Chapter 6

After coaxing Jonah back into a good mood, Geri, on a strange impulse, signed a letter verifying Alistair's employment and returned to the Celestial Room. She had no idea why, but when she thought of the dead look in Alistair's eyes, a wave of panic rose in her chest.

When she pushed open the door, she found a skinny, bony figure kneeling on the floor, his hands trembling as he picked up the glass shards scattered all over.

Geri's sharp eyes caught sight of several crumpled tissues stained with blood in the trash can nearby. She snorted, thinking that it was such a pathetic trick.

Alistair finally finished gathering the shards. He swayed as he stood, then turned and saw Geri standing there. He hurriedly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Geri's tone dripped with mockery. "Did you go to all that trouble to get so much fake blood so you could milk it in front of some random woman? Or is it that when it comes to men, you won't turn any of them down, either?"

Alistair froze. The spasms in his stomach twisted his heart as well, and he gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "You caught me, Ms. Winslow."

Geri tossed the letter at him, making it hit his face with a crisp snap. She looked at him with thinly veiled disgust and said, "Take your employment letter and get out."

He carefully folded the letter. For the first time in days, the corners of his lips curved into a genuine smile. With this letter, he could finally see Corey.

He was going to give Corey all his money and tell him everything about his situation. Corey had always been strong, even as a kid. Alistair believed Corey could handle his death.

At the same time, he couldn't help thinking that Geri would never be able to hurt him again.

…

Alistair anxiously waited out the weekend. Once the workweek started, he finished the necessary paperwork and went to the orphanage, full of hope.

But when he handed over all the documentation to the front desk, the staffer only frowned in confusion. "Corey York? He was only here for about a month before someone took him away."

The words hit Alistair like a bolt from the blue. He gaped at the staffer. "That's impossible! Corey has to be here. I watched Geri bring him here with my own eyes! She promised she wouldn't hurt him. She promised!"

He lost control, and security dragged him out.

Right on cue, a familiar male voice rang out from behind him. "Want to know where your brother ended up?"

Alistair turned around, his body going rigid.

Jonah's leather shoes shone, and his long legs were ensconced in tailored dress pants. Next to Alistair's emaciated, stick-thin frame, Jonah looked handsome and immaculate, like he'd stepped out of a magazine.

But the words out of his mouth were pure venom. "I sent your younger brother to a special reform school ages ago. The kid's got a strong will to live, though. Despite being punished to stand every day and being whipped with a cane, he still held out for three whole years, just waiting for you to get him."

Alistair's emotions spiked. "What?"

He knew exactly what a reform school was. Places like that were hell—worse than prison!

And Corey had been there for three years. Three whole years.

Jealousy flashed in Jonah's eyes. "Do you know why Geri had you thrown in prison? It wasn't because she wanted to placate me at all. It was because she loved you. She loved you so much that every time she took revenge on you, she carved a new cut into her own arm.

"She was afraid that if you stayed by her side any longer, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from using even crueler methods on you. That's why she sent you to prison instead."

Alistair shook his head wildly, on the brink of hysteria. "I don't care about any of that. I just want to know how my brother is doing now!"

He had long since stopped caring whether Geri loved him. After being abused for so long, his hope had hit rock bottom and sprung back. He'd convinced himself that if he submitted and endured every bit of Geri's revenge, if he lived as pathetically and carefully as possible, he could at least protect the only family he had left.

But in the end, Corey had suffered even more than he had.

Why? What for?

They were both innocent!

The more frantic Alistair became, the more delighted Jonah looked. "What's the rush? I made a point of asking the school for a recent video of your brother, you know."

He pulled out his phone. On the screen, a security camera video played. Corey stood on the roof of a tall building, his body bruised and battered, and his face wet with tears. Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped off the edge.

"No! No!"

As Corey's body plummeted, Alistair let out a hoarse, animalistic scream. His whole body shook violently.

Jonah's words dripped with venom. "You know what I did yesterday? I went to visit him at the school. I said to him, 'Your brother's out there scrubbing toilets at a club during the day, and at night… Well, you get it.'

"He burst into tears and said he didn't want to be your weakness anymore. That same night, after enduring three torturous years at that reform school, he jumped off the building without saying a single word."

Every word landed like a knife.

The phone slipped from Alistair's hand and clattered to the ground. His eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Jonah.

The next second, he snatched up a stone from the ground, lunged, and swung it hard toward Jonah's head. "I'm going to kill you!"

But that stone of vengeance never connected. Geri's bodyguard had already clamped down on Alistair's wrist in a death grip.

Geri sauntered over, her gaze as sharp as a blade. "Are you asking to be killed, Alistair?"