"U-Uri?" Julien stammered.
A bead of cold sweat slid down his sharp cheek and vanished into the pitch-black void below.
"Your memory serves you well, Mr. Lovelace. You remember my voice even though we have only met once. I'm touched."
A scoff echoed from above.
"You're far better than that heartless, cruel Jonah."
"Where am I? Why did you abduct me? What the hell are you trying to do?"
Julien struggled with all his strength. The icy chains bit into his skin, scraping him raw. Pain seared through his body, but he couldn't break free.
Uri let out a low, haunting chuckle. "I suggest you stop struggling. It's useless. I didn't tie you very securely. If you keep trashing around, you might fall to your death on your own. Then I wouldn't even have to lift a finger."
Julien froze, cold sweat breaking out across his back. He didn't dare move another inch. "Uri, there's no bad blood between us. Why abduct me? Is it because of my face? Is that why you refuse to let me go?"
Uri clicked his tongue. "How can you be so full of yourself?"
In the darkness, his voice sounded eerie and distant, as though drifting up from the underworld.
"You're nothing more than my younger brother's look-alike. All you have is a shell that resembles him. Beyond that, your character, your soul—they're nothing alike.
"Blake was far more exceptional and far stronger. You can't even begin to compare. You should feel lucky you resemble him at all.
"Though, I will say this-you do share one thing. You both have terrible taste in men."
Julien sneered. "Your younger brother? He was just someone you loved and failed to win."
His pale lips parted coldly. Damp strands of hair clung to his sweat-slicked forehead. A drop of sweat fell from the tip of his dark fringe and disappeared into the abyss below.
"You didn't even have the courage to confess. So you hid behind the word 'brother.' After years of repressing your feelings with nowhere to put them, you finally lost your mind, didn't you?"
Julien let out a sharp laugh. "I get it now. You hate Jonah because he got what you never could. A dark, twisted man like you couldn't accept that. So you've spent years rotting inside your own jealousy, determined to destroy everything he has."
A suffocating silence followed.
Then, without warning, a spotlight snapped on above Julien. Blinding white light
poured down, making him squint as a chill crawled up his spine.
Immediately after, Uri's maniacal, hysterical laughter erupted from above. A loud metallic clang echoed as the machinery began to grind to life Aboom lift, descended slowly, mally coming to a stop directly in front of Julien.
"You're right. I did have feelings for Blake. But he only ever had eyes for that bastard Jonah. He never once looked at me. If he'd chosen me, would he have met such a tragic end?
"In the end, he died because he loved the wrong person. Because he was blinded by love."
Uri leaned forward over the railing, crossing his arms as he stared down at Julien. A wicked, vicious smile curved his lips. "Frankly, I'm already halfway to my goal- destroying everything Jonah holds dear.
"He loves you deeply, and I tore you apart. I turned you into enemies who despise each other, even though you offee loved each other so fiercely. I'm very satisfied with the outcome. Now Blake can finally rest in peace."
A dull ache tightened in Julien's chest. His heart pounded painfully, each beat a heavy blow.
Jonah...
He shut his reddened eyes. Memories of the intimacy he once shared with Jonah surfaced quietly in the darkness. The pain spread through his limbs until every inch of him ached.
Since their breakup, every minute had felt like his heart was being carved open with
a blunt knife. He had drifted through his days like a living corpse.
Yes, he regretted it. How weak and pathetic of him.
Even if he had only been a substitute...
Even if he had discovered that Jonah had buried the memory of a dead lover within
him, he had still chosen to accept it.