Chapter 150: Chapter 150: You Should Attend Your ’Deceased Wife’s’ Death Anniversary, Right?
Besides, Chapman was hardly innocent.
People were spouting nonsense online, leaking a mix of truths and lies, but all of it was detrimental to Estelle Lockwood.
And when the IP addresses were traced, they led straight to Imperial Crest.
Nathaniel Sloan then investigated Imperial Crest’s internal network and pinpointed Chapman as the source.
Just then, Estelle Lockwood’s phone buzzed twice. It was a news notification.
Estelle Lockwood raised an eyebrow. When she saw the words "Lockwood Group," her expression instantly darkened.
Without a second thought as to whether Nathaniel Sloan was watching, she brazenly tapped on the video.
It was an interview with Noelle Lockwood and her parents.
Reporter: "The fire in the hospital’s maternity ward five years ago has caused a massive uproar online. Many rumors claim the arsonist was the eldest daughter of President and Mrs. Lockwood. Is there any truth to these claims?"
Austin Lockwood sighed, his face a mask of sorrow and guilt. "It’s true."
Reporter: "Could you tell us what happened? Many people are condemning the arsonist. Do you have anything you’d like to say, President Lockwood?"
Austin Lockwood said, his voice laced with pain, "My daughter was not in a good state of mind at the time. It was our failure as parents... we didn’t watch over her properly, which allowed her to... We lost our two newborn grandchildren because of it."
"Though Estelle has passed away, we will never try to excuse what she did. We will provide compensation where it’s due and offer apologies where they are needed."
Rose Lowell added with false sincerity, "Yes... they say you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but what Estelle did was terribly wrong. We want to apologize to everyone."
Reporter: "So, to be clear, you both are confirming that your daughter started that fire?"
Rose Lowell said through her tears, "Yes. It was Estelle who started the fire."
"Our family, the Lockwoods, already paid for the hospital’s damages and compensated the victims," Noelle Lockwood said, her eyes welling with tears. "Besides... my sister is dead. I hope people can show a little decency."
"In two days, it will be the anniversary of my sister’s death. Because of the guilt we feel toward the victims, this will be the first time in five years that we are holding a memorial for her. We hope... we hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive..."
The comments were mixed.
But they mostly revolved around a few key sentiments.
[The Lockwood family has it so rough. They were totally dragged into this mess.]
[Who knew Estelle Lockwood was a psycho? It’s a good thing she’s dead. If she were still alive, who knows how many more people she’d have killed.]
[Sigh, she died five years ago, so I won’t say much. But if she were still alive, I’d definitely give her a good kicking!]
[I was originally going to ask if there were other factors involved in the fire, since Estelle Lockwood and her two children all died in it.]
[But now her own parents and sister have come forward to say she’s the one who set the fire. That pretty much seals the deal, doesn’t it?]
[After all, what kind of parents would frame their own daughter?]
[So now the truth is out. Noelle gets dragged through the mud and has to quit showbiz, President and Mrs. Lockwood are running around apologizing to victims, and Estelle Lockwood just gets to walk away from it all by dying?]
[All I can say is, thank God she’s dead. Otherwise, she’d have to spend the rest of her life atoning for what she did!]
"’What kind of parents would frame their own daughter...’" Estelle Lockwood murmured, repeating the comment.
Resting her chin on her hand, Estelle Lockwood gave a faint, unreadable smile. "Mr. Sloan, it seems quite a lot of people would rather I stayed dead."
She tutted. "I seem to be pretty good at making people hate me," she concluded.
Nathaniel Sloan’s heart seized, as if caught in a giant fist. An unbearable, aching pain washed over him.
The case had been closed so quickly as a "suicide" because Austin Lockwood had produced Estelle’s suicide note, along with a video she supposedly recorded right before her death. In it, Estelle looked into the camera and said she wanted to die.
Back then, Nathaniel had searched everywhere and questioned everyone. He refused to believe Estelle was dead. But by the time he had exhausted all leads, Rose Lowell and Austin Lockwood had already had her "cremated."
But now that Estelle was back, it meant her death wasn’t a suicide. And the fact that the Lockwood Family had rushed to close the case meant something was definitely amiss.
But now...
The Lockwood Family was now publicly admitting that Estelle had been the arsonist, exploiting the common belief that "no parent would ever harm their own child" to do as they pleased!
Why dredge up this five-year-old incident now?
Because the Lockwood Family knew that Yara Lockwood was Estelle Lockwood.
The Lockwoods were making a huge show of proclaiming Estelle was the arsonist, a "mental patient," inciting everyone to vilify her with comments like, "It’s a good thing she’s dead. If she were still alive, we’d have to make her pay."
’Isn’t this all just a way of telling Estelle that she’d better not, under any circumstances, come back to life?’
’The Lockwood Family is telling her: *You’re already dead, so just stay that way. Be a good little corpse. That way, no matter how angry people get, their curses can’t touch you.*’
’But if you insist on "coming back to life," then whatever happens to you, you’ll have brought it on yourself.’
’And the ones doing all this were her very own parents...’
’How ironic.’
Nathaniel Sloan’s throat worked. Hearing Estelle’s words, his voice came out impossibly hoarse, yet he didn’t know how to comfort her. "Estelle... it’s not you. This isn’t your fault..."
The air was silent for a few seconds.
Estelle Lockwood looked at him in surprise. "Of course it’s not my fault."
Any hint of a somber atmosphere vanished. Estelle spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "They don’t want me to be alive. But what can you do? I just love making trouble for people."
Estelle Lockwood checked the date of her own "death anniversary" and pursed her lips. "My real death anniversary has already passed. They can’t even get the date right. How careless of them."
"But it doesn’t matter. I’m planning on coming back to life on my ’death anniversary’ anyway. A small detail like this is hardly an issue."
Nathaniel’s words of comfort died in his throat.
In the years past, he would always lock himself in his room on the anniversary of Estelle’s "death."
But this year, Estelle had returned. In his excitement, the anniversary hadn’t even crossed his mind.
...After all, the person in question was very much alive. Holding a memorial service felt a little... morbid.
So he hadn’t even realized how little the Lockwood Family cared, that they couldn’t even get the date of her "death anniversary" right!
Estelle propped her chin on her hand and asked with a sly smile, "Mr. Sloan, I wonder... how has my dear parents’ health been for the past five years I’ve been away?"
Nathaniel paused, unsure where she was going with this. "Pretty good, I’d say."
"Pretty good, huh? That’s great."
Estelle glanced at the date for the memorial service, then her burning gaze fell upon Nathaniel Sloan. "Well then, Mr. Sloan... you’ll be attending your ’late wife’s’ memorial, won’t you?"
Nathaniel’s throat went dry. A pleasant, tingling sensation spread through his chest, as if a feather were tickling him from the inside. "...What are you planning?"
Estelle leaned back into the sofa, crossing her long, slender legs. She spoke with unhurried leisure.
"I’m planning to attend my own memorial service and perform a little magic trick. A resurrection from the dead, if you will."
"But I’m worried about President and Mrs. Lockwood. What if their health is poor? I’d hate for them to keel over from the shock."
"That’s why I was asking you about their recent health."
