Chapter 1098: Chapter 1038: The Old Residence, Noah Phillips
The old Phillips Family house, underground basement.
This is a very secretive basement, located directly beneath the center of the old Phillips Family house.
The old house is an ancient Orienta style building with rooms that are intricately interwoven, resembling a maze.
There are two Noah Phillips, one of whom is chained by the feet, trapped in a dark, sunless room.
The basement has several rooms, the air is filled with the smell of blood, and the hallway walls are made into shelves, where skulls are placed one by one, continuing inside to enter a hall.
In the hall, there’s a bed, the bloodstains on it have dried, and there are four buckles, just right to bind a person’s limbs.
Noah Phillips heard footsteps, slowly lifted his head, and saw a face identical to his own.
"Who the hell are you?" Noah asked.
Night Owl, wearing Noah’s face, smiled sinisterly, "I am you now."
"What was your original identity?"
"Night Owl!"
"Do we have a grudge?"
"No."
"Then why are you impersonating me?"
One night in August, after returning from a social gathering, Noah had drunk too much, fell into a haze, and didn’t wake up until he found himself in this basement.
"Your fiancée is dead."
"Did you kill her?" Noah asked.
"Yes."
"Why did you kill her? She was nothing but a pitiable person." Noah sighed, a sound especially clear in the silent basement.
"A pitiful woman, the man she loved had another woman in his heart. No matter how hard she tried, he would never fall in love with her."
"..."
"I killed her because she offended Sienna Johnson!"
"What did Hilda Potter do?"
"She discovered my ’affair’ with Sienna Johnson and actually went looking to confront her, almost hitting Sienna... what nerve!" Night Owl sneered repeatedly.
Noah and Hilda’s marriage was a business union without affection.
He had made it very clear when they got engaged, that he would never love her, so why would Hilda go to trouble Sienna over this?
"Did you do something that made Hilda misunderstand?" Noah asked.
"Misunderstand?"
"Like, deliberately doing things that made Hilda think you had feelings for her and not me?" Noah said.
"Oh, I slept with her a few times."
Noah furrowed his brow so tightly a fly could be crushed between them, "Didn’t you say you liked Sienna Johnson? If that’s so, why provoke Hilda?"
"A woman who comes to you willingly, why not take advantage? It was just to satisfy physiological needs."
Noah looked up at him and asked, "Why are you impersonating me, ultimately?"
If it was for money, killing him would be safer, yet he kept him alive, even having someone bring him food every day.
If not for his strong will, Noah would have likely gone mad long ago in this terrifying, sunless basement.
"Sienna — Johnson!"
Noah’s gaze could no longer remain calm, he stood up, wanting to walk toward him, but was trapped by the chain.
"What have you done to her?"
The man flicked the dust off his shoulder, mocking, "When you heard your fiancée was dead, you didn’t react this strongly."
Noah stared at that face identical to his own, the broken thread in his mind linking back together.
"You’re impersonating me not for the Phillips Family’s money but for Sienna Johnson?"
"You finally figured it out."
"What are you going to do to Sienna Johnson?" Noah clenched his fists, the tenderness in his eyes gone.
"I’m very interested in that woman, Sienna Johnson. I want to have her!"
Noah stared into his eyes, smiled self-deprecatingly, "So you impersonated me? ...You don’t think the man Sienna Johnson loves is me, do you? Haha, you’re overestimating my charm... she doesn’t love me at all, the man she loves is Adrian Desmond."
"..."
"I don’t know who you are, but even if you impersonate me, Sienna Johnson won’t fall in love with you." Noah’s tone was filled with unspeakable sorrow and grief.
"The first person she loved was you, you’re really useless, just letting Adrian snatch her away."
Noah asked, "Did she not discover you were a fake?"
"No."
A bitter smile played across Noah’s lips, "You and I, there’s no chance, you should give up. You see, if she really had any affection left for me, she wouldn’t fail to recognize a fake Noah."
That Sienna Johnson couldn’t discern the fake "Noah" deeply saddened Noah.
"I just need an identity to get close to her. After all, more than anyone else, you’re the most suitable."
This man also fell in love with Sienna Johnson, so for now, Sienna was safe.
"Do you truly love Sienna Johnson?" Noah was genuinely doubtful.
"Of course!"
Noah stared at him and finally said, "You don’t understand love at all!"
"You don’t understand love, and you do? Despite loving her to no end, you do nothing, watching her marry and have kids with another man. Noah, you’re pathetic.
I’ve never seen a man like you!"
Noah’s love for Sienna was deep, he didn’t want to discuss his feelings for her with the sinister man in front of him.
Noah sat down, ignoring the man.
"Do you know where this is?" Night Owl asked.
Noah didn’t respond.
"This is your family’s old house."
Noah suddenly lifted his head, "Old house? But it’s already been abandoned."
The Phillips Family’s old house had a spooky reputation, anyone entering would feel the dread; even older caretakers said it was haunted and quit.
Noah’s idea was to demolish and rebuild the old house, but the Phillips elders refused to touch it, and the matter was eventually dropped.
So, he realized he was trapped here.
Expecting someone to discover his captivity was truly unlikely.
"This is the basement of the old house. ...Do you know what this basement was originally used for?"
Noah had no reaction.
"It should be hell."
"..."
"Your great-grandfather had a brother named Ivan Phillips, weak since childhood..." he caressed the bed, an evil smile on his lips, "Ivan heard a story of a European Countess who preserved her youth with young girls’ blood, and fancied he could use young blood to gain a healthy body..."
"..."
"So, Ivan recruited young men and women under the guise of hiring servants. These people would disappear within months.
In truth, their throats were slit by Ivan, bled out, and killed."
Noah knew of Ivan, frail, always confined to the inner courtyard, with the farthest destination being the hospital, but he hadn’t heard of these old tales.
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