Chapter 12
”
As I dragged my luggage out of the airport,my phone screen was showing breaking news.
“This evening,the flight to Birlona crashed in Damastam. Currently,it has been confirmed that there are no survivors on board.” The inferno on the screen flared before my eyes,making my heart tighten.”
It was a ticket I had bought with my own hands–if someone hadn’t stopped me in time…I too would now be buried in the charred wreckage.
My fingers trembled slightly and a wave of lingering fear surged through my chest.
Not long ago,just as I was about to head to the boarding gate,a figure appeared in front of me.”
It was Ronald’s assistant,out of breath,a fine sweat on his forehead,as if he had run all the way to reach me.\
“Miss,“he said in a low,urgent voice,” Mr. Brimmer has already prepared a private plane for you. Please follow me this way.“”
I froze for a moment,my steps faltering slightly.”
I hadn’t expected Ronald to go to such lengths–he had even arranged a private plane for me.\
I thought back to the last time I flew on a private plane–it was when Jason had taken me to see the aurora.
At that thought,my eyes darkened for a moment,then I smiled faintly and turned to follow the assistant.”
The assistant had already taken my luggage from me,guiding me politely and efficiently toward another private passage. Ronald was only three years older than me,yet someone I had been forced to call“Mr. Brimmer“since childhood. Fragments of the past flashed through my mind.
Back when I hadn’t yet been brought back to the Corvin Family and was still living in the family where I had been switched at birth,life was so tight that even a full meal felt like a luxury.”
It wasn’t that my family had no money,but they didn’t like that I was a girl;they generally didn’t care what I ate and never gave me any allowance.[
Among my relatives,the Brimmer was by far the wealthiest.”
During holidays,the gifts from the Brimmer were always the most elegant. The adults would complain about their arrogance out loud,yet secretly they would store them carefully,unwilling to use them.”
My familiarity with Ronald stemmed from the fact that, as children,we had both been left to live with our grandparents.
My parents had considered me a burden,while Ronald’s parents wanted him to avoid growing up arrogant,so they sent him to the countryside to experience the hardships of common life.”
At the time,I didn’t understand why I had to call someone close to my age“Sir,” nor why the Brimmer was so wealthy while my own family had so little.
I just trailed behind Ronald like a shadow,begging him to take me along when he went out to play.!
Ronald was always patient with me. When he realized I was almost eight and still hadn’t been sent to school,he taught me to read and write and to discern the adults’hypocrisy from their sincerity.”
He took me to the river to catch fish,giving me half,yet always letting me have the biggest one.
When I was bullied,he would frown,shield me behind him and say in his innocent yet firm voice, “She’s my little sister.”
Because of Ronald,I went to school,had new clothes to wear and was no longer alone.
Countless times during summer vacations,I looked forward to seeing him.”
But later,my grandparents passed away,Ronald was sent abroad and I was brought back to the Corvin Family.
Our life paths had completely diverged.
I once thought that our parting would be forever.”
Until now,when I was at my wit’s end,I had no choice but to shamelessly dial that number.
The moment the call connected,I hardly held any hope.
But Ronald paused for only a second,then said without hesitation,“Leave it to me.“N
He was still the same boy I remembered–only now,he was the youngest person in charge of the Brimmer.
The plane took off smoothly.I leaned back against the leather seat,ears buzzing from the engine.N
I lowered my head and glanced once more at the news feed.
