Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 279: Defending Cyrus

Chapter 279: Defending Cyrus

Lord Lockhart was observing every move of Talia, since she entered the room. He could see how stressed she is and he knew why it was.

She has a lot to to handle for an incident that happened and was beyond her control.

He served in the military and interrogation was his special skill and still the police department consult him in complicated cases. He knew what goes through the mind of someone in front of him.

This one in front of him, used to seem uncaring, because she was. She was a child - a child adored by many and she needed not to care for anything.

But now... He could see how broken she is inside.

This child - This child who killed his firstborn. This child who is also the only daughter of his beloved wife’s best friend, the granddaughter of his old friend the only person his eldest son loved as much as he loved his mother and also probably the only girl who truly loved him too.

" I’m not going to beat around the bush, Talia. You say you feel guilty. If so, tell me... If that situation presented itself to you once more... If you see my son kneeling in front of you once more, begging to kill him, what would you do? What do you think you’d have done differently so that you won’t feel guilt?" Lord Lockhart asked.

Talia looked at the man in front of her with his eyes trained on her like a predator that had marked its prey. He seemed emotionally detached as he was questioning her. He said ’his son’, but she didn’t feel any emotional connection when he said that. He just seemed like an interrogator, stating facts.

And he believes that Cyrus begged me to do it?

"I..." Talia closed her eyes bowing her head and and took a deep breath.

She in her mind went back to that fateful day. The surrounding turned cold and she could feel the cold metal in her hands. Her fingers twitched unconsciously. The sound of the wind, along with the low, hearty pleads of Cyrus rumbled in her ears. She jerked her hand and the cold metal left her hand. That was something she had imagined a lot.

If only I didn’t pull the trigger!

"I wouldn’t pull the trigger no matter what what he says or how much he begs," Talia said opening her eyes and looking at Lord Lockhart. "If only I held back for some more minutes, I know Cyrus would have found some other way to get through. I believe he was blackmailed with the life of his child and he chose this way to protect his child. If only I didn’t-"

"He WAS blackmailed with the life of his child and there was another choice," Lord Lockhart interjected her in a soft voice.

"... And he chose to die?" Talia’s mind went blank. If there was another way, why did he chose this way? Why did he refuse to live and watch his child grow? Why did he make me pull the trigger?

" Then... why did he choose this way?" Talia looked up after going silent for a minute. She didn’t even care about the ones who blackmailed Cyrus. She only cared to know about Cyrus. About the decision he made in his final moments.

"Because he couldn’t hurt you and so-"

" If she didn’t pull the trigger, he would have..." Cyril’s reply was interjected by the firm voice of Lord Lockhart and even he hesitated to finish his sentence.

"Would have what?" Talia didn’t understand head or tails in this situation.

Hurt me? Of course Cyrus won’t hurt me. But what is Lord Lockhart saying?

She looked at Cyril for answers and he pursed his lips seeing his father’s eyes, reddened with anger and let out a soft grunt. Lord Lockhart turned his angry glare away from Cyril, and his eyes softened a bit looking at Talia.

"He was asked to forcefully violate you. He tried to do it, but-"

"No! He did not!" Talia shouted. Her hands started to shake hearing that blatant falsehood.

Forcefully violate? He means r@pe, right? Cyrus would never ever do that! Why is he talking this way about Cyrus?

"There is a video. I mentioned before, right? At that stone bench..?" Camilla interfered and walked towards Talia trying to calm her down. Talia shook her head in denial. She was not willing to be touched by Camilla who spots lies about Cyrus and pointed her finger at her.

" What would YOU know? You watched a video? I was the one with him that day in person! How could you speak this way about a person who cannot even defend himself?" Talia was angry. She will never accept that Cyrus even for a moment thought about hurting her.

" We found the other phone of Cyrus you mentioned and we have retrieved the texts from that day. He was asked by Jared Cooper to r@pe you in exchange for my life and look here..." she opened a document and turned the pages, "This is the copy of his text exchanges. He agreed, Talia... He willingly agreed to hurt you-"

"You are crazy!" Talia stood up. "A text is a proof of what actually went through his mind? He might have sent that text to borrow time for him to come up with an alternate plan! Do you think I’m stupid to believe Cyrus meant what he wrote in that situation?"

Talia’s hands were shaking out of anger and she was so enraged she wanted to break something. She wouldn’t have gotten angry if they didn’t believe her and accused her of killing Cyrus, but when they accused Cyrus - the Cyrus who can’t even defend himself because she killed him, she could not take it.

"Tell them Talia... I keep telling them but these two have-"

"Cyril!!" Lord Lockhart’s shout made Cyril shut up. But it didn’t stop his mumbling. Even Lord Lockhart’s glare didn’t stop his mumbling. He was angry too as he couldn’t bear his father letting others to talk about his brother like that.

He himself found it odd what happened at the stone bench, but after reading the texts, and hearing Talia’s explanation that Cyrus passed the locket to her, he was sure that’s what happened. After all, Jared Cooper had access to the cameras in that area, watching Cyrus’ every move and he would have hurt Camilla if he noticed Cyrus passing the locket to Talia.

"Talia, listen to me. I can understand you defending Cyrus, but you should know the truth. Cyrus is not who he showed himself as to you. He was a deviant, a diagnosed psychopath..." he paused and glared at Cyril who was about to say something and Cyril pressed his lips together. He turned to his side, and looked at Talia who was standing beside him, holding back her emotions.

Lord Lockhart continued not minding Talia’s indifferent glare. He knew she was in the ’denial’ stage of the grieving process. She had learnt a terrible truth and it will take some time for her to come to terms with it.

"For some reason, he was really attached to you and showed himself to be a good person to you. You were very little and in a way he groomed you. He wanted to marry you when you come of age and he stayed with you, not letting anyone else beside you. He wanted you to focus only on him; to be the only person in your world. It didn’t take a lot for that since you were vulnerable after your mother’s death." he sighed as he saw no changes in Talia’s expression. He couldn’t read what she is thinking.

But he knew she was listening and he continued. " He put himself above you, protecting you, to make you feel obligated to him. It is one of the tactics used by the likes of him. He knew he cannot have you physically since you were a child and so he became a deviant and used other women just for s*x and kept you - his mark pure and untainted. But you were smart and you never fell for him deeply. Your past experiences with people you trusted made you immune to his manipulations and you didn’t like him the way he liked you."

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