Chapter 987 Turning the Page
"Jasmine!" Cordelia screamed in terror, lunging forward to shield her daughter from the bullet.
She acted purely on maternal instinct, without a moment's thought. But in the end, the bullet never reached Cordelia.
Her body froze, her breathing ragged as she turned to see William standing not far from them. He remained upright for several long moments before crumpling to the ground.
Police officers pinned Lily to the floor; her impulsive action had destroyed everything she'd worked for.
"Jasmine, I hate you!" Lily continued to shout, her voice filled with venom.
She had forgotten that when she was at her lowest point, it was Jasmine who had pulled her out of the darkness.
"Father... made you sign a contract forbidding divorce," William said, lying in a pool of blood, offering Cordelia a weak smile. "But... he never said anything about becoming a widow."
Cordelia stared at William, her breathing shallow and rapid. She remained silent, just watching him.
What William owed his children could never be repaid with a single life... but at least this final decision allowed him to die with some dignity.
"I've regretted my choices... for many years," William struggled to speak. "I wanted to reform the black market... with the Hughes family. With Kavi in the way... he was the biggest obstacle to change. I used the internal conflicts in the Hughes family... to bring Kavi down. Finally able to implement reforms... to separate the Cunningham family... you and the children... completely from it all. But it's too late... my sins are too great... there's no time left..."
William's voice trembled as he looked at Cordelia. In his life, she was the person he had wronged the most, followed by their children.
"Dad!" Evelyn rushed forward, crying as she pressed her clothing against William's wound. "Dad, don't die, please..."
William smiled weakly at Evelyn. "I've failed you all..."
Edward eventually approached too, joining Evelyn in applying pressure to William's wound. He, Nolan, and Edgar—which of them hadn't yearned for a father's love? But in the Cunningham family, such affection was a rare commodity. Eventually, they had all stopped hoping for it.
"Take care of your mother... your brothers and sisters..." William said, looking at Edward.
Edward nodded, his eyes reddening with unshed tears.
The ambulance was waiting nearby, and medical personnel rushed in to provide emergency care to William.
But it was already too late.
By the time they loaded him into the ambulance, he had lost all vital signs.
The police searched William's car and found a letter he had written to Cordelia. In it, he confessed that his refusal to divorce her wasn't just because of her business acumen, but because he had truly loved her.
William's life had been tragic, spent following Bill's plans even after his father's death.
Some things, once touched, become impossible to escape. Bill couldn't escape, so he passed it to William, who likewise found himself trapped. If he tried to leave, the black market operatives would silence him permanently.
He knew too much.
As long as he lived, he could never leave the black market behind.
He didn't want to burden his children, so he aimed to completely reform the black market in his generation, to separate the Cunningham family from it forever, ensuring they would no longer be bound by the same fate.
This was the only contribution he could make for his children.
In the letter, William wrote: [Cordelia, whether you believe me or not, I knew from the beginning what kind of person Sophia was—greedy, materialistic, incapable of genuine feelings for anyone. She would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. But she was exactly the kind of woman I needed—with her in the picture, the black market operatives wouldn't focus on you.]
William's initial choice of Sophia had indeed been to create a diversion.
Over the years, he had failed his family terribly.
But from William's perspective, he had no other choice.
After reading the letter, Cordelia smiled and set it alight with a lighter.
With William's death, the enormous burden that had weighed on Cordelia seemed to lift instantly.
"This contains evidence of all black market crimes!"
The police discovered a hard drive in William's pocket containing evidence of black market crimes, the trading network connecting Silverwood with numerous other countries.
For law enforcement, it was like receiving an enormous gift.
In the first folder on the hard drive, William had written: [I hope my confession will persuade authorities to show leniency toward the Cunningham Group and Nolan, who was never involved and is merely an innocent victim caught in the crossfire.]
William knew this statement might not carry much weight, but he included it anyway.
Only by dismantling the criminal organization completely could the Cunningham family truly find peace.
Otherwise, after his death, someone else would take over the black market, and with leverage against them, the Cunningham Group would never be safe.
Before returning to the country, William had pondered this dilemma at length. It was an unsolvable problem—unless he died.
Only his death could untangle all the knots.
And Lily had to be removed, or she would remain a future threat.
That's why William had orchestrated this elaborate plan to take Lily down with him.
It was all he could do.
After William's death, the Cunningham Group's legal department used evidence and negotiations to secure a suspended sentence for Nolan. Though he hadn't been directly involved, as a company executive, he bore responsibility for oversight failures and needed to face consequences.
Nolan accepted this outcome gracefully.
When he returned home, Nolan was greeted by the cat he and Amelia had adopted years ago.
As he entered the living room, four or five kittens pounced on him.
For someone with Nolan's cleanliness obsession, his back immediately tensed.
Clearly, this was Amelia's form of protest.
Taking a deep breath, Nolan didn't dare utter a word. "Honey?" he called out.
Amelia wasn't on the ground floor. The housekeeper was grooming the kittens and cleaning up after them. "Mr. Nolan Cunningham, you're back. Mrs. Amelia Cunningham took the baby to visit Mrs. Cordelia Cunningham."
Nolan sighed with relief. "I'll go upstairs to change."
If Amelia hadn't left, she must have forgiven him.
But when he reached the bedroom, Nolan found a sheet of paper on the bed with "Divorce Agreement" written across the top in marker.
The color drained from Nolan's face. Without bothering to change, he raced back downstairs.
"Mr. Cunningham?" the housekeeper asked, confused.
Nolan rushed out, jumped in his car, and sped toward Cordelia's place, terrified that if he delayed, his wife would be gone forever.
At Cordelia's residence, everything had changed. William was dead, and Nolan was free.
The Cunningham Group had weathered the public relations storm—though they had suffered severe losses, with proper recovery time and management, they would eventually bounce back.
With Ethan's support, the Cunningham Group would certainly survive.
That evening, Edgar shared good news: he and Avery had officially gotten married.
In fact, they had registered their marriage the day after the Cunningham family crisis began.
Avery had said, "I've been rational for so long, I wanted to follow my heart just once."
Edgar had rushed to make it official, afraid she might change her mind.
Cordelia was overjoyed. All three sons were now married to wonderful women, and her daughter had married well too.
It was time for her to live her own life.
Time to begin a new chapter.
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