What Separates Me and You

Chapter 296

Chapter 296 Isn’t That Right, Mr. Vance

Seth closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as he attempted to calm himself down. After a moment, he nodded slightly. “Yes. It’s me.”

Immediately after, he added, “Have you been staying here all these years?”

Paul nodded in response, a hint of excitement now present on his distorted face. “Yes! I’ve been staying here the whole time! I can’t believe you’re finally back!”

As Seth observed Paul’s emotionally charged expression, his already terrifying visage seemed even more menacing, resembling that of a spectral being capable of consuming humanity’s

very essence.

Seth slowly raised his hand. It froze in mid-air for a moment, but he gradually placed it comfortingly on the man’s shoulder.

“You must have suffered a lot.”

It seemed that Paul was the one who started the rumors of the mansion being haunted.

After all, anyone would have been scared mindless once they laid their eyes on the man’s face.

Even Seth, who had known that man for ages, couldn’t help but feel shocked when he first saw him. For a moment, he could barely recognize Paul.

“Not at all, Master Seth. You’re the one who must have suffered a lot.”

Seth looked down at his feet quietly for a long time. He noticed Paul’s exposed arms, which had burn marks plastered all over his skin as well.

It was difficult for him to imagine just how Paul managed to survive despite suffering from burns everywhere.

Just as the men conversed with each other, Josephine walked out of the room.

When Paul noticed her, he looked surprised for a moment.

The young woman had arrived at the mansion 24 hours ago. He tried to scare her, but it seemed that something was wrong with her head. Even though she was frightened of him, she

didn’t flee from the mansion at all.

After escaping into that room, Josephine squatted in a corner and covered her ears while squeezing her eyes shut to pretend he didn’t exist.

Paul did show up in front of her a few times, even walking past her from time to time, but the young woman kept her eyes shut. Her actions were hilariously futile, as she convinced herself she didn’t see or hear anything. All she did was curl into a tight little ball in the corner without the intention of moving, so Paul was unable to chase her away no matter what.

In the end, he felt sympathetic toward her, which resulted in him offering her some food.

Since then, Josephine just loitered around in the room, refusing to leave. All she did was wait for him to give her more food.

“Who is-”

“That’s Josephine.”

A startled Paul couldn’t help but gaze at Josephine. Then, he proceeded to eye her from top to

bottom.

He seemed like he couldn’t believe who he just saw.

“She’s all grown-up now…”

Seth’s lips curled into a cold smirk as mockery filled his eyes. “Of course. She even got married twice. Don’t you think she deserves what’s coming for her?”

Paul was silent for a while before finally heaving a deep sigh. “It’s not her fault. She was just a little girl, after all.”

The young man tilted his head to look at Josephine.

Meanwhile, she could only stare at the men while looking very confused.

She wasn’t afraid of the one-eyed middle-aged man anymore. After all, he gave her food, so he must be a good person. Besides, she felt that he was rather pitiful.

“Come here, Josephine.” Seth beckoned for her to join him.

Josephine hesitated for a moment before walking toward him.

Seth gripped her chin and forced her to look at Paul. “Do you still remember him? Do you know who he is?”

Josephine scanned Paul’s face for a moment. She remained silent for some time before shaking her head.

“His name is Paul.”

She nodded in response while trying her best to remember the name.

When Seth noticed an animated sparkle in her misty eyes, normally filled with confusion, he pushed her away abruptly.

The young woman stumbled away from Seth, only managing to stop once she collided against the wall.

“Master Seth-”

Seth just chuckled coldly in response. “Don’t worry. Soon, she won’t remember any of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Paul decided to shut up and not ask any more questions. Then, he brought up a new topic. ” Why did you suddenly decide to come back, Master Seth?”

The aforementioned man chuckled again. “It’s all thanks to Lewis Alvarez. If it wasn’t for him telling me to come here, I might not have the courage to return to this place for the rest of my life.”

“Lewis Alvarez? As in the Alvarez family from Elysium?”

“That’s right.” Seth turned to gaze at Paul. “Could it be that you don’t know what happened. back then?”

