Chapter 236: Just a Child

Aira keeps on crying the whole time. 

Bryan has to look after her during Cassidy and Asher's absence. He picked her up from the hospital as he was asked to drive her home, though it really wouldn't be a good idea to leave her alone after all of that. Back there, everyone is a mess grieving over Adrian's sudden death. He himself was in shock and disbelief. Yet in the end, all they can do is to accept it. 

From the driver's seat, he reaches his hand out and pats her shoulder soothingly.

"You're never alone in this, little lady. I'm sorry you and Asher had to go through it all on your own for a while..." Bryan started, expression solemn. 

"But Sir Adrian thought it'd be best that neither of you knew who was on your side until the last possible moment."

"Sir Adrian...?" Aira echoed, her weak, brittle voice cracking with sadness.

"He... Don't tell me that he-"

"Knew? Of course he did. That man knows everything. When he and Ma'am Cassidy conducted their own investigation on their nephew's abduction, he assigned me to watch over you and Asher."

"W-Wait, what? They really knew about what he did?"

Bryan nodded. Aira went silent and still, completely taken aback. There's a short pause on both of their parts as the revelation slowly settle in.

"Sir Adrian was aware that Asher had been in contact with Cassidy's uncle..." he further disclosed, stunning her even more. 

"Asher led you somewhere and separated you from Damien before his kidnapping, didn't he? He talked to you about this the other day - right after you got caught up in that fire. Am I right?"

Tears begin to stream down her cheeks then, unbidden. She kept it all to herself this entire time. It was too much for her take. In this moment, however, she finally felt like breaking down and bursting out for once. 

"S-So... you're saying that S-Sir Adrian also knows... a-about what they ordered Asher?" Aira stuttered in between sobs and sniffles. 

"Huh? What order...?" Bryan asked, flummoxed. 

"Is there another order aside from that one back in the amusement park?"

She wipes her nose, her shoulders taut with the burden of her words. For one dreadful moment, she forgets that she is no longer in the hospital and that she can now talk freely. For that dreadful moment, all she thinks about is how much she let her loved ones suffer because of her silence. 

"It's okay, little lady..." Bryan tried to comfort her, picking up on her distress.

"Everything's gonna be okay."

To better focus on Aira, he decided to stop the car for a minute and give her all his attention. He gathered her into his arms, and she buried her head in his shoulder. Ever since this whole mess started, no one had comforted her like this.

She misses Cassidy. She's mad yet concerned about Asher. She's lamenting for Adrian. She's worried about Damien. 

Eveything is just too much. 

"T-They made a deal with Asher..." Aira bemoaned brokenly.

"If he did everything they asked, they wouldn't touch a single hair on big sis' head."

Bryan hums thoughtfully.

She's a little surprised when she feels his hands on her shoulders, gently prying her off and pushing her away. Still within arm's length, her puzzled gaze lifts up to meet his unreadable stare.

"What was Asher planning, Aira...?" Bryan asked softly.

"What did they ask him to do? And what is he doing about it? I knew he's up to something."

"They asked him to do a couple of things as far as I know..." Aira confessed, furrowing her brows.

"He had to distract everyone while they took Damien away. That's the first order."

"And the other one?"

She purses her lips. Fleetingly, she recalls what went down earlier in the hospital. Although she doesn't know everything, she's aware that Adrian's death isn't really as sudden as it seems. 

"Earlier today, Asher met up with one of them. I don't know who. I can't tell anyone about it since he and big sis will get in trouble. I think he's being threatened-"

"But do you know what he has done about it?" he insisted, shaking her shoulders slightly.

"He... had something with him. I'm not sure what. But he received something from them."

He curves his lips slightly, and she gets the vague impression that he's reading all her expressions clearly. She struggles to keep her thoughts in place until she notices that a multitude of emotions seem to flit across his own face - worry, anguish, uncertainty.

Aira can't read Bryan's expressions too well.

But she wonders just how much he knows. It seems that there are a lot of people who are in the loop. All this time, she had thought she'd been carrying the burden on her own, but in reality, she hadn't even been privy to all of it.

She wonders who else knows. She wonders if knowledge will be enough to save them all.

Aira has been left in the dark for long enough. She has a vague idea of what puzzle pieces are shifting into place. Cassidy and Adrian had known. And they'd tried to solve the case. But long before that, Asher was already caught up in the mess. Even if they tried to confront him about it, the situation would only get more complicated. 

All three of them have been in danger. One is now down for the count.

Aira doesn't want to let what happened to Adrian happen to either Cassidy or Asher. 

'But what can I do about it? Just what can I do? I tried to help by coming with Sir Ray, but I only ended up making more troubles. Big sis got taken away, and Sir Adrian is dead. Asher is also being threatened, and Damien is still held captive...' Aira languished over in silence, greatly frustrated at how weak and powerless she was. 

'I know I'm just a child, but even then, I don't want to stay put. There should be something that I can do.'