Balfour grunted. "You think I wouldn't worry about Ellinor?"
Byran recognized the anxiety in his brother's demeanor. After all, Ellinor was the person Balfour cherished the most in this world.
"Ah, I'm worried about her too, but I have this feeling that Ellinor and Theo will end up happily together. They just have to!"
Balfour glanced at his brother and quietly agreed. "Alright, you should get some sleep too."
Byran noticed that his brother looked exhausted and decided not to disturb him any further. Nodding, he turned to leave.
Just as he was about to step out, their butler burst through the door, looking completely panic-stricken.
"Balfour, Byran, something terrible has happened! The old master... he... he..."
The butler's face was as pale as a sheet. He was stuttering and couldn't finish his sentence.
Balfour and Byran's eyebrows knitted together in concern.
Byran asked, "What happened?! Didn't we just find Dad?"
The butler, old and trembling, struggled to say, "The old master... he slit his wrists. There's so much blood."
Byran's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
Balfour's expression hardened, and he quickly moved to the butler's side. "Have you informed our grandmother and grandfather?"
The butler croaked. "Not yet. I worried that they wouldn't be able to handle the news. So I thought I would inform you first."
Balfour nodded as he briskly moved towards the door. As he walked, he gave out a serious order. "Make sure no one tells Grandmother and Grandfather. They must not know about this!"
The butler hurriedly agreed. "Yes, sir!"
Byran rushed over with tears welling up in his eyes as he fell beside his father. "Dad! Why would you do this? You were fine! Why would you do such a stupid thing? Don't you care about your sons anymore?"
McNeil had no strength left to speak, but he heard his younger son's voice. He slowly turned to look at Byran. There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but they were mostly empty. He was truly resigned to death.
Balfour towered over him, his face grim. "What right do you have to die?"
McNeil looked at his eldest son with a mix of surprise and self-derision in his eyes. He didn't want to explain, nor did he have the strength to.
All he wanted was a quick release, so he could be reunited with the woman he had longed for every single day.
"You should live and experience the suffering of wishing you were dead. You should endure every painful, lonely night. That's the only way you could begin to make up for the hardships my mother and sister have endured over the years!"
Balfour was harsh and unsympathetic towards his father, even on his deathbed.
McNeil's face paled even further once he heard this. He tried to speak, but the blood loss had left him too weak to make a sound.
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