Chapter 674 Onset
"Oscar," Emma turned around, her voice cautious and probing, "Kirk, he..."
Before she could finish, Oscar gently interrupted. He looked up, his eyes devoid of the expected rage or sorrow, instead showing a strange calm, like the clear sky after a storm.
"I know." He smiled, a smile that carried a sense of relief, "I saw the news."
George paused in the middle of peeling an apple, giving Oscar a look.
Oscar was Kirk's younger brother, a well-known fact in their circle. Kirk had been running rampant in Sunterra for years, often paving the way for Oscar, and everyone assumed they were close.
"You..." George hesitated, "Do you need..."
"No." Oscar shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. The hot liquid slid down his throat, but he seemed unfazed, "He and I, we've been on different paths for a long time."
Seraphine, munching on an apple, blinked her big eyes at Oscar, "Oscar, you look really sad right now."
Oscar put down his coffee cup and ruffled Seraphine's hair, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes, "Some people aren't worth being sad over."
Though his heart still felt a pang of uncontrollable sorrow.
He was silent for a moment, as if finally shedding a burden he'd carried for years, and slowly began to speak:
"Kirk and I are half-brothers. His mom moved in when I was six."
That winter, Oscar's mom lay in bed, coughing her heart out. The doctor said her worries had taken a toll on her health. Meanwhile, that woman wore Oscar's mom's favorite dress every day, bossing the servants around in the living room, saying, "This house is mine now."
Oscar hid behind the door, watching his mom cry as she looked at the family photo on the wall. Less than three months later, his mom passed away.
"The day my mom died, Kirk's mom stood at the funeral holding him, smiling like a flower." Oscar's voice was soft but carried a chilling edge, "Kirk was already ten then. He looked at me and said, 'Your mom's dead. Now my mom is your mom."
Emma gasped, shocked by the deep-seated hatred between the brothers.
"Ridiculous, isn't it? A bastard older than me. Before I was born, my dad was already involved with that woman."
"Later, I had a high fever. In my delirium, I overheard them planning to send me abroad to get me out of the way." Oscar's lips curled into a cold smile. "So I pretended to lose my memory."
From that day on, he forgot his mom's face, forgot the harsh words, and called Kirk's mom "Mom," smiling and calling Kirk "Brother."
When Kirk asked him to manage the casino's accounts, he pretended to be greedy, secretly backing up records of shady transactions. When Kirk asked him to monitor Michael, he used his closeness to Emma to leak Kirk's plans to the Interpol informant... Every action he took paved the way for today.
"You knew Interpol would act?" Emma asked, stunned.
"When Michael anonymously sent the evidence, I helped push things along." Oscar admitted, "The account information Kirk hid in Aquilonia Bank, the recordings of him bribing officials, I provided all of it."
He had been biding his time for years, waiting for the right moment.
The more arrogant Kirk became, the more enemies he made, bringing Oscar's chance closer. When Celeste was disfigured, tortured, and shot, he knew he couldn't wait any longer. Celeste, who couldn't bring herself to shoot Michael, who always advised him not to be consumed by hatred, didn't deserve to die so senselessly.
He remembered how, back in Sunterra Medical School, everyone feared his connections to the Gutierrez Gang, afraid that associating with him would bring misfortune.
But Celeste was the only one willing to reach out to him.
"So you helped me, helped George, even got close to Celeste..." Emma suddenly understood.
"Not just for revenge." Oscar looked out at the rain, "I wanted to see if life could be cleaner without all that filth. Like you guys now, with family, a stable home."
He paused, checked his watch, then hugged Seraphine, "I've kept these words inside for years. Saying them now feels great. Well, that's it. I should go."
"Where are you going?" George asked.
"Back to Sunterra." Oscar stood up, grabbing his coat from the sofa, "My mom's buried there. I haven't properly visited her in all these years."
He wanted to tell his mom that the woman who caused her death, and her arrogant son, had finally faced justice. He wanted to tell her he hadn't become like them.
Emma watched his back, "Oscar carries so much inside. He wants to live freely more than anyone."
The rain continued as Oscar's figure disappeared down the hallway. Seraphine suddenly shouted out the window, "Oscar, be careful!"
Oscar paused, didn't turn back, just waved his hand and walked quickly into the rain.
The living room fell silent, only the sound of rain tapping against the glass. George handed the peeled apple to Emma, speaking softly, "It's all over."
Emma took a bite, the sweetness tinged with a barely noticeable bitterness.
Yes, Kirk was dead, Oscar had avenged, and Michael had dismantled his empire. The hatred, schemes, and bloodshed that entangled them seemed to have ended with this rain.
But in Sunterra's cemetery, would Michael, looking at Celeste's tombstone, also feel that this overdue peace had come at too high a cost?
Emma leaned back on the sofa, eating her apple, when suddenly a sharp pain twisted in her abdomen, making her curl up instantly, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
"Emma!" George saw her pale face, biting her lip, and quickly knelt down to support her, "Is it happening again?"
"It hurts." Emma's voice trembled, her hand gripping George's arm tightly, her knuckles white.
George's heart clenched, quickly opening the medicine bottle by the sofa and feeding Emma two pills. These were special meds Billy had developed for Emma's condition, effective within half an hour.
Back when they first returned to Lakeside Haven, Emma had learned about her illness.
They were still on the plane when Emma had an attack. George immediately contacted the hospital, arranging for the plane to land on the hospital's rooftop. As soon as the plane touched down, Emma was rushed to the emergency room.
That day, George would never forget.
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