Chapter 597 The Truths of Those Years (3)
Joe was practically gnashing his teeth in anger. He couldn't understand why Alaric just wouldn't die! And why did Alaric always have to meddle in his business?
"So you hate Josep, and you want him to take the fall for you."
"Hate him? That's putting it lightly. He saved you and wrecked all my plans. I wanted to skin him alive! But after getting to know him, I realized he was perfect to be my scapegoat. Around that time, Tommy was working undercover as a cop, investigating the Vale family. Tommy told me he wanted to get into Nexus Innovations first before moving on to the Vale Group. I still don't know why he was so insistent on starting with Nexus Innovations, and I never asked. He planned to apply directly to Nexus Innovations, and with his qualifications, it wasn't hard. But the timing was risky since you had just received those threatening letters, so I initially vetoed it. Later, after investigating Josep, I came up with a better plan to use him as my scapegoat. I went through the entire Watkins family tree, almost tracing his lineage back eighteen generations. I found out that although Josep was an only child for three generations, his great-grandfather had many siblings, and back then, it was common to have multiple wives, so Josep had countless distant relatives. But Tommy was too soft-hearted to deceive Josep, so I had to trick Tommy, too. I told him I had traced his family tree and found that Josep was his distant uncle and your savior. This way, Tommy could get into Nexus Innovations without raising any suspicion. Initially, Tommy didn't believe it, but Josep was in Country A treating you, so I had Tommy call him. Tommy, being a neglected child, didn't need to fake his misery; just telling the truth would evoke Josep's empathy. Even if Josep saw through it, it wouldn't matter. Tommy could just say it was a mistake, and Josep wouldn't know who called. But things went much smoother than I expected."
Joe laughed for a long time, then continued with a sneer, "Do you know which two types of people are the easiest to deceive? One is someone like Mrs. Marigold Knight, who is overly reliant on a particular belief, and the other is someone like Josep, who is kind-hearted and always looking to help others. Tommy easily got into Nexus Innovations through Josep, but with Tommy and me under your nose, our connection would soon be discovered, so I had to leave. But if I suddenly disappeared, you'd be even more suspicious. So I had to sacrifice Mrs. Marigold Knight. Only by her death could I reasonably vanish from your sight. But her death had to serve one last purpose: to drive a wedge between you and Stellan. Before her birthday, I kept urging her to insist that your three kids attend, even if you didn't. Mrs. Marigold Knight called the school principal herself, saying it was her birthday and that I would pick up the kids. If Stellan called, the school would say the kids had already been picked up. I had everything arranged. I delayed picking up the kids, waiting for Mrs. Marigold Knight to die. Stellan called the school, and they said the kids were picked up, so she went to the birthday party in a rage, looking for them, leading to a confrontation. I had a maid, my person, hiding to ensure Mrs. Marigold Knight would die and Stellan would be the murderer. If Mrs. Marigold Knight didn't die in the confrontation, the maid would step in. But it went so smoothly. She accidentally fell. I couldn't believe my luck!"
The maid saw everything. Marigold had indeed fallen by accident, but she wouldn't say that.
Seeing Joe's wild laughter and knowing Marigold's death was part of his plan, Alaric's eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched. If looks could kill, Joe would have died a thousand times over.
"Alaric, keep it together. My story's not over," Joe continued. "I even went to Mrs. Marigold Knight's funeral in disguise, and the officiant was my guy. I made sure he mentioned Josep's full name, but you were too wrapped up in your grief to notice. But that wasn't the main point. The main point was Tommy. It was his first meeting with Josep, and I was worried it might go wrong. I had people singing Tommy's praises to Josep, and it worked. Josep, that fool, didn't even question it. He remembered Tommy as a skinny kid from his distant family. It was so easy to fool him, I felt no sense of accomplishment. But then, who knows their great-grandfather's descendants? No one. I found the perfect scapegoat. I told Tommy over and over that if he got caught, he should say Josep was behind it, and Josep would then commit suicide out of guilt, ending the game perfectly. But Tommy was too kind-hearted, taking all the blame himself and not implicating Josep, forcing me to take Josep hostage. But..."
Joe seemed to think of something amusing and looked at Alaric. "Isn't there a saying that good people get rewarded? What about idiots like Josep? Alaric, you're so smart, I never thought you'd suspect Josep. Why did you? If he were the Tiger, why would he save you? So, being too kind is a bad thing. Kind people get taken advantage of!"
"It's not that kind people get taken advantage of; it's that some people are too evil!" Alaric said, enunciating each word. "I admit suspecting Josep was my mistake, but good will always be good, and evil will always be evil. The world's black and white will never be reversed. Despite the twists and turns, Josep will be respected for his goodness, and Tommy will survive because of his kindness. In the end, the only one who will die in this game is you!"
The only one who will die?
Joe laughed.
"That's not certain. Before you came in, I told you, Josep isn't my only hostage. I have your closest people too. If I die, they die with me!" Joe's expression was now particularly vicious and sinister.
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