“Who do you think I meant? Don’t you know who you killed? Do believe that I’ll kill you right now since you love killing so much?”
After saying that, the man who had lost all sanity truly reached out and strangled his own father with both hands.
“No, Mr. Sebastian!”
Seeing that, Tim was so stricken that he hastily rushed over to stop him.
At that exact moment, Karl, who came with Sebastian, streaked over and hit him on the back of the head.
Finally, the living room went quiet once again.
A few minutes later, Frederick returned to the living room after having settled Sebastian in. He stared at Karl, who was still waiting there.
“What exactly happened? Why did he suddenly go crazy like that? Also, why would he think that I was the one who killed Xenia Blackwood?”
“Wasn’t it you, Mr. Hayes?” the bodyguard blurted, momentarily taken aback.
Hearing that, Tim’s temper flared. “What absolute nonsense! Would Mr. Hayes ask you such a question now if he was truly the one who did it?”
Karl was instantly floored by the revelation.
What? It wasn’t Mr. Hayes? Then, who could it be? I didn’t make a move either, so how could it still be a bodyguard under Hayes Corporation who killed Xenia Blackwood?
He abruptly broke into a cold sweat.
“Mr. Hayes, she indeed died at the hands of a bodyguard from Hayes Corporation. Both Sharon Goldstein and I witnessed it. Mr. Hayes already gave orders not to make a move unless it was the last resort, so I am certain that my men didn’t do it. But you’re also now claiming…”
“I had no idea of this matter, so how could it have been me?”
This time, Frederick personally denied the allegation.
His voice was filled with indignant fury, and his weathered face was flushed bright red.
Once more, the living room plunged into silence.
Due to the clearing of the air between two parties, the matter was now brought to light, making the atmosphere exceedingly strange. At the same time, a sense of spine-tingling chill hung in the air.
Who was the real culprit if it was neither my men nor those from Hayes residence? Why did he masquerade as a bodyguard from Hayes Corporation? And what exactly is his motive?
“Mr. Hayes, could it be a competitor of Hayes Corporation?”
“Why would a competitor of Hayes Corporation involve the Blackwood family? The Blackwood family is already in tatters, so it wouldn’t yield any benefit to do so. If anyone were to be affected, then it’d be Sasha and Sebastian.”
Frederick was rather perceptive, so he could tell right away that the matter would ultimately affect Sebastian and Sasha’s relationship.
But then again, Xandra and her aunt, Kelly, who wanted to fragment their relationship, are now done for… So, who else could it be?
Frederick had no answer, so he could only heave a sigh in the end. “Alright, I’ll go and explain things to her tomorrow. She’s been a smart one since young, so she’ll probably understand easily enough.”
“She won’t, Mr. Hayes,” Karl unexpectedly refuted. “To tell you the truth, Mr. Sebastian actually went into such a frenzy because Ms. Wand said that she’ll never again believe him.”
“Why?”
“Um… Because she said her entire life had been a lie after her parents were gone—you tricked her into marriage with the Hayes family when she was eighteen, and she was toyed around by Mr. Sebastian when she later came back. She said… she said she doesn’t want to see Mr. Sebastian anymore, never again for the rest of her life.”
Karl articulated the conversation he heard at the hospital entrance back then.
Of course, he still kept some things to himself, afraid that Frederick wouldn’t be able to take it if he were too blunt.
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that he had already revealed the most crucial part of it. Just as his words fell, Tim, who was standing at the side, noticed Frederick’s face draining of color before he stumbled back several steps on his cane.
“A-Are you okay, Mr. Hayes?”
He hurried forward to steady Frederick, only to discover that the elderly man was now cold all over in mere seconds, and even the arm in his hand was trembling.
“Mr. Hayes…”
“She knows… she has finally found out the truth…” In the blink of an eye, Frederick’s voice seemed to have grown decades older, and he seemed so frail that it was as though he had been drained of all energy.
When it came to Sasha, Sebastian’s remonstration of him after the Emmanuel family’s birthday party had actually struck his conscience.
In reality, he didn’t really harbor zero guilt toward Sasha, nor was he totally unremorseful toward his best friend, Rufus.
That wasn’t true at all, for it was the exact opposite.
However, when it involved the safety of his son, Sebastian, sanity still took second fiddle. As such, it led him to commit mistake after mistake.
It wasn’t until the day when Sebastian charged in and mocked him did he finally realize his blunder.
Back then, Sebastian called him out for prioritizing him because he was his son when Rufus’ daughter was likewise precious to her father. And so, there was no reason to sacrifice someone else’s child for his own.
It was from then that he slowly let go of the resentment he held toward Sasha and started to accept her.
In fact, his visit to Frontier Bay that day was the best evidence.
Nonetheless, a past mistake couldn’t be erased by all the kindness in the world. Sasha had lost too much because of him, and now, even the Blackwood family became part of the sacrifice.
No matter the identity of the real culprit behind the murder of Xenia Blackwood, this matter was still linked to the Hayes family at the end of the day.
