Chapter 484 Strengthen Or Break

Standing on the rooftop of the hospital, Jade scrolled through the internet for news on Bryan's fight, and she was able to find just one before it was taken down.

Never had she been more impressed by Harry's efficiency than she was at that moment. There wasn't a single article on Bryan anymore. It was as if it had never been there.

Deciding to find out what was going on with Bryan, she dialed his line.

"What?" Bryan asked gruffly once he received her call.

Jade frowned, "That is such a pleasant way to say hello to your favorite sister," Jade said sweetly, expecting him to argue with her as usual that she was his only sister and not his favorite sister since if he had more sisters he most likely would have preferred them to her.

"Are you okay? Do you want something?" Bryan asked impatiently. The only reason he had received her call was to be sure she was fine and wasn't in any form of distress and needed his help. He wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Yes. I'd love to know what is wrong with you and why your name was all over the internet," Jade said, and Bryan hissed in annoyance.

"I'm not in the mood to talk, Jade. Maybe you should read whatever is written on the internet if you want to know wha..."

"I would have done so if Harry didn't already have them take it all down. Harry has a lot on his plate, and it's not nice that he has to clean after you at a time like this. Tom is pissed. This is not the time for scandals..."

"Yeah, of course, he would be pissed. If the scandal was about Lucy, I'm sure he wouldn't be so angry..."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jade snapped at Bryan angrily.

"Where is that trash coming from? What has Lucy got to do with your acting like an idiot?" She asked, feeling irritated.

"Jade..."

"No, you shut up and listen to me! You just barely got out of one scandal and ended your contract with Paul. Don't you think Paul will be having a good laugh at your expense right now? Do you want to ruin your career? How do you expect Tom to announce you to the board at a time like this if your name is all over the place for the wrong reasons? Do you want to ruin all their hard work? Everyone is having a hard time over here right now, and you are over there causing more trouble instead of..." Jade stopped speaking abruptly when she realized that she couldn't hear anything on the other end of the line.

"Bryan?" She called and pulled her phone away from her ear to look at it.

She let out a long string of curses when she realized that Bryan had long ended the call and she was speaking to herself.

She redialed his line and scowled when she realized that he had switched off his phone. He never hung up on her. What could have gotten him so upset? Jade mused as she dialed Sonia's line instead.

"Sonia? What is wrong with your boyfriend?" Jade asked immediately after Sonia received her call.

"Do you have any idea where I can find Bryan?" Sonia asked without answering Jade's question, and Jade frowned when she heard the distress in Sonia's tone.

"Why are you asking me that? I thought you traveled together. Is he not home with you?" Jade asked as she checked the time on her leather wristwatch.

"We had a fight, and he left. I barely managed to get him out of the police station, and now I don't know where he went. I don't know where to look or what to do. I can't disturb your parents' sleep..."

"Are they not aware of the scandal?" Jade asked, surprised. She knew that her parents wouldn't be sleeping if they knew of the scandal or that Bryan wasn't home and Sonia was this upset.

"I'm not sure they are," Sonia said, sounding distraught.

"Perhaps I should wake them up. Hopefully, they can find him and talk some sense into his thick skull. He is making things tough for everyone. This is not the time to act like a child!" Jade hissed, feeling irritated.

"Do you have any idea where he might be? Maybe a spot he likes to hang out here in Heden?" Sonia asked hopefully. She wanted to at least resolve things with him before he left for Ludus with Jeff.

Jade's brows pulled together as she thought about it, "I can't think of any place. It's been a while since we spent time together there," Jade said apologetically.

"If I may ask, why is he so upset? And why did he get into a fight?" Jade asked, and Sonia sighed as she gave Jade a recap of everything.

"He is sulking. I can't believe he's acting like a spoilt brat right now. This is bad timing," Jade hissed.

It wasn't that she didn't understand that Bryan was jealous and hurt that Sonia wasn't doing things the way he wanted. She was annoyed that Bryan was handling things childishly and complicating things for everyone. This was probably the downside of working together as a family. Perhaps if Tom had no plans of bringing him into I-Global, they probably would not have been this annoyed. Still, he was ruining his career, and this was going to ultimately affect Sonia as well.

