radicalducati Chapter 586: Manipulating Reese
Chapter 586: Manipulating Reese
After that, Blake told his men to bring him to the most high-end bar in Edenfield—Champs Le Bar.
Lately, he had been going there alone every night, drinking and thinking about his time with Bianca.
But tonight was different.
As soon as he entered, Reese stood up and waved with a big smile. Blake smiled back and walked over, then followed her into a private room.
Reese's face lit up the moment she saw Blake. She couldn’t hide how happy she was. The fact that they were alone in the private room made her even more excited; it meant Blake had invited only her. It felt like a special date.
“Blake, looks like your leg’s completely healed,” she said.
She was really happy for him. Even though she’d seen videos of him walking perfectly, seeing him in person was different.
Blake still looked just as handsome. Even after six months, her heart still skipped a beat seeing him again.
“Yes, it’s fully healed now,” he replied.
A trace of sadness passed over Blake’s face. His body had healed, but the pain in his heart was still there.
“What’s bothering you tonight?” Reese asked softly as she sat on the sofa, her hands resting gently on her knees. She looked at him with deep concern. “You seem off.”
Blake sat beside her, clearly holding something back. After a deep sigh, he finally spoke. “Let’s not talk about that tonight. I just want to thank you for being there for me these past six months. Let me toast to you.”
He forced a smile and raised his glass toward her, though the look in his eyes showed something was still weighing on him.
Reese took the glass from his hand, placed it on the table, then turned to face him with a calm but serious look.
“Blake, what’s wrong? Talk to me. Maybe I can help.”
Blake gave a faint, bitter smile and shook his head. He reached for the glass of wine she had set aside, but just as his fingers touched it, Reese gently placed her hand over his, stopping him. He looked up and stared straight into her eyes.
They were sitting so close with each other that their breaths seemed to blend in the short space between them. Reese’s eyes were full of concern, and the usual shyness in her expression had disappeared.
In a soft voice, barely louder than a whisper, she said, “We’re friends, right?”
Blake stayed quiet for a while. His eyes seemed far away. Then he let out a long, tired sigh, slowly pulled his hand back, sat up straighter, and looked at her. His eyes were now filled with sadness.
“Tell me, what’s the point of living this life?” Blake murmured. “I gave everything to my art, every bit of myself. Then out of nowhere, everything fell apart when my leg was broken.”
His eyes lowered as he placed a hand on his leg. “I can walk again, yes. But it’s not the same. When it gets cold or damp, the pain comes back hard. Some nights, it’s so bad I can’t even sleep. It just keeps digging into me.”
Reese’s lips trembled as she listened. Her heart hurt for him. She knew how much the accident had ruined for him. Just hearing him talk about it made her feel the pain as if it were her own.
She wished she could take it from him, even if it meant giving up her own legs.
Gently, Reese reached out and patted him on the back, trying to comfort him. She wanted to say something that might ease his pain. But no words felt strong enough for what he was going through.
After a long silence, Reese finally spoke in a small and trembling voice. “Blake, I’m really sorry for what you’ve gone through…”
“My mom died the moment I was born, and my dad disappeared. For over twenty years, I had no idea who my real parents were, not even their names. When I finally found out who my father was, I wanted to honor him, to be the son I never got to be. But before I had the chance, he died a horrible, sudden death.” Blake held his head, clearly in pain.
Reese wanted so badly to hold him, to comfort him. But she knew she couldn’t cross that line.
She had read the news when Blake returned from overseas to take over the Lawson Group. She looked at him and asked, “Your father… Brady, the former president of Lawson Group. Didn’t the news say he took his own life?”
Blake’s eyes darkened. Her words hit a nerve. He shook his head hard. “That’s not true! That was just something the media made up to cover the truth. My father was murdered!”
Reese’s eyes widened, and she blurted out, “By who?”
Blake looked up and stared into Reese’s eyes. His face turned cold and his voice was sharp. He said just two words.
“Dave Evans.”
Reese’s face went pale.
The name hit her like a slap. Her eyes flew open, and her pupils trembled in shock.
“What did you just say? Dave? How could it be him?”
Blake grabbed a bottle of strong liquor from the table and took a few long swigs. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes burned with hatred as he stared straight ahead.
“As if killing my father wasn’t enough,” he said coldly. “Before he died, he told me my mother was also killed by Dave’s aunt. I’ll never be able to live under the same sky as the Evans family.”
Reese was stunned after she heard it. Her mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. Worse, she seemed stuck in her seat.
Blake looked at Reese, the cold in his eyes fading into something sad.
“Reese, will you listen to my story?”
He looked lost, like a bird caught in the rain with nowhere to go.
Reese’s heart ached. She reached out and held his hand. “I want to hear it, Blake. I always do.”
“Alright,” he whispered.
For the first time, their hands touched. A warm feeling passed between them, like a spark.
Blake slowly began to share the painful story of his parents, Everleigh and Brady. Their love was torn apart by Dave’s aunt, Rachel, who used her family’s power to separate them.
Heartbroken, Everleigh jumped from a building. Blake almost died, too, but his father saved him in secret and worked hard to take over the Lawson Group.