Chapter 243: It Turns Out He Hated the Wrong Person

Chapter 243: Chapter 243: It Turns Out He Hated the Wrong Person

Sebastian Kensington glanced at the document, his expression completely unruffled. He didn’t even look up.

Beside him, Chester Underwood spoke in a grave tone.

"President Kensington, the late chairwoman would never have made such a foolish decision! She personally told me before her passing that the company shares, the entire Sterling estate, were meant for Julian. Sean Sterling was only supposed to assist him!"

Sean Sterling shot Chester Underwood a cold look, his tone radiating an authority that brooked no argument.

"Are you not fully aware of my older brother’s condition, Mr. Underwood? My grandmother and father had a last-minute change of heart before their deaths."

Chester Underwood immediately shot back with a cold sneer, "They’re dead and gone. With no proof, you can naturally say whatever you please!"

The two men were at loggerheads, their argument growing more heated by the second. The atmosphere in the conference room was stretched to its breaking point as everyone held their breath and watched.

Just then, Sebastian Kensington, who had been observing in silence, slowly raised his gaze. His calm, unhurried voice instantly silenced the room’s uproar.

"The two elders did, in fact, leave a notarized will signed in their own hand. And as it happens, I have the original document right here."

At these words, Sean Sterling’s self-assured facade instantly shattered. The calm in his eyes vanished, and his heart sank. Still, he forced himself to appear composed.

"What are you talking about, Sebastian? I have the document my grandmother gave me right here. How could there be another will?"

Sebastian Kensington ignored his defense, turning slightly and gesturing with a hand. Two lawyers in formal suits immediately stepped out from his entourage. One held a perfectly sealed will bearing the notary’s official stamp, while the other clutched a tablet. They walked slowly to the center of the room.

In full view of everyone, the lawyer unsealed the will and read its contents aloud: all core shares of the Sterling Group and the family estate were to be inherited by Julian Sterling. Sean Sterling was granted only temporary custodianship, which would be immediately revoked should he ever mistreat or attempt to harm Julian Sterling.

Sean Sterling’s knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, and he stumbled back a step.

’How is this possible!’

’Those two old fools had this planned all along, and I had no idea.’

"Sean Sterling, it’s a good thing Miss Sterling and Mr. Sterling had the foresight to plan ahead. Otherwise, you really would have gotten your wish!"

"Oh, right. There’s something else you should see, lest you think you’re being wrongly accused."

The lawyer had already projected the tablet’s display onto the conference room’s large screen. The first video began to play: security footage of Sean secretly instructing a servant to withhold food from Julian Sterling and to treat him violently.

Before the ensuing uproar could subside, the screen changed to show another recording.

It showed Sean Sterling and Hector Warner in Miss Sterling and Mr. Sterling’s room, secretly plotting to forge their signatures. They were seen forcibly taking the elders’ hands to press their fingerprints onto a document in an attempt to seize the entire Sterling family fortune.

In an instant, all eyes in the room fell upon Sean Sterling, sharp and piercing.

All color drained from his face, his lips turning a deathly white. His earlier air of confident self-righteousness had vanished without a trace.

But he still refused to admit defeat, fighting down his panic to offer a sharp rebuttal.

"This is all fake! It’s been deliberately edited and pieced together to frame me!" He pointed a finger at Sebastian Kensington, his tone frenzied. "The elders are dead! There’s no one to contradict my story! How can you condemn me based on some so-called will and a few dubious recordings? Who’s to say you, Sebastian Kensington, didn’t fabricate this evidence to scheme against the Sterling family and frame me?!"

’As long as I insist all this evidence is a setup, there’s nothing they can do to me!’

"It seems you won’t be convinced until you’re staring at your own coffin."

An authoritative voice suddenly rang out. Two familiar figures strode into the room—Miss Sterling and Mr. Sterling, who were supposed to have been buried long ago, now stood before everyone, very much alive.

The words caught in Sean Sterling’s throat. His pupils constricted, and the blood in his veins seemed to freeze solid.