"I don't know what to do," Sonia complained.

"I know what you should do. Instead of worrying about Bryan, you should go to sleep. You sound exhausted, and it's past midnight already. Don't lose sleep over any of this. Bryan will come home when he wants to. Stop worrying yourself. I will call my parents myself," Jade said, and Sonia sighed.

"Lucy said Jeff is coming to get him. I can't leave yet. I don't want us to be on bad terms," Sonia said, and Jade sighed.

This was the aspect of love that she didn't like. The misunderstandings. The worries and sleeplessness that came with fights.

"So what are you going to do? Stay awake all night and keep watch until he returns? I spoke with Bryan before calling you. Although he sounds mad, he's fine. Don't lose sleep over him. If he's okay with not knowing how you are faring, you can as well be okay too," Jade insisted.

"You spoke with him? Can you call him back to find out where he..."

"He switched off his phone. He doesn't want to talk."

"Are you sure? What if..."

"Trust me. Get some rest, Sonia."

"Alright, I will. Thanks," Sonia said, and immediately Jade hung up the call and dialed her mother's line.

Evelyn, who was writhing under Desmond, paused when her phone rang, and the couple exchanged a look.

"Are you expecting a call?" Desmond asked, and Evelyn shook her head.

"I'm sure it can wait until morning," Evelyn said as she kissed Desmond, but he looked at her doubtfully.

"What if it's one of the kids?" He asked, and immediately Evelyn tried to sit up and reached for her phone.

"It's Jade," Evelyn said, and Desmond got off her.

"I will clean up while you speak with her," Desmond said as he headed for their bathroom while Evelyn received the call.

"Is everything alright with you?" Evelyn asked with concern.

"Yes. I hope I didn't wake you up?" She asked apologetically.

"No, you didn't. Is everything alright? I heard from Janet about Harry...."

"Yeah. Sonia told me you're coming over tomorrow."

"Yes. You're with Harry, I suppose? Or are you still busy with your case?" Evelyn asked curiously.

"I'm with Harry. Something came up, so I had to leave. I quit working at the firm. I'm moving to Ludus. We will talk about it when you get here. Are you aware of the mess Bryan created?" Jade asked without wasting any more time on small talk.

Although Evelyn wanted to talk more about Jade's move to Ludus, her attention naturally shifted to Bryan.

"Bryan? What did he do?" Evelyn asked as she got off the bed and headed for the bathroom to join Desmond so he could also hear whatever Jade had to say while they showered.

She placed the phone on speaker and dropped it by the wash basin so that both she and Desmond could listen to Jade as she spoke while they cleaned up in the shower.

"He was arrested?" Evelyn and Desmond asked in unison when Jade told them about Bryan's scandal.

"Dad? Are you both in the shower?" Jade asked in surprise, not wanting to believe it was what she was thinking.

"You call your mom by this time of the night; what did you think we were doing? Maybe if you had a serious man in your life, you wouldn't call and interrupt us in the middle of..."

"Des!" Evelyn chided her husband while Jade paused. Not knowing if she should feel embarrassed or amused.

"She is an adult. I don't know what you're feeling embarrassed about. It's not like she is still four and doesn't know how kids are formed..."

"Shut up, or I'm going to strangle you," Eve threatened, while Jade looked skyward for help as she tried to stifle her awkward laughter.

"So, has he been released yet?" Evelyn asked, returning their attention to the issue at hand.

"Yes," Jade said, choosing to ignore what her father had just said. It was better for them all that she did not imagine what they had been doing.

"Is Sonia aware of this? I'm surprised you know about this, yet we know nothing of it," Desmond said as he wrapped a towel around Evelyn, and they both returned to the bedroom.

Jade went on to explain the situation to them and told them Sonia was upset.

"Why is Bryan acting up?" Evelyn asked with a worried frown, not liking the tension between Sonia and Bryan.

"I have no idea. Tom is pissed. With the whole situation with Harry, emotions are high right now, and Bryan isn't helping matters by doing this. I tried talking to him, and he hung up without letting me finish," Jade complained.

