Chapter 774
Chapter 774:
“Alright.” Janice didn’t hesitate. With a swift motion, she lifted her hand and removed the golden mask.
Beneath it was a face so breathtakingly exquisite it seemed sculpted by the hands of a master artist. The delicate balance of beauty and sharp elegance made her almost unreal.
But what truly sent a jolt through him wasn’t her beauty. It was the eerie familiarity of that face.
His chest tightened. Memories, long locked away, surged to the surface with a force that nearly knocked the breath from him.
His frail body trembled as the past clawed its way into the present.
“Are you alright?” Janice’s brows knit together. Concern flickered across her face. She wasn’t sure why, but seeing him in pain unsettled her.
Orson forced a steadying breath, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. “I’m fine. Just remembering things I’d rather forget.”
He let the moment stretch before his voice dropped, lower, quieter. “You know something about what happened to the White family that year, don’t you? Tell me—how much do you really know?”
“Fine.”
Janice didn’t waste words. Methodically, she laid out everything she had uncovered—pieces of truth stitched together from Hank’s accounts and her own investigations.
“So that’s what they think, huh?” Orson let out a soft, bitter laugh. “Do you believe that’s the full truth?”
Janice shook her head. “No. It reconstructs what happened, but it’s incomplete. I can feel it. There’s another side to this.”
She studied the man for a long moment before speaking again. “And I don’t believe you would give away the Welch family’s fortune for a mere lover. That woman must have meant more to you than that.”
Mor shapters on 𝔾Ɐ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν. ℭo𝓂
Orson let out a deep, hearty laugh. “You, an outsider, can see things so clearly, yet my own sons remain blind to the truth. How ironic! If they had been more clear-headed back then, perhaps such a tragedy could have been avoided.”
“No!” Janice’s voice rang with conviction as she shook her head. “Even if they had known the truth, they would have done the same. Some people are simply born with malice in their hearts.”
Orson stiffened. He wanted to refute her words, but no argument came.
Instead, an unsettling silence settled between them.
The White family, over a hundred lives, wiped out in an instant. No matter how one framed it, could such an act truly be the work of humans?
No. That was no man’s doing. Only demons could be responsible for such a massacre.
Orson exhaled heavily, rubbing his temples. “Could you pour me a glass of water?”
“Of course.”
Rising to her feet, Janice moved to the side table and poured a glass, then handed it to him.
Orson accepted it, taking a slow sip. His gaze drifted into the distance, losing focus as the past began to unravel in his mind.
“It happened so long ago. I hardly know where to begin. Let me tell you a story. Many years ago, when I was still young, I met a woman. From the very first moment I laid eyes on her, I knew one thing for certain. She would be the love of my life. The Welch family has thrived for over a century, built on discipline and tradition. They are ruthless in shaping their heirs, sending the young away to carve their own path. Only those who return in triumph are deemed worthy. But for me, the moment I met her, I no longer cared about returning. All I wanted was to build a life with her.”
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