Chapter 253 - 253: Connecting the Dots

"I am Catseye."

It was the last sentence which he heard her utter to him using her solemn firm and calm voice. Bryan never expected to hear this again from her. It was just a few days ago when Elle had also mentioned this to him.

'Wait? Did I hear it wrong? Are my ears playing tricks with me?'

"Pardon? What did you just say? Can you repeat it? I think I heard it wrong." His brows furrowed as he said it.

Elle took a deep breath before she spoke up again. Her eyes never left his face.

"I said… I am Catseye." Elle repeated her statement again. There's no sign of humor nor playfulness in her tone, only seriousness.

Bryan: "..."

After hearing it twice Bryan's expression was evidently astounded beyond belief. He didn't know how to react as bewilderment had consumed his way of thinking. Both his eyes and mouth were wide open.

He blinked several times as he watched Elle's face. Then seconds later his gaze moved back and forth between Elle and Erick. The couple was just silently observing him and his reaction.

Bryan: "!!!!!"

After a moment of silence, Bryan burst into a peal of laughter. He started chuckling but he stopped midway when he noticed the seriousness in Erick and Elle's faces.

"Y-You… b-both of you… y-you are just kidding, right?" he stuttered as he asked them for confirmation.

Both Erick and Elle shook their heads almost at the same time after hearing his question.

Thud!

It did not take long when they heard a loud thud. Bryan fell off his seat with his very shocked expression. He became pale and he temporarily lost the ability to speak. His spine stiffened and he froze in his spot.

Erick and Elle exchanged meaningful glances with one another then they looked at Bryan worriedly.

'It looks like he is utterly shocked by this revelation.' They thought to themselves.

Erick extended his arm, offering a hand to help him stand up. However, Bryan remained still and unmoving in his spot. It seemed like he was having a hard time processing that information inside the unique brain of his.

It took him a while to recover his wits. "Elle is Catseye?? Are you really Catseye?" 

Finally, he was able to utter some words. But the disbelief was still evident to his eyes.

"Yes, I am. That is the truth." Elle promptly said to him.

"Believe it or not, she is Catseye. I already confirmed it too. I discovered it just a few weeks ago." Erick also supported Elle's statement to convince Bryan.

"I am sorry for not telling you this. I am sorry for hiding this truth to our team," he added as he felt apologetic to him and his team.

With that Bryan was convinced. He didn't know what to feel as of this moment. He had conflicting thoughts about this.

Bryan stood up and went back to his seat. He was still trying his best to calm his emotions.

"W-Why are you suddenly telling me this?"

"Because we trust you," Erick said to him.

"Because we have to." Elle also replied to him.

Bryan squinted his eyes as he gave the couple an accusing look. "A-Are you thinking...of asking me to help you cover up and hide this truth?"

"No!"

"No!"

Elle and Erick answered him in unison.

"Erick is planning to tell your team about the truth but this thing happened unexpectedly." Elle was referring to Erick's parent kidnapping incident. She also defended Erick by telling this to Bryan.

"So we decided to let you know about this first," she added.

After hearing that, Bryan became silent once again. Then his mind began to wander back into the past. He tried to connect the past events relating to Elle as Catseye.

Erick and Elle gave him time to accept the truth. They just quietly waiting for Bryan to say something. After several minutes of reminiscing, the significant memories just kept flashing on Bryan's mind.

"So when Catseye suddenly became idle and disappeared because she got injured that was the time you saved Elle. Erick, you are the one who rescued Catseye and you took her under your protection!" Bryan exclaimed from that realization.

Elle and Erick just nodded at him.

"D*mn!!! Now I know the reason why you did ask me before who is more beautiful between you and Selena? That was the day when I called you ugly! You took my words seriously and you bore a grudge against me!" 

Bryan's eyes widened in horror as he remembered the scene between him and Elle when Erick caught them as if they were about to kiss.

Elle bit her lower lip when she remembered it. Erick let out a soft chuckle.

"Wait! Did you attack Selena that day because you are jealous when you learned that Selena and Erick had lunch together?" Bryan said while accusing Elle.

Erick turned to look at Elle upon hearing that. "Did you really get jealous at that time?" Erick asked her expectantly.

"No way!" Elle blatantly denied their accusations.

The two men just raised their brows. They didn't believe her. Elle shot them a sharp glare.

"Oh, there's one more thing. That one night when you suddenly disappeared and Erick searched for you all over the city because he was overly worried about you… that was also the same night Catseye's hideout exploded. You did it yourself, right?"

Elle:"..."

'D*mn! I didn't know that Bryan has a very sharp memory. I think I underestimated him.' Elle thought to herself as she stared at Bryan amusingly.

Bryan continued talking as he stated the past events one after another.

"That night when Chief Lee got injured! You left the hospital to seek revenge against Reaper!! You killed him after knowing that he was the one who hurt Erick! Oh, I also remembered when you came back your arm was bleeding. Your wound was the result of your fight against Reaper! Oh my Gosh! So Dr. Gomez was right. You killed Repear as an act of revenge on behalf of Erick!"

"Lastly, when we talked at Falcon Cafe about Erick's decision of leaving Catseye's case, you were not lying to me the moment you told me that Erick did that because you were Catseye! Sh!t! I was so stupid thinking that you were just joking at that time."

Both Erick and Elle wanted to commend Bryan for finally connecting all the dots. But, did he really have to say those things one after another? Well, that was expected of him once his blabbering mouth was activated.

"I guess you remember everything so well," Elle commented.

Erick patted Bryan's shoulder. "Good job, Buddy!"

"So you are also the one who was giving us anonymous tips in the past! D*mn! Catseye was with us all along!" Then suddenly Bryan felt the chill all over his body from that thought.

"You could easily kill us anytime without us knowing!" Bryan exclaimed in horror.

Elle rolled her eyes skyward. "But I didn't! You are still here, breathing. Alive and kicking!" Elle retorted.

Then Bryan turned to Erick as if he didn't hear what Elle had just said to him. He held both Erick's shoulders.

"Erick, my good friend! You are our savior! Thank you for making the devil fall for you. Because if you didn't then we might end up being corpses already a long time ago!"

Erick: "..."

Elle's ears heated up after hearing Bryan's remarks. Without noticing the threatening gaze coming from Elle, Bryan continued his ranting.

"I knew it. My sixth sense was right. The first time I saw her, there was something off with her. I could feel the frightening aura emanating from her. Just one look at her I couldn't help but shiver in fear. I thought it was only my wild imagination but the truth was she was really a dangerous person. I am always scared of her."

With Bryan's confession, Elle didn't know whether to laugh or get mad. But one thing was for sure, at this moment she had the urge to hit Bryan and make his blabbering mouth shut.

Then Elle nudged Erick's shoulder to get his attention. She gave him a pitiful look as if she was asking him to defend her. Bryan was clearly talking bad about her right now.

Erick cleared his throat as he gave Bryan a warning look. Upon meeting Erick's gaze, Bryan understood what he was trying to say. At last, Bryan stopped talking as he simply stole a glance at Elle who already looked unhappy.