Chapter 516 William and Hayden
"Who killed him?" Finn asked directly, without comforting the two sisters.
"It was me."
"Raymond, it was me, not Hayden."
As soon as Hayden spoke, Jocelyn immediately shouted loudly.
"Jocelyn, stop talking nonsense." Hayden held Jocelyn tightly, lovingly stroking her long hair, and then looked at Finn again. "When I came downstairs this morning, neither of you were here. Jocelyn was in class, and I only saw Nikolai sitting in the downstairs living room."
Hayden paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Under Finn's increasingly irritated gaze, he continued, "I initially thought about going abroad to study with Nikolai, building a good relationship with him. I had breakfast with him and even promised to go out for a drive with him. But when I went back to my room to change clothes and go out with him, he secretly followed me into my room and tried to forcefully assault me, like a vicious wolf."
"Nikolai tried to assault you?" Finn confirmed with a furrowed brow.
Hayden nodded. "Yes, he pinned me down on the floor and used force against me. I screamed for help, but no one came to assist me."
Jocelyn timidly glanced at Finn, nodded, and shakily said, "I was in class when I heard my sister shout for help. I opened the door and listened carefully. It was indeed my sister calling for help, so I rushed upstairs."
"Yes, I shouted for help for a long time without anyone coming. I was about to lose hope, even considering the thought of dying. It was Jocelyn who rushed in and tried to pull Nikolai off me." Jocelyn was trembling so intensely that Hayden quickly took over her words and continued, "When Jocelyn rushed over to pull Nikolai, I saw that she was holding a carving knife in her hand. I grabbed her hand and forcefully stabbed Nikolai in the heart."
"No, Raymond, it was me who stabbed him. It has nothing to do with my sister. It has nothing to do with her," Jocelyn cried in fear, bursting into tears. While crying, she cursed, "Nikolai, that bad man, bastard. He took off his clothes and wanted to rape my sister. He is a bad man. He deserves to die."
Finn looked at his two daughters and then at the lifeless body of Nikolai. He had no reason not to believe their words.
Because no matter how he thought about it, Hayden and Jocelyn could not possibly have a motive to kill Nikolai.
Moreover, the punishment for murder is death, and Finn's daughters are not that foolish or malicious.
"Lao Chen."
"Sir." The butler stood behind, immediately stepping forward.
"Do not move Nikolai's body for now. Go and inform Pierre Johnson to come over." Standing there, Finn ordered with an air of authority.
"Yes, sir." The butler nodded in agreement and went off to carry out the task.
"Hayden, take your sister to another room. I will handle this matter." Looking at Hayden and her sister, Finn gave another stern instruction.
He couldn't simply leave this unattended. Should he hand both daughters over to the authorities?
"Raymond, I'm sorry," Hayden said, her tearful eyes fixed on Finn. At this moment, she finally felt the long-lost love of a father.
Witnessing the tears streaming down the faces of Hayden and her sister, Finn was also moved. His expression softened as he nodded and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm Finn, and there hasn't been a time when I've been scared."
"Hmm," Hayden murmured, her head bobbing with the weight of her sorrow as tears streamed down her face. "Thank you, Raymond."
All of a sudden, Daniel burst onto the scene, seizing Finn’s hand with urgency. "Raymond, they were the ones, those two—they're responsible for Nikolai's death. You must seek justice for him, avenge Nikolai!" he exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Hayden and Jocelyn.
"Enough!" Finn's voice cut sharply through the tension as he scowled at his son's outburst. "Hayden and Jocelyn are your true sisters. Do you understand that?"
"Nikolai is also my brother. They killed Nikolai, and I need to avenge him."
Slap!
Finn couldn't hold back anymore. He struck Daniel across the face, unable to believe his lack of understanding and his accusations toward Hayden and Jocelyn.
The housekeeper on the side was shocked, as were Hayden and Jocelyn. They never expected Finn, who had always cherished his son as a precious gem, to turn violent.
However, what surprised Hayden the most wasn't just Finn's slap on Daniel's face but also the words that had just come out of Daniel's mouth - "Nikolai is also my brother."
"Raymond, you hit me! Raymond, you actually hit me! I hate you, I hate you, Raymond!" After being struck, Daniel realized what had happened and immediately burst into tears. This twelve-year-old, tall, and robust boy suddenly looked like a foolish child throwing a tantrum.
"Take him back to his room. Keep an eye on him," Finn said angrily, leaving without another word.
"Yes, sir," the housekeeper nodded, quickly comforting Daniel and leading him back to his room.
As Hayden witnessed these scenes, a sense of confusion arose within her.
"You, tell me, what the hell happened?" Finn completely disregarded Daniel's crying and came angrily to the second-floor parlor, where he sat down and asked the butler in a furious voice.
"Sir, at that time, we were all outside and had no idea what happened upstairs. Later, Liam came downstairs screaming that Miss had killed someone, so I took some people upstairs to investigate," the butler said, lifting his head to look at Finn and then quickly lowering it again to continue, "Madam instructed us that no matter what happened upstairs, we were not to intervene."
"You were all outside?!" Suddenly, Finn narrowed his eyes dangerously.
The butler couldn't help but shudder upon seeing this.
He knew very well that no matter how favored Sophia was, the true master of this house was Finn, not Sophia.
"Tell me the truth!" Finn slapped the coffee table in front of him, roaring angrily.
"Sir!" The butler was startled and almost fell to his knees. He had no choice but to confess truthfully, "It was Madam's orders."
"What were her instructions?" Finn asked, growing even more furious.
"Madam instructed us that no matter what happened upstairs, we were not to intervene," the butler said, quickly lowering his head again and burying it low, "Under no circumstances."
