Chapter 193 A discovery

Chapter 193: Chapter 193 A discovery

Upstairs, inside Erica’s room, the tension between the two siblings was so thick that it seemed to hang heavily in the air.

Neither of them spoke. After what they had witnessed downstairs, they were too shocked to process their thoughts properly, let alone find the right words to express what they were feeling.

The silence continued until Erica finally broke it.

"Who did Dad kill?"

Her question caught Landon by surprise, causing him to freeze mid-step.

Erica had moved toward her bed and sat down, while Landon remained standing nearby, confused and uncertain about how to answer her. He couldn’t believe his sister would even ask such a question about their father.

"Don’t say that, Erica. You know Father wouldn’t harm anyone. You’re just overthinking things, sis."

He tried to sound convincing, but Erica only stared at him before shrugging.

"I don’t know why you keep acting like everything is still the same when it isn’t. Father isn’t the person he used to be. Would it really surprise you if he killed someone?"

Erica’s words left Landon speechless.

When had his sister started thinking this way? Had she always felt like this and simply kept it to herself, or had what they overheard downstairs made her question their father?

He couldn’t tell.

"Stop it, Erica! Don’t say things like that. Father wouldn’t kill anyone. He’s our provider and the protector of the entire nation, so why would he do something like that?"

He asked the question as though repeating it would somehow make everything right again.

But Erica didn’t answer.

Instead, she lay down on her bed, turning her back toward him.

"Believe whatever you want, Landon. And happy birthday, twinny. I’m sure Father will disappear again soon. In fact, I’m betting he’ll be gone by tomorrow morning."

Her words carried a bitterness that made Landon frown.

Before he could respond, a loud noise came from downstairs.

It sounded as though something had fallen and crashed against the floor.

Both siblings immediately turned toward the door.

Silence followed.

Landon listened carefully, wondering whether he had imagined the sound. But before he could convince himself that everything was fine, the noise came again.

This time, it was unmistakable.

Erica sat up immediately.

"Okay, something is wrong downstairs, and I’m going to find out what it is."

She spoke with such determination that Landon barely had time to react before she climbed out of bed.

"Erica, wait!"

He hurried after her.

Although he hadn’t expressed his curiosity as openly as his sister, he wanted to know what was happening just as badly. Their parents had been acting strangely, and now they were hearing noises downstairs.

Something was definitely wrong.

The two siblings stepped into the hallway and began descending the staircase. However, the moment they reached the bottom, they stopped.

A trail of blood stretched across the marble floor.

It was smeared in several places, staining the otherwise spotless surface and leading toward the sitting room.

Landon’s eyes widened.

"Oh, no! Were we attacked?"

He rushed toward the sitting room before Erica could stop him.

"Wait, Landon!"

She hurried after him, glancing nervously at the blood.

"If this is what we think it is, shouldn’t we go back upstairs and let our parents handle it? Whatever is happening might be bigger than us. We’re just kids!"

But Landon was already moving ahead.

He couldn’t bring himself to turn around and pretend he hadn’t seen anything. He needed to know whether their family was in danger.

As he approached the sitting room, he caught sight of a figure near the other exit at the back of the house.

Someone was carrying a body.

The person appeared to be heading outside, moving quickly as though trying to leave before anyone noticed.

Landon’s heart began pounding.

Who was that?

And what were they carrying?

He rushed forward and reached for the light switch.

The moment the room was illuminated, the figure seemed to disappear into the shadows near the exit.

For a second, Landon stood frozen, unable to comprehend what he had just seen.

Then his gaze fell on the body that had been left behind.

Every expression vanished from his face.

Erica, who had caught up with him, looked in the same direction.

Her eyes widened, and her legs suddenly gave way beneath her.

She fell to the floor with a piercing scream.

"Is that Mom?"

Her voice broke as she stared at the motionless woman.

"No! No, that’s not Mom! Tell me that’s not Mom, Daddy! What did you do to her?"

She clutched at her hair, shaking her head desperately as though refusing to accept what her eyes were showing her.

Then she scrambled forward.

Joseph had dropped Catherine’s body back onto the floor when he realized the children were approaching. But Erica didn’t care about anything else. She rushed toward her mother and fell beside her, wrapping her arms around Catherine’s motionless body.

"Mommy, please! Please, don’t close your eyes!"

Her sobs filled the room.

"You promised me a birthday, remember? You promised! You can’t do this to me, Mommy. Please, wake up!"

She shook her mother gently, hoping to see her open her eyes, but Catherine remained still.

"Mommy, please! I love you! I don’t want you to leave me. I won’t survive without you!"

Her voice grew louder as she clung to Catherine, tears streaming down her face.

Landon, meanwhile, remained rooted to the spot.

He stared at his mother lying on the floor, then slowly lifted his gaze toward his father.

Joseph was standing nearby, his clothes stained with blood and his entire body trembling.

Landon couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

His mother was lying motionless on the floor, and his father was covered in her blood.

No.

That couldn’t be right.

His father couldn’t have done this.

