Chapter 740


    Chapter 740 No One’s Innocent


    Charlotte let go of Leanna with great reluctance and took a step back before gripping Leanna''s hand


    with a pout.


    Leanna stroked Charlotte''s head. She saw thetter''s reddened, puffy eyes and softly asked, "Have


    you been skipping your meals these days? You look like you lost a lot of weight."


    "I couldn''t bring myself to eat… but I did have something before I left the house just now."


    Leanna sighed. She didn''t know what to say tofort Charlotte, so she simply held Charlotte''s hand


    and said, "Let''s go."


    Charlotte looked around her but L was nowhere to be seen.


    Once they entered the main hall, the first thing they saw was Philip''s picture which was right in the


    center. He had a warm, benign smile.


    Charlotte''s nose prickled when she saw the picture. She followed Aidan and Leanna over. Once they


    had all paid their respects, she said quietly, "Grandpa Philip, from now on, I''ll do whatever Dad tells me


    to and I won''t make him angry anymore."


    She bowed deeply to Philip''s picture.


    The three of them were about to head over to the side hall when they heard amotion outside.


    Leanna turned around and saw someone from the crowd slowly making his way over.


    It was Joseph.


    Some of the Woodleys were shocked by his appearance while others were confused, but quite a


    number of them were terrified as well.


    After all, everyone thought he died ten years ago.


    Joseph didn''t care about the looks everyone was giving him. He kept a faint smile on his face as he


    walked over to Charlotte and called out to her, "Charlotte."


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    Charlotte felt a deep sense of aversion when she saw him. She instinctively retreated to hide behind


    Leanna.


    Joseph adjusted his sses. His smile widened as he looked at Leanna. "You and President Pearson


    are here too, Miss McKinney."


    "Your presence seems to be even less weed than ours," Aidan remarked curtly.


    "No one''s presence would be weed at such an asion," Joseph responded evenly.


    He gave a cursory look around and didn''t even bother to pay his respects to the deceased.


    It was a highly disrespectful gesture.


    One of the older Woodleys couldn''t help bute forward with a frown. "How could you…"


    Joseph wasn''t bothered by their admonishment. He shrugged and said, "The rules only matter when a


    person''s alive. Who cares about these things when they''re dead?"


    The older Woodley was furious. Even his cane was shaking as he trembled with anger. Charlotte


    quickly held him steady. She looked at Joseph and cried out, "You''ve gone too far, Uncle Joseph!"


    Joseph chuckled. "You''re still young, Charlotte. Once you''re older, you''ll realize that I was right."


    "Mr. Woodley, since you think there are too many rules to follow and have no intention of paying your


    final respects to the deceased, why did you bother going out of your way to attend the funeral?"


    Leanna asked.


    Joseph turned to her. "That''s an excellent question, Miss McKinney. I''m not here just for the sake of the


    funeral. I''ve left the family for far too long now. It''s time I came back."


    Leanna pursed her lips and was about to speak when Aidan stopped her.


    "There''s no point wasting your breath on him," Aidan drawled.


    Aidan knew that Joseph would be more than happy if someone picked a fight with him right now. He


    was here to cause a scene at the funeral, and the uglier it got, the happier he was.


    At that very moment, Charles came over from the side hall. His expression darkened when he spotted


    Joseph. "Why did youe back?"


    Joseph smirked. "It''s been a long time, Charles."


    Charles looked around the hall. A lot of people were muttering thoughtfully among themselves due to


    Joseph''s sudden appearance.


    Charles frowned. His expression turned even grimmer.


    After a brief moment of silence, he said, "Whatever it is, let''s take it to the side hall first."


    "That won''t be necessary. Let''s just do it here," Joseph dered. "I''m sure you all have a lot of


    questions. For example, you must be wondering how I rose from the dead."


    Then, he looked at Aidan. "You must also be wondering who this is and why he looks so much like


    L."


    Charles figured out what Joseph was about to say and snarled, "That''s enough of your nonsense!"


    "I''m just pointing out the things that everyone is curious about," Joseph retorted. "What I say is nothing


    but the truth. Are you trying to stop me because you want to bury the secret along with Philip Woodley''s


    casket?"


    Thanks to Joseph, an evenrger crowd had gathered inside the main hall. Nearly every single


    Woodley was here.


    Joseph turned around and looked at them. "What if I let you in on a twenty-year-old secret that few


    know about? I''m sure you all know that the previous head of the family had a daughter, Naomi


    Woodley, who willingly chose to be disowned from the family and cut off all ties due to her private


    affairs. As the head of the family, Kian Woodley should''ve made an example of himself, but what did he


    do instead?


    "After sending his people to Highside, he found out that the rtionship his daughter sacrificed


    everything for was merely her being the mistress of a married man, and she even gave birth to that


    man''s illegitimate son. For the sake of making the Pearsons ept the illegitimate son into the family,


    he went so far as to cause an ident so that the Pearsons'' eldest son, the original sessor, will


    have to spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair."


    Leanna slowly tightened her hand around Aidan''s without speaking.


    Joseph continued, "For the sake of his selfish desires, for the sake of the person who should''ve been


    removed from the family tree in the first ce, not only did the entire Woodley Family go against the


    family traditions, but an innocent person was harmed in the process and the Woodley Family''s


    reputation was destroyed. Let me ask you this. How can someone like that be the head of the family?"


    Someone in the crowd spoke up, "But… Kian Woodley has passed away, and the current head of the


    family is—"


    "So what if he''s dead? Does that mean we should all forget about what he did just like that?" Joseph


    hissed.


    One of the older Woodleys piped up, "What Kian did was wrong, and if want to settle the score


    because you have a problem with his actions, you should be taking it up with L. This is your


    grandfather''s funeral. You shouldn''t be saying these things in front of him—"


    "What makes you think he didn''t know what Kian Woodley did twenty years ago? He obviously hid


    everything intentionally. Not a single Woodley can im innocence in this matter!"


    "That''s enough!" Charles snarled. "What''s the point in bringing this up now? Stop trying to cause


    trouble."


    Josephughed. "I nearly forgot that you were involved in this too, Charles. You know, there''s


    something I''ve been so curious about all this while. How can you speak of the Woodley Family rules


    and traditions, speak of honesty, decency, and morality, and yet do such a shameless thing that would


    make the family ancestors roll in their graves?"


    "Does all your resentment stem from the fact that you weren''t part of the exception and got driven out


    of the family?"


    Joseph turned around and looked at the person who spoke. His smile deepened as he retorted coolly,


    "Don''t bother trying to use me as a shield, President Pearson. You''re the one in question right now.


    What about it? How does it feel to steal everything that belonged to your half-brother and lead the life


    he was supposed to lead by ruining his legs?"


    a