Kurt paused and quickly looked for his phone to analyze the report with Luke.
The discussion lasted until two in the morning before they could finalize a detailed plan to ensure they could save Andy. It was only then Stefan was willing to go rest.
“Boss.”
After Stefan stood up, Kurt looked at his body with a frown. “You said you’re sharing this body with your brother…but how come I never see him? Is he ever going to show himself?”
Stefan was stunned when he heard this. He turned his stiff body to face Kurt and said, “When did we meet again?”
Kurt frowned while thinking. “Three days ago.”
He continued, “Boss, does your brother really exist with you in that body? Why hasn’t he shown up before?”
At first, it worried him vehemently when Stefan told him that he and his brother coexisted in the same body. He was worried that the person he called Boss was Stefan’s brother instead of Stefan. He was worried that Stefan’s weak brother had no power to protect himself if he appeared all of a sudden when they were fighting.
However, his worry was for nothing. Stefan’s brother never appeared.
Or was Stefan’s brother just his imagination?
“Three days…”
Stefan frowned vehemently.
All in all, Steven had not made his appearance for four days.
In the past, they took turns to be in control of the body easily. Whenever Steven was in trouble, Luke would appear and Steven would appear when Luke fell asleep.
Yet, no matter when Luke fell asleep, he was still the one in control of the body after he woke up instead of Steven.
He sighed deeply. “Maybe he doesn’t want to face the world anymore.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Kurt said, “If he’s not going to appear anymore, doesn’t that mean you can reveal your true identity to Gwen? You two can get back together and live happily ever after guilt-free!”
After hearing that, Stefan’s face looked terrible. That could be exactly what Steven had in his mind and why he had not appeared.
Nevertheless…
It was not Luke’s wish to see Steven disappear. Since Luke was once dead before, he was not terrified to face death again. To him, he believed Steven needed this body to continue to live in this world more than him.
He sighed. “I guess I need to go to the hospital tomorrow.”
No matter what, he was not going to let Steven disappear.
He knew Steven wanted him to get back with Gwen, but he knew his romance with Gwen would not be affected whether he was alive or dead. Thus, he did not care at all.
He trusted Gwen felt the same way, too.
Kurt frowned. “Boss, isn’t this better? Are you sure you want to go find your brother?”
“Yes.”
Stefan nodded. “This isn’t your concern. Go rest. We need to put up an act when we meet Tyson tomorrow.”
Kurt knew there was nothing he could say to change Stefan’s mind. After a sigh, he went back to his room.
…
That night, Gwen had a dream where she saw the man she missed dearly.
After walking through the fog, she blurted, “Luke, is that you? Or you are Steven?”
“Gwen.”
The man looked at her with a sweet smile. “I’m Steven.”
Gwen was stunned. She went over and sat in front of him. “How are you doing? I asked Sean about you, but he said he has no idea where you are…”
“I’d decided to leave this world.”
Steven smiled gently at Gwen. “I want to see you and Luke get back together.”
Gwen was shocked after hearing that. Her eyes widened while she tried to grab Steven. “What are you saying? We don’t want you to do that!”
Steven avoided her, however. “Why?”
He turned and went to sit at the edge of the roof. He then said, “You two are so deeply in love with each other, and you two should be together.”
They were both on the rooftop of a skyscraper. Behind him was a sky full of stars.
His smile looked so pure and sweet. “I regret that I never had the chance to talk to Luke in person when I was alive.
“After I took over his body, I thought he’d hate me. I thought he wished he could resurrect from death and spent the rest of his life together with you…but he surprised me. Even though we never met before, he tried to be a good brother to me and tried hard so I could continue to live.
“As a matter of fact, that was all that mattered.”
He looked at Gwen. His mind was at peace. “I should’ve died a long time ago after the accident. My parents and the Miller family refused to accept the fact, so they kept me alive by making me fall into a deep sleep. I was alive, but it was meaningless. How was that different from being dead?
“Perhaps that was the best decision they could make at the time. Without their persistence, either you or Luke has to die. They were able to keep my body long enough to donate my heart to you and let you and Luke stay alive. For that, I’m very happy and content.”
Gwen wept sorrowfully when she heard that. She bit her lip and shook her head vehemently. “Steven, listen to me.
“Luke has no desire to live anymore. He wants to disappear, and he wants you to live. You don’t have to care about me. I’m fine! Without Luke, I can continue with my days. I can pretend that he’s always with me. It’s alright!
“Luke hopes that you can live and experience this world. In the past, you were restricted by your family, so now, you should have the freedom to live however you want…”
“How could I live as I please when I know how heartbroken you are?”
Steven curled his lip and looked at Gwen. “To be honest, I think there are many similarities between me and Luke. For example, he likes you…and I think I’ve fallen in love with you too.”
He chuckled. “I know I can have you and live the life I dream of if I pretend to be Luke, but I don’t want to lie to you, and I don’t want to see you live miserably. So…”
As he spread his arms wide, he continued, “I choose death and give up the chance to live.”
With a smile, he leaned back to the edge of the rooftop and fell into the darkness.
“Steven–!”
At that moment, Gwen woke up from the dream and sat upright. It took her a while to calm down to realize it was a dream. Sweat was all over her forehead.
“What’s wrong?!”
The door was kicked open as Stefan rushed in with the mask on his face. “Did you have a nightmare?”
Stefan rushed into the room as Gwen was shaken after the dream.
At first, she was stunned to see him, but her tears came pouring down in just a few seconds.
“It’s alright.”
Stefan was shocked to see her tears, but he quickly went forward to her and embraced her in his arms tightly. “It’s just a dream. It’s fine now.”
Gwen felt safe being in his arms, and the warm hug somehow brought comfort to her. She bit her lip and rested in his arms as tears trailed down her face.
“Stefan…I had a terrible dream.”
Her hands gripped Stefan’s top tightly as she talked, “It was so scary. I’m afraid the dream is going to come true. I’m scared to lose Steven…”
Stefan had his hand ready to pat Gwen’s back to soothe her emotion. When he heard her talking, he froze.
He furrowed his brow and looked at Gwen. “Who did you say you’re afraid to lose?”
“Steven. He’s very important to me.”
Gwen did not know Stefan’s real identity, so she thought he did not know Steven and Luke.
Tears continued to fall, and she wiped them away before she continued, “He’s very important to me. I don’t want anything to happen to him, and I don’t want him to leave.”
The dream flashed across her mind, and it was so adamant that she wept and gripped Stefan’s top tightly.
“I had a dream. He told me he wanted to see me and his brother get back together, so he chose to leave. But I don’t want that, and I know that’s not what Luke wants!
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.