FVN Chapter 185 Wouldn't let it slide.
Chapter 185 Wouldn't let it slide.
"Zeke!" Ryan dropped to his knees and almost screamed the same as he had done at that time. Even after eight long years and countless desperate efforts to suppress it, the memory still clung to him like a shadow. The day Zeke fell —it played so vividly as if it had just happened the other day.
"It's my fault," he whispered, his voice breaking. His chest heaved as the memory consumed him again. His hands trembled, still feeling the ghostly sensation of Zeke's hand slipping from his grasp.
The guilt he had buried for years came rushing back, raw and unreadable. The present faded away, and he was no longer here; his mind had taken him back to the edge of the cliff.
He couldn't feel the energy of the current world around him until he felt an arm drape feebly around his shoulders. The touch was startling, and for a fleeting moment, the hope of seeing Zeke again bloomed in his heart.
"Zeke!" he called out, his voice filled with desperation and longing as he turned to the side.
But the shine in his gaze dulled instantly when he saw Delyth's face instead. Her brows were knitted in concern. She was speaking something but for a good while, he couldn't process her words. In his ears, only the haunting silence of Cicus Valley was swishing.
"I didn't kill him," Ryan murmured, his voice distant and pleading. "Don't blame me for Zeke's death. I–I didn't kill him."
It wasn't until Delyth cupped his face gently with her warm hands did he snapped back to reality.
"Don't blame me for Zeke's death, I–I didn't kill him," he said and it was only when Delyth cupped his face, he came back to reality.
"Ryan, I am sorry," she whispered, her voice trembling as if she was trying hard to hold back her own pain. "I shouldn't have brought that back."
Delyth clenched her fingers, not liking the subtle indifference in Ryan's attitude. But keep her smile, she shook her head. "I can't even feel their existence, how can I feel the pain."
"They will get better, Delyth," Ryan said, his brows knitting with something Delyth couldn't recognize. Like somewhere her efforts to guilt-trap him have not been enough.
But how could that be possible? After all, Zeke's name had always been her trump card. It had always kept him tethered to her, bound with guilt and regret.
Delyth stared at Ryan, studying his face, trying to decipher why her trump card felt weaker this time.
"I have reached out to specialists who can help with your condition," Ryan added further. His tone was steady, but his words pierced through Delyth's thoughts. "I am waiting for their responses. Once we hear back, we will make arrangements for your treatment."
Delyth smiled weakly and nodded. "I can do nothing but depend on you for this, Ryan. Thank you."
Ryan stared at her for a moment before slowly saying, as though contemplating something deeply. "I am sorry for what happened today, Delyth. But don't worry —I will get to the root of this. If that image reached Arwen, that means someone did send it to her. Sooner or later, I will find"
As he said that, his eyes carefully studied Delyth's expression, as if confirming something.
Delyth froze at his words. She thought she had handled it well. But ... that didn't seem the case now.
Masking the crack in her composure, she nodded, "Yes, Ryan. We shouldn't let this slide. Someone deliberately tried to make Arwen misunderstand you —and she did misunderstand. Do you think if I explain to her, it will help?"