Along with my heart.
Kamman's third aunt, Ling Ling, had warned him about this. She had always told him that someday he was going to have to choose between the family and him. Chen, without a doubt, had said that he would always choose Dian, and his aunt had laughed at that.
Now he understood the meaning of that laugh. The moment he became the head of the Chen family, he officially stopped thinking for himself.
His only hope was clarification, so he asked, his voice faint and full of uncertainty.
"Did you do it? Did you kill them?"
He only needed to hear those words: 'I did not do it.' Then he would protect him with his life. He would put his family's reputation on the line. He would not even care about the evidence. He would believe everything without a doubt.
However, Dian said nothing and just stared at him, spiking his anxiety even further. He was also not ready for the answer, so he moved to the second question, nervously.
"Why did you run?"
It was a small voice, almost like a whisper, but Dian heard it. This time, he opened his mouth and spoke with great difficulty.
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Kamman asked almost immediately.
"Of your eyes."
The answer was brief, but it communicated a hundred words. Kamman was unable to go on to the next question.
He would have asked why he was left alone, betrayed, but his voice broke the moment he opened his mouth.
"Why..."
His emotions, just like everyone, had betrayed him, too. He felt fresh tears gush down his cheeks.
The pain of his bruises paled in comparison to the agony of seeing Kamman cry. Dian's heart shattered. Kamman, so rarely vulnerable, wept openly, revealing the depth of his hurt.
"I don't deserve your tears."
He begged quietly, enough for both of them to hear. Out of desperation, he felt his own tears sting his eyes. These words, however, hurt Kamman even more.
Dian was not denying the accusation.
He felt a wave of dizziness attack him, bringing him down to his knees so that he was at the same level as Dian. Dian tried to move his hands to hold him up, but his entire body had grown numb from pain. He could not move, so he let Kamman collapse onto his chest. The impact made him stumble back slightly.
"Did you really do it...? You didn't...right?"
Kamman choked on his own words. His voice vibrated against Dian's bare chest. He was practically begging now.
Dian knew what he wanted him to say. He would have loved to say it, but he could not bring himself to lie to him.
The audience was now confused. They were expecting a bloodbath, not two enemies crawling into each other's arms, sobbing their eyes out. Disappointment was heavy in the air.
Dian was, however, more clear-headed compared to Kamman, and looking around, he could feel the atmosphere was about to change. If it did, the one at the receiving end would be Kamman. He could not let that happen.
"Get up... raise your head."
He ordered sharply, forcibly yanking him up.
"It has already happened... what are you going to do about it?"
He retorted coldly, drawing a clear line between both sides.
Dian knew the moment Kamman would side with him, they would all use that as an excuse to turn against him. They were already thinking it. Having a seventeen-year-old as the head of the Bronze Orchid was not something they would welcome with open arms. He did not need that kind of pressure when he was grieving his father as well.
So, he riled him up, trying to bring the rage and anger out of him. He moved on to a higher level.
"You should have known better. How can you call yourself a Chen?" He retorted harshly and watched as Kamman winced at his words.
"You don't mean that," Kamman spoke against gritted teeth, frantically searching his eyes. Visibly angry and hurt.
Kamman was not ignorant. He had noticed the change in air, and Dian, from how he knew him, was trying to control the situation. He was trying to give him a reason to be upset. That was so typical of him.
He, however, did not have a single care in his entire life to give. They could do their worst. All he wanted was an affirmation that Dian was not the culprit, even if it meant lying to him. He refused to leave his side at all costs until he heard those words.
"Why haven't you learnt it yet, after all this time?"
Dian sighed, seeing that his coldness had not gotten to him.
"If you can't control the tide, roll with it. That's the only way you'll be safe."
"I don't want to be safe! I want the truth!"
Chen yelled in frustration, his tears gushing out afresh.
Dian, however, was not lying. He really did not know what had happened. He wanted to say he did not do it, but what if he did?
The audience was also not having it. All these tears and dramatics became too much for these heartless souls, and they got heated up. Especially when their plot had crumbled before their eyes. There was still no dead body. They could not take it.
"Huh? What's going on? Why are you sympathizing with a traitor?!"
"He is so weak! We cannot tolerate such weakness here!"
The larger families, seated calmly and sophisticated as they were used to doing, with the ugliest of hearts among all of them, shook their heads with disappointment. How embarrassing, they thought.
"Let's shoot him down!"
"Yes, what a waste of time!"
Chen instinctively moved his body in front of Dian as a shield, even surprising himself. His men, on his second uncle's orders, dragged him back.
He did not go without a fight. His anxiety went through the roof, thinking they were going to kill him. He could never watch him die. He flared his arms and twisted his body violently, but he had been on an empty stomach for almost four days. He did not even have the energy to fight off a single person, let alone five strong men holding him down.
Dian, on the other hand, stayed calm. He waited for it. It had already come to this. Everything was muddled, and walls were tumbling down all around him. Kamman did not need him here. He knew it would hurt him greatly, but he also knew one day he would be able to get over it, but that could only happen in his absence.
In the midst of the struggle, two gunshots went off almost at the same time. Loud and deafening. One ringing half a second after the other. Kamman froze; everybody there went still.
Kamman was sure one of the shots had come from him. He had accidentally pressed the trigger in the middle of the struggle.
Dian's face was still so calm as he fell. The shot went right through his chest. Even at that moment, he did not dare to look away from Kamman. He even smiled slightly.
A piercing chill ran down Kamman's spine. His heart stopped beating. Horror was plastered all over his face.
Right before he fell off the cliff, an incredible strength suddenly overtook Kamman's body, and he pushed off the five men holding him down, rushing to hold on to Dian's hand. He was, however, too late. His fingers brushed against Dian's fingers, missing him by a whisker.
Dian went down as Kamman watched helplessly.
He felt like his soul was about to tear away his skin and leave his body. His heart was racing. He's dead. His mind screamed those words at him on and on and on.
He suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream, filled with anguish and unimaginable pain as he dropped to his knees.
His head spun, and his eyes became blurred. A sharp, stabbing pain coursed through his body, and his own tears choked him. His ears rang with a terrible, shrill cry. He heard people call out to him like he was underwater and they were above him.
He fell. You shot him. They kept telling him.
A force kept on pulling him even further below, deep into the darkness of the water.
Then everything stopped.