been erased?
“I don’t know either.”
Luke shook his head. “The last thing I remember is laying on the operation table after sending you to the hospital, waiting for Brettley and Jim to fulfill my wish. They promised me that they’d take care of you after I was gone, and I, too, believe that they’d do as they said. Therefore, I intended to end my life right then and there. Soon after that, I became unconscious, but…
“The next time I regained consciousness, I felt as though I was trapped in an enclosed space, watching you meet Steven through his eyes…”
Luke closed his eyes. “The truth is, I was happy to see you and Steven getting along so well. I’m grateful that you still harbor so much love toward me, and I’m happy that Steven seemed to genuinely like you and that you had a chance of starting your life afresh, but…”
He fell silent for a moment, then reached out to touch his own face. “I never thought Steven would seek the doctors’ help to free me from his body. Even though the doctors kept emphasizing to him that the medications that would do so carried a risk of causing split personality disorder, he still chose to take it…”
He sighed and added, “Perhaps this is the result of that. Perhaps I’m just one of the multiple personalities that manifested as a result of the medicine he took and that eventually, I’ll have to return to his body.”
He gently took Gwen’s hand in his and said, “Please take good care of yourself, and don’t hurt yourself anymore for my sake.
“Please don’t try to forcibly release me from Steven’s body after this; it won’t be fair to him. Even if I can only exist as a split personality of his in the future, I still hope his disease can be kept under control.”
As he said this, Luke turned to stare at Brettley and Bethan. “I’m sorry, but I think I’ll need you to help me take care of Gwen in the future.”
Finally, he turned to glance at Thomas. “And you–I’m guessing you’re the reason Steven lost control of his emotions and broke, which allowed me to come out temporarily.
“I know you must’ve been through a lot of pain and suffering, but since Denise has already learned her mistake, you shouldn’t take things too far.”
Thomas scoffed when he heard this. “I thought that as a gang leader, you’d be cutthroat and merciless, but I’m surprised that you’d say something like this.”
He gave a stretch and added, “I never said I wouldn’t show Denise mercy; she was the one who had agreed to my task on her own terms.
“Before you appeared, I had been talking to Brettley about what to do with Denise. Since she appeared genuine, I wouldn’t be too harsh on her even if she failed to meet my task.
“Without the Hughes family protecting her, she’ll be all alone, and even if she did cross me in the past, she wouldn’t be much of a threat to Yannie and me in the future. Besides, she seemed to be really remorseful of her mistake, so I hadn’t meant to challenge her even further, but…”
He lifted his head to glance at the man standing before him. “I never thought Steven would be so angry over this that his split personality would be triggered, but I guess it’s not exactly a bad thing.”
He glanced at Gwen as he said this. “Isn’t this what you wanted all along? Now that Steven has become Luke again, you should be happier than this.”
Gwen furrowed her brow and squeezed Luke’s hand upon hearing this.
“Even though she had indeed hoped for me to return at the beginning, things have changed now,”
Luke interrupted Thomas in a stern voice. “She’s learned to respect Steven and his right to live.
“I’ve been watching everything through Steven’s eyes all this while, and I saw Gwen trying to stop Steven from eating the medicine that would restore all my memories.
“She’s a kind person, and she had committed the mistakes she did in the past because she missed me too much. I’m sure that she won’t be so harsh on Steven in the future.”
With that, he shot her a meaningful look and gently stroked the skin on the back of her palm. “I know you miss me, but Gwen, when I first tried to save you, I had intended to sacrifice my life in return for yours.
“Even if Steven hadn’t appeared, I would’ve died anyway, so even though I was tricked out of my memories and nothing went according to my original plan, the outcome turned out to be the same. “You should return home with Bethan and Brettley after all this. I don’t hope to see Steven become a psychiatric patient, so please stay away from him in the future–it’s not good for either of you.”
Gwen nodded, tears brimming in her eyes, but she could not force herself to let go of Luke.
