?Chapter 361:


    Brisa was the aunt he referred to.


    “Because I think Brisa is being used by Jorge as leverage over Kaiden,” Ellie exined, her toneced with concern. She started to think that Brisa was being manipted by the Thorpe family.


    Kaiden’s hesitance to visit the Thorpes’ house had been ovee by the necessity to deal with Brisa’s situation. To Kaiden, the stakes were as high as life and death.


    Ellie empathized deeply, recognizing in Brisa a parallel to her own rtionship with Cecelia.


    “You are right,” Omiros admitted bitterly, his voice heavy with resentment. “But it’s a position my aunt epted willingly.”


    “What do you mean?” Ellie was stunned.


    “My aunt hasn’t moved past her feelings for that man,” Omiros said, clearly perplexed by Brisa’s enduring attachment to Jorge.


    At that moment, Ellie’s confusion cleared.


    The realization dawned on her. Despite the Chapmans’ influence, capable of shielding their family from the Thorpes, and Kaiden’s power to extricate Brisa, they had yielded to Jorge’s pressure.


    The undeniable truth was that Brisa refused to leave with them.


    Ellie’s heart sank with sorrow. Imagining Kaiden’s pain upon realizing his mother had chosen to be a pawn against him was unbearable.


    But Ellie knew there was no room for doubt.


    Given Kaiden’s sharpness, he likely came to this realization much earlier.


    Omiros nced toward the main building for a moment before adding, “Kaiden’s decision to pretend to be disabled is also rted to Aunt Brisa.”


    “What do you mean?” Ellie asked immediately.


    Instead of answering, Omiros looked back at her and posed a question of his own. “Which one do you think is less threatening, a disabled man or a healthy one?”


    The answer was obvious.


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    Jorge was a cautious and suspicious man. If he thought Kaiden was dangerous as a healthy man, he would never have allowed Brisa to stay in a sanatorium. He would have locked Brisa up instead, preventing any interaction with Kaiden or the outside world. In this way, Jorge couldpletely control Brisa. Hence, Kaiden started pretending to be disabled so that his father would see him as weak and allow him to see his mother.


    At night, as Kaiden reclined on the bed, the woman lying next to him abruptly shifted and reached out to touch his thigh under the warm nket.


    A shiver ran through Kaiden’s body, his muscles instinctively tensing.


    He looked up and saw Ellie’s eyes gazing intensely at him.


    Her eyes were full of heartache and pity.


    Kaiden’s arousal suddenly withered.


    “Are you tired of pretending to be disabled?” Ellie asked softly.


    “What?” Kaiden raised his eyebrows slightly.


    Why did she ask this question out of the blue?


    Ellie repeated, “Are you tired of pretending to be disabled?”


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