Chapter 239: Investigating the Truth
Harriet turned around and saw Xavier storming over. "What do you mean by destroying evidence? That was my mom! You..."
A crisp slap interrupted Xavier's words.
He stood there stunned for quite a while.
If not for the stinging pain on his face reminding him, he would have thought he was dreaming.
"Harriet, you hit me?" Xavier touched his face, slowly realizing what happened. "You actually dared to hit me!"
"Yes, I hit you!" Harriet spoke word by word. "If it weren't for you, Dr. Smith wouldn't have died!"
"At the very least, she could have gotten out of that fire alive and explained everything herself!"
"She shouldn't have died, don't you understand!"
"So my mom deserved to die?" Xavier said angrily. "My mom was your mother-in-law after all. Not being sad about her death already shows no respect, and now you're hitting me because of an outsider. Are you crazy! If you're crazy, go to a mental hospital for treatment. Don't go crazy in front of me!"
"I am going crazy, driven crazy by you people." Harriet smiled bitterly. "I don't understand, why is this happening? What gives you the right to decide she killed someone!"
Harriet looked at Tristan. "You said last night Dr. Smith was going to shoot Xavier, so you shot her to protect your brother. But how could she possibly have a gun?"
"She couldn't have had a gun, because she didn't even know how to use one!"
Xavier spoke up, "The gun was mine. I brought it."
"What?" Harriet frowned. "You brought it?"
"Yes, Ondine killed my mom, so of course I wanted revenge." Xavier said matter-of-factly. "I knew Tristan always kept a gun in his study, so I secretly took it to settle the score with Ondine."
"I found her on the second floor of the villa. During our struggle, the villa suddenly caught fire for some reason. I got distracted for a moment, the gun fell to the ground, and she picked it up."
"Of course I was afraid she'd shoot me, and the fire was getting bigger and bigger, so I immediately fled the villa."
"She chased me all the way to the first floor. I had just escaped the villa when I saw Tristan, and then I heard the gunshot."
Harriet couldn't accept this. "Just because she chased you doesn't mean she wanted to kill you. Maybe she was trying to escape, just like you!"
Harriet turned her head and looked at Tristan again. "The gun in her hand was brought by your brother. Maybe she didn't throw away the gun just to protect herself, not because she wanted to kill anyone!"
Tristan walked up to her. "Harriet, calm down."
"How can I calm down?" Harriet looked at him. "Tristan, if you hadn't shot her, she could have escaped!"
Tristan held her shoulders. "I told you, my mom did die from poisoning, and Ondine didn't deny poisoning her on the phone."
"She's already dead. I have no way to verify what you're saying." Harriet closed her eyes in pain. "Your mom's body has already been cremated. I can't even re-examine her body."
"Tristan, she's crazy, hitting me over an outsider." Xavier said angrily. "If I didn't refuse to hit women, would she still be standing here talking? Let's go. Mom's funeral is this afternoon, and we have a lot to do."
"You go back first." Tristan stared at Harriet, but was speaking to Xavier.
Xavier's mouth twitched. He wanted to say more, but seeing Tristan's expression, he held back. "Tristan, I'll head over first. Come as soon as you can."
After Xavier left, Tristan finally spoke. "Harriet, you're not feeling well today. Let me take you back to rest."
"No need." Harriet said with difficulty. "Today is your mom's funeral. I should attend."
"You're not in good shape. You don't need to go. No one will dare say anything."
"I want to go." Harriet's eyes were full of determination. "This is what I should do."
Tristan was silent for a moment, then said, "You're going to the funeral partly out of propriety, and partly to investigate the truth, right? But Harriet, the body has been cremated. There's nothing to investigate."
"I still want to go." Harriet insisted.
"Fine, but you need to control your emotions. Don't let others see you're overreacting." Tristan reminded her seriously. "Remember, your relationship with Ondine—don't tell anyone, not even Grandma, Mr. Jones, or Niamh. This is what you promised your godmother."
"Of course." Harriet forced a smile. "I promised her that no matter what happens, I would protect myself."
Harriet returned to Cloud Bay, changed into black clothes, and put on black sunglasses to hide her swollen eyes from crying. She went with Tristan to the funeral.
Although the Lancaster family was a top-tier wealthy family, Gemma's funeral wasn't open to the public. Only close family members came.
Besides the Lancaster family, there were Gemma's relatives from her maiden family.
Brielle Mitchell, standing next to Quinlan, looked at Harriet with unfriendly eyes. "Is this Tristan's caregiver wife?"
"Yes." Quinlan had put on makeup to look pale, with two lines of tears on her face, looking pitiful.
"She is pretty. No wonder Tristan is so infatuated with her." Brielle lowered her voice. "Quinlan, you have a long way to go to get close to Tristan."
"Mom, I know what I'm doing." A determined smile flashed in Quinlan's eyes. "Give me some time. I'll give you and Dad a surprise."
"You've always been sensible and filial. Your dad and I are blessed." Brielle said with emotion. "Not like the Brown family. So what if they adopted the Romanov family's daughter? Didn't she still end up with a miserable death?"
Quinlan held her hand. "Mom, I will make you proud. Our the Stewart family is more blessed than the Brown family. We definitely won't end up like the Brown family."
"Of course."
Harriet quietly observed everyone present, her mind racing.
Gemma had been bedridden for over twenty years. It was unlikely she had made enemies. So who would poison her?
If it wasn't murder, then was it an accident?
That was impossible, too.
Something like potassium cyanide couldn't accidentally get into someone's mouth.
And Gemma's meals had always been personally handled by Uma.
According to Tristan, Uma wasn't an ordinary servant. She was a distant relative of the Stewart family who had nowhere else to go, so she sought refuge with the Stewart family years ago.
When Gemma married into the Lancaster family, Uma came along to take care of her. She was the person Gemma trusted most.
She should be the last person who would harm Gemma.
If the target wasn't Gemma, could it have been aimed at Ondine?
Poison Gemma and frame Ondine?
Ondine was kind-hearted, had saved countless lives, and never had any intention to harm anyone. Who would go to such lengths to target her?
Harriet's mind was a tangled mess that she couldn't unravel.
Suddenly, Xavier's voice broke through Harriet's thoughts.
"Who let you in? Get out!"
Harriet turned her head and saw Griffin walking in, wearing a light gray casual suit.
Xavier, full of anger and grief with nowhere to vent, had found his target.
Xavier rushed forward and grabbed Griffin by the collar. "I told you to get out! Are you deaf!"
"Xavier, show some respect." Haven spoke up. "I asked Griffin to come see your mother off. Let go."
"Grandma, this kind of person will only upset my mom!"
"I said let go!" Haven said sternly. "Griffin is a Lancaster family member I've acknowledged. Of course he should be present for the Lancaster family matters!"
Only then did Xavier reluctantly let go of Griffin.
Uma, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly stood up and lunged at Griffin. "It was you! It must have been you!"
Griffin dodged to the side, and Uma missed, falling to the ground.
"You killed Mrs. Gemma Lancaster!" Uma sat on the ground, pointing at Griffin and crying out in accusation. "It must have been you working with Ondine to poison Mrs. Gemma Lancaster!"
"What did you say?" Xavier got anxious immediately and pressed her. "Uma, do you have proof!"
If there was proof, he would make Griffin pay with his life right then and there!
"Does this even need proof? He's probably the person in this world who hated Mrs. Gemma Lancaster the most! Who else could it be but him!"