Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother novel Chapter 379

Chapter 379: Answers To Justin’s Questions

Justin went to see James Harper at his home. Inside his study, James sat behind his desk while Justin sat in the chair opposite him.

James put the file on the table. "This is the information about you from when you were rescued by me. I believe there is no point in keeping things from you, as you have planned to go to them."

Justin went through the file—the information about the ten-year-old boy who survived drowning in the stormy seawater. The boy had physical injuries, signs of struggle caused by someone intentionally trying to kill him. There were signs of strangling with force on his neck, and knife cuts on his hands and legs.

One page finally had what he was looking for: the picture of the tattoo on his chest—a snake wrapped around a dagger. This was the sign of the most feared underworld family. They were known to be ruthless and feared by the entire underworld.

He heard James speak. "I didn’t know who you were when I found you. You had lost your memories as well. But then, that tattoo on your chest let me know where you came from. The doctor had said you had survived being killed, so it was not difficult to understand your life was in danger. As you had no memories, I decided to cover it all to protect you. The reason you were kept away from public eyes—you can guess now."

Justin clearly understood James’ intentions of protecting him, but he had questions.

"Not just anyone knows about this tattoo. It’s nowhere published or known to anyone other than underworld people, so how did you know about it?" Justin asked. "Weren’t you worried that if they found me, you and your family would be in danger? Is there any particular reason you decided to protect me?"

"There was someone I used to know in the past, when I was young. That person had the same tattoo on his chest," James began. "It was during my university days. I had a foreign classmate who was good with studies and was a quiet person. He always kept himself away from others and didn’t have any friends. If someone tried to approach him, he wouldn’t indulge them. Everyone found him strange but eventually ignored him. During the last semester, one night I happened to witness some people attacking him and some defending him. There were gunfires and fights. It was a scary scene, but I still dared to go to him and pulled him away from that chaos and made him run away with me."

"You can say that was the start of me knowing him. After that night, he seemed to have trusted me—or I shall say, considered me his friend. He told me about his family, and I even saw the same tattoo on his chest. He was there to complete his studies, and then he had to return to his family. Soon, the exam was over and he left, never to contact me even once. I couldn’t reach him either and simply remembered his last words: Don’t even look for me."

James sighed as he remembered those memories. "His name was Alexander Hunt, but I doubt it was his real name if he was trying to keep his existence so discreet from others. I don’t know if he is still alive..." James looked at Justin. "The more I look at your grown-up self, the more you remind me of him. You are from the same family, so there is a chance you are closely related to him."

Justin simply hummed, not pointing out exactly how he could be related to the man James knew.

"About your other question—if I was worried about my family’s safety? I was sure I could hide you well. And the decision to adopt you... I just wanted to protect the child in danger. That night when that friend of mine was attacked, and what he later told me, I could imagine the kind of people who must be after you. Saving you might be another of my attempts to make myself feel better—that I saved that lost friend once more through saving you. There can be many reasons, as we think. What matters is that I managed to protect you."

"I will always be grateful for that and will owe you all my life," Justin replied.

"If you feel that way, then you’d better take care of my daughter and keep her away from any harm your past can bring her," James said.

"I will protect her always," Justin assured. "You do know I can."

James didn’t refute his claim. "That’s why I didn’t object to my daughter being with you. You’d better keep your word."

Justin hummed and said, "I want to talk to Mrs. Harper."

"She is in the bedroom. You can go to her," James replied.

Justin went to Caryn’s room after he was permitted to meet her.

The woman was sitting in her chair, reading a book.

She signaled Justin to sit in the chair. Once he settled in, she asked, "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know, how was my brother when you rescued him?" Justin asked.

By now, Caryn was aware of who Aiden and Justin were, as James had explained it to her.

"Almost on the verge of death, if he hadn’t been found by Eric when we were there by the seaside," Caryn replied. "After rescuing him, he was admitted to the hospital for the next two weeks. When he woke up, his reaction was what a ten-year-old child would have after a traumatizing incident. He would cry and was scared to see anyone. All he would do was repeat one name while crying—Aiden.

Whenever Eric tried to ask him who he was or if he wanted to say something, he would only cry while repeating that name. So, we decided to name him Aiden.