“It’s me. What is it?”
Credence answered the phone, he sounded a little hoarse as he did.
On the other end of the line, Victor was elated and didn’t notice it. He was so happy it was as though he had won the lottery. “Mr. Scott, I have finally made a breakthrough! I am so happy right now. I have just finished sorting out some new information, much of them are about your father’s entanglements with Ysabelle. This is very important, for security reasons, I hope to send it to you personally.”
“By the way, Mr. Scott, where are you right now?”
“I am on the fourth floor of the hospital in Eastlake Road!” Credence frowned, he took a moment to consider telling him his exact whereabouts and decided it was best to.
“Great, I’m nearby, I’ll be right over. Give me about 40 minutes.”
Credence hung up the phone. He looked up and saw Marvin’s inquiring face. He frowned deeply and said, “Victor’s dug up some new information about my father and Madam Chilton. He’ll send it over to us at once.”
Marvin was shocked, but he soon calmed down. He stared at the grim-faced Credence and said “Since Victor has some new information, I think you’d better read through it before deciding on anything else. After all, if some things have happened, we can’t pretend that they didn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to the deceased.”
“I understand, I see your point.”
Credence breathed heavily. He frowned deep and felt a stinging pain deep within. He continued in a hoarse voice, “But, I really don’t want to go against Dorothy. I’ve missed out on an entire decade of my life with her. It wasn’t easy for us to make it this far. I can’t afford to lose her. I can’t bear the pain of losing her again!”
His throat wobbled as he tried to suppress the sharp pain in his heart. The depths of his long and narrow eyes were black, like the undulating sea in the night sky. It was extremely dark.
He was so upset that he wanted to scream out loud. Marvin, who was watching from the corner, couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He said, “Credence, don’t push yourself too hard. There’s still time, we will figure something out.”
Credence regained his composure, but he was still in pain. His usual handsome face had turned shockingly pale. “Let’s go and find a quiet place to wait for Victor.”
“Okay, let’s move to the administrative office at the end of the corridor. It’s quiet there.”
Marvin let out a deep sigh. He walked over and gripped the handles of Credence’s wheelchair. After that, he turned around and slowly walked out with him in tow.
They had booked several floors ranging from the fourth to the sixth. They did this to ensure that everything was secure and that there was no risk of information getting out.
…
Victor kept to his word and arrived on time.
As he stepped into the office, he saw that Credence was sitting in a wheelchair waiting for him. He was slightly taken aback but quickly adjusted himself. He pretended not to notice Credence’s injuries, took out a large stack of documents from his briefcase and arranged them on the desk.
After that, he adjusted his glasses on his face and said with assurance, “Mr. Scott, you’ve spent a lot of money on this investigation. Fortunately for you, I don’t disappoint! Let me tell you about your father’s past relationship with Ysabelle.”
“Back then, Ysabelle and your father, Mr. Sheldon, really did have a romantic night together. However, someone had schemed against him. After their romantic night, Ysabelle had a video of their affair and intended to force your father into marrying her, but he was vehemently against it. Then, Ysabelle lied and said that she was pregnant with his child, she demanded your father to give her an answer immediately. Otherwise, she would tell your mother about the video and that she was pregnant.”
“Your father loved your mother very much, and he didn’t want her to learn of such a scandal. Therefore, he had no choice but to pretend to agree to Ysabelle’s request, he hoped that he would be able to temporarily satiate that woman’s greed.”
“However, your father didn’t expect Ysabelle to break her promise. She had secretly called your mother and told her about the video and her pregnancy.”
Victor paused. He poured himself a glass of water. After drinking it all in one gulp, he noted that Credence was still calm and hadn’t told him to stop. He continued, “Mr. Scott, when your mother heard the news, she refused to accept it. On her way back, she was greatly troubled and anxious. She then got into a car accident that left her badly injured. After receiving treatment, she lost the ability to give birth.”
“Your father was devastated, and he resorted to some extremely cruel methods to force Ysabelle out of Talco City.”
“After Ysabelle’s disappearance, your father worked hard to fix things with your mother, but it didn’t work out. No one expected that seven years later, Ysabelle would return to Talco City to see your father again. She said that she gave birth to his child and brought a little boy to him. Your father refused to believe her, and drove her away.”
“With no other option left, she invited your mother to a café. She threw out all the evidence she had, including a paternity report, in front of your mother. She mocked her for being able to give birth anymore, that she was just a sick, pathetic woman. She kept demanding to know what right she had to be with your father?”
“She even played the video, which made your mother so agitated that she almost fainted. Keeping her composure and reputation in mind, she didn’t argue with Ysabelle any further. Instead, she went home, told your father that she wanted a divorce and that she would be taking you out of school to leave.”
Victor licked his dry lips and continued, “But then what happened? Mr. Scott, when your mother wanted to leave by force, your father wouldn’t let her go. He was determined to make her stay.”
“As they tugged about, your mother accidentally fell from the corridor of the second floor to the first, and died on the spot.”
“In order to cover up his mistakes, your father lied and said that she died from a heart attack.”
“With the pain of losing his wife, your father went on a vengeful rampage against Ysabelle, and firmly refused to admit that Jeremy was his son.”
“On the one hand, Ysabelle had abused and humiliated Jeremy. She vented all her anger on him. On the other hand, she met Yezoo, who had always loved her. Hence, she went with the flow and brought Jeremy into Yezoo’s family after marrying him.”
“That’s the whole story.”
Victor’s conclusion brought Credence’s distant thoughts back to reality.
He sat by himself in the wheelchair, back straight, as he smoked one cigarette after another.
He finally raised his head and stared intently at Victor after a long while. A deep, haunting pain could be seen within his long, narrow eyes. “I hope no one else knows about this.”
“I understand! Mr. Scott, since I’ve already accepted your money, I’ll keep everything a secret, I know the rules!”
“You can leave now. Our arrangement ends here!”
“Alright, I’ll take my leave then!”
Victor nodded respectfully. He broke out into a cold sweat as he made his way out of the office.
He only dared to wipe the sweat on his forehead after walking a fair distance away.
It was because the look on Credence’s face was so frightening, he could feel his knees buckling.
…..
A while after Victor left, Credence slowly reached out, took the large stack of documents in his hand, and threw them all into a nearby trash can.
Then, with a click, he flicked on his lighter and burned everything.
Soon, all the documents, including everything he was told, burned up into black ashes.
He finally understood why Jeremy would always scheme and plot against him. He wanted him dead.
Jeremy was abandoned by his father and he was forced to suffer his mother’s brutal abuse because of Ysabelle. At first, he wasn’t able to take revenge on his father. But after Jeremy seized control of the Sherman family business and was ready to get revenge on his father, he realized that he had already fallen into a vegetative state.
Therefore, out of extreme resentment and hatred for his father, he was hellbent on destroying the Scott Group.
After understanding the ins and outs of the matter, Credence leaned against his wheelchair. His eyes were filled with dejection as he muttered softly to himself, “Dorothy, my dear wife, what would you do if you were me?”