Be My Strength
/ Be My Strength 359 He probably can't tell
There was no way that Phantom's wheelchair could fit into any of Callum's other cars.
From the very beginning, Ghost had expected what the public's reaction would be and he knew that Phantom would not be safe if he went back with public transport.
"Are you alright?" asked Ghost as he sat at the passenger seat. He glanced at the rearview mirror to look at Phantom who was sitting quietly at the backseat.
"Yeah…" murmured Phantom as he glanced out the window. His eyes were slightly swollen from the tears he shed earlier and there was a little cut on the back of his hand when he shielded himself from a deflated can that was thrown at him by an angry guest.
When the guards caught the guest, Phantom told Callum to release the attacker. At that time, he had said, "I deserve it."
Even though he was hated by everyone, he was not bothered much by it.
All he could think about was Kai Xin and whether she was alright.
As if he heard his thoughts, Ghost said, "Don't worry about her. With Du XiAn there, she would be fine."
Phantom nodded as he murmured, "Hopefully so…"
Even if he knew that Kai Xin was a strong woman, but he also knew that what he did was very hurtful to her. She had trusted him and he hid such a big secret from her.
Phantom sighed inwardly as he shook his head.
When they arrived at Phantom's apartment that was 30 minutes drive away from Kai Xin's old apartment, Ghost left Callum in the car while he sent Phantom up.
The moment they arrived at Phantom's unit, Ghost was angry when he saw the state of the place. The alarms were blaring like mad and upon Phantom's instruction, Ghost keyed in the password to turn it off.
The door was opened and from what they could see from the outside, someone had broke in and destroyed everything. Things were thrown all over, and some were even left outside the unit.
He then called the security guards up and when two of them came up to have a look, he started yelling at them, "How did this happen! What's the point of him paying thousands of dollars a year if you can't keep the people out! Can't you hear the alarms?!"
The security guards who came up winced when they heard Callum's sharp tone. One of them then replied meekly, "The guard at the surveillance room fell asleep… Besides, no one reported anything…"
"Let him be. It's probably the neighbors…" said Phantom nonchalantly. He had expected it. While Ghost continued to scold the security guard, Phantom wheeled himself into the apartment. He did not care for most of his stuff.
After Ghost had given the guards a piece of his mind and told them to warn everyone in the apartment building, he then went into the unit. When he entered, he was shocked to see the light droplets of blood on the floor that led into the living room.
Without taking off his shoes, he slowly walked inside. As he walked, he noticed shards from the broken lamps and light bulbs as well as the blood that was on the shards.
The wheelchair was toppled over and resting on a broken beanbag that Kai Xin bought so that she could have a place to sit whenever she visits. However, she had never visited before because they were afraid that they would be discovered.
Ghost sighed. He followed the trail of blood and when he saw Phantom, he shook his head.
At a corner of the living room, Phantom was sitting on the floor as he clutched a broken frame towards his chest. There were tears in his eyes as he kept mumbling, "I'm sorry", over and over again.
There was blood that was seeping out of his slacks but Phantom seemed immune to the pain.
Ghost sighed, "He probably can't tell…"
The accident not only took Phantom's ability to walk away from him but it also took his ability to feel from his thigh onwards. Ghost went over and kicked away the broken pieces from the windows before he knelt down on one knee next to Phantom.
"Let's go over to my place," said Ghost.
When Phantom did not say anything, Ghost sighed. He went to the bathroom and got the first-aid kit. While Phantom sat there quietly, Ghost helped him cleaned his wound. Luckily, the cuts were shallow and even though he bled quite a lot, by the time Ghost started to clean his wounds, most of them had already stopped bleeding.
"There, we are done," said Ghost as he patted Phantom's leg.
He then stood up and said, "Take your time. I'll pack some of your clothes up."
Without looking at him, Phantom nodded. Once Ghost went into his bedroom, Phantom removed the photo from the frame and he touched the photo of his family that was slightly torn in the middle where he was standing. His parents stood by his side while his younger sister was sitting in her wheelchair in front of him.
When he won the World Hackers Series when he was 18 years old, his parents and sister were so proud that they forced him to take hundreds of photos with them. At that time, his sister had received the long-awaited operation.
Even though she was still weak and had not fully recovered yet, their parents relented and allowed her to go with them to pick up her brother. After all, it was her first request after she left the hospital that she had been staying in for years.
This particular photo was a special photo because his sister chose it and framed it up for him. When she gave it to him, she had smiled brightly as she said, "I'm so proud of you, Ge Ge (big brother)! You're the best in the world!"
He touched his younger sister's face in the photo and remembered the way her face would lit up whenever he visited her. The images of her filled his mind.
He remembered vividly when he first carried her in his arms. He was six and his father made him sat on the couch before he placed his newborn sister in his arms. She had fussed a little but she quickly smiled when he sang to her.
The memories kept coming back. From the time she cried when she had to go to kindergarten to those awful times when she kept getting sick before the doctor managed to find out what was wrong with her.
Phantom clenched his fists tightly.
When he realized how weak he was in the face of power and money, that was when he decided to join the World Hackers Series.
Even since what he did to Kai Xin, he was unable to face her. Whenever he bumped into her or her brother, he would do his best to avoid them. It was hard to look into their eyes and pretended that he knew nothing. As horrible as it was, Phantom had felt a sense of relief when Kai Xin transferred school as he could finally breathe again.
He had never told his family anything about it and when they asked about the money, he said that it was a loan. The feeling of having to keep his mouth shut because he was weak hurt and he did not want to have to go through it again.
Once he graduated from school, with his ability, he kept training and kept winning the World Hackers Series. He spent most of his time either training or hanging out with his family because he did not want to think about what he saw. However, no matter how many times he won, whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was his own helplessness.
When Ghost first came to him when he was 18, he pretended not to know what he was talking about. After all, he had tried his best to forget about it and move on.
It was only after his family was gone and that he had plenty of things to think about, that he started to reconsider Ghost's offer of a way to redeem himself. It would be better than to drown his sorrows in alcohol every day.
When Ghost introduced him to Kai Xin formally, both of them were surprised that Kai Xin did not recognize him. However, they both decided that it would be best if she could not remember.
At that time, she was still traumatized by the event and it would be hard for her to trust and work with someone who was responsible for her trauma.
First, he hid the pain of ignoring Kai Xin's cry for help by focusing all his energy in his family. Then, he buried the pain of losing his family by helping Kai Xin.
But now? His family was gone and so was Kai Xin. Phantom closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling out.
Once he was able to control his emotion, he took a deep breath before he opened his eyes again. As he looked at the torn photo, he asked softly, "Ziwei… Would you still be proud of me if you are alive today?"
….
Chapter end
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