“Why do you say so?” William didn’t seem surprised.
“Savannah hated your mom. I heard her and Dixie, her maid, cursing your mother, calling her a b*tch who stole her father from her. Savannah wanted your mom to die.”
Ronald thought his words would anger William, but he was disappointed. William was very calm.
He only looked at Ronald and said flatly, “You’re only guessing. Now, tell me about Savannah’s pregnancy and her baby.”
The lack of emotion from William only gave Ronald chills. So, he had no choice but to carry on.
“Not many people knew about Savannah’s pregnancy. The Howards’ bodyguards did quite a good job of guarding her. Besides, she also rarely appeared in public. At least I had never seen her before she gave birth. I think she was afraid that Archer might try to end her pregnancy with force.”
“I see… If so, I assume you know nothing else about her at that time?” William asked, giving Ronald a deadpan look.
“There’s… There’s one more thing,” The way William stared at Ronald made him stammer. “I saw Dixie in the hospital the same day when Natalie gave birth.”
William cocked his eyebrows in interest.
“She was all covered up, dressing almost like a thief. I felt strange, so I followed her for some time and saw her going into the morgue.”
“And then?”
“That I don’t know. I was looking from afar, so Dixie wouldn’t notice me. Plus, Archer arrived at the hospital shortly after and had a fight with Natalie. I had to go stop them. So I left Dixie in the morgue.”
William was still putting on his poker face. “That’s all?” he asked.
“That’s all I know, Sir William,” Ronald licked his dried lips. “I have been very honest with you. Now, will you please help to bail me out?”
William smiled, “Of course. But, one more question. Were you the one who buried Natalie?”
Ronald didn’t know why William would ask such a question, yet he still nodded, “Yes.”
“Were you there in person during her cremation?” William asked again.
“I…” Ronald’s face reddened in shame. He lowered his head to avoid looking at William and answered in a low voice, “I didn’t. Actually, I didn’t dare to look at her corpse.”
Ronald didn’t do that because he felt guilty. Truth be told, he was half relieved and half scared when he heard about Natalie’s death.
He knew precisely how Natalie died, and it ruined his life. He not only watched the people who harmed her with a cold eye, but he even helped them. So, he was afraid to see Natalie before she was cremated.
Ronald was also afraid that Natalie’s vengeful spirit would return to haunt him, harm his life, even. He didn’t want to take a last look at her for fear that she might appear in his nightmares.
Therefore, when the doctor announced Natalie’s death, Ronald pretended to faint to avoid seeing Natalie, which was quickly sent to the morgue, covered with a piece of white cloth. Two days later, Natalie was arranged for cremation.
All the while, Ronald acted to be heartbroken over her death. Also, knowing the truth about Natalie’s death, he was eager to cremate Natalie because he didn’t want to face the police nor Valeria.
As Natalie’s family members, Ronald and Valeria were supposed to be present when Natalie was put into the furnace to get the last look. However, Ronald faked fainting again right before that, and Valeria passed out in grief as well.
As both of them were carried out, none of them witnessed the cremation.
Later, when he held the urn, with Natalie’s ashes in it, that the staff passed to him, Ronald was relieved that everything had finally ended.
Natalie was dead. He didn’t have to worry about being investigated anymore.
William mockingly laughed when he heard that Ronald was afraid of seeing Natalie’s remains, “A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.”
“Sir William, I’ve told you everything I know. You’ll keep your promise, right?”
“Of course I will. But for one term… You have to follow my orders.”
“I will! Your wish is my command,” Ronald nodded in desperation after hearing William’s words.
Then, William left the detention house and got into the car, where Marcus held the car door open for him. Sighing, William downed half a bottle of water and said, “We’ve got some useful information today.”
Marcus straightened his ears, “Really? What did Mr. Brown say?”
“Quite a few things, actually, if he wasn’t lying. For starters, Natalie lost her child because of Savannah, but the baby might still be alive. Also, Savannah has something to do with my mom’s death.”
Marcus sighed, “Mr. Howard, what are you going to do if it’s really Madam Savannah?”
“Avenge my mom,” William said matter-of-factly. “But first, I need to run a background check on Raymond. I thought he’s someone Savannah brought into the family to pretend as her son. But after listening to Ronald, I think he may be Natalie’s child.”
“Huh? How is that possible?” Marcus asked in disbelief.
“I’m only guessing. Savannah is more cunning than she seems. She might have planned all that after she knew Natalie was pregnant, making Archer have sex with her, then pretending to be pregnant and forcing him to go with her plans.”
At that thought, William paused for a moment before he continued. “Since Sir Gavin and my dad were determined to marry Archer and Savannah, I think Savannah originally only wanted to pretend to be pregnant. She knew Natalie would break up with Archer if Natalie found out that she was also pregnant. And Savannah could simply say that she had a miscarriage after she married Archer. But things didn’t turn out exactly as she planned. Natalie didn’t terminate her pregnancy, nor did she break up with Archer. And it put Savannah in a very difficult situation. So, she made her moves. Natalie was forced into early labor, but I don’t think her baby is dead. Savannah probably bribed someone in the hospital and took Natalie’s baby away, then made it look like she gave birth to the baby.”
“Now that you’ve said that… Since it was a premature birth, Natalie’s baby must be weak at that time. But he’ll grow into what looks like a full-term baby when Savannah was supposed to deliver. She didn’t even need to worry if Archer were to do a paternity test with the baby!” Marcus analyzed after listening to William. “This is a very well thought out plan. Savannah couldn’t have done it all by herself.”
“You’re right. Charles must be helping her, which is why we need to check and confirm if Raymond is related to Archer and also Valeria.”