Seeing Balfourâs silence, Marcus squinted, as if heâd pieced together something. âIf Miss Ellinor and I werenât married, then why would I have stolen her child?â
Balfour snapped back to reality, glaring at him darkly. âIâd like to know why you, a scoundrel, would steal a child.â
Marcus looked at the somewhat irritable Balfour and calmly asked, âSir, may I ask your name?â
Balfour responded coldly, âBalfour Howard.â
âAnd your relationship with Miss Ellinor?â
âSheâs my sister.â
Marcus nodded. âI see. Your anger towards me is because you think Iâve wronged your sister.â
Balfour huffed. âWronged her? The harm youâve done to her is far more than any simple word could convey!â
Marcus pondered calmly. âSince I canât remember anything, I canât offer any explanations for your accusations.â
The usually polite Balfour couldnât help but grit his teeth. âSo, youâre telling me that should just let you go? Let you and Sophia live happily ever after with the child you stole from my sister?â
Marcus replied, âThatâs not what I mean. In fact, I donât trust Sophia. If I did, I wouldnât have asked you to meet me here while sheâs out.â
Balfour paused, studying Marcus with suspicion. âIf you donât trust Sophia, then why donât you leave her and seek the truth yourself?â
Marcus smirked, glancing down at his crippled legs. âDo you think I can just up and leave her? Mr.
Howard, since you know both Sophia and me, you must also know what kind of power Sophiaâs family holds in M State. Iâm an amnesiac invalid. I canât run, and I canât ask for help because I canât remember anyone I once knew.â
Balfour looked at him sitting in the wheelchair, noticing that he was a shadow of his former self. Marcus was pallid, with an air of sickness about him. It was indeed impossible for him to break away from Sophiaâs control.
âNow that Iâve found you, I can take you back to where you belong. Will you come with me?â
Marcus shook his head. âFor an amnesiac like me, your words and Sophiaâs are all the same. Itâs hard for me to fully trust either side.â
Balfour scoffed. âSo, you still want to stay with Sophia?â
Marcus lowered his gaze, deep in thought. âBecause I do have a son who looks exactly like me and Miss Ellinor, you seem a bit more credible.
I wonât rashly go with you, but I donât intend to stay with Sophia either.
In this situation, if I go with you, Sophia wonât let it go, which could harm innocent people.
Sophia plans to take me and Tristan to a private island she bought after settling her fatherâs assets to live in isolation from the world. Before that, I hope you can help me, Mr. Howard.â
Balfour narrowed his eyes. âWhat kind of help are you asking for?â