"You..." ‘Bang!’ Finn couldn't contain his anger any longer. He grabbed the crystal ashtray from the coffee table and slammed it onto the floor.
With a loud noise, the butler was so frightened that he fell to his knees in front of Finn.
"Who is the master of this house?" Finn roared, staring at the kneeling butler.
"Sir, I was wrong, I was wrong! I apologize, I promise there won't be a next time, I promise!" The butler trembled, begging for forgiveness.
"There won't be a next time? Do you want two more deaths in my house further staining its sanctity?" Finn continued to shout angrily.
"Sir, I was wrong, I deserve to die, I was wrong. Please, calm down, calm down!" This time, the butler cried and kowtowed, pleading desperately.
"Get out! Leave immediately!" Finn's anger rose to the sky. He warned Garcia, "Once you leave if you dare to breathe a word about today's events, I will cut off your tongue and break your legs."
"Sir, I was wrong, I was wrong, please spare me, spare me this time."
The butler kowtowed, begging bitterly, but Finn just kicked him away and stormed downstairs.
Downstairs, dozens of housekeepers were terrified, and upon seeing Finn coming down, they all shrank their necks and buried their heads, not daring to breathe.
"Just now, how I dealt with the housekeeper upstairs, I'm sure you all heard!" Finn stood on the stairs, scanning the dozens of housekeepers below, and Garcia warned sternly, "From now on, if any of you dare to disrespect me, your master, you can all get out."
"Yes, we understand, sir."
About half an hour later, the Johnson family arrived.
They were Pierre Johnson and Sienna Faith, Nikolai's parents, as well as Hall Smith, Nikolai's uncle.
When they saw Nikolai lying in a pool of blood, with a weapon still stuck in his chest, his eyes wide with terror and disbelief, Pierre, a man in his forties, trembled all over. If Hall hadn't supported him by his side, he might have fallen.
However, compared to the reactions of Pierre and Sophia, Nikolai's siblings, Sienna, Nikolai's mother, appeared much calmer. She only shed a few symbolic tears and shouted a couple of times, that was about it.
"Elder brother!" Sophia woke up and knew Pierre had arrived. She immediately struggled to get out of bed.
Seeing Pierre, she completely ignored Sienna and Hall who were present, and threw herself into his arms.
Pierre held her, and the two of them began to grieve.
Sienna watched them, a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes, but more than that, there was a sense of schadenfreude.
"Sophia, Nikolai cannot die in vain. You must seek justice for him!" Pierre patted Sophia's back gently, expressing his pain.
"How do you plan to seek this justice?" Unexpectedly, just as Pierre finished speaking, a voice of utmost authority came from behind them.
Upon hearing this, Sophia felt a surge of electricity throughout her body and immediately pushed away from Pierre.
Seeing Finn approaching, she immediately walked over, grabbed Finn’s hand, and looked at him with tears in her eyes. She had a delicate and weak appearance, like a sick beauty, as she sobbed, "Finn, Finn, Nikolai is my elder brother's only son, my nephew!"
"He's your nephew, so does that give him the right to humiliate and offend the strong women in my Lin family's mansion, including my daughter?" Finn narrowed his eyes and for the first time, he wasn't giving her a friendly expression.
Sophia met his dangerous gaze and felt a chill in her heart, realizing immediately that things were not looking good.
Indeed, even if Finn usually doted on her, he couldn't possibly have the same feelings for Nikolai.
Hayden was his own daughter, and lately, he had been appreciating her a lot. There was no way he would favor Nikolai.
"Finn, Nikolai called you 'Uncle.' You can’t let him die in vain?" Sophia looked at Finn and continued, tears flowing once again.
"He tried to harm my daughter Hayden. Hayden only killed him in self-defense. Even if the police come, Hayden will be innocent," Finn said, his gaze cold and piercing as he swept it over Pierre and the others. He then said, "Do you have any other plans?"
"CEO, Nikolai, he..."
"Wasn't it said that Jocelyn killed Nikolai? How did it become Hayden?" Sophia quickly retorted.
"I killed him, it had nothing to do with Jocelyn," Hayden said loudly as she walked over.
Looking at Hayden, Sophia felt intense hatred but couldn't show it on her face. She continued to maintain a pitiful appearance and said, "Finn, didn't the butler say that Jocelyn killed Nikolai? How can it be Hayden?"
"Hmph!" Unexpectedly, Finn looked at him with a cold and angry gaze. The traces of affection and tenderness from before were gone from his face as he said coldly, "Do you not know what the butler and the servants did on your orders? If it weren't for you, Nikolai wouldn't have died here, dirtying Hayden's hands and staining my Lin family's reputation."
Dirtying Hayden's hands, staining my Lin family's reputation?
Looking at Finn, once again, Sophia felt a chill in her heart and her eyes widened in disbelief.
If just now she still held a glimmer of hope, hoping to use Finn's love for herself to seek some ‘justice’ for Nikolai, then now she was completely awakened by Finn's words.
Hayden stood by Finn's side and finally let out a sigh of relief.
With Finn's protection, she and Jocelyn could finally be truly safe.
On the side, the other three members of the Johnson family looked at Finn, not daring to make a sound. Although Pierre felt immense grief and anger in his heart, he knew well that much of the Johnson family's situation came from Finn.
If Finn truly turned his back on them, the entire Johnson family would be finished.
"Bring Nikolai's body back! But if anyone dares to leak out a single word of today's events and ruin Hayden's and my family's reputation, I, William, will never sit idly by." With these words, Finn turned around and coldly left.
Hayden glanced at everyone from the Johnson family and left with Finn.
