Chapter 259: Chapter 259

Chapter 259:

As the rain lightened, the journey became significantly safer. The car moved under forty miles an hour, the heater working efficiently. Perhaps the warmth had caused Eileen to gradually feel her discomfort. The remnants of the drug that had knocked her out were still in effect. The warmer she got, the colder her clothing felt. She leaned back in the passenger seat, curling up and glancing at the man beside her. “I’ve been missing for so long, dressed like this. How can you still believe nothing has happened?” Her voice was soft yet distinct in the quiet of the car. Bryan kept his eyes on the road and responded firmly, “If something had really happened, you’d be looking at a corpse.” His entire focus was on Eileen’s safety.

He feared that delay might lead to something irreversible happening, making Eileen unable to stand herself. He knew Eileen well. Feeling somewhat frail, Eileen closed her eyes to rest.

Though it was the wee hours, the hotel was brightly lit, and the guests who had checked in were gathered in the lobby. Megan was nowhere to be found in the hotel except in Kian’s room, which the hotel manager hesitated to enter.

“Which room is Kian in?” Bailee asked. “If you’re too scared to barge in, I’ll do it.”

The manager was visibly shaken and reluctant to get involved. “Ms. Brooks, please, calm down. Didn’t Mr. Dawson just call to say he found your sister? Why don’t we wait for Mr. Dawson to return, alright?” The information from hotel guests was confidential. He could inform Bryan because of Bryan’s high status, but… he couldn’t tell Bailee this. If he told Bailee and Kian sought someone to blame, how could he justify his actions then?

Bailee instantly understood the manager’s hesitation. “Are you aware that I’m acting on Mr. Dawson’s behalf right now? If Megan or Kian gets away, do you think you won’t be held accountable?”

The manager felt resigned. He pondered briefly before making a quick decision. “I can only give you Mr. Warren’s room number; I won’t accompany you upstairs.”

“Okay.” Bailee was not stupid. She knew better than to barge in recklessly, especially since she was no match for Kian in a fight. Her role was simply to block the door and wait for Bryan to return with Eileen. She grabbed the room card for Kian’s room and headed straight to the fifth floor, picking up a broom on the way.

𝒍𝒂tｅ𝒔t 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 gαlnovels.ｃοm Upon reaching Kian’s room, she used the broom to block the door from the outside. When Megan noticed the rain had eased and tried to escape, she found the door wouldn’t budge. Panic set in. She said anxiously, “Kian, Bryan must have found out something! If he gets angry, you have to help me!”

Kian didn’t care. Since he had no plans to leave, he figured the door would eventually be opened from the outside. “Just calm down. Stay here and stop talking,” he said, a bit sleepily, wondering what Bryan was doing now. Were Bryan and Eileen arguing? Would they break up?

After taking Eileen back to the hotel, Bryan helped her into her room for a hot shower and changed her into dry clothes. Then, he felt ready to handle other matters. “I’m going downstairs to see Kian. Do you want to rest here or come with me?” he asked Eileen.

“I’ll come with you.” Eileen didn’t feel sleepy at all. She put on a coat and followed Bryan to the fifth floor.

In the hallway, Bailee had procured a chair and was sitting by the door to Kian’s room. Seeing Eileen and Bryan emerge from the elevator, Bailee quickly got up and rushed over to Eileen. She embraced Eileen tightly, tears streaming down her face. “Eileen, I was terrified! It’s pouring outside. All I could think about were those horror movies where the villains hide the bodies in the wilderness,” she said.

Her biggest fear was Kian losing control and asking someone to harm Eileen. She didn’t care about anything else as long as Eileen was safe.

“Don’t say such things.” Bryan found Bailee’s words overwhelming. With a dazed expression, he asked, “Where are they?”

Bailee quickly wiped away her tears, pointed to the door she had barricaded, and said, “That’s Kian’s room. We’ve looked in the hotel and can’t find her. I think she’s hiding in there!” Then, she turned back to the door and tried to take the broom off the handle.

“Wait!” Bryan abruptly stopped her. He gazed at the door sternly for a moment before turning to Eileen. “It’s getting late. You should get some rest. Leave this to me.”

Noticing that he was about to let go of her, Eileen quickly said, “Be smart about this. At least don’t kill anyone.”

“Don’t worry. Killing him is too lenient; make him wish he was dead,” Bryan said.

After hearing Bryan’s repeated reassurances, Eileen and Bailee headed back to their room. Bailee said, “Eileen, the moment Bryan discovered you had gone missing, he rushed out into the storm to find you. He said he was risking his life.” At the time, Bryan had only suspected something was amiss with the car that had left in the downpour, but he hadn’t been certain.