Landon immediately covered his ears, shaking his head as though he could block out the terrible reality unfolding before him.

It couldn’t be his father.

Not the same man who had held him in his arms, promised to protect him, and assured him that nothing bad would ever happen to their family.

That man couldn’t have hurt their mother.

"Why?"

The broken word escaped his lips.

Joseph turned toward his children, his expression filled with panic and confusion. He looked as though he wanted to explain everything, but he couldn’t find the right words.

"I didn’t mean it."

That was all he managed to say.

Landon stared at him in horror.

"What do you mean you didn’t mean it?"

Joseph’s lips trembled as he tried to explain himself.

"It’s just that... she came at me, and I was trying to explain things to her when she suddenly fell. It’s not like I did anything, son. Please, believe me."

He sounded desperate, almost as though he expected his son to reach out and reassure him that everything would be fine.

But Landon couldn’t stomach the sight anymore.

His attention shifted toward Erica, who was still clinging to their mother’s body, shaking her repeatedly and begging her to wake up.

"Mommy, remember my favourite chocolate?" she cried. "How am I supposed to get it now that you’re gone? You always promised to get it for me!"

She buried her face against Catherine’s chest.

"Please, Mommy! I want you, not the chocolate. I just want you! Please don’t leave me!"

Her cries grew more desperate, but Catherine didn’t respond.

Landon took another step backward, clutching his chest as he struggled to breathe normally.

He had never questioned his parents like this before. They had always been the people he trusted most in the world.

But now, as he stared at his father standing beside their mother’s bloodied body, something inside him began to break.

Joseph was still talking, desperately trying to convince him.

"I promise you, Landon, I would never hurt your mother. Not in a million years! I was only trying to explain what happened. We were talking about your birthday and how we wanted to celebrate it by slaughtering a cow. Then she suddenly collapsed. I tried to reach her, but she hit her head hard against the concrete floor."

His voice cracked.

"I don’t know if she had some kind of illness. I swear, I didn’t know this would happen!"

Landon stared at him, trembling.

"You didn’t do this?"

The question came out weakly.

He was shaking so badly that he looked as though he might collapse at any moment. His hands were cold, and his thoughts were scattered. He desperately wanted to believe his father, but the blood covering Joseph’s clothes made it impossible to ignore what was before him.

Erica finally lifted her head.

Her tear-filled eyes settled on Joseph, and for a moment, she looked too devastated to speak.

Joseph seized the opportunity to approach them.

"I promise you both that I would never hurt your mother. I love her too much to do that. I’m going to take her to the hospital, and she’ll be fine. She’s not dead, I assure you. I’ll bring her back to you."

He bent down and carefully lifted Catherine into his arms.

Erica immediately tightened her grip around her mother.

"No! Don’t take her away from me!"

"Erica, please," Joseph pleaded. "Let me take her to the hospital. We need to get her help."

But Erica refused to release Catherine, sobbing as she held on.

Landon finally stepped forward and gently pulled his sister away from their mother.

"Erica, let him take her. We need to let the doctors help Mom."

He tried to sound calm, but his trembling voice betrayed him.

Erica resisted at first, desperately reaching for Catherine as Joseph carried her toward the exit. Eventually, she allowed Landon to pull her back, though her eyes never left their mother.

Joseph hurried toward the door with Catherine in his arms, refusing to accept that she might already be beyond help.

But before he could leave, Landon spoke.

"Daddy."

Joseph stopped.

For a moment, he hesitated before turning to look at his son.

Landon stood beside Erica, his face pale and his eyes filled with a mixture of fear, disbelief, and anger.

"I hope you’re telling me the truth."

Joseph swallowed hard.

"Of course I am, son. Why would I lie to you?"

Landon’s expression hardened.

"Because if I discover that you killed Mommy, you’re dead to me."

Joseph froze.

Landon took a shaky breath before continuing, his voice growing colder with every word.

"And I don’t mean figuratively. I mean it. If you killed her, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life. You can forget about being my father because, to me, you’ll be nothing but a murderer."

The words struck Joseph like a physical blow.

But Landon wasn’t finished.

"If I ever get the chance, I’ll make you pay for what you did. Even if it means watching you spend the rest of your life in a grave, buried alive!"

A chill ran down Joseph’s spine.

He stared at his son, unable to recognize the expression on his face. The innocent smile and carefree laughter that had once defined Landon were gone, replaced by a coldness that made him feel as though he were standing before a stranger.

For the first time, Joseph saw something in his son that frightened him.

Hatred.

His own son was looking at him with hatred.

Joseph forced a nervous smile, desperately trying to dismiss the threat as the words of a frightened child.

"I’ll just assume you’re talking about a movie scene, son."

His voice trembled.

Without waiting for a response, he hurried toward the exit, Catherine’s body hanging limply in his arms.

Landon watched him leave, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Erica remained beside him, her face soaked with tears.

Neither sibling spoke as they followed their father out of the house.

They refused to stay behind, and neither of them was willing to hide from the truth anymore.

Whatever had happened downstairs, their family would never be the same again.