Chapter 380
June took a leisurely sip of coffee, then said directly, "I came here specifically to tell you something."
"What is it?" Kenneth asked impatiently.
June said, "Do you remember the night you were ambushed in that alley, injured and on the verge of death, only to be saved at the last moment?"
"Of course, I remember," Kenneth replied without hesitation. "I was gravely injured that night. If it weren't for Melody, I wouldn't be here today."
June shook her head and emphasized, "Wrong."
She stood, taking slow steps toward Kenneth, her gaze piercing. "That night, the one who saved you wasn't Melody."
Kenneth scoffed, his patience thinning. "Then who was it? Today's my engagement, and you're here telling me these things to sabotage it? Ridiculous."
He picked up his watch and started to leave.
June's low, eerie laugh echoed through the room. "What if I told you that the person who saved you that night was Tiffany?"
His footsteps faltered. He turned abruptly. "What did you say? That's impossible!"
"Why wouldn't it be?" June's smile was a mixture of pity and mockery. "Tell me, in a situation where you were pursued by a dozen assassins, with Melody completely defenseless, how could she possibly have saved you? What exactly did she have? The courage? The skills? The power?"
June laughed louder, each word striking at Kenneth's pride. "Mr. Harper, how could you be so naive?"
Kenneth's expression darkened. Every word she spoke hammered at him with painful clarity. It was true. Some things were impossible to see when caught up in the moment, only clear once he stepped back to re-evaluate them.
It was then he remembered. "No wonder"
He'd taken a slap to the face before he even woke up. It wasn't meant to wake him; it was a genuine hit. No wonder the woman crouching in front of him quickly covered her face the moment he opened his eyes. It was Tiffany. She hadn't wanted him to know she was his rescuer. No wonder that when he later sent someone to investigate, they found no trace in that alley, only a few ordinary arrow feathers left on the ground.
Each memory now aligned with painful precision, revealing the truth he'd so stubbornly denied. He had been wrong, utterly and foolishly wrong.
Kenneth's figure hunched under the weight of realization, his face ashen and eyes hollow.
Satisfied, June delivered one last cutting remark. "Oh, and by the way, Tiffany was seriously injured that night saving you."
She stepped back, her expression cold. "I didn't tell you all this to stop your engagement. I told you so that you'd be left with this regret for the rest of your life, painfully aware of how you mistreated someone you once couldn't see the value in. You deserve it."
With those words, June turned and strode away with Jeremy.
Outside the room, the Harper family's butler paced nervously, having been called by Felicia and Romeo multiple times to hurry Kenneth up. The bride was already at the hotel, and everyone was waiting for the groom. When the butler entered the room, he froze in shock to see Kenneth trembling, his face pale, the veins on his hands bulging.
"Sir," the butler stammered, "are you feeling unwell?"
Kenneth gritted his teeth. "Bring Deegan in. Now!"
"But, sir, the engagement ceremony is about to begin…"
It was the first time the usually gentle Kenneth had raised his voice at a servant. The butler hurried to fetch Deegan.
When Deegan entered, he was visibly nervous. "Sir, did you need something?"
"Do you remember that when I was injured, I asked you to investigate who had saved me?" Kenneth's voice was tight.
Deegan thought for a moment. "Yes, sir. At that time, you said Miss Princeton, that is, your fiancée, was the one who saved you and even sent me to verify it. But I found that she had never been near that alleyway that night, so it was impossible for her to have saved you… but you refused to believe it."
Kenneth's laughter was bitter. Back then, even when Deegan's investigation pointed out his likely mistake, he had stubbornly clung to his assumptions. Now, the full depth of his error hit him—a cascading series of mistakes that had led him to this point.
Deegan swallowed nervously, watching Kenneth's face. "Sir… is something wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Kenneth gave a curt nod. "Leave."
"But, sir… the family is urging you to get to the hotel…"
"Get out!"
Deegan hurriedly left.
Stumbling like a lost man, Kenneth found himself wandering until he reached the secluded part of the estate where his grandfather kept his belongings. Heart pounding, he went inside. With Romeo already at the hotel, Kenneth began searching with reckless abandon, pulling everything apart. As he suspected, the Treasure Box was hidden under the bed.
Chapter 380
Sitting on the floor, his heart heavy with conflicting emotions, Kenneth looked at the Treasure Box. With a small, desperate hope, he took a knife, cut his palm, and placed his bleeding hand on the box's surface.
The Treasure Box, an ancient artifact of dark blue stone, began to glow intensely upon contact with his blood. The light was so bright that it forced him to shut his eyes.
Then, a faint voice echoed. "What do you seek?"
"You're supposed to reveal the past and the present, right?" Kenneth whispered, his voice trembling. "I want to see… how foolish I've been."
The Treasure Box's light intensified, blindingly bright. Kenneth squeezed his eyes shut, feeling himself engulfed by an ethereal warmth. And then, he began to see.
It was like falling through a dream, with one scene after another unfolding before him. In this vision, a younger Tiffany, sixteen years old, glowed with innocent excitement, her eyes bright as she looked at him. She'd chase after him, calling in her clear voice, "Kenneth, wait for me! Wait for me!" But he never turned around. People around him would snicker, "Look, the silly girl from the Kelley family is following him again. Imagine having to put up with someone so desperate. We feel bad for you, Mr. Harper." Embarrassed and angry, Kenneth had scolded Tiffany harshly each time, driven by his wounded pride and the judgmental eyes of others. "I don't like you," he'd snapped. "Stop following me." But that was not the truth.