William’s words had Raymond completely baffled. He just couldn’t understand why anyone would want to frame him and Valeria together.
Irritatedly, Raymond asked, “Do you know who’s the culprit?”
“Whoever they are, they’re very cautious to not leave any footprints behind. But don’t worry, I will find them out. In fact, I already have some leads to follow. Now, let’s talk about acting.”
Even though he was still shocked, Raymond quickly got into position, “Yes, please. I’m listening.”
“If anyone in the family, including your mom, ask about what happened tonight, tell them that you fainted because of a spiked drink at dinner. And that you’re so lucky because Richard came in time to send you to the hospital.”
“That’s all?”
William continued, “Uh, also that you don’t know who drugged you yet. As for other questions, just roll with it. Remember, Richard and his underlings saved you.”
“No problem! By the way, Uncle, do you have any idea who might do this to us? Or why they did this?” Raymond couldn’t help but ask.
“No, but people looking into this matter, alright? I’ll let you know once I find out who’s behind this. For now, all you need to do is lay low,” William said grimly.
He emphasized, “Raymond, mark my words. Don’t tell anyone about anything other than Richard saved you. Do you understand?”
Raymond, of course, understood the severity of the situation. Nodding, he assured, “Yes, Uncle, I’ll tell them everything exactly as you said. But you have to promise me that you’ll update me on your investigation too, okay?”
William simply hummed as an acknowledgment before he hung up, while Raymond wasn’t as relieved as he thought himself would be before he made the call.
Raymond and William were of the same age, and they studied abroad at the same university.
Since their father disliked them, they put a lot of effort into their education. Raymond could still remember how hardworking William was in the earlier days.
However, everything changed when William returned after half a month of disappearance. Not only did he stop paying attention in his lectures, but he also started spending more time at nightclubs. On some days, he would even bring girls home to spend the night.
Raymond tried to talk sense into William. But, of course, his persuasion did nothing on William.
As time went on, William gradually turned into someone completely different. People no longer saw him as the gifted one, but instead, he had made a name for himself for being amorous.
Yet, it didn’t change Raymond’s mind about William. For fear that William had no money to spend, Raymond was always willing to share his own credit card with William. When he saw something he liked, he would also buy one for William.
It was years since they had graduated from university, but the two of them remained close. Raymond wasn’t a fool. He knew his mother and his other uncles didn’t see eye to eye with William only because William was their half-brother.
But Raymond didn’t care that William was only his half-uncle. In fact, the familial love he felt for William was more intense than what he had for his other uncles.
So, Raymond always went all out to help William. After all, William would be placed in a very difficult position if Hayden were to kick the bucket. Raymond had no doubt that William would be skinned alive by his own half-brothers.
And his belief unwatered until he saw someone, with a mask and an oddly familiar figure like William’s, at an auction in Seattle.
Escorted by many bodyguards, the masked man stepped into the auction house. He never once took off the mask throughout the entire auction.
Nevertheless, the masked man’s identity was never revealed after he successfully bade on an item with a sky-high price.
He turned out to be the president of the Wolf Group.
At first, Raymond brushed the familiar figure off as merely a fluke. But after what happened to him that night, he decided that it was too much of a coincidence. It made him suspect William’s identity.
On his way back to the hotel that night, Raymond was robbed at gunpoint. He thought he wasn’t going to survive it, but the president of the Wolf Group saved him.
Even if the president didn’t save him in person, his various bodyguards did the job, nor did he speak to him.
Raymond managed to catch a detail out of his misfortune that night. The president of the Wolf Group was wearing a limited edition watch, and Raymond had the same one.
Sometime later, Raymond unintentionally saw the same watch in William’s wardrobe. He felt reluctant to believe that William was the Wolf Group’s president, but Raymond had no choice.
Once he finally wrapped his mind around the fact, Raymond began to wonder why William would keep that side of him a secret. President or not, William was still Raymond’s caring uncle.
Therefore, despite his curiosity, he didn’t pry into William’s business. He also didn’t tell anyone about his theory.
In fact, Raymond even went as far as to give his watch to William in order to keep him undercover.
Truth be told, although William seemed like he had no intention of doing so, Raymond was waiting for him to come clean about his other identity.
However, William didn’t exactly keep Raymond in the dark either. In fact, he opened up to Raymond about his relationship with Marcus and the number of mercenary bodyguards he kept.
Although he did not explicitly tell Raymond that he was the president of the Wolf Group, Raymond had basically confirmed his identity.
Knowing the achievement of the Wolf Group’s president, Raymond was proud that he was related to William. Hence, whenever Savannah complained about William’s ignorance and impotent on the phone, Raymond had to stifle his laughter.
He couldn’t wait to see the looks on Savannah and his other uncles when William revealed himself to be the mastermind of the Wolf Group.
Raymond used to think that Savannah, despite her strong disdain for William, wasn’t one with evil thoughts. But his experience at the restaurant on that evening and William’s request had convinced Raymond otherwise. Things weren’t as simple as he thought would be.
He wondered what was William’s lead if William asked him to lie to everyone in the family, including Savannah.
Perhaps one of them was the conspirator for the scheme that evening. The million-dollar question now was, which one of them was their crime?
Raymond began combing through his family members, and, at last, only Savannah and Charles were suspicious.
“That’s odd… But why would Mom or Uncle Charles want to harm me?” he thought.
“I must have missed something!”
Troubled by the identity of the culprit, Raymond only fell asleep when it was near dawn.
William didn’t sleep well that night, either. It was only a quarter to eight in the morning when he woke up, and Marcus was supposed to get back to him at eight.
Afraid of disturbing Valeria, who was still sleeping, William tip-toed out of their bedroom with his mobile in his hand. As he waited for Marcus’s call, William freshened up in the guest room’s en suite.
Marcus called precisely on the dot, and William answered his phone at once, “Yes?”
“Mr. Howard, all three of the kinship test results are the same… Sir Raymond isn’t biologically related to you or Sir Hayden.”