Chapter 242: Shocked
Sir Robert Collins breathed heavily as he turned his head, forcing his gaze towards Patrick. His body was weak, drained of all strength, and he had no energy left to speak-not even enough to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time. Yet despite his frailty, he could not stop the tears that slipped down his cheeks. Never in his long and dignified life would he have imagined that his own son-the boy he had raised, loved, and trusted-would be the one to render him so helpless, to bring him to the edge of death with such quiet cruelty.
Patrick tried to wipe his tears but he turned his head away, unwilling to look at him.
"I had no other option," he said quietly in a low and strained voice as he looked down at his own hands and continued, "You left me with none. Even when Spencer was ready to kill someone for inheritance, you were unwilling to stop him. How could you do that, Father?
He glanced back at his father, whose face remained still, unreadable, eyes half-closed beneath furrowed brows, letting him know that he was unwilling to look at him.. Patrick’s hands trembled slightly, but he didn’t stop.
"You don’t have to forgive me," he continued. "I’m not asking for that. I know what I have done is not worthy of it. But I need you to understand... I had to protect what was left."
His voice cracked from the weight of this burden. He was after all no different from a murderer.
"Yes, Spencer is too far gone and will be suffering for a lifetime. And that’s something I will always regret. But whatever he became, whatever he did, he didn’t do it because he was born like that. He didn’t deserve to be manipulated the way he was. But that was your doing as much as mine. I was the one who failed to protect him from you."
Sir Robert gave no sign of acknowledgment. His breath was slow but uneven, as if every inhalation carried the weight of decades.
"But Adam and Adir..." Patrick paused. "They still have a future. There’s still something pure there, untouched by everything you broke and everything you tried to break."