Life Beyond the Doors

Chapter 51 : Suspect

"What is it Shilia?", Ethan asked.

Ethan has a worried expression. He's never seen Shilia so nervous before. "It seems like something's happened and I need to know." Ethan's facial expressions and body language make it clear that he's very concerned.

"You should be very careful with Aiden.

Aiden is...
...he's...not who you think he is...", Shilia said.

Shilia explains that one of the maids saw Sina having a friendly conversation with Aiden before the lunch and saw him hand a cookie bag to Sina.

Sina happily took it and Aiden whispered something into her ear. Although the maid couldn't heard what he said.

"No need to explain that. I think I already know what conversation they might have shared with each other ", Ethan said while holding himself back.

Its already evident they shared a one-one deal here . If Aiden is interested in Marlin that proves everything. Sina gets to be with me using those cookies and I would definitely take responsibility for sure of I really touched unwillingly.

While Marlin wouldn't want to go near a man who touched another girl and slept with her. That accomplished his goal of having her completely without an opponent.

"But seriously you could have said it to me ; as a brother i would be understanding..is it because I didn't agreed to cooperate with you...Shit!"

Ethan was confused. Why would his brother do such a thing? Was he just desperate ? Did he think Ethan was better than him? Or did he just want to hurt him? Ethan couldn't understand it. Why would Aiden do this to him? They're twins, and they were supposed to be close. They were supposed to always have each other's
backs.

""If he apologises, I think I'll forgive him. He's my brother after all, and we've always been close. The only thing I can think of that would have led him to do this is if he felt jealously towards me. I don't want to lose my brother over something so petty."

As he continued thinking, a sudden sharp pain struck the side of his head, bringing him to his knees. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was as if a needle was being driven into his brain. He tried to fight through it, but the pain was too much and he collapsed to the floor, his vision foggy and his head spinning from the agony and he blacked out.

He suddenly had flashbacks when he saw his mother's gruesome dead body infront of him . She was breathing heavily but she wasn't able to speak.

"Mom?" he said, with a tinge of confusion in his voice. "I...I don't understand... how..."

Suddenly, a figure stepped into view.

"Who are you?" Ethan called out, his eyes watering. "Did you...did you do this to my mother?"

The person remained silent, it looked like it was staring coldly at Ethan with a stern expression. But he didn't remember his face.

Then that person suddenly struck on his head with a hard object. Ethan fainted on the floor beside his mom and blood gushing out. He look at his mother who was slowly dying. With her last remaining strength, she holded him . While she whispered something into his ear....

Ethan awoke to the sound of shouting.

"Your highness ! Are you alright?" he heard someone say. His vision was blurry, an intense pain in his head.

He tried to sit up but his body was weak. Shilia had grabbed him and was holding him steady for him to sit properly on the bed.

"You're awake?" Aiden said, concern in his voice.

"Aiden?" Ethan said in a confused voice. He rubbed his head, which was still pounding from his nightmare. He looked at his brother, who was sitting in his bed, watching him. For a moment he thought he saw a hint of concern in Aiden's face, but then it went away.

"What are you doing here?" Ethan asked, not quite sure what to make of it.

"I heard you were hurt," said Aiden, a slight edge to his voice. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Why?" Ethan asked, his voice breaking.

Aiden's expression hardened. "You know why," he said.
"We are brothers after all!"

"Lanier, Shilia. Please leave. I need to talk to Aiden" Ethan said, his voice serious. The two of them looked at him with concern, but they did as he asked and left the room, closing the door behind them.

When they were alone, Ethan turned to Aiden, his anger and fear evident on his face. "Why did you do it?" he asked, his tone full of pain. "Were you jealous? Did you really think you could get away with it?"

"You know, I always thought it must be lonely being you," Aiden said, smirking at Ethan. He knew exactly how to push the right buttons and piss off his brother with his words, and his face showed no sign of remorse.

His anger only grew and he felt his hands clench as his blood boiled in his veins.

"You're all alone, no friends, always trying to make everyone impressed with your power," Aiden continued to taunt. "But they'll never like you if they know the real person you are."

Then Aiden said , "so when you finally showed interest on someone i felt maybe this person might be interesting to take for me!"

"I can't even believe that you could be so cruel and manipulative. Do you have no shame?"

"Not when it benefits me and my goals," Aiden said coldly, his lack of empathy obvious in his voice and demeanor. He didn't see anything wrong with his actions, and he didn't care who he hurt as long as it got him to where he wanted to be.

Aiden then just said , "its just a cookie accident and no ones hurt. So lets slide the matter for this time.."

"A cookie accident?" Ethan said in disbelief, feeling his anger flare once more. "You tried to poison me, and you expect me to just dismiss it as some mere accident!?"

Then Ethan added up. "There's no excuse, Aiden. What you did was wrong, and I think you know that. You need to learn to face the consequences of your actions and realize that sometimes you can't have everything you want.

"You may be able to get away with these sort of things against others, but not against me. I'm your brother, and you need to treat me with respect. If you want to stay in my life, you need to learn how to respect my boundaries and understand that you can't just do whatever you want. You have to be responsible for your actions."

Aiden was silent for a moment, his expression dark and cold. He turned on his heel and began to walk away.

Ethan then asked Aiden, "Also one thing before you leave where did you keep Sina?"

Aiden paused for a moment, his mouth open to speak but no words coming out. After a moment, his expression hardened and he gave Ethan a scornful look. "I don't see how that's any of your business," he said, "and I'm not answering any more of your questions."

Before leaving, Aiden gave a sudden sly smile to his brother, "Since you're smart ; why don't you find it out yourself. I already welcome you to my twisted games!"

Then he turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Ethan alone in the quiet.