Chapter 312 The Good Son-in-law’s Script
It was William who came.
He brought his bodyguards, along with loyal Dylan.
He wore a clean, neat suit, his hair meticulously combed, his face clean-shaven.
He had even put on light makeup to hide the dark circles under his sunken eyes.
But there was no way to hide how gaunt his cheeks were.
He walked briskly, head held high, shoulders squared.
People in the hallway stepped aside one after another, not daring to block his path.
William had become that frightening business elite again.
But today, he had given himself an additional role: the good son-in-law.
Not only that.
William had even prepared lines for this role, and had written a perfect script in his head for Benjamin, whom he was about to meet.
Thinking about what was about to happen, he couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Half his face even began to twitch.
Until someone pushed open the hospital room door.
When Benjamin saw who it was, his pupils constricted sharply.
He hadn’t expected that the first familiar face he would see in the hospital room would be his.
He had been talking to the caregiver, but after seeing William, he completely forgot what he had been about to say.
William walked up to the bed and took in the medical equipment surrounding it.
His eyes were red, his lips pressed tightly together.
Half his face trembled, and his gaze grew darker and heavier.
He let his emotions build for a long time before finally speaking, very slowly.
"Sorry, I’m late."
"I came as soon as I got the news."
Benjamin, leaning against the headboard, looked over the people who had come with William, but he didn’t see Isabella among them.
With a trace of unease in his heart, he asked cautiously,
"Where’s Isabella? Why didn’t she come with you?"
William slowly lowered his head, his eyes growing moist.
He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
Then he said in a low voice,
"Isabella… she’s already dead."
The words hit Benjamin like a bolt of lightning, freezing his thoughts in an instant.
He slapped his head hard with his left hand, as if some kind of insect had burrowed into his brain, drilling deeper and deeper, making his head throb with pain.
After a long while, he lifted his head and stared into William’s eyes. His voice shook.
"What did you say?"
"William, what are you saying?"
"Say it again."
William raised his head and met Benjamin’s gaze.
He repeated, solemnly,
"Isabella is already dead."
"I failed her."
"When she was alive, I didn’t treat her well."
"I can’t escape responsibility for her death."
From William’s reddened eyes, a tear slid down from the corner.
It clung to his cheek for a moment before falling.
He opened his mouth, his eyes turning strangely empty.
"You’re Isabella’s father."
"Even though Isabella is gone, I’ll still take care of you for her sake."
Standing behind him, Dylan couldn’t tell for the moment whether William’s emotion was real or just an act.
He already knew William’s plan.
He had cooperated with him, moving Isla from the cage in the living room to another place.
He had even rehearsed lines with everyone back at the villa.
Spencer Villa now was like a grand stage right before the curtain rose.
And Benjamin would be the central protagonist.
Without him, the show couldn’t go on at all.
Dylan stood off to the side, watching quietly.
In the end, he still couldn’t decide whether William’s tears were genuine or not.
"How… how did she die?"
Benjamin stared at William for a long time, a faint haze forming in his eyes as well.
His left hand slowly lifted, trembling uncontrollably.
He had been suppressing the urge to hit someone.
But in the end, all of it turned into a light, weightless question.
William took a deep breath, his gaze shifting toward the window.
In his mind, he saw again the scene of Isabella jumping from the rooftop.
"William, I’m leaving."
That sentence had become his recurring nightmare.
Like a band tightening around his skull, it kept appearing again and again.
The more it tightened, the more his head hurt.
William closed his eyes once more as waves of tightness rose in his chest.
But even with his eyes closed, the image refused to disappear.
"She jumped from the hospital rooftop."
"I was her husband. I failed in my duty to take care of her."
"Since you’re Isabella’s father, I think you have every right to be angry with me."
"If you want to hit me, go ahead. I won’t fight back."
William turned his head and looked straight into Benjamin’s eyes, confessing earnestly,
"If hitting me makes you feel any better, then at least I’ll have done one thing for Isabella."
"No matter what you think of me, I’ll take care of you in the future for Isabella’s sake."
William seemed to have truly become the good son-in-law.
But only Dylan knew that William was sinking deeper and deeper into the terrible role he had written for himself.
Benjamin leaned weakly against the headboard, listening to William’s account.
His heart was filled with conflicting emotions.
He clearly had many things he wanted to say, many questions he wanted to ask.
But he felt that even if he voiced them, it wouldn’t change anything.
Yet there was still one final question that refused to leave his mind.
"Why did Isabella jump?"
William’s face twitched.
Even though he had prepared his lines in advance and knew Benjamin would inevitably ask this question,
Saying the words out loud was still extremely difficult.
He spent a full minute working himself up before finally replying, his voice heavy,
"It was because of Juniper."
"Juniper pushed Isabella off the rooftop."
William told a lie, but he had a way to turn this lie into something that would look like the truth.
After all, Juniper was already dead, and Benjamin had no way to confront her himself.
Benjamin coughed several times harshly.
He looked at William, his eyes bleak.
In the end, all of his feelings turned into a long sigh.
"If someone else said this, I definitely wouldn’t believe it."
"But since it’s you saying it, I have no reason to doubt it."
Benjamin would never forget the bond between Juniper and him and his wife.
He always remembered how much Isla had loved Juniper, treating her almost like her own daughter.
Benjamin patted his head lightly as he asked,
"What about Juniper? Where is she now? I want to see her."
Benjamin’s tone was very calm, as if he were speaking of something trivial.
William pulled a chair over and sat down, burying his face in his hands.
His elbows rested on his thighs, blocking his expression completely.
"She’s already dead."
The rigid set of Benjamin’s face shifted, and surprise flashed in his eyes as he looked at William.
Hearing about two deaths in a row, he began to doubt William’s words.
"How did she die?" Benjamin asked, fixing his gaze on William.