Chapter 262: The Funeral
Anthony's POV:
The night before Marlon's funeral, I picked up my phone and gave Adonis a call.
"How's everything going, Dr.Adonis? I hope you're prepared for the funeral tomorrow.We're counting on you to tell the truth in front of everyone," I said calmly.
"Hello, Mr.Jones.Don't worry.I've been staying at hand didn't go anywhere.I am fully prepared for what to say tomorrow," Adonis replied in a respectful voice.
"But this morning, I received a message from Grace askingto put all the blon Mandy tomorrow at the funeral."
A humorless snort of disdain escaped my lips.
I had already expected that Devin wouldn't give up till the very end.
He was such a vicious man.
If Mandy was accused of murder in front of everyone at the funeral tomorrow, rumors would spread throughout the pack.
Even if she was proven innocent later, her reputation would be too tarnished to repair.
It seemed that Devin was ready to throw anyone to the wolves as long as he could stay in the clear.
"Dr.Adonis, please tell Grace that you'll do as she says.We have to make sure that she and Devin don't suspect a thing."
I instructed Adonis in accordance with the plan that Jennifer and I had made.
"When they ask you to testify, you accusing them instead of Mandy will catch them off guard."
"Good idea, Mr.Jones.I'll do that," Adonis replied.
Now that we had Adonis on our side, we were fully prepared to take Devin down.
Early morning the next day, the church received many visitors who had cto attend Marion's funeral.
Jennifer and I were all dressed in black formal clothes for the solemn event.
More and more visitors poured in; sof them were Alphas and Betas from other packs that had a good relationship with the Black Stone Pack, while sof them were Marlon's friends.
Almost all the werewolves of Black Stone Pack cto the funeral.
The love that they had for their late Alpha was clear to see.
"Thank you, thank you for coming," said Betty, who was standing at the gate to welcthe guests.
Jennifer and I walked towards her hand in hand.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I'm sorry, Luna Betty," Jennifer said sincerely.
"Don't worry, we won't let the murderer go."
"Thank you, Miss Smith and Mr.Jones."
Betty bowed to us.
With a nod, I took Jennifer's hand and led her into the church, where the two of us found a bench near the front to sit on.
After glancing around for a moment, I found Adonis sitting in the midst of the crowd, while Devin was sitting in the very front row, which was reserved for the family of the deceased.
Devin was looking around the church as if he was trying to find something, but I didn't know what.
The sermon began, and Jennifer and I sat quietly in our seats as we watched the priest pray for Marlon's spirit.
The prayers and the songs were followed by the blessing of the priest, after which the farewell ceremony officially began.
Jennifer and I stood up and personally presented a bunch of white daisies in front of Marlon's coffin.
"May you rest in peace, Alpha Marlon," Jennifer said.
After that, it was supposed to be tfor the guests to move around freely.
But both Jennifer and I knew that Devin wouldn't let go of this opportunity.
Sure enough, when Jennifer and I were still standing in front of Marlon's coffin, Devin suddenly stood up.
"Mr.Jones, with all due respect, I request you to tell us how you plan to deal with the real murderer.Personally, I think that anyone who dares to murder the Alpha of a pack should be executed by hanging."
Devin's loud voice immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Devin, as far as I know, the identity of the real murderer hasn't been confirmed yet."
Knowing that Devin would use this chance to push Mandy out as a scapegoat, I deliberately pretended to be confused.
"Ah, that won't be a problem, because I've found out who the real murderer is.There's a witness who can confirm it.He's present at this funeral as well,"
Devin announced confidently.
"Guards, bring the witness here! "He must think really highly of himself.How dare he speak out of turn to the prince?" Jennifer whispered in my ear.
Perhaps in another situation, I would have punished Devin right away, but now, I could afford to let him be arrogant a little longer.I looked at Devin calmly.
Despite his firm orders, no one responded to him.He looked embarrassed, but he soon cleared his throat and walked to the crowd himself.
"It's him.He is the witness."
As expected, Devin pointed to Adonis, who was standing in the crowd.
"Oh.Yes, I...'m the witness.I know who the real murderer is.My nis Adonis.I'm a doctor."
Adonis took off his hat as he nervously introduced himself before putting it back.
"Well, Adonis, please tell everyone what you know," Devin said impatiently.