He had been risking his life to go out in the rain, knowing his delay could mean greater danger for Eileen. Bailee recounted everything that had happened and how they had searched the entire hotel under Bryan’s instructions.

On her way back, Eileen had seen the road’s condition. The entire setting looked perilous. Despite the harsh weather, Bryan hadn’t wasted a second to go out to find her. Thinking of this, Eileen pressed her lips together tightly, feeling an indescribable swirl of emotions.

“Eileen, what happened on your side? They took you away… Did they hurt you?” Bailee asked. Seeing that Eileen had changed her clothes, Bailee could guess what Kian had wanted to do.

Eileen met Bailee’s concerned look, realizing Bailee had deduced something from her change of clothes. She said, “Kian handed me over to Benjamin, but Benjamin didn’t actually do anything to me. He just made things look like he had done what Kian had asked him to.”

As soon as Eileen finished speaking, Bailee grasped her hand urgently and asked, “Does my brother-in-law believe you?”

“Your brother-in-law?” Eileen was confused. It wasn’t the first time Bailee had referred to Bryan that way.

“Yes,” Bailee said firmly. “I decided to address Bryan that way earlier.”

Eileen paused for a moment, choosing not to correct Bailee, and said, “He believes me.”

Hearing that, Bailee felt convinced of Bryan’s deep love for Eileen. Shortly after, Eileen got a text from Bryan instructing her to rest and wake up early the next day for what he called a good show. The hotel settled into silence. The morning after the rainfall felt eerily calm, allowing Eileen a moment of reflection.

It seemed as if nothing had happened the previous night, yet Eileen knew precisely what had transpired.

“Eileen, get up. Didn’t you mention there was a good show today?” Bailee was up early and had already changed, buzzing with excitement. She was eager to see how Bryan had dealt with Kian.

Eileen might have caught a cold from the previous day’s events, which gave her a headache, but she didn’t want to dampen the mood. She swiftly freshened up and left the room with Bailee. Outside, Raymond was waiting for them. As they appeared, he greeted them with a smile.

“Why are you here?” Eileen glanced towards Bryan’s room and inquired, “Where’s Bryan?”

“Mr. Dawson went to the fifth floor. He specifically asked me to wait here until you were up and to escort you downstairs.” After a pause, Raymond added, “Let’s go.”

Bailee leaned in and whispered to Eileen excitedly, “Do you think Bryan has crippled Kian? Or did he actually kill Kian?”

Eileen, feeling amused, gently scolded, “Don’t say such things. Bryan knows what he’s doing and wouldn’t act unlawfully.” As they entered the elevator, Raymond pressed the button for the fifth floor. Hearing Bailee’s speculation, he chuckled and said, “Ms. Brooks, perhaps you don’t realize it, but for someone caught by Mr. Dawson, death might indeed be a mercy. Mr. Dawson’s methods aren’t simple and cruel.”

Not cruel? If it was worse than death, how could it not be cruel? Eileen pondered this, aware that no one could endure Bryan’s cruelty. On the fifth floor, as soon as the elevator doors slid open, Eileen and the others were met with a crowded corridor. Reporters were scrambling to position themselves at the entrance to Kian’s room.

In a corner of the corridor, Bryan stood smoking, observing the chaos with detachment. When he saw Raymond and Eileen approach, he extinguished his cigarette, pulled out a room card from his pocket, and handed it to Raymond. “It’s time to open the door,” he said.

Raymond took the room card and said excitedly, “Okay!” He then approached the reporters, raised the room card in his hand, and said, “Everyone, the scandal you’ve been waiting for is about to be unveiled! Please step aside! Opening the door now!” The reporters quickly cleared a path.

After opening the door, Raymond tried to leave but found himself pushed into the room by the surging crowd of reporters. The room was a mess, with men’s and women’s clothing scattered all over the floor. The bedroom door was wide open. A man and a woman lay naked and unconscious on the bed, oblivious to the commotion around them.

“Oh my God! Isn’t that Mr. Warren and Miss Beckett?”

“What are they doing? Didn’t the Beckett family just announce Miss Beckett’s engagement to a president?”

“Is Miss Beckett avoiding marriage to that man by being here with Mr. Warren?”

The group of reporters gathered together and took photos, discussing the scene before them. As Eileen overheard their chatter, she turned to Bryan in disbelief.

“Did you drug them?” she asked.

“Just a mild sedative to make them sleep,” Bryan replied. After his explanation, he signaled Raymond, who had just emerged from the crowd of reporters.

Raymond quickly understood what Bryan meant. He turned his head and shouted to the crowd, “Has everyone forgotten? Mr. Warren and Miss Beckett are cousins!”

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