"Chasel!" Cassius''s heart seized violently, his eyes instantly flushing a blood-red hue.


    How could he not go save him?


    Even if it meant walking through fire, even if he were to be sliced to ribbons, he had to save him!


    "Cassius, do you still remember the sound of my voice?" The mocking, ghostly tone of a man floated through the receiver, sounding as if it had wed its way out of hell.


    "Ian." Cassius ground the name out syble by syble, his eyes burning with lethal intent.


    "Let my partner go! If you want revenge, if you want blood, youe at me!"


    Cassius''s eyes practically exploded with murderous rage. n, you listen to me! If youe for me, you can have my life. But if you touch a single hair on Chasel''s head... I will tear you limb from limb and scatter your ashes!"


    "Cassius...!" Evadne''s heart jolted, tears welling in her eyes.


    Of course, she feared for Chasel''s life.


    But she couldn''t bear to lose her brother either. She absolutely refused to lose anyone else in her life.


    Never!


    "Partner? You''re calling him your partner?"


    The next second, he roared with pure hatred, "If he''s your partner, then what was my brother Aubrey to you?! What was he?!"


    Cassius''s pupils constricted sharply.


    The traumatic image mmed into his mind-Aubrey, kneeling before him with tears


    in his eyes, grabbing Cassius''s cold hands, and pressing the barrel of the gun directly to his own chest.


    It was the darkest shadow of his life, an unforgettable nightmare.


    He was deeply in love with Chasel. Chasel was no substitute, no passingfort for his loneliness.


    He loved Chasel Bright. Completely, fiercely, and unconditionally.


    But that didn''t mean he could simply erase Aubrey from his soul as if he had never existed.


    "Cassius! Don''te looking for me... and do not listen to his garbage! You don''t owe anyone a damn thing! You never did anything wrong!"


    Chasel''s voice, raspy and fractured, rang through clearly, fueled by unwavering resolve. n! Your brother''s death had absolutely


    nothing to do with Cassius!


    Aubrey


    chose to be a rat! He chose to be traitor! Death is the absolute consequence of betrayal


    "Cassius faced immense pressure to spare his life. He did everything he humanly could, even risking his own neck, and he never once intended to kill your brother! Aubrey didn''t want to live anymore! He used Cassius''s gun to end his own life! It was suicide. What right do you have pin that on my man?! You''re out of your mind! You''re a paranoid psycho!"


    Cassius''s chest heaved with a violent jolt.


    He had only ever given Chasel the briefest, vaguest fragments of his past with Aubrey. Yet Chasel had managed to investigate the entire traged on his own, peeling back theyers to understand exactly what had happened.


    It was undeniable proof of how deeply Chasel cared.


    This wasn''t jealousy or possessiveness. It was pure love. He wanted to understand every single piece of Cassius''s past, refusing to miss even a fraction of who he was.


    "Shut your mouth, you cheap substitute!"n roared,pletely unhinged by the truth, and delivered a brutal kick to Chasel''s stomach.


    Chasel let out a muffled groan of agony.


    "Chasel!"