Chapter 169 I Will Handle the Group's Losses
He drew a deep breath, as if summoning every ounce of strength to drag the suspicions buried in the darkest corner of his heart into the light.
"Five years ago, the night at the docks—before Edith left the house, she had a violent argument with Isabella. Isabella didn't stop her. That's how Edith got out. You know this already."
Alexander nodded, his expression dark.
That had been one of the key reasons he'd believed Caroline was an accomplice, maybe even the mastermind.
Edith, the younger sister, had gone out to save her heartbroken older sister Caroline. Their mother hadn't stopped her. So all these years, he'd hated the Neville family too.
"But what you don't know is..." Damon raised his head, tears suddenly welling in his eyes. "That night, I was restless. I went to my study. I heard them fighting. I heard Edith screaming at Isabella—"
"She said, 'I'd rather let Alexander die than marry him!'"
It was like a thunderclap in Alexander's mind. The last remnants of his devotion to Edith, the fantasy that she might have loved him even a little—it all shattered in an instant.
So that was how Edith really felt about him. She'd wished him dead.
Maybe Isabella had pushed the engagement just to keep Edith from running away to find the exiled Linus.
And of course Edith refused to marry Alexander—because Alexander was the enemy who'd hurt the man she loved.
Maybe that night at the docks, he was supposed to be the one who died. Maybe the whole gunfight had been arranged for him from the start.
Alexander lost control. A raw, tearing roar ripped from his throat as he kicked the heavy wooden conference table. It shuddered violently under the impact.
Wrong. All of it had been wrong. Wrong from the very beginning.
He had worshipped a demon as if she were an angel, held her sacred in his heart—while he had taken the real angel, the one who truly loved him, who had saved him, and he had destroyed her with his own hands. Pushed her straight into hell.
"Sir! Sir! Calm down! Please, calm down!"
Liam rushed in, terrified, but Alexander shoved him away hard.
"Find them!"
Alexander stopped abruptly. "Go back and investigate. Five years ago. The docks. Everyone involved in that firefight. Whether they were Linus's men, rival gangs, any suspicious forces—I don't care if you have to dig up every inch of ground. I want to know what really happened that night. Who wanted me dead. Who killed Edith. Who was pulling the strings behind it all!"
Liam's chest tightened under the verbal assault, but he forced himself to report, voice trembling.
"S-sir... the main players from that night—you ordered them eliminated shortly after. The few who slipped through the cracks, later, because of... because of the incident when Mrs. Hamilton met Dr. Cortes, you were furious, and you forced her to personally... handle them too. Now... now there's really no trail left to follow."
Eliminated.
He had personally ordered the cleanup. And some of them—he had forced Caroline to kill them herself.
He had killed the only people who could have proven Caroline's innocence.
Alexander felt the world spin. His knees buckled and he collapsed heavily to the floor, the metallic tang of blood rising in his throat. He coughed up a mouthful.
"Sir!" Liam cried out, rushing forward to support him.
"Doctor! Get a doctor in here now!"
But Mark arrived first. He strode in quickly, phone in hand. "Sir, call from Coral Haven!"
Alexander's head snapped up, his unfocused eyes sharpening instantly.
He snatched the phone and pressed it to his ear.
"Alex? Is that you?" Caroline's gentle voice came through the speaker. "Are you busy? Am I interrupting?"
Alexander immediately wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, drew a deep breath, and forced down the taste in his throat. He made his voice as steady as possible.
"No, not busy at all. Why'd you call? Miss me?"
"Yes!" Caroline's voice brightened on the other end. "I'm at the beach! Kenna's walking with me, and I ran into Felix! Alex, thank you! I was so happy to see him! It feels so good to see an old friend from my birth family, it's like being back in those days at home."
She paused, a note of loneliness creeping into her voice. "It's just... it would be even better if you were here too. The ocean's so blue, the sand's really soft, and the sun's warm—it's so nice. When are you coming back?"
Alexander's heart clenched.
Just seeing Felix made her feel like she was home again...
Deep down, she still craved those Caroline memories—imperfect maybe, but real and warm.
"Soon, Edith. I'll be back very soon." Alexander promised immediately. "You be good, okay? Listen to Kenna and the doctors. Eat properly, rest well, don't wander off—especially not near deep water, understand? As soon as I finish up here, I'm flying straight back. I promise."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Caroline's voice turned instantly cheerful. "Then I'll wait for you! Come back quick, okay? I'll have Kenna make all your favorite dishes! Oh, and Felix says he knows how to grill fish—he learned from some old fisherman, and it's supposed to be amazing! When you get back, we can have a beach barbecue together, okay?"
"Okay. Whatever you want." Alexander closed his eyes, forcing back the heat building behind them. He made himself smile, even though she couldn't see it. "Anything you want to eat. Just wait for me."
"Okay! I'll wait! Well, you go ahead with your work, I won't keep you! Bye, Alex!" Caroline said contentedly.
"Goodbye, sweetheart." Alexander's voice dropped low.
He didn't lower the phone until the dial tone buzzed in his ear.
That brief call finally tamped down the emotions churning inside him.
He braced himself against the floor and, with Liam's help, stood up unsteadily.
His chest still ached, but at least his brain was functioning again.
He couldn't collapse here. And he couldn't make her wait too long.
He straightened his rumpled suit jacket, dragged a hand across his face, and headed for the door.
But just as he was about to step out of the conference room, his footsteps faltered.
He said suddenly, "The Neville Group's financial losses—I'll handle them."
Damon's head jerked up, staring at Alexander in disbelief. "You're... you're going to acquire the company?"