Mommy，We Got a Husband
Chapter 379 It's Not Your Fault, It's Mine

"I know," Alaric responded, his voice icy after hearing Neil out.

"Alright, man," Neil sighed, giving Alaric's shoulder a heavy pat. "Look, Alaric, you can't bring people back from the dead. My condolences."

What was supposed to be a big bash for a sixtieth birthday turned into a nightmare with someone dying. It was a real downer. Neil was struggling to wrap his head around it, and Alaric was even worse off. Neil, being a cop and all, couldn't stick around. After a few more words to comfort Alaric, he took his team and left.

Once Neil was gone, Stellan glanced nervously at Alaric and said, "There were no witnesses when it happened, Alaric. I can't dodge this. I should go with Officer Neil to the station for questioning, and then..."

"I said I'd handle the witnesses!" Alaric cut her off sharply. "If you go to the station, what about the kids? I said I'd handle it, and I will. Even if you don't trust me, you gotta listen to me." "I..." Stellan choked up. She had never doubted Alaric, not once.

Caspian, Harry, and Elisa clung to her tightly. "Mommy, we don't want the police to take you away. We don't want you to leave us."

Elisa was bawling her eyes out. Stellan quickly picked her up and tried to soothe her, "It's okay, Elisa. Don't be scared. I'm here. The police won't take me away. Be good, don't cry."

"You should take the kids home first," Alaric told Stellan. "I'll stay here and sort things out. Once I'm done, I'll come home."

"Okay," Stellan agreed, not seeing any other option.

Cormac gave Rowena a look, and she quickly said to Stellan, "Stellan, I'll go with you."

Stellan didn't say anything, and the two of them took the three kids back to the Knight Mansion, leaving Alaric and Cormac at the hospital.

Marigold had always been a big deal in life, making waves at every event with the Knight family's clout. Now that she was gone, a grand funeral seemed fitting.

Alaric took Marigold's body from the cold morgue and went ahead with the cremation.

Watching Marigold pushed in with her eyes closed and then returned as a handful of ashes, Alaric's emotions were all over the place. He knew Marigold was ruthless and selfish, just like Griffon, but unlike Griffon, Marigold's love for him never wavered.

The whole world could hate her, curse her, say she deserved to die, but he couldn't.

He thought cutting ties with her would bring peace to both of them, but he never imagined the last words he'd say to her would be so hurtful.

"Alaric," Cormac, who had been by his side, tried to comfort him gently, "Just like Officer Neil said, you can't bring people back to life. Don't beat yourself up."

Alaric let out a bitter laugh. "It's already come to this, what else can I do?"

Cormac sighed deeply and then cautiously asked, "Did you have a fight with Galatea?"

Alaric nodded slightly, "Yeah, something like that."

Cormac didn't know what to say, so he just stuck by Alaric's side as they left the funeral home in silence.

Once they got in the car, Alaric took a deep breath and slumped against the seat.

"Alaric, after something like this, no one can stay chill, but your body's still healing. Try not to get too worked up," Cormac said, genuinely worried. Alaric had finally gotten a chance to fully recover after so many setbacks. Cormac was really scared of any more hiccups this time.

"I won't," Alaric replied in an oddly calm voice. "She's already gone. What good would it do to freak out? Don't worry, I'm fine."

But the calmer Alaric sounded, the more Cormac worried. After a bit, Alaric said, "Galatea told me my mom was the one behind her kidnapping." Bringing that up again, Cormac felt a mix of emotions and quickly asked, "What do you think? Do you believe her?"

"Does it even matter if I believe her now?" Alaric gave a bitter smile. "She already thinks I won't, and my mom's already dead."

Hearing this, Cormac got why they had argued.

"Alaric, about this... I..." Cormac struggled to find the words, but after a pause, he continued, "Actually, Galatea asked me about this before. She told me she thought your mom was behind her kidnapping. She had no proof but was sure your mom was involved. She asked if she should tell you. I told her that if she had no evidence, she shouldn't. That was my call, not about her trusting you or not. Alaric, it's on me. Don't blame Galatea." Cormac now wanted to kick himself for giving Stellan such bad advice.

After Cormac finished, Alaric stayed quiet for a long time. Cormac watched him, worried. After a while, Alaric gave another bitter smile and said, "It's not your fault, it's mine. The beef between Galatea and my mom is ultimately because of my screw-ups. Their hatred wasn't simple; it had reached the point of wanting to kill each other, and I was totally clueless. If I had realized earlier that my mom had it out for Galatea, I would've stopped it in time. There wouldn't have been a kidnapping, and Galatea wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble to find proof against my mom. This is on me."

Cormac said, "It's not like that, Alaric. Don't think that way..."

"No need to convince me," Alaric said, looking at Cormac. "Wanna grab a drink with me? It's been ages since I had one."

"With your health right now, you can't drink," Cormac reminded him.

"Yeah, I can't drink. I forgot my body's still a mess. Never mind." Alaric closed his eyes and then told the driver, "Back to the Knight Manor."

He wanted to head back to the Knight Manor tonight to find an eyewitness. Even if there were none, he'd figure something out.

He had been caught between a rock and a hard place.. Marigold was already gone, so he had to protect Stellan.