Chapter 33

Rocco hesitated before asking, his tone tinged with curiosity, "That young lady just now-was she the famous doctor who saved Mr. Clarke?"

Tristan gave a small nod. "She is."

"I didn't expect her to be so young... but there's something about her. I could swear l've seen her before."

Tristan's eyes slid toward him. "You've felt that too?"

"You think the same?"

Tristan offered no reply.

Sooner or later, the corrupted video would be repaired.And when that moment came, one glance would be all it took to know the truth. Pressed for time, he'd left for the event without even catching her name.

Noticing Tristan's silence, Rocco kept his thoughts to himself and focused on weaving the car smoothly through the traffic.

At that moment, Carl appeared,striding toward Eliana."Eliana, are you hurt? I heard police sirens blaring and couldn't spot you at Entrance One, so l camne running." His gaze brimmed with genuine worry.

Some of the frost in Eliana's expression eased. "I'm fine.I heard them too and came over to see what was happening."

Relief washed over Carl's face as he finally let out a slow breath.

When he'd returned from picking out the bag and couldn't find Eliana, icy dread had gripped him. The thought of losing his sister a second time nearly robbed him of breath.

Relief only came when he saw her unharmed.

"So,where's Sean?" Eliana asked casually.

It was only then that Carl thought of Sean. His brow creased in surprise. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since we split up. No idea what he's doing. He swore he'd stick with you while you shopped ..."

Whether Sean had been by her side or not didn't matter to Eliana. A man with no place for her in his heart had no place in her thoughts either. "Maybe something urgent blindsided him at the very last second."

"Even if that's true, he could've given us a heads-up. What's going on with him? You know what-forget wondering, I'm calling." He yanked his phone from his pocket, thumb flying over the screen. Sean's phone was switched off.

Eliana glanced at him. "Couldn't get through?"

"Yeah... Don't read too much into it. That's just his style-shows up, then disappears. It's not about you;he's probably got his hands full."

Her voice stayed steady. "In that case, let's head back."

"You still haven't had a look at the bag I picked out for you."

"I'll take a look once we're home."

"Okay, I'll pull the car around." Carl hurried off,returning a short while later with the car.

As Eliana reached for the door handle, her gaze caught Niko across the street, standing with several men and giving her a subtle wave.

She offered a faint nod before sliding into the seat.

Her thoughts wandered, turning over the question of what business the Vulture Brotherhood had in Qidence.

The Onyx Syndicate, despite its formidable reach, had always steered clear of illegal ventures. Their suppression in Eighvale had been the result of stepping on the wrong interests-not breaking the law.

The Vulture Brotherhood, however... She figured she'd have to carve out time soon for a frank conversation with Leroy. If they were going to go far,the money fueling their journey needed to be earned honestly.

Carl's car roared down the road, and before long, they arrived home.

Even before stepping into the living room, both Carl and Eliana caught the murmur of voices drifting out.

Was there someone here? The earlier incident with the Vulture Brotherhood demanding the estate still weighed heavily on them, quickening their pace toward the sound.

Crossing into the foyer, they found a man assisting another seated in a wheelchair. Both were strikingly good-looking, and on closer inspection, shared features with Carl-though each looked a little worn around the edges. Were these two possibly...

"Damon! Sawyer!" Carl's voice broke into a startled cry,sealing the truth Eliana had just suspected.

Both men turned at once, and the moment their gazes landed on Eliana, their expressions softened into radiant, almost disbelieving joy. "Lia... is that really you?" the man in the wheelchair asked first, his voice trembling with emotion.

Eliana gave a quiet nod.

With tears glistening in her eyes, Stella stepped forward and introduced them. "Eliana, this is Damon -your eldest brother-and this is your second brother,Sawyer."

The one seated in the wheelchair, his posture dignified despite his frailty, was none other than Damon Murray.Sawyer Murray, her second brother, was the one pushing the wheelchair.

Eliana felt little more than a faint ripple of recognition.Too many years had passed, and she had been far too young back then to truly remember these brothers.

With a small, detached nod, she greeted them.

"Eliana." Damon's voice shook as he reached out a trembling hand toward her. The sudden shift of his weight made the wheelchair tip precariously to one side.

"Damon!" The startled cry went up as everyone scrambled to grab the wheelchair before it tipped.

Eliana moved first, steadying Damon with a firm grip just in time. "You okay?" she asked, her voice low with concern.

Instead of answering about himself, Damon's gaze swept over her in worry. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

The unexpected tenderness in his tone made her chest tighten. She gave a small shake of her head. "I'm fine.What about you?"

A faint flush of shame crossed his face as he murmured, "I'm alright... I'm sorry I scared you."

Only then did Carl and Sawyer let out the breath they'd been holding. One of them guided Damon back into the wheelchair, while the other gripped the handles firmly, making sure it stayed steady this time.

Eliana's gaze lingered on Damon's motionless legs,a faint furrow forming between her brows, before she turned toward Stella. "Is his condition something that might heal... or is it..."

Stella brushed away the fresh streak of tears on her cheeks, her voice breaking as she admitted, "It's permanent... Two years ago, he suffered a terrible injury, and since then, his legs have never recovered."

The heaviness in her tone hinted at a story left untold,planting a quiet unease in Eliana's heart.

Yet,with Stella offering no more, she swallowed her questions. After Stella and Sawyer wheeled Damon back to his room,Eliana shifted her attention to Carl. "Tell me the truth-what happened to Damon's legs? Why can't he walk again?"

Carl glanced around, then leaned in so only she could hear.His voice was low and grim. "It was Brenda White.She's the one who destroyed him."

"Brenda White?" The name stirred a faint memory,though Eliana couldn't quite place it.

Carl leaned closer, lowering his voice. "She was Damon's fiancée. That day, she insisted on trying horseback riding. The horse panicked... Damon ran in to pull her out of danger-and paid the price."

His tone grew heavier as he added, "We never blamed her. Damon made his own choice to save her. But once it became clear his legs wouldn't recover, she started avoiding us. I even saw her on another man's arm not long ago. We're not saying she has to marry him... but refusing to even see him?" He shook his head.

"Damon risked everything to save her, yet she's never even offered him a word of thanks. And her family?After the disaster, they didn't bother with so much as a single phone call. You probably don't know this,but Damon was once the pride of our family-a prodigy from the start. He even won first place in an elite international hacker competition. But after losing in love and the use of his legs, he's been sinking deeper into despair. There were times... he even tried to take his own life. Every bit of it traces back to Brenda."

Carl's voice rose with each word, fury sharpening every syllable.

At that moment, the reason Brenda's name had sounded so familiar finally clicked for Eliana.