Chapter 83

In the wealthy villa at Starlight Rivers District, on the second-floor study.

The twilight outside was fading fast, and Frank, sitting in his wheelchair, watched quietly.

He suddenly wondered where the last bit of light between day and night goes.

In a blink, it was dark.

His face turned somber, eyes dropping, feeling like time and life were slipping out of his hands.

The room got darker, but he didn't bother turning on the light, letting the night take over. His lonely silhouette looked kinda helpless.

He got a call, listened quietly, his dry lips parting slightly, and his voice was soft. "People change. If it wasn't for his heads-up, Nancy wouldn't have known. I regret that. Let's give it one last shot. Before the new world comes, I'll bow out, no applause, no cheers."

The call ended, and the room was dead silent again.

Frank slowly wheeled himself to the desk, where the projector flickered on.

A beam of light hit the wall, the only light in the room.

Frank stared at it for a long time, turned it off, then back on. The light flickered, but the last bit of afternoon sun was gone.

He turned to the wall, where a video of Laura in the university drama club was playing.

Laura, in a fiery red dress with a long train, stepped onto the stage.

It looked like a pool of blood flowing up the steps, so striking.

Even with heavy makeup, she wasn't tacky. She was stunning, like nothing could outshine her.

This was the opera "Plum Blossoms and Frost" that Alan, Frank, and Laura wrote back in college.

"You ask me, why do I bloom in winter? Is it the poet's lament for spring and autumn, or the gentleman's sense of integrity? No, who understands me? I am the devil of flowers, the undertaker. Their bodies turn into nutrients nourishing my roots. Crawling out from the pile of corpses, the king of winter is born. At that moment, I am the most beautiful flower in the world."

Laura raised her arm and shouted.

Then the music started, and Frank, dressed in white, appeared, his clothes thin and his figure frail.

"You ask me, why do I arrive in autumn and winter? I am the martyr, the gravekeeper, the scavenger. Before the new world arrives, I dance with time, assassinating all evils overnight. Thank fate, I met the king. This is my destiny. I will be the blood-red contrast. Because of me, red is so enchanting. This is the king's tenderness."

In the video, Laura stood high above, looking down on everyone, while Frank, dressed in white, bowed and slowly approached from the steps below, finally kneeling at Laura's feet.

Laura crouched down and embraced Frank.

Frank stared at the video of Laura, his eyes burning, murmuring non-stop.

He reached out, as if wanting to touch the face of the past again. Halfway, he pulled his hand back and gently touched his own neck, slowly moving to other places where they had once kissed and caressed.

His eyes were misty, his body started to sweat a bit, his breathing got faster, and his right arm kept trembling.

The guy in the wheelchair suddenly jerked, his straight posture slumping, and then he went still.

Night had fallen.

The projector was off, and the room was dead quiet. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't even notice the man slumped in the wheelchair.

If he died like this, it might be ages before anyone found his decaying body.

But this guy was different. His chest rose and fell weakly, making faint breathing sounds. He seemed to be asleep.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, like a demon crawling out of a broken coffin in a mass grave.

He cried and laughed intermittently, but whether crying or laughing, he let out hysterical screams, like a madman.

No, even madmen spoke. He just kept screaming and shouting.

After a while, he started cursing loudly, spitting, and thrashing around like a hungry wolf with a lame leg.

This was a standalone villa, with low building density, but the sound still spread out. The people around didn't say anything, thinking there was a lunatic living here.

But there was one thing everyone heard clearly, a person's name, indicating a deep grudge. That was Laura.

Howard laughed at me, saying that after Joseph got into trouble, the most anxious person turned out to be me, someone unrelated to him.

In a café near the company, Howard was chattering about the news he had gathered.

"Which specific leader, I'm not sure. How would I know such things? But there are only so many people in the state court, police, prosecutor's office, and court. Just eliminate them one by one."

"How do I know? Watch the video. There are many photos circulating too, though you probably can't find them now. Don't look at me like that. I'm not gay. As a media worker... the boss of a media company, I need to be informed about the news happening in Silverlight City. It's my responsibility and duty."

Howard, who usually appeared righteous and gentlemanly during media interviews, looking like a business elite, would light up with excitement whenever gossip was mentioned, even if he hadn't slept all night.

It was a pity he worked in legal journalism; he should have gone into gossip media. He might have become the top entertainment reporter in the industry.

I had no time for his news commentary and went straight to the point.

Indeed, during university, I had contact with Joseph because of Alan, but we weren't close, just acquaintances.

We hadn't been in touch for years. Rather than knowing him, it was more about the impression he left.

A boy as pretty as a girl, clean, a bit shy, speaking softly. If you didn't listen carefully, you wouldn't know what he was saying. But he sang beautifully. He was the new lead in the drama club's opera performance. With his long hair, many guys mistook him for a pretty girl.

Girls liked him too, and he had many admirers. Joseph would blush whenever he talked about it, but later I heard he had a girlfriend.

When he graduated, Alan and I were already married. After graduation, everyone got busy and lost touch.

I saw him again just over a month ago, in his thirties, slightly overweight, with a beard, and a smoking habit, looking like a middle-aged man.

How did he suddenly get involved in an unspeakable relationship with another man?