No Strings Attached novel (Clara and Ian) novel Chapter 473

"The homeless man had me in his grasp, shielding the woman as she fled into the inferno. In a fit of rage, I knocked him out cold and cast him into the blaze. From that day on, I lived behind his mask, a drifter in his stead.”

As these words filled the room, Brodie clenched his fists so tightly in the surveillance room that his knuckles turned white.

Only now did he realize that his mother's face had been disfigured beyond recognition long before the fire had raged. One could only imagine the torment she must have endured back then. It explained her fractured mind.

A fierce scowl cracked Brodie's usually gentle demeanor as he rose from his chair and stormed into the interrogation room.

His foot connected with Robert's belly with a ruthless force. “So, ever since then, you've been hunting her down, relentlessly pursuing her and her son, right?”

Robert looked up at him in bewilderment. “How did you know?”

Licking his back teeth in anticipation, Brodie retorted, “Because I am that child. Can't you see it?”

Upon hearing this, Robert gazed at Brodie for a long moment, then shook his head in agony. “I'm sorry, I had no choice. It was Leonora's orders. If I didn't comply, she would expose me.”

Before Robert could say another word, Brodie's foot lashed out again, striking his thigh. “Did you ever consider what life was like for us because of your pursuit? My mother would wake in terror in the middle of the night, living a nightmare for all these years. You harmed others to protect yourself. Do you think you're justified?”

Then he focused on Robert. “Just tell us how May really died.”

Robert, battered and bruised, spoke through the pain. “She suspected Leonora of murder and had been investigating her secretly. Leonora, fearing exposure, bribed May's driver to stage an accident. I only found out recently that Leonora did it to bring her and Paolo's daughter back to the Campbell family. If I'd known that was her motive, I never would have helped her. She's been lying to me all along, claiming she was looking after my family when, in fact, it was you all along.”

Robert continued with a slew of apologies, but Ian didn't hear a word. All he could process was that Leonora had conspired with the driver to stage the accident.

So, he was the son of the person who had killed May.