“Xavier?” Josiah was worried that something had happened to Xavier when he noticed his unfocused eyes, so he gently patted his arm. “It’s fine if you can’t remember. Just get well first.”
“No!” Xavier did not want to end the topic just yet. He grabbed Josiah’s arm. “It’s true that I don’t remember much about what happened after Yulissa showed me the video, but”—Xavier drew his brows together—“you know that Jacinta’s words can’t be fully trusted. I’m still looking into her.”
“I know,” Josiah answered. “We haven’t come to a conclusion for the fire at the Fairchild residence yet. Even now, I still think of Jacinta as a suspect. But, Xavier, as I said, I was walking in front of Rachel back then, and Winnie came down soon after me. Just as she came out, Christopher fell onto the roof of the car. She asked Christopher about it. Although Jacinta’s words can’t be fully trusted, Christopher said your name. As far as I know, Christopher was an honest man. Do you think he would lie before he died?”
Xavier looked at Josiah in silence. A few seconds later, he frowned and asked, “Do you also think that I pushed Christopher off? Do you think I killed him on purpose?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, Xavier! Calm down,” Josiah replied. “I just want to figure out what happened back then. You were involved, but you can’t remember anything, and we can’t trust Jacinta’s words. That’s why the only thing we can do now is to reason. No one knows what happened—whether it was you who made a mistake or it was someone else who pushed Christopher off. We know none of this right now.”
“What about Yulissa?” Xavier’s frown deepened. “Is she saying the same things as Jacinta?”
“She… killed herself. You don’t remember it, but she and Christopher are dead. Jacinta’s the only witness now.” Josiah sighed. “But don’t worry. Even if you did push Christopher off, it’s understandable. After all, you were in a terrible mental state at that time. You were a victim too.”
A beat later, Josiah asked, “What did Yulissa show you that made you lose control?”
“She said…” Xavier started, Yulissa’s words ringing in his head again.
She had said that Christopher and Winnie were willing to give up on their dignity for each other and that the two of them had made a promise to be together in their next lives.
She even said that he had been cuckolded a long time ago. Without him, Winnie and Christopher would have been together.
She also told him that everything Christopher did was to separate him and Winnie and that Christopher wanted him gone from this world.
That was not all. In the end, she even told him that as long as he pushed Christopher off the building and killed him, Winnie would be his alone.
Those were the things he could remember Yulissa telling him. What happened after that was something he could not remember at all.
“I think I took a look at the video at that time. I saw Dumbo hugging Christopher, and Christopher wasn’t wearing any clothes. I was really…” Xavier could not continue as he tightened his fists. Seconds of silence later, he suddenly said to Josiah, “I’ll turn myself in.”
“What?” Josiah, who was still reeling in from the shock, was snapped back to reality by Xavier’s words.
“Why would you turn yourself in?” Regardless of everything, Josiah was on Xavier’s side. “I told you that you were a victim too. You can’t be legally prosecuted for what happened while you were mentally unstable. If we go by the books, even if you want to turn yourself in, you can’t do it in Avenport. You’ll have to go to Yeringham in Manchernius instead.”
“Is… that so?” Xavier stiffened for a second before curling his lips into a bitter smile. “Do me a favor and ask Professor White whether or not the drug Yulissa injected me will affect my intellect.”
Josiah’s jaw dropped. “I don’t think there’s any issues with your intellect if you can say that. Still, what prompted you to think that? Do you know how serious things will be if you turn yourself in?”
“What prompted me to think that?” Xavier wondered out loud. “It’s because it’s very likely that I was the one who pushed him. If that’s the truth, I’ll have to bear the responsibility for that. Even Christopher himself said my name.”
“Then maybe…” Josiah did not wish to suspect Christopher’s involvement, but he could not truly dismiss that possibility either. “Maybe he said that on purpose. As Yulissa said, he wanted to sow discord between you and Winnie. That’s not completely impossible, is it?”
Xavier fell silent. He did not know the answer to that. Christopher was dead, and the dead could not prove his innocence.
Josiah fell silent as well. Truth be told, he did not wish to do mindless guessing, but Xavier being the culprit was a genuine possibility.
All of a sudden, a firm female voice rang out, breaking the silence in the air.
“That’s impossible. He would never do that. I have faith in him!”
Xavier recognized the voice even before the owner of the voice entered. He quickly got out of bed and hurried to the doorway.
“Winnie!” Xavier pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. “You’re finally here. I miss you so much.”
Winnie, however, did not respond to the hug.
She looked past Xavier’s shoulders and met Josiah’s eyes.
As she stared at him, she hissed, “He’s dead, so can you stop the mindless guessing?”
Josiah did not see her scolding coming, and he frowned in response.
“I just refuse to believe that Xavier was the one who pushed Christopher off. I don’t mean to tarnish Captain Bennett’s reputation; I’m only mentioning one of the many possibilities.”
Winnie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Then I’ll tell you one more time that it is impossible.”
Josiah tried to hold himself back, but he failed. “So you’re telling me that Christopher is the only one who speaks the truth? Am I not even allowed to point out a possibility? If you believe in Christopher’s words, that means you think Xavier was the one who pushed him off. Is that what it is?”
Rage suddenly crashed into Josiah like a tidal wave as he continued, “I know you’ve experienced some things with Christopher—even life-and-death moments. But here’s the thing, Winnie. You, Xavier, and I have been through life-and-death moments too. When you wanted to head to that place to save your granny, Xavier and I went without a word of complaint. Do the perilous situations we’ve been through and the injuries Xavier and I sustained mean nothing to you? Are we not worthy of your trust? Xavier’s head hasn’t properly recovered, and I’m still in a wheelchair. Yes, Christopher’s dead, but can only the dead gain your unwavering trust?”
Winnie had been overwhelmed with fury earlier when she heard Josiah’s harsh words toward Christopher despite the latter’s tragic death. That was why she had been equally harsh with Josiah.
She did not consider the consequences and did not expect Josiah’s response to be that bad.
Taking in a deep breath, she said, “I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just feel bad. I can’t help the negative emotions from seeping out of me.”
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