Chapter 88 Brother's Beauty

• It catches my attention when Sophia places her hand on Landon’s chest in a soothing gesture, and I notice that his body seems to relax a little from the tightly wound stance he’s been in since he yanked her up off the blanket. Sophia looks at me apologetically like she feels responsible for Landon’s surly attitude toward me. She’s too sweet to fathom that Landon and I don’t give a shit about each other, and our only singular focus is the objects of our obsessions. “I’ve been having night terrors since—” she cuts herself off, taking a deep breath. “Well, you know what happened. But they’re better since the campus doctor prescribed me some sleeping pills. When I wake up, I don’t remember any of the nightmares,” she says sweetly, smiling at me and then turning her attention back to look up at Landon. I notice how uncomfortable he looks at the mention of the pills, but I’ve lost interest in irritating him for now. I don’t know exactly what injuries Sophia sustained that night, but I was told that she passed out when she saw Isabella with Mom’s nearly decapitated body.
• “Where’s Isabella?” I only realize how harsh my words are when Sophia flinches at my tone and averts her eyes away from me. “What are you hiding?” I snap at her, and Landon’s arm pulls her into his body protectively. “One of you better answer me now,” I tell them, but I’m looking at Landon.
• “She’s in the asylum. She freaked the fuck out when Dad made her leave home to come back here without you, and she became an absolute menace.” Landon shrugs, and my chest tightens with some sort of emotion I can’t quite put my finger on. They better not have hurt a fucking hair on her head. “And don’t get any fucking ideas. They’re keeping her until the end of the month, and then her case gets put into review. All of us have tried to get her released, but you know this fucking place.” He waves his hand dismissively, and he doesn't have to elaborate. Hillcrest is all grandiosity that was founded by our great, great, great grandfather, and to this day, follows his traditions. The sole purpose is to uphold the Hillcrest reputation, and if she was making a spectacle of herself, this is the exact solution these fuckers would have.