“Well-

One look at Paul’s expression was more than enough to tell Seth what he needed to know. He replied in a deep voice, “It’s fine. This isn’t your fault anyway. I’m still investigating the truth. Actually, I’m not the only one doing that. The reason Lewis came here in the first place is to dig out the truth of what happened back then. Then again, I’m very sure that the Alvarez family is involved in this incident.”

“How could that be?” Paul found it difficult to believe Seth’s claims. “The Vance and the

Alvarez families shared such a close relationship! Master Edward and Master Alan had been best friends for so many years, not to mention Master Alan even took a bullet for Master

Edward! There’s no way the Alvarezes would do such a thing!’

“Who knows?” Seth glanced at Josephine with a faint smirk traced on his face. “Judging from Lewis’ attitude toward her, he must possess some insider knowledge regarding this incident.”

Paul was very puzzled upon hearing Seth’s response. He thought for a while, yet he couldn’t understand the key elements of his statement.

Of course, Josephine didn’t know what it meant. She couldn’t understand a single word Seth

had uttered.

All she recognized was Lewis’ name.

“Then, who’s Lewis Alvarez?” Paul asked.

“Go ahead and ask her that question.”

Paul then turned his gaze to Josephine. He hesitated for a moment before calling out to her.” Miss Josephine.”

Surprised, she pointed at herself before glancing at Seth as though she was asking him if Paul was referring to her.

A cold smirk was curled on his lips at that moment. “Haven’t you always wanted to go home?” The man spat out the next few words icily. “This is your home.”

Josephine’s eyes slowly went wide. She whipped her head around immediately to look at the mess around her.

She refused to believe it. She didn’t want to believe that this was her home.

Seth wanted to speak up again when he heard a series of footsteps coming from the stairway.

Both men stopped speaking at once. Paul retreated quietly into one of the rooms and disappeared into the shadows. At that moment, he seemed like a mythical phantom.

A figure turned into the corridor from a corner after a few seconds. This was within Seth’s expectations. He couldn’t help but smirk when he saw the newcomer.

The newcomer, of course, was none other than Lewis Alvarez.

Lewis was wearing a black windbreaker as usual. It was just that his outfit had changed to a business suit. He stood in the dimly lit corridor, his attire allowing him to blend into the darkness around him.

Seth was the first one to break the silence. “It seems that you followed me here sooner than I thought.”

“If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have overheard such an interesting conversation.” There wasn’t a trace of emotion on Lewis’ face at all. He seemed normal under the dim light.

“The things I mentioned are inconsequential, trivial details. You ought to know them better. than I do. There’s no need to hide in a corner and eavesdrop on this conversation, you know.” Seth’s smirk became one of amusement. “However, I must disappoint you this time. It seems that you have gleaned nothing of value from our discussion.”

Lewis replied, “That’s not necessarily the case. At least I can confirm my assumptions about a certain someone’s identity. Isn’t that right, Mr. Vance?”

Seth’s eyes glinted mysteriously in response.

The next moment before anyone knew, he started laughing loudly. “What’s there to be surprised about? Don’t you know about that already?”

If Lewis didn’t know about his actual identity, he wouldn’t have remained calm every time he kidnapped Josephine in the past.

“Knowing one’s identity and confirming the truth behind said identity are two different things.”

“So?”

Lewis didn’t reply to that question. Instead, he glanced at Josephine. “Come here.”

Josephine was silent for a moment. She was about to walk toward Lewis when she heard her older brother scolding her. “You’re not allowed to go there.”

She froze on the spot, not knowing what to do at that moment.

Lewis’ eyes darkened in response as he turned to look at Seth.

“Tell me the truth, Lewis. Otherwise, you can forget about taking her away for the rest of your

life.”

The aforementioned man stared at Seth for a long time. Finally, he uttered his response slowly. “I don’t know.”

Fury flooded through Seth’s veins, causing him to chuckle on the spot. “You don’t know? Why would you treat her like this if you didn’t know anything?”

Lewis chose to remain silent instead of speaking up.

Seth continued, “She won’t remember anything, anyway. It doesn’t matter if you speak or hold your tongue, does it?” This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

The other man let out a sigh in response. His gaze flitted between the Vance siblings after that.