“Devin actually feels really guilty about it. He wants to drop by, but his family had locked him up, so he can’t,” said Jake to defend Devin. The former deliberated it, but he felt he should defend the latter anyway.
Karl, however, scoffed upon hearing that.
Guilt?
Mr. Hayes called Devin after learning that he was the one who took Frieda away. If Devin actually cared, he wouldn’t have hung up on Mr. Hayes.
Moreover, when we reached the train and saw him in person, he didn’t let Mr. Hayes leave with his mom. Instead, Devin kept negotiating and asked if he could take Frieda to the Jadesons’ Residence first.
What bullsh*t. There was no way Frieda could survive if she was brought over.
All in all, Karl thought that Devin played a significant role in the matter.
Perhaps the fault stemmed from Devin’s upbringing and how he was trained to obey the Jadesons’ commands, though. He was not like his Uncle Shin and didn’t have the courage to fight against his family.
He certainly didn’t have the guts to stay true to himself.
“Come on, let me take you to go see how Mr. Hayes is doing,” said Karl to change the subject. He turned around immediately after to take Jake to Sebastian’s room.
Jake didn’t reply.
He turned grimmer and could only follow along.
Sebastian remained unconscious in the room. He laid quietly on the bed and had a bag of saline attached to him. One look was all it took to see how he had turned pale with deep eye shadows donning his face. He looked utterly disheveled.
How did his condition turn so bad in just a matter of days?
Jake felt even worse upon seeing that. He thought about what he wanted to say, but he could no longer deliver the speech he prepared.
“Please feel free to sit, Mr. Chandler. I’ll head over to collect the medicine for Mr. Hayes.”
“Okay,” murmured Jake.
He nodded before he went and sat down beside Sebastian’s bed with slumped shoulders and head.
Jake actually had another reason for dropping by. For years, the four guys had been close pals. Hence, the huge issue arising between Devin and Sebastian had made Jake and Shawn feel bad as well.
That was why Jake rushed over. He lived near the city, after all.
“What do we do now that you and Devin are in such a dilemma? You know, Devin really didn’t mean to do all that. He meant to come to visit after everything happened, but the Jadesons locked him up. Sebastian, do you think you can find it in you to not blame him?” asked Jake.
He sat on the chair and seemed a little troubled when he spoke up for Devin.
Devin and Jake’s friendship was stronger than most friendships. They both grew up in Jadeborough, and their families were close because both worked for the government.
That made it so that Jake grew up watching Devin.
Cough! Cough!
No one knew how much time had passed, but Sebastian, who had been resting on the hospital bed, suddenly coughed. After that, he slowly opened his eyes in the cold, uninviting hospital room.
“Sebastian, you’re up!” blurted Jake, who was instantly delighted upon seeing that.
Cough!
Sebastian coughed again. Perhaps it was because he had just woken up and still hadn’t gotten used to his surrounding, but he couldn’t catch his breath.
Jake noticed that, so he quickly poured Sebastian a glass of water. “Sebastian, are you alright?” asked Jake, “Here, let me help you up.”
After that, Jake helped Sebastian sit up on the bed and handed the latter a glass of warm water.
The warm liquid flushed down Sebastian’s burning throat and eased the pain. That finally made Sebastian feel better and allowed him to regain a fragment of his strength.
“What brought you here?” asked Sebastian.
He looked at Jake, but his slightly pale handsome face showed no warmth when he did so.
Jake saw that, so he quickly explained himself, “I came to visit you, Sebastian. Shawn and I are so sorry that we weren’t around when something so terrible happened between you and Devin. If we had been around…”
“This has nothing to do with either of you,” interrupted Sebastian cruelly. There was even a hint of impatience in his eyes as he spoke.
That frightened Jake and shut him right up.
He knew just how bad Sebastian’s temper was. They had known each other for years. Among the four of them, Devin was the warmest and kindest one, whereas Sebastian was his polar opposite.
Sebastian was quick to lose his temper and was difficult to pacify once he did so.
“So, uh, Devin asked me to deliver a message for him. He said that he hasn’t told the family who you really are and claimed that he would keep this secret for you if you wish so,” informed Jake carefully as he inched away from the bedside.
The Jadesons doesn’t know who I am yet?
As suspected, Sebastian shifted his gaze to Jake and taunted, “Is he joking? He already sent his men to go after my mom, so how could the Jadesons not know who I am?”
“It’s true. When Devin received his mission, his family only told him to capture your mom. They never even mentioned you. Remember, Sebastian, that you are a member of the Hayes as far as anyone else is concerned. If no one investigates your birth, no one will know that you are actually Shin’s son.”
Jake was quick to offer the explanation Devin gave when the former saw how Sebastian wasn’t buying any of that.
That was the truth as well. The Jadesons actually only knew about Frieda. They knew nothing about Sebastian’s true identity, and that was all thanks to Frederick’s work from all those years ago.
Sebastian finally stopped talking.
