My Flirtacious Husband (Genevieve and Armand)
Chapter 1178

Chapter 1178 Guilt

Stefan turned a deaf ear to the person behind him. After injecting the liquid into Cooper and removing the needle, he grabbed Cooper by the hair and slammed him into the wall with tremendous force. The sudden pain at the back of Cooper's head jolted him awake.

Opening his eyes, he tried to make sense of what was happening around him. When he regained his vision focus and saw the person in front of him, his expression darkened as something clicked inside his head.

Cooper spoke up in a hoarse voice. "Ninette was the one who invited me, yet you were the one who showed up."

Initially, Cooper would have finished his work that morning and be back in Jadeborough by the afternoon. Suddenly, Ninette texted him and inquired if he was in Baykeep, saying that she wanted to have a meal with him.

Since Cooper wanted to extract information from Ninette, he jumped at the opportunity.

Cooper was a cautious man, but he had not expected the invitation from Ninette to be a trap. Yet, the trap was not set by Ninette but by Stefan.

"That's right. I'm the one that Ninette is working with." Stefan tilted his head as he spoke plainly, not bothering to hide the truth.

"I was also the one who threw your niece into the elevator. I absolutely despise that kid. She's not even Sally's daughter, so why should Sally be nice to her? Why should Sally buy her things?"

Cooper glowered at the young man.

If it weren't for the fact that he had been drugged, causing all of his muscles to be paralyzed, he would have ripped Stefan's head off his neck.

As for Sally, she was in disbelief. She would have never expected Stefan to be the secret mastermind who was working with Ninette, the one who tainted the reputation of the Loake family-of Gerald-with the charge of raping a minor.

She could not believe that the culprit was someone she had grown up with, a person she treated like her own brother.

When her anger subsided, Sally calmed herself and looked at Stefan icily. "Your parents passed away when you were young. It was Dad who adopted you and treated you like his own son. He could never bring himself to punish you or scold you. Even when something happened to him, he insisted I take good care of you."

"That's because his guilt was eating him up!" Stefan whipped his body around to glare at Sally. "If it wasn't for him, my parents wouldn't have died!"

Sally's brows drew together. "What are you talking about?"

Stefan approached the bed slowly and towered over Sally. His eyes were filled with hostility. "The position of commanding officer belonged to my dad. It was Gerald who killed him. And before you try to say anything, this is not a misunderstanding. I heard about this from Gerald's own mouth!"

Stefan remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was his friend's birthday, and his group of friends went all out to celebrate. By the time everyone got home, it was almost past midnight. When he passed by Gerald's bedroom, he heard Gerald talking to his wife, Miranda.

Gerald was troubled by the fact that Stefan was still not home so late at night. Ridden by worry and filled with guilt, he started talking to Miranda about the truth about Marcus-Stefan's father. Back then, the two men were of the same rank, and both of them were after the position of commanding officer.

Even though Gerald had joined the army before Stefan's father did and was more experienced, Marcus had better leadership skills. Having more experience was not enough for Gerald to climb up the ranks. Gerald had secretly wished that Marcus would be injured. That way, he would be given the position of commanding officer.

He had not expected that the bullet would hit a vital organ when Marcus jumped in front of him to save him. Just like that, Marcus died on the spot.

Everyone had thought that Marcus was someone who valued friendship, so much so that he was willing to take the bullet for a good friend. Only Gerald knew the truth. Even if Marcus had not taken the bullet for him that day, Gerald would not have died.

When Stefan discovered the truth about his father, it was as though he was struck by lightning.

He had always thought that his father-who was close friends with Gerald-had lost his life in an accident. He would have never expected that it was Gerald's pride and greed that killed Marcus.

Stefan could tell from the tone of Gerald's voice that the latter was immensely remorseful for what he had done to Marcus.

To Stefan's horror, Miranda comforted Gerald instead, saying that it was normal to have schemes when politics were involved.

Stefan could even hear Miranda's voice echoing in his brain. "We've raised Stefo as our own ever since he was a baby and have never mistreated him. When Stefo grows up, you can replace a way for him to take over your role. That way, we wouldn't owe him anything anymore."

If it wasn't for Gerald's hesitation, Marcus would not have died. Instead, he would have become the commanding officer. As for Stefan, he would not have been orphaned.

Hence, Stefan could not understand how Miranda could say such a thing.