"Well, what I know is..."
Adonis stammered and paused, glancing at Devin and then me.I calmly put my arm around Jennifer's shoulder.
"Go ahead.There's no need to hesitate.Just tell the truth,"I encouraged him with a casual smile.
Devin's POV:
Ha, how delightful! Everything was going according to plan.I had spent the last night in the church pretending to guard my father's dead body.
My hard work was not in vain, because my mother and my stupid brother had bought my act and warmed up to me.
This morning, Grace had assuredthat Adonis had agreed to accuse Mandy of buying the drug.With Mandy going under as the scapegoat for my crime, I could make everyone believe that I was innocent.
After thwarting off everyone's suspicions, I could compete with Daniel for the position of Alpha again.My father had chosen Daniel, but so what? I was the first son.
As long as ! could win over the support of the elders of the pack, I could becthe next Alpha.
"Well, hurry up and straighten your tongue in front of Mr.Jones.Tell us what happened."
I walked to Adonis confidently and patted him on the shoulder.
"Be honest, and just tell the truth."
"Well...I don't know all the details.But before Alpha Marlon died, someone ctoto buy ephedrine hydrochloride," Adonis said slowly.
"Ephedrine hydrochloride is the drug that killed Alpha Marlon.It is a drug that is particularly harmful to patients with heart disease.It's not allowed to be sold in hospitals," Jennifer interjected.
The crowd had been watching the scene with confusion, but now, their eyes lit up with understanding.I didn't know how Jennifer knew such a piece of information or why she had chosen to speak out at this moment, but I didn't think too much about it.Maybe she just wanted to explain the situation to everyone else.
Gritting my teeth, I nodded at Adonis, hinting for him to go on.
What an idiot! I just wanted him to tell everyone that I was innocent.
"I'm sorry." Adonis lowered his head and rubbed his hands uneasily, as if he was ashamed of himself.
"I did something wrong.I shouldn't have sold this drug illegally.It's just that I was too short of money..."
"Enough! Just tell us who bought the drug from you.Stop talking nonsense!" hissed impatiently, interrupting him.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Well, it must have been Mandy.She's in prison, and rightly so,"
Grace cut in, seeming to sense that Adonis was Stalling.
"Isn't that right, Dr.Adonis?"
"No, Mandy isn't the real murderer."
Unexpectedly, Adonis shook his head.What the hell was going on? Did this idiot know what he was doing? Hadn't he already agreed to accuse Mandy? Why was he backpedaling now? I was so shocked and angry that I couldn't hide the emotions on my face.
Before I could even register what was going on, Adonis suddenly pointed at me.
"It was him! Devin bought the drug from me.He wantedto lie that Mandy was the one who had bought the drug so that the blwouldn't fall on him! "
Adonis shouted loudly, eliciting several gasps from the crowd.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
In a fit of fury, I reached out to grab Adonis' collar.But before I could even touch him, the jerk dodged nimbly and hid behind Anthony.
"He's the real murderer.He killed Alpha Marlon! And now, he's going to killfor telling the truth.Mr.Jones, please help me!"
Cowering behind Anthony, Adonis shouted loudly, causing everyone's gaze to turn to me.
It was only then that I realized that I had acted too aggressive just now.
"No, no, of course not.I just lost my temper after hearing him slander me,"
I stammered and waved my hands, trying to defend myself.
"Don't worry, Adonis.You have my protection,"
Anthony assured Adonis while looking atcoldly.
"Go on."
"I have evidence."
Adonis straightened up and jutted his chin up with a newfound confidence after hearing Anthony's words.
Glaring at me, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
"This is the contract I signed with Devin when we made the deal."
Air rushed into my ears, and my head ached.I had forgotten all about that stupid contract.
"Look, this is Devin's signature!" Adonis held up the piece of paper, showing the contract to everyone.
"As you can see, Devin is the one who bought the drug.As per the contract, no matter what the consequences of the drug would be, it would have nothing to do with me."
I hadn't expected that Adonis would turn against me.Until now, I had thought that I could lie my way out of this situation somehow.But the contract clearly showed my nand signature.I was scared out of my wits.
At that time, in order to procure that particular drug, I had been forced to sign the contract.
Adonis, this bastard! He had accepted my bribe and promisedthat he wouldn't expose me.What should I do now? I was doomed!