An hour later, James's phone buzzed again. It was a message from Bran. He read it. "Let's do it!" He said this to himself and picked up a sharp-edged stone from the ground. Having stared at the guards, he walked to them. They were busy chatting. James struck one of them hardly on the back of his head. That guard cried in pain. He put his hands on the wound, and in no time, his hands were all bloody. The excessive loss of blood caused his death at that moment. Another watchman was stunned. He was switching his glances from James to the dead body. Before he could react, James hit him hard at the same spot, and the other one was also down. He took out his phone and texted Bran back to say that the path was clear. Bran reached the site in minutes. He entered the gate cautiously. After so many years, he was back at the place where he really belonged, from where he was dragged away. He looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed for him. He saw a huge mansion standing before him, painted in the same white and blue. At that moment, James handed him a pistol. "It is fitted with a silencer, as you told me to do." James said.

"Your work is done, James." Brandon remarked.

"Is there anything else I can do?"

"No. From now on, I'll be doing everything." His phrases were packed with hubris.

"So, it means I need to leave you here. Will you be able to manage it alone?"

"Yes." He paused. "James..."

No sooner did James turn back, then Bran drove a bullet into his forehead. James lay there, immobile. "I'm sorry, James. I told you I have to do everything alone." He looked at the house. "I'm coming, father."

Three guards caught him when he entered the house. They took the gun from him, and one of them went to call Sir Eric. Sir Eric quickly called Matt into his room. The ring of the telephone woke Nick up. Nina handled him and made him sleep. Matt told her not to come down, as he didn't want Barn to see his wife and son. Within minutes, Matt, Eric, Lynda, and Oswald, along with some other guards, were present there. Old Eric was shocked after seeing his battered son after all those years. Bran didn't even lunge at him but rather kept on staring at him. Everyone present at that site was filled with fear, and Sir Eric was the most. Those threatening words from Bran were circulating in their minds.

Moments later, Bran broke into tears. All were stunned. He fell to the ground, trembling violently, joined his hands, and begged for mercy from his father. The weight of his previous transgressions was pressing down on him like an intolerable load. The regrets that plagued him had caused his once confident and assertive demeanor to crumble, leaving him a broken man. Tears traced the lines years of suffering and remorse had carved into his face, streaming down his aged cheeks. Tears and despair had clouded his once cocky and conceited eyes. Words could barely express the agony in his heart as he glanced up at his family. When he finally spoke, his voice was tremulous and harsh due to the pressure of his emotions. Every syllable was an intense, fervent appeal, drenched in the suffering of a lost man. He spoke a barely audible "Please, forgive me." His words hung in the air, thick with the confession's gravity, and the stillness that followed was deafening. Redemption in the eyes of people he had offended was all he wanted at that moment, even though he knew that no amount of pleading could change the past.

"Please forgive me, dad." He cried at the feet of Sir Eric. "I did a lot of things that tormented you. Threatened you, even hit you. I'm terribly sorry for that." Tears made his battered face even worse.

Eric got indignant. "Stop this bullshit! I know you came here to kill me. You..."

"No, father, not at all! I respect you even though I have never been pampered since birth, so I did not even realize what kind of demon I had become. I'm ashamed of my deeds now. You know I had control neither on my tongue nor on my actions. After I had passed all these years in prison, I felt that torture on me, and I was deeply moved. There, I found out the truth that I was framed in this case, and I want to finish everything once and for all. Before anything, I really wanted to meet everyone and earn my family back. They made me weep for nights, reminding me of what I did to my father. In fact, what did I do to my family?" He turned to Lynda and Matt and asked for their forgiveness. One guard informed those people about three killings he did at the gate. Eric went furious at that. "I don't want to see your bloody face. You are a monster, and you can never change. Take him away from my sight." It was the second time he said that to Bran.

"I did it all for you. I think you have heard of Raymond's death." Bran said.

"Yes, we did. He committed suicide." Matt obtruded.

"He didn't. He was poisoning my mind to kill you. For that, he also helped me escape from prison with James. That captivation entirely changed me when I got to know the truth. I could not tolerate it if anyone said anything notorious about you, and I wanted to make everything right to prove to you that I did not commit those crimes. Under my order, James killed Raymond and created the illusion that it was a suicide. If I did not, then James would come one day to kill you. I killed him because I couldn't trust him anymore. He could also kill you if he got orders from those people. I can't take any risks. Father, please, I did all this to protect you. It took time. It really took a lot of time, but I'm completely changed now. I beg you to trust me."

"We can never trust you. You think we don't know you. Wait, I will call the police and get you back there." Matt threatened and took out his phone.

Bran started screaming at once, "Please, father! Please don't do this. I don't want to go there. I can't live there anymore. I'm your son, your blood. I just want to live with you. I don't want any of your business. I just want you. Please give me a chance to make everything right. Please!" Then more tears came from his eyes, and he started sobbing. Matt ignored his cries and said, "I care for you, father. You don't need to worry about him. I am going to call the police." Having said that, he went through his phone, and just then Sir Eric stopped him. He went to Bran and helped him get up from the floor. "I feel satisfied that at last you have realized your mistakes, and you also feel sorry for them, but I'm sorry for you. You were already dead for me. We are now living a peaceful life without you, and we don't want to ruin it. So please, I beg you to run away from us. Your presence here would be the greatest torment we ever had. Matt will be most upset if you stay here, and I cannot risk it at any cost. I'm allowing you to stay here for one day only, and then you have to leave or the police will take you to that same hell. Within a day, bring back all your memories you can, and one last thing, you are still nothing to me."

"Dad, what are you doing? You are allowing this criminal to stay with us! He came here to kill you! At least think about Nick." Matt blurted them out, his words tumbling out in a rush.

"If he had to kill me, he should have. I'm his father. I can see what's in his eyes." Eric defended.

"You are going to risk everything. I don't trust him at all! Do you remember? I told you how much I hated him." Matt nearly shouted.

"Please! I don't want to hear anything about this. I'm your father! This is my home! Only that is going to happen here, whatever pleases me." Sir Eric shouted at the top of his voice.

"You are going to regret it." Matt growled slowly while crushing his teeth and glaring at Bran from the corner of his eyes.

Nina rushed down after hearing that domestic disturbance. She left Nick sleeping in the room. She looked at the scenario, and Matt looked at her. "Nina, please go back to your room." Matt said. Lady Lynda came to help her to her room. Bran was having his back at her. He turned, looked at her, and she fell on the sofa with a deadly, horrified look on her face. She wasn't able to breathe properly. Her eyes were bulging out. Matt rushed to her and held her hand. "What happened, dear?" He asked. She didn't even glance at Matt. Her eyes were fixed on Bran, and she began trembling. "What's wrong, dear? Tell me!" Lynda asked her, getting tense. The faded whisper came out of Nina's mouth. "You?"

"Nina." Bran spoke in a way that was hardly audible to anyone.

"Wait! What the hell is going on?" Matt shouted. He rushed to Bran and grabbed his collar. "She is my wife. How the hell do you know her?" He was getting impatient every second. Then he dashed to Nina again and sat before her on the ground. "How do you know this man? How? Please tell me!" His voice was filled with fear, anger, curiosity, and many more things. Nina turned her glance to Matt, kept staring at him for some time, and finally spoke. Her words made everyone present there, except Bran, creep into a new world that they had never imagined, and Matt, fit by madness, even stumbled on the floor.

"He was the guy with whom I eloped."