Chapter 130
Raymond cared so much about William. There was no way he would be fine after just a few days of grieving over William dying so suddenly in an accident.
More importantly, the whole "going out for fun" thing--that had been Raymond's idea in the first place.
Clarence was busy, and he didn't care about William's father's situation, especially after William's death. He figured Parker Brown was no longer a threat, so he couldn't be bothered to ask where Aiden was going.
But looking back at everything now, it was clear that Raymond had known all along that William was still alive. And when Aiden said he was going out to have fun, he was really just heading over to Emily's place.
Felix had just said that William rented a place near Emily's house and came by almost every day. It all fit perfectly.
So that was what was going on.
Clarence clenched his teeth in anger. He was so angry that his lips were trembling.
He didn't know why Raymond had sent Aiden to Emily's place, but Raymond clearly knew William was alive. Which meant Raymond might also know about William's organization.
And if that was the case, Raymond probably knew about the dirty things Clarence had done.
That thought sent a chill through him, and his rage suddenly froze.
If that was really the situation, he needed to act fast. Otherwise, William and Raymond would work together to trap him, and he would have nowhere to run.
Felix stood quietly in front of Clarence, waiting for his answer.
Clarence slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. "Tell Manuel to keep a close eye on things inside the organization and find out whether William is actually in there."
"Report back either way--whether he's there or not. And be quick about it. Don't waste any time!"
Felix agreed and left.
Clarence couldn't sit still anymore. He got up and walked to the window, looking down.
His study faced the back garden, where Raymond was trimming the flowers.
This had become Raymond's favorite thing to do in the past few months. He thought the gardeners did a poor job and couldn't handle the delicate plants properly--always bumping them or breaking off branches.
Even though the gardeners were careful, Raymond still found things to scold them about. Since he could still move around on his own, he decided to just take care of the garden himself.
Raymond carried a watering can, watering here and trimming there, gently touching a bright flower in full bloom, smiling happily.
Clarence's eyelid twitched violently. "Bastard! You knew all along that William was alive, and you still put on such a convincing act. You really had me fooled."
He slammed his fist hard on the windowsill with a dull thud, feeling like his heart was bleeding.
There had been many times he'd wanted to ask Raymond whether he was really his biological son. They were both Browns, yet Raymond treated Parker with exceptional favor while always being cold and distant toward him.
After he and Parker graduated from college, Parker got to join the main company and jumped straight to vice president--prestigious and impressive.
Meanwhile, Clarence was stuck at a branch office, couldn't even make it to general manager, and barely scraped by as a department head--a joke of a position that people laughed at.
More than once, people had asked him why the gap was so big between him and Parker, given that they were both Raymond's sons.
Every time he heard that, Clarence felt like he'd been slapped across the face. It was humiliating.
He wanted to know, too--why was there such a huge difference between him and Parker?
He'd once brought it up carefully with Raymond, but Raymond said nothing, just smiled in that unreadable way of his.
"Why else? It's favoritism, plain and simple."
Clarence muttered to himself.
Raymond had given Parker almost everything--all the best resources--while Clarence was left picking up whatever Parker didn't want. The favoritism was blatant.
"Dad, don't blame me for being ruthless." Clarence's anger faded, and a cold smile slowly crept across his face.
"You brought this on yourself. It's not that I treated you badly--you always favored Parker, so I'm going to destroy Parker's entire family."
"I'll make sure you have only one son left to rely on in this life--no one else but me."
Upstairs and downstairs, inside and outside--two completely different worlds.
Outside, it was a clear autumn day with a high, blue sky and all kinds of flowers in full bloom, and Raymond was in good spirits. Aiden was nearby, chasing butterflies.
It was already fall, and butterflies were rare now, but Aiden was excited all the same.
Inside the study, it was cold as ice--just like Clarence's heart at that moment.
He thought for a moment, then took out his phone and made a call. "Go find out whether that woman Emily has any other family around and what she's been up to lately."
"I want her itinerary for the past week--every place she went, what she did, who she met. I want all of it."
After hanging up, Clarence let out a slow breath.
The last time he found out William was alive, he'd already looked into Emily.
To him, she was just an ordinary woman--no background, didn't look like someone from a wealthy family. She was raising two kids on her own, struggling financially, and didn't even own a home--she was just renting.
But when he tried to dig deeper, he hit a wall. It was like someone was deliberately blocking him and didn't want him to keep looking.
Clarence had been focused on dealing with William and didn't think much of it. He figured he'd take care of Emily after William was gone.
But now that he knew William and Emily were close, Clarence realized he couldn't afford to wait any longer.
If he didn't find out what was going on quickly, Emily could easily ruin everything he had planned.
Just past seven in the evening, William finally woke up.
The days were getting shorter. In summer, it would still be light at seven, but now they had to turn the lights on inside.
"You're awake."
Emily gave William a gentle smile. "The doctor said you'd wake up around this time--looks like he was right. I got some food. Come on, eat something."
"Oh, and are you thirsty? Want some water?"
She got up right away and poured him a glass.
He pushed himself up and drank it all in one go.
Seeing that, Emily poured him another.
After two glasses, William felt noticeably better.
Emily stood up to get the food, but William grabbed her arm. "What time is it?"
She glanced at her watch. "Almost eight."
"Almost eight."
William repeated it softly and lowered his head.
"What's wrong?"
Emily looked at him with concern. "Do you have somewhere you need to be?"
"Just forget it for now. You're hurt--you can barely walk. Whatever it is can wait until you're better. Don't even think about leaving the hospital yet."
Emily let out a soft sigh. "I don't know if bringing you here for emergency care tipped anyone off."
"I don't know if Clarence has someone watching you either. We just need to be careful--we can't afford to let our guard down."