487: Chapter 482 Excitement is Enough

The sound of that child falling to the ground was very light.

Yet, it was like a heavy hammer smashing into the depths of Kevin's memory.

He remembered his own childhood.

In his memory, the person called 'older brother' always looked at him with disgust.

He would 'accidentally' break his most cherished model airplane.

He would 'unintentionally' tell his father that he had skipped French class.

During equestrian lessons, he would use the tip of his riding whip, from an angle no one could see, to startle his horse.

Every time he fell, every time he cried, every time he was scolded by his father.

Andrew would always stand to the side, wearing the same gentle and perfect smile as just now.

And his father, that man sitting high above, would only look at him with disappointed eyes.

"Kevin, why are you always so fragile?"

"Look at your older brother. When will you ever have half his composure?"

"The Hossen Family doesn't need a weakling who only knows how to cry."

Those cold, reprimanding words had carved themselves into his heart since childhood, like tiny knives.

He dared not rush to Andrew and call him 'older brother'.

Because he knew that what awaited him would never be an embrace.

But rather, a more hidden, more subtle push away.

"Let's go."

Shen Yan's voice sounded beside his ear.

Kevin's body swayed slightly.

He slowly turned his head and looked at Shen Yan.

There was no expression on that Eastern face.

Neither sympathy nor surprise.

As if the cruel scene just now had been nothing more than an ordinary street view.

"I'll take you to eat Mexican burritos."

Shen Yan said another sentence.

Kevin's thoughts seemed to be violently yanked out of the cold abyss of memory by an invisible hand.

Mexican burritos.

He remembered last night, in that penthouse suite, the questions Shen Yan had asked him.

His throat moved.

An indescribable chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He suddenly understood.

If today, it wasn't that woman bringing a fake to claim a reward.

If Andrew's people had found him first.

What would that scene look like?

Perhaps his elder brother would step forward and give him an incredibly affectionate hug.

He would stage a touching drama of brotherly affection in front of the media.

Then, in some unknown corner.

He would meet with an 'accident'.

A car crash, a 'misstep' into the water, or perhaps another clumsy death disguised as a drug overdose.

No struggle, no cry for help.

Only death.

Then, the entire family would announce the unfortunate news to the public.

His father, Old Hossen, might hold a grand and sensational memorial service for him.

All the celebrities of Saint Ludo would come to mourn.

Andrew would stand before his tombstone and deliver a deeply moving eulogy, recalling their 'deep' brotherly bond.

How ironic.

How ridiculous.

Kevin's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Not because of fear.

But because of a bone-deep, chilling coldness emanating from within.

The Mexican burrito stand on the street corner emitted a rich aroma.

The grilled meat sizzled on the iron plate, mixed with the smell of onions and cilantro.

Shen Yan ordered two and handed one to Kevin.

Kevin took it and mechanically stuffed it into his mouth.

He couldn't taste anything.

His mind was filled entirely with Andrew's smiling face from moments ago.

He was not stupid.

On the contrary, having grown up in the environment of the Hossen Family, he was much smarter and far more sensitive than his peers.

It was just that for the past dozen years, he had used innocence and compliance as his protective coloring.

He longed for his father's approval and desperately wished for his elder brother's kindness.

But today, in Liberty Square, that last thread of tender fantasy was completely crushed by Andrew's casual push.

The bloody reality forced him to wake up.

The fear was burned away, leaving only cold ashes.

And beneath the ashes, something was breaking through the soil.

"Siren's Song... that offshore fund."

Kevin suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse but exceptionally clear.

He looked at the burrito in his hand, but his eyes lacked focus.

"That is Andrew's money bag, and also his lifeblood."

"What's involved in there is not just South American warlords and Eastern European oligarchs."

"There are also secret accounts belonging to several congressmen."

Shen Yan did not speak, just listened quietly.

He knew that the fire had already started burning.

"The matter of extorting Congressman Howard with surveillance footage, Andrew handled it very cleanly. The pimp Martin is dead, and the clue is broken."

"But..."

Kevin's gaze began to focus.

"Martin has a sister, she's a drug addict, and Andrew sends her money every month through an intermediary."

"Andrew thinks this is hush money."

"But he doesn't know that before Martin died, he gave his sister a USB drive."

"Martin said that if anything happened to him, she should give this USB drive to a reporter from a newspaper called 'The Saint Ludo Clarion'."

This was information Kevin had withheld last night.

Because at that time, he still held onto a sliver of illusion, still trying to leave himself a way out.

But now, he didn't need one.

"And the several attempts to murder me."

A self-mocking curve formed at the corner of Kevin's mouth.

"He always likes to use 'accidents' because he is arrogant; he thinks I'm stupid and won't discover it."

"But every time, I knew."

"The time in Switzerland for skiing, the man responsible for maintaining the cable car—his son suddenly got into an expensive private school."

"The drug I was given in my dinner was a new type of synthetic drug that simply cannot be bought on the market; only a biological laboratory under the Hossen Family possesses it."

He analyzed them one by one calmly, as if telling someone else's story.

The secrets in his hands, the evidence of crimes that once made him tremble with fear, now transformed in his mind into cards he could play.

Each one heavier than the last.

Finally, he paused.

He took a fierce bite of the burrito, chewing forcefully, as if chewing the flesh and blood of someone.

"But his biggest secret, his most fatal weakness..."

"Is that he doesn't even have the surname Hossen."

Kevin looked up at Shen Yan.

The confusion and fear that were once in his blue eyes had turned into an unfathomable, icy pool.

"Mr. Shen."

"You were right."

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

"But to destroy it, one bomb is enough."

Shen Yan looked at the young man before him.

Looking at the flame in his eyes.

He knew the stimulation had been enough.

This canary locked in a cage had finally bared its claws.

However, his attitude could not be swayed so easily; he had to wait.

Wait until Kevin could no longer sit still and eagerly began to tear at his father and brother.

"Finish eating it."

Shen Yan pointed at the burrito in Kevin's hand, his tone flat.