NovelEnglish
Chapter 1641
There was a bottle of water beside Stella's feet. It did not seem like she had the intention to end her life.
Marshall heaved a sigh of relief upon thinking about that.
There was a very steep drop just less than six feet away from Stella, and Marshall dared not to startle her. So, he
sat down not far from her and accompanied her in silence.
It was past noon. Although the sun shone brightly, it felt chilly at the mountaintop.
Stella wore a windbreaker. It did not look very thick, and her exposed earlobes turned bright red from the coldness.
"Stella..."
Marshall called out to her softly.
Stella remained still, and Marshall did not know if she had even heard him.
Marshall gazed at the distant mountains surrounded by mist and spoke again after some time, "I had a younger
brother called Ryan who was two years younger than me. Not only that he was adorable and well-behaved, but he
was also incredibly smart too. He could say plenty of simple words before he was even a year old. He always had a
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsmile on his face, and almost everyone who met him liked him.
"I was never a talented person, and I was always slower to learn compared to other kids my age. I was also
introverted, and not many people in my family liked me. My mom often took her anger out on me, but when Ryan
came along, the family's attention shifted away from me to him. He was the reason why I could finally be myself, so
I liked him a lot, too.
"The time when Ryan was born was one of the happiest times in my life, but it didn't last long. On the second
Thanksgiving after his birth, our aunt returned from overseas to celebrate with the family. Everyone was busy
welcoming her.
"She brought a beautiful toy car from abroad for us. We loved it and played with it in our room.
"Many things were happening in the house, and all the adults were busy. The nanny who was supposed to take care
of Ryan said she was going downstairs to prepare some fruits, but she didn't come back up for a long time. Ryan
started groaning as if he was not feeling comfortable. I thought he was thirsty, so I took his bottle and tried to feed
him some water.
"However, he seemed to look even more uncomfortable after some time. His face turned red, and he was making
some strange noises from his throat. I didn't think anything was wrong and kept feeding him water.
"He couldn't really swallow the water, and I ended up getting water all over his clothes. It was only then that I
realized that he was crying but couldn't make any sound. I had no idea what was happening, so I immediately went
downstairs to look for help. However, I wasn't very good at speaking then, so none of the adults had the patience to
listen to me.
All of them thought that I was just playing with them.
"I ran back to the room. This time, Ryan wasn't moving anymore..."
Marshall continued in a low voice, "I thought he was asleep. I was getting tired too, so I lay down next to him and
fell asleep too. Then, I was awakened by the screams of the adults.
"Ryan was dead. Some tiny parts from the toy car had lodged in his throat, and he died of suffocation. What was
supposed to be a joyous celebration had ended in tragedy. My mother cried her heart out, and the way she looked
at me was strange, filled with blame and resentment. I remembered that look for a long time.
"I spent a long time thinking about this. What if Ryan was my older brother? What if I was the one who choked on
the car parts? Ryan was so smart; I'm sure he would’ve called for help immediately.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"So, I started becoming more diligent. I worked very hard to be like Ryan just so the adults could like me more.
However, Grandpa still thought that I was dim-witted, and my mother just couldn't seem to forget about Ryan.
"Then, I thought about how much better things would be if it had been me who died. But do you know what Keegan
said to me?"
Stella, who had been sitting still, finally had some reaction upon hearing Keegan's name. She tilted her head slightly
away from her knees. Her eyes were swollen and red behind
her disheveled hair.
Marshall continued in a hoarse voice, "He said I was just a child, so why would the adults expect a child to handle
something that even they wouldn't be able to handle properly? The adults were only blaming me because they
couldn't own up to their own negligence. But Ryan wouldn't. He'd always remember how much I loved him. Did you
know that the first word that he learned to speak was 'brother'?"
Marshall turned his face away, trying to calm himself down. After some time, he spoke again, "Stella, this world is
full of uncertainties and hardships. You can grieve and feel sad, but life must go on. Uncle Wenham, Trevor, your
grandparents, Felicity, and all your friends, we all want the best for you. I'm sure that this is what Keegan wants,
too. Although he had left us, he wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you."
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