NovelStart"Yes." Carrie nodded firmly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAt this moment, Ralph, always composed and steady, stared at the portrait as he stood quietly and stiffly, his eyes turning red.
"Ralph, are you alright?" Carrie keenly sensed Ralph's unusual behavior and asked softly.
Ralph spoke, his voice hoarse. "Sorry. Where's the washroom? I need to use it." Justin pointed in the direction, and Ralph immediately strode away.
"Bella, do you guys know this man?" Justin put his arms around her waist and asked nervously.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBella took a deep breath, trying to calm her surging emotions. "This man looks like my fifth brother, Hugh, who died in a plane crash." Justin and Carrie's eyes widened in disbelief! Thinking of her fifth brother, who passed away many years ago and beca wound that would never heal on the Thompson family members' hearts, Bella immediately teared up and muttered in a low voice, "During the years Hugh left us, we never dared to mention his nor grieve him, especially in front of Aunt Mila and Ralph. It's not because we have forgotten him, but precisely because we can't, so we always avoided the subject." Bella slowly closed her eyes as her memories were recalled, the pain spreading from the deepest corner of her heart and almost overwhelming her. "Until now, I could still remember the morning of Hugh's accident. He wore his pilot's uniform and carried a suitcase, standing in the courtyard bathed in warm sunlight, waving goodbye to us. We never thought it would be the last twe saw him." The short goodbye becan eternal farewell.
Justin's hand on Bella's waist tightened, the sadness pressing down on his chest like a huge rock, so heavy that it suffocated him. He wanted to comfort her, but any words seemed pale and useless in the face of a sibling's death. Carrie finally understood and could not help looking back worriedly at the direction Ralph had left.
"The man in this portrait doesn't just look similar to Hugh. They look identical!" Bella's fingers trembled again as she held the portrait. "But... But we've gotten official confirmation that all the crew members and passengers on Hugh's plane died in the crash. It's impossible..." "It's indeed hard to believe." Justin's voice was slightly hoarse, his palm rubbing her shoulders gently. "Even if no body was found, the possibility of survival in a plane crash is close to zero. Besides, if your brother survived and was saved, how could henot contact his family for so many years?" Content belongs to en.sw"It's not impossible," Justin said after sthought.
"That glimmer of hope helped her through the darkest times of her life. So, she did not treat the day of the incident as Hugh's death anniversary. She still celebrates his birthday, as if Hugh merely went on a long trip and would chsooner or later." Bella's heart throbbed with pain. "I really can't imagine how Aunt Mila would feel if she saw this man. I'm afraid she'd want to find this man more than we do, even just to see him once." Ralph stared deeply at the man's handsface. "This man looks like Hugh, but his eyes don't belong to him. Hugh is like a pool of springwater, while he is a ruthless cold blade." The room fell into a depressing silence.
Justin suddenly thought of something, his jaw tensing.
"Justin, if you have something to say, just say it." As a couple, Bella could read the man's microexpressions now. "Bella, do you remember that woman who looked almost the sas you? The woman Christopher kept by his side." "You mean Yvonne? Of course." "At that time, Christopher used Yvonne to set a trap, makingmistake her for you and fall into his trap." Justin's gaze darkened, clouded by shadows. "And this man coincidentally looks like your fifth brother and coincidentally played a crucial role in the plot against Ryan and Carrie. Is it possible that Christopher was the one pulling the strings behind Liam and Zoe?"
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