Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 134: Shane Donovan May Not Be Dead!

In the office, Rhys Lennox stared at the curled-up figure on the sofa, feeling a heavy obstruction in his chest.

He raked his blonde hair irritably, stepped forward, and his voice was harsh: "What did he say to you?"

Stella Sterling didn’t lift her head, her face buried in her knees, her voice muffled, carrying a lingering nasal tone: "Nothing."

Rhys’s brow furrowed slightly. He instinctively bent down to pull her up to get clarity, but his hand froze halfway in the air.

"If it’s nothing, why are you crying?"

Stella still didn’t lift her head, her voice even more muffled, "None of your business."

"I insist on making it my business!" Rhys’s temper flared, and he grabbed her wrist with a force that caused her pain, forcing her to lift her head.

Tear stains crisscrossed wildly on her face, her eyes vacant as if all life had been drained from them.

Seeing her like this, the fire in his chest burned even more intensely, almost breaking through his throat.

He wanted to shake her awake, to shout at her about whether someone dead was worth it, to tell her Shane Donovan wasn’t the only man in the world.

But as the words reached his lips, he bit down hard on them.

What was he to her?

How long had it been since his brother died?

Those frenzy-driven thoughts, at this moment in front of her empty gaze, seemed both despicable and vile.

No matter how far Rhys Lennox had strayed, he wasn’t so low as to take advantage of someone grieving, with his brother not long dead.

"Look at yourself now!" His voice was restrained, his brow nearly knotted into a tight mess, "If my big brother were here, would he even care for you looking like this?"

Stella’s pupils shrank sharply, as if pierced by his words.

She tried to jerk her hand back forcefully, more tears welling up in her eyes, but stubbornly refusing to fall.

"Whether he cares or not... it’s none of your business!" Her voice trembled, almost through gritted teeth, "Rhys Lennox, what right do you have to speak about him like this? What right!"

"By just standing in front of you now!"

Rhys roared, his other hand bracing against the sofa back, trapping her completely in the small space, his breath hot against her face, "He’s dead! Stella! He’s not coming back! Wake the hell up! You’re ruining yourself over someone who’s dead — how stupid can you be?!"

"He’s not dead!" Stella seemed completely infuriated, her other hand suddenly rising, fiercely swinging at his face.

Rhys didn’t dodge.

A crisp "slap" echoed clearly in the silent office.

Rhys’s face turned slightly to the side, his tongue pressing against his numbed corner of the mouth, tasting a hint of rust.

He turned back to look at her, his gaze stormy like the sea before a tempest.

After the hit, Stella’s hand froze in mid-air, breathing was rapid, her chest heaving violently.

Looking at the clear imprint on his face, a hint of panic flickered across her eyes.

"I..." She opened her mouth, "I didn’t mean to..."

Rhys stared at her, suddenly laughed, a laugh carrying a hint of mischief and chill, yet behind his eyes surged a thick emotion she couldn’t comprehend.

"Good hit." His voice was hoarse, yet he didn’t loosen his grip on her wrist one bit, "But let me tell you, Stella, there’s no one in this world who can’t live without someone else."

His gaze locked onto hers as if trying to draw her in.

"What my big brother could give you..."

"Bang—!"

The office door burst open from the outside, abruptly cutting off the words coming from Rhys’s lips.

Only to see Finn Lockwood rushing in holding a laptop, his face excited, seemingly oblivious to the tense and almost frozen atmosphere within the room.

"Boss! Boss! Look! There’s... there’s just been a video leaked online! From the day of the explosion!" Finn’s voice trembled with a disbelief, as he rushed over to Stella, turning the screen towards her.

The words that had reached Rhys’s lips were forcibly swallowed back, an intense frustration surging to his head, he abruptly let go of Stella, straightening up, eyes darkly glaring at Finn, wishing he could throw the oblivious guy directly out the window.

Stella, however, seemed nailed in place by the words "day of the explosion," paying no attention to the recent tussle with Rhys, her gaze immediately locked onto the laptop screen.

The video quality was poor, shaking intensely, likely captured by a dashboard camera.

The footage showed a nighttime highway, with faint flames visible in the distance.

Suddenly, a loud bang, flames soared into the sky!

The camera shook violently, then steadied as if the vehicle capturing it had come to a halt.

Soon after, a black car was seen parked by the roadside after the explosion in the corner of the frame.

The car door opened, and a blurred figure swiftly jumped from the car, and under someone else’s direction, immediately dashed towards the guardrail by the highway, leaping into the river flowing below!

The motion was so quick it was nearly uncatchable.

And the person directing the one jumping into the river stood there silently, their demeanor calm to the point of eeriness.

The screen’s clarity wavered with noise, speckling densely.

But in that instant, Stella’s pupils constricted to pinpoints.

The explosion’s glow illuminated the roadside figure’s profile—a deep grey suit, gold-rimmed glasses, eyes behind the lenses calm to the point of indifference. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Julian Sullivan.

He stood there, neither too far nor too close to the blast, even raising a hand to adjust his glasses with refined, unruffled movement.

Then, the footage abruptly ended.

The office plunged into deathly silence.

Only the buzzing of the computer fan droned on, hammering into ears.

"Boss..." Finn’s voice trembled with incredulity, "This... this..."

Stella abruptly raised her hand, stopping him mid-sentence.

Her face was ashen, yet her blood surged like magma through her veins, rushing and colliding, making her limbs tingle, her fingertips cold.

Julian Sullivan.

Why was he there?

Appearing at the scene after Shane Donovan’s car exploded?

Recalling his earlier ambiguous words, nudges towards doubt—how could it have been collaboration?

Surely, it was probing!

He was here today to gauge her intent!

An absurd, insane thought broke through—

Shane Donovan might not be dead!

Perhaps he jumped into the river before the explosion, and the person in the video jumping in... could they have been going to save him?

Was it Julian Sullivan’s men who rescued him?

This speculation sent shivers down her spine, nearly making her unable to stand.

Her heart pounded frantically in her chest, hammering her eardrums with a hum, blood rushing to her limbs, bringing a dizzying mix of joy and disbelief.

He’s not dead...

He might really be alive!

This notion flared like wildfire, lighting up her eyes with a frightening brightness.

"Investigate!"

She stood up abruptly, and because the movement was too fast, her vision went black for a moment, body swaying until Finn Lockwood hurriedly stabilized her, "Investigate Julian Sullivan! Check all his recent whereabouts! Quick!"

"Understood!" Finn Lockwood also got excited, hugging the laptop as he was about to dash out.

"Wait!" Stella called out to him, her voice trembling slightly with excitement, "Check the video source too! Find a way to locate who shot the video!"

"Got it!"

Finn Lockwood whirled out like a gust of wind.

Stella supported herself on the desk, her fingertips trembling slightly from exertion, a flush rising in her cheeks, as if possessed by a renewed spirit, a sort of obsessive elation.

She didn’t even notice, in the corner, Rhys remained silent throughout.

He leaned against the wall, hands in his trouser pockets, his gaze fixed on Stella’s side profile, now ablaze, her eyes brightly rekindled, pricking at something nameless in his own heart.

He ought to be happy.

That was his big brother, blood-linked big brother.

But why... did it feel like there was a mass of soaked cotton in his chest, suffocating him to near breathlessness?

He irritably turned away, his tongue pressing against his back molars, pressing down that inexplicable block and... panic buried deep in his heart.