’What is going on! Aren’t they supposed to be dead?’

"Are you people... or ghosts?"

Miss Sterling’s face was etched with disappointment. "What do you think?"

Sean Sterling’s face was ashen, his eyes lifeless.

"You’re not dead? You all conspired to deceive me?"

"And haven’t you been deceiving us for all these years?" Miss Sterling demanded angrily. "I always believed I treated you well. Why would you repay that kindness by trying to take our lives?"

Knowing the jig was up, Sean Sterling let out a cold laugh. "You have the audacity to ask why? If it weren’t for the Sterling family, my parents would never have died. I wouldn’t have become an orphan, left without a home."

"I did everything I could to get your attention, to make you pity me enough to adopt me, all so I could avenge my parents with my own hands!"

’I was so close to succeeding!’

’But I never expected someone to interfere and ruin everything.’

’That Miss Grayson certainly is something else, managing to pull those two old fools back from death’s door.’

Miss Sterling was completely bewildered. "What are you talking about? The Sterling family has never disregarded human life or wronged anyone!"

Sean Sterling’s lip curled into a sneer. "The construction site collapse sixteen years ago! My birth parents died a horrible death beneath the rubble, and everyone told me the Sterling family just brushed it aside. They found some minor foreman to take the blame and didn’t pay a single cent in compensation. Two human lives, gone just like that!"

"My parents worked themselves to the bone for the Sterling family, and their reward was a gruesome death. Your family covered it all up, pinned all the blame on a foreman to fool the public, but it was your fault all along! You condoned the corner-cutting that killed my parents."

Miss Sterling looked utterly aghast. She staggered back, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"You... you’ve been plotting and scheming all these years, harming your own family... all because of a construction accident from sixteen years ago?"

"Yes!" Sean Sterling bit out through clenched teeth.

"What happened back then wasn’t at all what you think! The Sterling family never used a scapegoat, much less withheld a single cent of the compensation money!"

"The day the site collapsed, my very first order was for an all-out rescue. We paid the full compensation and resettlement fees to every single victim’s family. The entire process was handled publicly and transparently. We never hid anything, nor did we ever disregard human life! We immediately launched a thorough investigation. The truth is, the entire incident was caused by the site foreman. He colluded with a subcontractor to embezzle project funds. Behind the backs of Sterling’s upper management and all the workers, they illegally cut corners and used cheaper building materials, which led to the tragedy!"

After speaking, Miss Sterling had someone bring out the complete files from that year—yellowed with age but perfectly preserved—and spread the evidence out before him.

"These are the testimonies, bank records, and handwritten confessions from the foreman and subcontractor regarding their collusion, embezzlement, and illegal construction methods. Here are the official police files and the signed compensation receipts from every victim’s family. The entire truth is recorded here, clear as day!"

"That foreman was never a scapegoat put up by the Sterling family; he was the one truly responsible for the accident! We never protected anyone, and we never shortchanged the victims by a single cent!"

Sean Sterling stared blankly at the mountain of irrefutable evidence on the table. The frenzy, hatred, and obsession in his eyes instantly crumbled to dust. His face grew paler and more ashen until he stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

The hatred that had driven him for sixteen years—for which he had committed countless sins and resorted to any means necessary for revenge—had been nothing but a complete and utter misunderstanding from the very start.

He had believed false rumors, convinced that the Sterling family held life cheap and had used a scapegoat to cover their tracks. But in the end, all his hatred was meaningless. All his crimes were a joke.

His lips trembled, but he couldn’t form a single word, as if all the strength had been instantly drained from his body.

It turned out his parents’ compensation had been signed for and embezzled by his own relatives. They had not only lied to him but had also sent him to an orphanage.

A colossal wave of regret and despair crashed over him, but it was already too late. Nothing could be undone.

Several uniformed police officers pushed open the door, walked straight to Sean Sterling, and presented their badges.

"Sean Sterling, a report has been filed against you. You are under suspicion for multiple crimes, including assault, embezzlement of corporate assets, and document forgery. Please come with us to be questioned."