"Don't worry about him. He will be alright. I will talk to him," Desmond assured Jade.

"Do you have any idea where he could be? Sonia is worried," Jade asked them curiously.

"There's no need for her to worry. We will check in on her and calm her after this phone call," Evelyn said, and Jade nodded.

"Alright then. I will let you get back to whatever you were doing before I called," Jade said in a teasing tone.

"Sure. Thanks for being so considerate," Desmond said dryly while Evelyn glared at him.

"Before you hang up, tell me something. Are you staying at Harry's apartment or with Tom?" Evelyn asked curiously.

Jade paused, "With Harry."

"How are things going with you two? Is he still being slow? Do you need our help?" Evelyn asked with interest.

"The young man is in the middle of a family crisis, and you think romance is the first thing on his mind?" Desmond asked his wife incredulously, and Jade smiled fondly.

"Dad is right. Harry has a lot on his mind right now. And don't worry, mom. I can take care of myself. Please don't forget to check on Sonia," Jade reminded them.

"We will. Give our love to Harry. We will be with you all tomorrow," Evelyn promised.

"Sure. I love you both. I hope to have what you both share," Jade said, and her parents smiled at each other.

"We love you too. Take care of yourself... and extra care of Harry," Evelyn said before hanging up.

They both sighed as they looked at each other. "I will try to reach Bryan. Go and ensure that Sonia is fine," Desmond said as they both took out clothes to wear.

Once Evelyn got to Bryan's bedroom, she knocked on the door softly and pushed it open when she heard the sound of Sonia's sob.

Her brows pulled together in a worried frown as she went to sit on the bed beside Sonia, "Oh, dear! Why didn't you come to us? Jade just told us about Bryan," Evelyn said as Sonia sat up and struggled unsuccessfully to wipe her tears.

"Come here," Evelyn ordered softly as she embraced Sonia and let her cry on her while she patted her hair.

Sonia cried, unable to stop the tears. She had never been more scared of a breakup than she was at that moment. What if Bryan no longer wanted her after seeing the comments from his fans? She had come to see Bryan as her home and his family as her family. What was she going to do if she lost all this?

"Now stop crying, dear. I'm pretty sure Bryan is okay wherever he is. He's probably thinking about everything. I'm sure he would realize his folly soon. You need to go to bed. You're beginning to run a temperature," Evelyn said with concern.

"But Bryan is not back yet," Sonia said as she pulled away from Evelyn, but Evelyn waved it off dismissively as she lay on the bed.

"I'm exhausted. Let's go to bed now. His dad is trying to find him, so don't worry," Evelyn said as she pulled Sonia close.

Having no other choice, Sonia lay down beside Evelyn, and Evelyn patted her back until she drifted off to sleep.

Once Evelyn was sure that Sonia was sound asleep, she quietly left the room to find her husband.

"I take it you don't know where he went to?" Evelyn asked when she saw him in the living room.

"I couldn't reach him. How is Sonia?" Desmond asked curiously.

"She was crying when I got there. She is very upset, and it's making me so worried about her. I didn't think she was the type to show such vulnerability," Evelyn said with a worried frown that was mirrored on Desmond's face.

"She has barely just opened her heart to Bryan and us. Bryan is hurting her."

"What do you think?" Evelyn asked as she sat on the couch, and Desmond joined her.

"They have both not handled things correctly. And even though this shouldn't be a big deal, this will test their relationship. It will either strengthen their relationship or end it," Desmond said with a sigh.

"What can we do to help? They obviously love each other. It's stupid that something as minor as this would come between them like this," Evelyn said, and Desmond sighed.

"We can only advise them and then leave them to decide for themselves. I'm hoping they won't break up. I care about Sonia," Desmond said, and Evelyn teared up.

"Me too. She is such a sweet child," Evelyn said with a sniffle, and Desmond pulled her to himself.

"Let's have a talk with Bryan when he gets back. For now, let's go to bed," Desmond said, and Evelyn let him lead her back to the bedroom, where they called it a night.