The truth was, she understood everything Luke was telling her.
She had known for a long time that she should stay away from Steven, but she could not do so; she could not help being reminded of Luke every time she laid eyes on him.
However, since Luke had finally returned, she felt that she could truly move on for good.
She would never forget him, not in a million years, nor could she ever bring herself to fall for another man. However, she knew that it was time for her to leave Steven alone.
The people at fault here were the Hughes and the Miller family, not Steven. He had the right to live the rest of his life in peace.
At this thought, she sighed and asked, “Luke, will we ever see each other again?”
Luke’s arm stiffened around her waist. “I…I hope that won’t be the case. I’m worried that Steven’s body won’t be able to handle this well. After all…”
He took a deep breath. “He’s my twin brother, after all. Even though I had never been blessed with the love of a familial bond in my life, I’m still grateful to have such a kind and considerate man as my brother.”
The entire hallway fell silent.
Gwen nodded, his arms still around her waist in an embrace. “I know…
“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of all this.”
After having gone through so much, she was no longer the naive girl she used to be.
Even though there were times when she had the urge to take her own life and join Luke in heaven, the moment she witnessed Luke’s personality splitting out of Steven….everything changed.
The truth was, taking her own life would not be the release she wanted.
The best choice she could make was to return to her home and live her life the way he would want her to.
After all, she was aware that Luke’s body was still alive, and his consciousness was still kept within, just that he was unable to access it.
If Luke’s memories and consciousness had not been removed somehow, that meant he had not died at all, even if Steven was the new owner of his body.
Luke did not die; he was just learning to get along with his brother, albeit in a “hidden” state.
Therefore, Gwen no longer sought to take her own life to join Luke.
After settling all this, she would return to Sea City and start her life afresh. She would do as Luke said, and leave Steven’s life once and for all.
However…she would still check in on him from time to time.
This was more than enough for her.
“Good girl.”
Luke lowered his head to stare at her, caressing her hair gently. “I’m sorry you had to go through this. I promised you a long time ago that I’d be here for you forever, but I didn’t keep my word…”
Gwen shook her head. “No, I don’t blame you.”
Luke had not known what the Hughes and Miller families wanted to do. He truly meant to sacrifice his life in exchange for hers, so how could she blame him for this?
How could she be mad at the man who was willing to give up his life for her?
“Alright. I have things I need to say to Brettley, too.”
He gently pressed a kiss on her forehead, then turned to smile at Brettley. “I never thought I’d be able to see you again.”
All of a sudden, he realized that he had misworded himself, and quickly added, “Or perhaps I should say, I thought my life had ended the moment I laid down on that operating table.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
Brettley strode over and pulled Luke into a hug. “I’ve sought some researchers ‘help in figuring out the situation between you and Steven, hoping to find a solution to this, but I never thought this day would come so soon.”
Luke chuckled. “That’s because Steven secretly switched out the medicine that Kate gave him, and recently, he’s been eating some other pills that would loosen his control of his consciousness, which was why I was able to break free momentarily.”
With that, he let out an exhale and said, “I have something important to talk to you about.”
Brettley fell silent for a morment, then immediately understood what Luke wanted to talk to him about. He turned around and led Luke into the booth.
“Are you going to ask me how your subordinates are doing now?”
The only people that Luke was still worried about the moments before his death, apart from Gwen, were the subordinates who were near and dear to him.
Luke nodded. “How are they doing now…after I left?”
“That’s a long story.”
Brettley curled his lips into a smile. “If you had come out early, you would’ve been able to talk to Sean.
“Sean has gone to help out in your business. Even though Jim was reluctant about letting him take over your gang, he still abided by him in the end.
“Sean had come over to visit Steven and check in on how you were doing.”
Luke fell silent upon hearing this. “Does this mean that…everyone knows I was tricked out of my own body?”
Brettley was silent for a moment.
Even though he, too, did not want to hurt Luke’s ego…
“I guess you don’t have to say anything anymore.”
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.