Chapter 109: The Loss Of Liam

Chapter 109: The Loss Of Liam

Elias sat in the corner, his head lowered, hands gripping the armrests of the chair. William stood by Liam’s bed, his face frozen, focusing on his still body.

The beeping slowed... and then, with a final hum, stopped entirely.

"Time of death," a nurse murmured softly, noting it on the chart.

Elias looked up, his face shattered.

Liam’s face was pale and peaceful, bathed in the sterile light.

"No," William whispered, "No, no, no..."

The doctor placed a hand on William’s shoulder, but William shrugged it off violently.

"He was supposed to make it. He was—" His voice broke, his hands trembled as he clutched the railing of the bed.

Elias rose slowly, as though the world pressed down on him.

He walked to William and rested a hand on his back.

"William," Elias said quietly. "It’s over."

William turned to him, his eyes glassy. "I promised him. I promised I’d fix this."

"We both did," Elias murmured in a heavy, grief voice. "And we failed."

The room fell into a suffocating silence as they both stared at Liam.

A man who had fought so hard for others but couldn’t fight for himself in the end.

Outside, the cold air bit at Elias’s skin.

He stood by the edge of the hospital parking lot, a bottle of whiskey dangling from his fingers.

The world felt distant, its noise muffled.

He tilted the bottle to his lips, the burn of the alcohol doing little to ease the ache in his chest.

"Rough night?" a voice asked from behind him.

Elias turned, settling on a man leaning against a parked car.

Konrad?

He recognised him instantly—the man responsible for Eira’s suffering, the one Henry had vowed to destroy recently...

It was all on the news, and knowing it was Henry behind it, made him chuckle.

Konrad looked tired, disheveled.

His jacket was wrinkled, and his eyes darted nervously around the parking lot.

He didn’t recognise Elias, which suited Elias just fine.

"You could say that," Elias replied evenly, masking the hate beneath his calm tone.

Konrad let out a bitter laugh, lighting a cigarette with shaky hands. "Life has a way of kicking you when you’re down, huh?"

Elias didn’t respond immediately, instead taking another sip of whiskey.

"What’s your story?"

Konrad blew out a stream of smoke, looking at the horizon.

"What isn’t? My work is gone. My name’s dirt. And now, some girl I barely remember from my childhood is trying to ruin me."

Elias’s grip on the bottle tightened. "A girl?"

"Yeah, Eira," Konrad said.

"I don’t even know why she cares so much. Sure, I was a stupid kid, but we all were. I was told to mess with her, and I did. That was years ago. Let it go already."

Elias’s heart clenched, but he kept his expression neutral. "Who told you to mess with her?"

Konrad hesitated, flicking ash from his cigarette.

"Some man. I never knew his name. He paid me and a couple of the other kids to bully her, humiliate her. Said it was just a game, that she needed to toughen up."

Elias’s chest tightened further. "You were just a kid."

"Exactly," Konrad snapped, glaring at Elias.

"I didn’t know what I was doing. But now? She’s married to that rich prick, and they’re dragging my name through the mud. I’m the bad guy, even though I was just a stupid kid doing what I was told."

Elias studied Konrad.

Whoever had paid Konrad to torment Eira had set her life on a path of pain.

And Konrad, though complicit, seemed like little more than a pawn.

Konrad rubbed his hands together, his frustration boiled over.

"I’m not proud of it, alright? But I didn’t ruin her life. She’s doing fine now, isn’t she? Got a rich husband, a fancy life. Why come after me?"

"She’s looking for justice," Elias said quietly.

Konrad sneered. "Justice? She wants revenge. There’s a difference."

Elias didn’t reply.

His mind was too heavy with grief over Liam, the feeling of failure pressed him down like a strong gravity.

Yet, Konrad’s words stirred something in him—a deeper understanding of the cycles of pain and vengeance that bound them all.

"Have you ever thought about apologizing?" Elias asked.

Konrad scoffed. "What good would that do? She wouldn’t care. People like her don’t want apologies. They want blood."

Elias’s eyes darkened, though his face remained the same. "Maybe it’s not too late to change the story."

Konrad frowned, tilting his head at Elias. "Who the hell are you anyway? Why do you care?"

Elias didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he took another long drink from the bottle before tossing it aside.

"I’m someone who knows what it’s like to fail the people you care about," Elias said finally.

"And I know what happens when you don’t make things right."

Konrad’s jaw tightened, his head dropped to the ground.

"It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore. My life’s already over."

Elias stepped closer.

"Maybe. Or maybe you’ve just been too much of a coward to fix it."

Konrad’s head snapped up, his eyes burnt with anger.

But before he could respond, Elias turned and walked away, leaving him alone in the cold.

As Elias walked back toward the hospital, his thoughts drifted to Liam, to Eira, and to the endless chain of pain that seemed impossible to break.

"Justice," he muttered to himself. "Maybe it’s not about getting even. Maybe it’s about ending this cycle before it destroys us all."

And yet, even as he thought it, he couldn’t ignore his own failures.

Liam was gone, Eira was still in danger, and the pieces of the puzzle were still scattered.

One thing was certain—Konrad wasn’t the only one who had to answer for his sins.

<<<<<_________________>>>>>

~Hello, dear readers. I’m releasing a new book that is romance-fantasy. I hope you reach this far and manage to see it.

I would also like to thank every singe one of you reading this story. It makes me extremely happy, knowing that there are comments of likes and dislikes too.

I’m trying my best to improve and give you amazing Chapters to read.

Once again, thank you so much for reading!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read