Chapter 1182


    Chapter 1182 Poison Spider’s Tragic Past


    Matthew’s heart skipped a beat. “Your sister? You’re the crown prince’s uncle? The one they call


    Phoenix?”


    Elioughed tly. “They’re both names rooted in fire and the sun.”


    Matthew’s expression shifted slightly. “You came here to ask for your sister back?”


    Elio let out a puff of smoke. “Not exactly,” he said lightly. “I’m just here to ask for an act of mercy:


    release my sister and hand your life to me.”


    Matthew was dumbstruck. Elio was capable of talking about the bloodiest of matters in such a calm


    manner. Just what shaped his personality into this?


    When Matthew thought about the crown prince, as well as Poison Spider, he suddenly realized that all


    three of these people were absolutely strange.


    “You only arrived in Eastcliff recently. You probably have no idea what happened here,” Matthew stated.


    Phoenix waved a hand dismissively. “Of course I know what went down in Eastclifftely. I also know that


    someone deliberately set me up to antagonize you. But, I have no other choice. The only way the


    mastermind will let my nephew go is if I kill you. Rest assured, though, I will help you to kill everyone


    involved as revenge on your behalf once I’ve rescued my nephew!”


    Matthew gritted his teeth. This guy called Phoenix was seriously looking down on him.


    “Sorry, but that’s a no from me! I can help you to save the crown prince, but I can’t die just yet!” Matthew


    replied in a low tone.


    Phoenix gave a light chuckle. “That choice isn’t yours to make!”


    Instantly, Matthew was infuriated. “I know you’re powerful, but you’ve forgotten this ce is Eastcliff—


    Billy Newman’s territory! Even if you do kill me, do you think Billy will let my death slide?”


    Phoenix chuckled again. He took a step closer once more and spoke softly. “I happen to have some time


    on my hands. Why don’t you listen to my story?”


    Matthew was skeptical, but he nodded anyway.


    “It’s a bit of a long one…” Elio lit another cigarette, his eyes misting over as he took a trip down memory


    lane. “I was born in an era where food and money were scarce. I was born into one of those less


    fortunate families too. My sister is older than me by three years. When I was six, she was nine. My


    mother ran away with the proprietor of a business that year. My father pursued her, and he left us at


    home. Luckily for us, there was some food in the house; we could still hold on for a little longer. Unluckily,


    though, we needed fire to cook the food, and we only had three matches left. Back then, a single cent


    was enough to buy a piece of candy. If you fork over ten cents, they’d throw in two free candies on top of


    the ten you bought.”


    “But even though I was already six, I had only ever eaten two pieces of candy in my life. My sister


    brought me one of them; the kid who lost his candy had cried forever. The second piece was given to me


    as a bribe by the business owner who tricked my mother into leaving with him. Heh, sometimes I wonder


    if my mother would have stayed if I hadn’t epted that candy that day?”


    “We had some pasta and beans at home. With no other food around, we would have to eat it in.


    However, without any matches, we would actually starve. And so my sister thought of a n—to steal


    some matches from another family. I still remember that the target my sister picked was our neighbor. It


    was my sister’s first time stealing from someone. She got me to keep a lookout outside while she


    sneaked to the kitchen to steal the matches. The moment my sister left the kitchen, the woman livingExclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    there noticed her. That woman was a shrew. She dug the matches out of my sister’s pocket before


    kicking her out into the yard. She beat my sister for over ten minutes with a stick, calling her all sorts of


    terrible names.”


    “I didn’t know what else to do then. All I could do was cry and beg her to stop beating my sister. In the


    end, a few elders in our vige could no longer stand the sight and stopped the woman. My sister only


    managed to get a reprieve then. Later on, an olddy gave us a box of matches, which allowed us to


    survive for a little longer.”