章節 8: What Have I Done?
"Talk." Bryan's cold glare narrowed as his patience ran lower each second that passes. The apple in his hand has been brutally skinned, and the healthy red skin scattered messily on the table.
At this moment, Peter's trembling limbs slowly rocked his body against the hard wall from behind; exposing his insecurity. The wildness in his eyes expressed the uncertainty in his thoughts as he tried escaping the harsh look in Bryan's eyes. Still, he couldn't stop his stiffened body from moving. His breathing became more rapid; shallower.
His heart hammered inside his chest like a random head rush from standing up too quickly. He finally understood how alcoholics and drug addicts felt. He, too wanted to find anything to stop the primal surge to flee. Except for him, he had no outlet.
No matter how he attempted to put words together, it still ended up fragmented in his head. His sentences and thoughts jumped from one to another as he made an effort to speak the truth. All his fears seemed to tumble out like the release of his endless nightmares. Bryan's eyes looked alive as if his hands were tightly strangling his neck; suffocating him greatly.
Stuttering, Peter finally parted his lips and said his first words after a long while. "I..I lost the auction bid yesterday for a project and saw a surveillance video of Selina replacing the document in the auction file. I confronted her about it, and she handed me a blade. She told me to follow the family rules if I didn't believe her and I..."
The pauses between his sentences trailed his voice away like freshly hatched chicks looking for its mother. He couldn't continue saying what had happened anymore. Cold sweat drenched his underarms, leaving dark uneven stains on his light blue dress shirt.
Spinning the pocket knife between his fingers, Bryan played a game of darts with Peter.
Swish
The sharp-pointed pocket knife landed right next to his neck; close to his main artery. Peter gulped in fear as he finished his story. Anthonio rubbed his hands on his face in disappointment. "Dude, I'm an outsider and even I could punch my chest to guarantee Selina is not the one who sold you out! There's literally no way she is that type of person. You.."
Anthonio pointed at Peter for a split second before retracting his arm. He sighed, shook his head and settled himself on the arms of the couch.
"Show me the video." Bryan grabbed a hold of Peter's collar and threw his body on the rolling chair. Fortunately, he asked Shirley to send him a copy of the footage to his email yesterday. If not, he was sure he would get beaten to pulps instantly.
Clicking the play button on the screen, the short footage showed Selina holding some documents in her hands. She flipped open the file and switched the two documents. After that, she waved to the assistant sitting on the other desk with a smile before leaving the scene.
"Just this was enough for you to call it evidence? For you to stab her chest with a blade?" This time, Anthonio silently stepped aside. Even he was rendered speechless by his friend's stupidity. This video doesn't prove anything at all!
"But..Shirley..Shirley told me that Selina was the one who betrayed me. I was mad and I.." Peter's palms raised in front of his chest as he tried explaining his mixed emotions.
"Oh? So, if you're mad, you are allowed to stab anyone you want? I'm also angry. Do you see a hole dug through your chest? With my capabilities, you would have been dead and won't be muttering a single word to me right now."
Stomping his way to the wall, Bryan pulled out the pocket knife and aimed the sharp tip towards Peter's chest. Lightly, he drew tickling circles using the razor-sharp tip on the dress shirt. "Get the assistant in here. Now."
Within minutes, the assistant from the footage stepped into the office. When she came in, Bryan was spinning the sharp weapon in his hand again. The tension in the room left her mouth dangled in an O shape as if she had intruded someone's territory by accident.
"You. A few days before the auction project, you were caught on camera waving to Selina. What did Selina do to the file on the desk next to you?" Bryan's voice remained cold and ruthless in an interrogative tone.
The assistant pondered for a minute before answering his question. "Ah! That day Miss. Gu came over to double check the documents. The document in the file had the wrong date, so she corrected it and printed the updated version out. After she had placed the corrected document in the file, she kept the original document in the manager's desk."
"Can you bring us the document she swapped out?" Bryan's voice sounded slightly gentler.
"Yes. I'll go right away." The assistant ran out of the office and quickly came back with the document. Flipping through pages of the auction bid report, Bryan slapped it to Peter's face.
"Here, coward. Take a look at it yourself. This is the so-called evidence you put forth and used it to sentence death on my sister. Miss. Assistant, your job is done here. You may leave. Close the door from behind."
The assistant quickly exited the room while Peter almost slipped out of his chair when he reviewed the document. "S..Selina..Where is she now? Hospital? Tell me where she is!!" Peter ignored the weapon in Bryan's hand and grasped onto his arms.
"You want to know where my sister is?" Bryan's grim expression made Peter imagine hell's door opening.
"Yes.."
"Do you know how cold the water is below W bridge?" The haunting minutes before Selina's jump flashed on rewind in his mind as he seized Peter's collar and shoved him to the wall.
Staring into Bryan's bloodshot eyes, he felt like he had drowned in Satan's dark abyss. Realization hit as Bryan's voice shuddered with the apparent unease on his face. "Yesterday evening, on W bridge, my little sister, your ex-fiancée, Selina Gu has jumped in front of me...into the aggressive waves. Her body can't even be found. You want to look for her right? Go. Go right now."
Peter's eyes squinted in disturbance as he imagined the scene of her lonely back leaving this office. 'If I stopped her.. she wouldn't have...'
His thoughts were interrupted as Bryan described word for word about the moments before she jumped. Wrinkling his shirt, Bryan angrily gnashed his teeth. "Her eyes were lifeless. Her words were filled with helplessness. That blood wound on her chest was where she clenched on when she apologized for her weakness."
"She didn't want me to beat you nor avenge her. Did she show the slightest fear when she faced the water below or when she stood on the edge of that bridge? No. Because she had no energy to go on anymore. Even a grown man like you would have chickened out when looking down from the bridge. Think about her."
"Think about how hopeless she must have felt to stand there and face her worst fears. She chose a place where she was scared of the most to suicide. Your so-called love and care are merely a disguise of fakeness and disgust! Because of your reckless action and false accusations, you've ruined her. From now on, you will never see her again."
"You're nothing but a murderer. You love your company, right? Now, you'll be watching this empty company that depended on my sister grow! It'll remind you wherever you go for who you killed to get to where you are!"
A gust of wind violently curved Peter's cheek inwards. Right by his ears, he heard a loud, blunt crack. When he reacted to the impact, he saw a close-up view of Bryan's fist. It accurately left half a centimeter's gap from his face. His body slumped to the floor as his eyes remained in contact with Bryan's eagle preying eyes.
"I won't dirty my hands to lessen your guilt. I'll greet your parents shortly. As for you? You better scram whenever you see me. I won't guarantee if any of my men would hold back as I did." As his knuckles parted from the wall, broken pieces of the material fell to the floor.
Peter sat regretfully as he watched Bryan leave the room.
"What have I done...?" he whispered..
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