Chapter 834: SUFFER MORE

“I didn’t manage to save Sean. When I arrived at the right wing of the manor, the fire was already too great at that point. But I still pushed through the fire. How could I not? My only thought at that time was to save my son. But before I could even reach the floor where the nursery was, a piece of wood dropped on my head and I lost consciousness,” Richard continued.

“When I woke up, I was in a small private hospital. The butler, Jones, was there with me. He told me of what happened after I fainted. He found me when he was trying to save Father. He had to make a choice at that moment – to save me or to continue to search for Father. At the end, he chose the former.”

Realizing the meaning of those words, both Edward and Charles looked at their brother with incredulous expressions on their faces.

“You mean, Father, he—”

“He died at that fire,” Richard finished what Edward was saying. “The body you thought was mine was actually his.”

Edward was shocked while devastation crossed Charles’ face.

“Jones had guessed that there was foul play in that incident. So, he secretly brought me out of the manor and straight to the nearest private hospital. My legs were pretty damaged because of the burn. My head was also hurt badly. After I woke up that one time, I fell into a coma. It was probably already a miracle that I survived.

“Because of my situation then, Jones had decided to take matters into his own hands. The method he used was probably the most extreme. But it was the only way he could think of to make sure I’m not in any immediate danger. So, while the doctor was taking care of my injuries, he went back to the manor to check on the situation.

“He arrived just before the police and the fire fighters did. After the fire was put out, two corpses were found in the nursery. They were of an adult and a child. Everyone assumed that it was my son and I. Because none of you thought that Father was actually capable of saving a grandchild that he only met that day. Even I thought that wasn’t possible. And yet he did.”

A sad smile crossed Richard’s lips, as if he was reminiscing that very moment when he found out about what William Harcourt did. But this was truly also a surprise for Luo Yan.

Of course, he already knew that William was the one who died that night 20 years ago instead of Richard and that the people then just assumed that it was the latter who died. He just didn’t expect that it was because of this.

It’s kind of understandable for others to thing that way. After all, based on what he learned from the others, William Harcourt was pretty much absent from his children’s lives. The family business had always been his priority. Who would have thought that he would have it in him to sacrifice his own life to try and save a grandson he hardly even knew?

Richard then continued;

“Jones took that opportunity to tell everyone that he had already sent the master to the hospital. That he didn’t have time to tell everyone because the master was in a critical condition. They all wanted to visit me. But Jones managed to convince them to do it the next day. It was probably easy, considering what everyone had gone through that night.

“While they were all taking a rest, Jones had already started writing a script for the drama that would happen the next day. I still hadn’t regained consciousness then. Even so, Jones still enacted his plan. My attending doctor happened to be a long-time friend of him. And with his help, the plan that Jones came up with was successfully executed.

“They faked my medical record. Even put a bandage around my face so everyone would assume that my appearance was ruined. Me being in a coma made it more convincing. And since none of you had noticed that it was me lying on the hospital bed instead of Father, I guess Jones’ plan worked perfectly.

“He then arranged for the both of us to travel to the Americas via a private plane. There, I was admitted to a hospital to continue recuperating. When I regained consciousness, it was already a week later. Jones had already arranged everything. Including calling my wife and explaining to her the whole situation.

“Jones gave her instructions of what she should do next. Not attend the ‘funeral’, leave Ireland at once and go to Scotland where a cottage was already waiting for her, then stay there for a few years until the child she’s carrying was of age to travel overseas. Then, he would personally escort her and Cian to their new home. I believe you already know what happened next.”

Luo Yan indeed did so. Richard pretended to be his father and then secretly changed the will to give Sorcha almost all of the Harcourt’s properties. He knew that the old butler was involved somehow. But he didn’t expect that it would be to this extent.

It’s truly a good thing that he let ‘Sofia’ give another note to the fake Sorcha once the latter agreed with the deal he proposed. The letter was to be given to Richard. Luo Yan knew that the content of the letter was mostly the reason why the other was willing to tell them everything.

Well, it probably helped that his earlier ‘deduction show’ convinced the other of his greatness.

Still, there’s one question that he couldn’t get out of his mind.

“Why go all this trouble though?” he asked. “I mean, with Mr. Jones’ ability, I believed it would not be hard for him to find out that the one responsible for everything was Catherine. So, just why continue this charade for this long when you can easily punish the culprit much earlier?”

Richard was silent for a few seconds. “Because I wanted her to suffer more.”

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