Even if the information he had was useless, she saw the twenty thousand as offering him an escape route. After all, he was part of the Hayes family. Giving him one last shot at redemption wasn’t a bad idea. Should he fail to seize this opportunity and veer off course again, the repercussions would be his to bear alone, and she would wash her hands of the matter. Her sympathy lay with his kind mother, not with him.
Raegan nodded, her expression serious. “Okay, but if you lie, you won’t get away with it.”
The demand for cash presented a dilemma, as Brent had no bank account to transfer the money to. How could Raegan have such a substantial amount of cash on her?
Yet, Brent insisted on seeing the money before he would divulge anything.
That was when Stefan interjected, “I have some.” He then proceeded to retrieve twenty neat stacks of cash from the car’s safe, handing them over to Brent.
Brent scrutinized the money, his gaze sharp. It looked like there were more than a million in that safe. He had always heard rumors that the affluent kept cash in their vehicles for unforeseen circumstances. The ease with which someone could stash a hundred thousand or more in their car for emergencies spoke volumes about their wealth.
Raegan, noticing Brent’s barely hidden avarice, urged him, “Hurry up and speak.”
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After verifying the twenty stacks, Brent led Raegan to a quieter spot and began his tale in a measured tone, “Years ago, after a night out, my brother-in-law came to fetch me from a tavern. On our drive back, we stumbled upon a heap of garbage, where we heard a baby’s cries piercing the night. It was unsettling. I urged him to drive on, yet he felt compelled to investigate.
I stayed back, but soon after, I watched him rescue a child from a sack. The child’s head was encased in a thick plastic bag, seemingly with the intent to suffocate her. Miraculously, a stray stick had punctured the sack and the plastic, allowing the child to breathe. My brother-in-law brought the child home, and coincidentally, his daughter fell critically ill and passed away with acute encephalitis that very night.
My sister had passed away early, leaving behind this sole descendant.
To spare my mother the heartache, my brother-in-law decided to raise the child as his own, keeping the truth from my mother. Given my mother’s poor eyesight and the child’s undeveloped features, the deception went unnoticed.”
Brent’s detailed account left Raegan speechless. She realized she was the child in the story.
Brent added, ‘ve shared everything with you, and I’ve not lied. I had vowed never to disclose this to my mother.”
Brent’s brother-in-law, Raegan’s adoptive father, stood as a testament to the remaining decency in Brent’s world. After the Loss of Brent’s sister, Brent’s brother-in-law had stepped up as a pillar for the family, enduring all challenges to ensure their well-being.
He was a beacon of kindness in a harsh world.
If not for a tragic accident that claimed his brother-in-law’s Life, Brent mused, with such a decent man around him, he wouldn’t have kept bad company like he did and gambling that led him astray.
Once Brent departed, Raegan found herself enveloped in the aftermath of the revelation, struggling to come to terms with the magnitude of the truth.
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If Brent’s story held any truth, it meant she hadn’t merely gotten lost as a child but had been deliberately targeted by someone. The thought that a 6-year-old could provoke such malice seemed absurd.
Who could have wanted to harm her, and why?
The effort to piece together these thoughts made Raegan’s head spin.
The blood clot in her brain hadn’t completely resolved, and deep thinking triggered intense headaches.
Stefan, noticing her discomfort, quickly came to her aid, catching her in time.
Overcome with pain, Raegan slumped against his shoulder, appearing to those at a distance as if she was cradled in his embrace.
Not far from this scene, a sleek, dark luxury car was parked stealthily. Matteo, observing them from a short distance, wished he could have retracted what he had said.