?Chapter 2260
"Back then, the Dutton family was a wealthy family who was as highly regarded as the Beckett family is today. Mr. Javier''s first wife was the second daughter of the Dutton family, Caroline Dutton. Their marriage was ordained by Mr. Newton personally and was publicly known as a marriage alliance between corporations.
"It is said that both parties barely met a few times before their marriage, so there was no opportunity for them to date romantically. In other words, their marriage wasn''t built on love. Back then, the marriage alliance Mr. Newton forged with the Dutton family was only to salvage the Beckett Group, which was embroiled in some financial turmoil at the time."
As Alyssa listened to Jonah''s boration, she looked unperturbed. "Marriage alliances between wealthy families aremonce. Winston even wanted to have Taty marry into the Schmidt family previously."
"Mrs. Beckett only had one son, Mr. Justin. Even though the rtionship between Mr. Justin''s parents wasn''t great, there weren''t any malicious rumors at the time either. After all, the Becketts benefited from the Duttons power, and Mrs. Beckett gave birth to a son. Even if Mr. Javier has any objections about anything, there''s no way that he would''ve shown it.
"This harmonious rtionship went on until Mr. Justin turned four."
Cyrus listened intently, as if he were listening to a story. It was the same for Alyssa. She quickly prompted, "What happened after that?"
The look in Jonah''s eyes dimmed. "One night, Mrs. Beckett used a shotgun to end her life by the pond in Seaview Manor."
Alyssa''s eyes widened in shock. She started breaking out in cold sweat. "She took her own life with a gun? But, why?"
"Damn! That''s real brutal of her!"
Cyrus was greatly astonished. "Most people would either choose to jump from a building, slit their wrists, or take sleeping pills when they try to take their own lives, just so that they won''t die a painful death. I can''t believe that she actually dared to shoot herself. She was really determined to die!*
Jonah furrowed his brows. With a tad of helplessness in his voice, he said, "Truth be told, no external party knows what Mrs. Beckett''s cause of death was. That said, our father is an extremely nosy person. Back then, he even had that buddy of his, Mr. Victor, who was a busybody. So, as much as the Becketts tried to keep everything under wraps at the time, there were people who managed to catch wind."
"When Justin was four...
Suddenly, a glint shed across Alyssa''s eyes. Her chest tightened. "That year, Jasper''s mother happened to be pregnant. Could it be that Mrs. Beckett took her own life because Mr. Javier had an affair?"
Cyrus couldn''t help but feel terrified. His head went numb.
"A four-year-old child should be old enough to know what was going on, right? If Justin''s mother''s death was really because Mr. Javier had an affair, wouldn''t Justin want to seek revenge on Jasper when he grew up?
"In that case, he might have returned with ulterior motives this time. Jasper might be in danger!"
Alyssa''s thoughts were in a whirl. She also happened to have the same thoughts as Cyrus.? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
"It seems like it isn''t that simple."
Jonah fell into deep thought. In a low voice, he continued, "When I was young, I once mentioned to Dad that Mrs. Beckett was really strange. She didn''t seem too willing to meet people.
*After getting married, Mr. Javier never brought her out in public. Even in private, she rarely left home, and I''ve never heard of her having any close female friends either. In other words, she kept a really low profile and was really mysterious.
''Once, when Dad apanied Mom to the hospital, they even bumped into Mrs. Beckett. She didn''t seem to be doing well mentally. Her face was pale, and had a dazed look about her.
''She just took a brief nce at them before scurrying off. Since then, they never saw her again. On top of that, Justin had just been born not too long before that."
"Maybe it was something like depression."
Alyssa pressed her lips together and pondered. "Quite a lot of women who failed postpartum care ended up with symptoms of postpartum depression. It''s possible that she never recovered from it.
"With Mr. Javier''s affair to top that off, her condition worsened and caused her to take her own life in the end." Jonah chimed in, "That''s possible too."
''But what did Mrs. Beckett''s suicide have anything to do with the Dutton family''s downfall?"
The baffled look remained in Alyssa''s eyes. "Didn''t the Duttons still have Mrs. Beckett''s older brother to manage their family business?"
"That was because he got involved in a number of homicides."
"Hold up!"
As a criminal investigator, Cyrus'' eyes lit up when he heard the word "homicides". He interrupted, "I think I''ve heard a senior of mine from the bureau mention that 30 years ago, the chairman from the Dutton family murdered two of his lovers overseas.
*After he returned to the country, he raped and murdered a young woman who was only 16 years of age. He even dismembered her body, then drove a luxurious sports car out to discard the parts. When he was arrested, not only was there absolutely no sign of terror or remorse on his face, he even smiled creepily at the cameras! *ording to that senior of mine, throughout decades of his career arresting vicious criminals, that man from the Dutton family was probably the sickest of them all.''
"Yes. Mrs. Beckett''s oldest brother was the one whomitted all that."
Jonah let out an extended sigh. This topic made him feel ufortable physiologically and psychologically." After Mr. Dutton was imprisoned, there wasn''t anyone who led Dutton Group. In the end, theirpetitor acquired them, and their corporation fell apart. That was how it ended."
Upon hearing that, an intense chill spread throughout Alyssa''s chest. Through gritted teeth, she remarked in a rage, "What an animal!"
Outside the door, Sean hurried over with a lunch box in his hands.
He jumped in fright and almost dropped the lunch box onto the floor when he spotted Jasper standing motionless, like a statue, at the door.