William could hear wailing sounds even from outside the door. The voices seemed to be coming from George and Philip’s wives.
He quickened his pace to enter the hall, and he saw Savannah’s corpse covered in white cloth. Philip and George’s wives were crying by the side, while Philip and George themselves were also standing by the side, shedding tears.
William’s gaze fell on the sofa in the living room. Hayden’s face was pale as he sat still.
Upon seeing his appearance, Lucas and his maid greeted him. “William! You’re back!”
After hearing his servants greeting him, Hayden raised his head and looked over. William greeted him and said, “Dad!”
Hayden nodded tiredly. “You’re here.”
“My condolences!” William walked up and looked at him.
“William!” Hayden called out to him.
“Yes!”
“I… I used to…” William reached out and grabbed his hand. “Dad, I know what you want to say. It’s useless to say anything now. Let’s deal with this first.”
He looked up at the maid and said, “Pour a glass of water for him.”
She nodded and immediately left to pour a glass of water. William took the water and handed it over to Hayden, and he drank it without any refusal.
“Dad, you don’t look too good. You should rest for a bit. Lucas, Philip, and George will take care of things here.”
Hayden neither slept well last night nor eaten anything in the morning. He had just experienced Charles’ imprisonment, and now Savannah was dead. One could imagine the impact of those incidents on his mental state.
William helped him into the bedroom. When he saw that Hayden seemed ten years older, he felt bad. Had he done something wrong?
He only wanted to show that evil would be rewarded with evil and that Savannah had brought this upon herself, but he had neglected Hayden’s feelings. A parent attending their children’s funeral must be such a heart-wrenching feeling.
No matter how vicious and shameless she was, she was his daughter after all.
He would rather watch Savannah go to jail than see her die. William blamed himself for this.
William helped Hayden to his bed, but Hayden didn’t let go of his hand after they had arrived. “William, was Savannah really behind your mother’s death?”
He nodded, and Hayden’s eyes turned red. “How can she be so vicious? Why is she do that? What sins have I committed? I can’t believe I…”
“Dad, this has nothing to do with you. You were kept in the dark. Have a good rest and focus on your health for now.”
“I’m ashamed to face your mother and you! I treated Savannah so well and put so much trust in her…” He couldn’t go on.
William sighed. “Dad, there’s no perfect man. You haven’t done anything wrong as a husband and a father. It’s all those d*mned people’s fault. Have a good rest. If you can’t sleep, take a pill.”
He opened a drawer to take out a pill and handed it to Hayden, who took it obediently. William waited for him for a while until he closed his eyes and started to breathe calmly. Then, he got up and closed the door gently before leaving.
Outside, George and Philip’s wives were no longer wailing. Everyone sat silently on the sofa in the living room.
Seeing William walk out of the room, Lucas welcomed him and said, “Sir is resting.”
“Yeah.” William nodded.
“What should we do now, William?” He asked.
“George and Philip, what is the meaning of this?” William asked.
George and Philip, who were sitting on the sofa, looked at each other and stood up to walk towards him. They asked in an unpleasant tone, “William, did you have anything to do with Savannah’s death? Did you force her to die?”
He shook his head lightly when he saw how aggressive they were. “No!”
“Why would she commit suicide if you didn’t force her? She sent such a video to dad last night to prove her persistence about killing herself. If you and Ronald hadn’t humiliated her like that, she wouldn’t have thought of it at all. It’s all because of you. You’re so vicious!”
Philip pointed at William while the fat on his face trembled.
George didn’t want to show weakness, so he said, “William, what are you trying to do? Forcing Savannah to death and encouraging Andrew to send Charles into jail, and then coaxing dad, are you planning to dominate the whole Howard family? Let me tell you, we are also members of this family. As long as we’re here, we won’t let you succeed!”
“When did you see me force Savannah to death? And when did you see me sending Charles into jail? She wouldn’t have died by suicide if she didn’t want to. He wouldn’t have gone to jail if he didn’t do anything illegal. They’re all grown-ups, isn’t this basic common sense?” He asked with a sneer.
“You’re still so fierce when you’re the one in the wrong. William, you’ve gone too far! Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up!”
After hearing William’s words, George became angry from embarrassment. He cursed loudly and was about to fight when Bobby stepped forward and grabbed his hand. He let out a cry of misery.
“If you dare to point at my boss again, I’ll break your hand!” Looking at Bobby’s fierce gaze, he grumbled and did not dare to say anything else.
William looked at George and Philip calmly and said, “Dad is in poor health right now, so you’d better behave well. Work together to handle Savannah’s funeral. Don’t let Dad worry about it. In the future, I’ll ask Andrew to arrange two positions in the company for you. You’ll have a lot of things to do. If you still have bad intentions, don’t blame me by then.”
“What are you going to do, huh?” Philip asked.
“Well, let’s see. Didn’t you say that Savannah was forced to death by me? Didn’t you expect that Charles’s imprisonment was done by me? Look at how they ended up, don’t you know what I’ll do?” He laughed sinisterly.
“You…” They were frightened by his smile and subconsciously lowered their heads.
William knew that the two of them didn’t have the actual capability. They only liked to make a fuss in small arguments, so they would behave themselves if he scared them. He said, “Philip, George, I like obedient people who follow the rules. If you do things accordingly, nothing will go wrong between us. What’s yours will remain yours. If you don’t listen and don’t follow the rules like Savannah and Charles, then don’t blame me!”
They looked at each other and asked unwillingly, “What are the rules then?”
“Simple, just be obedient and united. In the future, you should obey our father and do what a son should do. We are a family, so there is no need to be so hostile to each other. Isn’t harmony and unity good?”
“Are you being for real?” They didn’t expect William’s ‘rules’ would be as simple as that.
“William, although we don’t like you, we were only jealous of your good looks and dad’s favoritism over you. We also want a harmonious family that loves each other. We don’t have any bad intentions, so I hope you won’t lie to us.”
“If you don’t believe me, can you not believe Andrew? He is now the head of the company. If you act as a good role model as the elderly, he will not treat you shabbily.”
They never had bad intentions. They used to follow Charles because they were provoked by him. Now that they did not have a leader, they had to abide by the rules.
William did not worry about the two of them. He just wanted Hayden to not be so upset. When Lucas saw that George and Philip became well-behaved, he asked, “Where’s Ashley?”
Since Lucas didn’t have time to pay attention to her, he immediately asked the bodyguards. They looked around and didn’t see her. She had escaped right in front of their eyes.