CHAPTER 407

Josiah felt his heart getting torn apart, but for some ungodly reason, he was still alive and breathing. Death didn't scare him, but what would happen after that did. His wife and son would have no one to rely on, and they would live their whole lives on the bottom rung of society with no chance of making their way up, just like how he used to be.

He worked his butt off, but still he was doing the worst out of the four roommates. Raphael was the son of a rich man, so he couldn't match up to him, but he even lost out to the other two as well.

Everyone loved Raphael since he was the richest out of them, while he was sidelined for his poverty. Even the woman he liked didn't like him. Eventually, she picked Lucian's father over him.

Their gap widened after graduation. Raphael was born to be successful thanks to his family, which was powerful and wealthy. After they graduated, he went to work in one of their companies. The guy started out as deputy general manager and became everyone's idol.

Howard wasn't as rich as Raphael, but his family had some wealth of their own, so he too worked in his family's company after graduation and lived a good life.

Compared to the Owens and the Giganteses, the Wheelers were just a small-time family, but Raphael noticed the potential in Lucian's father's project, so he invested in him. Lucian's father opened up a small company and became his own boss.

On the other hand, he tried to hunt for jobs, but nobody would take him. In the end, he had no choice but to work with Lucian's father and build the business up with him. Josiah never wanted to kill him, but the chance presented itself.

It had just rained that day, and the path was slippery. If anyone were to slip and fall down the cliff, everyone would only think it was an accident, not murder.

Raphael, Howard, and Lucian's father all had their backs turned to him. If he just pushed that man a little, Josiah could be done with him forever.

And then Rosetta would become a widow. She didn't like me before she was married, but what if she becomes a widow? She'll lose value if she becomes a widow, and I'll have better chances of getting her.

Years of losing out in life sparked the fire of evil in his heart, and he shoved Lucian's father from the back. The path was a narrow one, and that shove caused him to fall off the cliff.

As expected, nobody thought it was a murder. They thought Lucian's father slipped and fell by accident. He pretended to be as brokenhearted as Raphael and Howard as they settled Lucian's father's funeral.

Raphael and Howard were busy with work, while he was Lucian's father's partner, so he had more time and reason to stay with Rosetta. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Back then, he had courted Rosetta for a long time. She knew he liked her, so she didn't suspect him of anything. All she had was gratitude for his concern.

Eventually, he convinced her to give up Lucian's custody under the pretext of doing it for Lucian's own good. He thought once he took over the company after Lucian's father died, he could keep on working with Raphael and get rich with the Owens' help.

However, after Lucian's father died, Raphael said the project reminded him of Lucian's father, and he couldn't get over that tragedy, so he ended it.

No matter how much Josiah tried to convince him, Raphael refused to budge. He ended the project unilaterally. Josiah invested all he had in that project, and he even took out a loan. Ending the project meant he would get nothing back.

That drove him mad, and he harbored a deep grudge against Raphael. Raphael was still wallowing in the tragedy of Lucian's father's death, and he wouldn't listen to Josiah no matter what he had to say. He even questioned Josiah, "How can you be so cruel? Your best friend died, and money is all you care about?"

Josiah almost clenched his teeth to dust. Why do I care about money? Because I'm the poorest out of the four of us. You were born to money. You have no idea what being poor feels like.

He wanted to kill Raphael, but one, he had no chance, and two, the cops would suspect something if people around him kept dying.

Josiah held his hatred down and sold the company to pay off his debts. Then, he sought Rosetta out and they eloped.

Rosetta was at her lowest point in life. She panicked after her husband died, and he spent days convincing her he would treat her well. Rosetta believed him, and they left Dusktown.

They headed south, and after a few months of courtship, she finally agreed to marry him, and one year later, their son was born.

They were living a good life, and he never thought about coming back here.

Josiah married the woman he loved, and she gave birth to his son. They were happy. He wanted to forget the past and live a peaceful life with his family, but things didn't go his way.

He tried his best, but thriving in a new city wasn't easy. Even after years of working, all he had to show was a small company made up of a few employees. It was a far cry from his dream of making it big and making his hometown proud.

He wanted Rosetta and their son to live well. He wanted to be successful so Raphael would think better of him. To that end, he did everything he could to climb up the proverbial ladder, but his burning desire to make it big became his downfall. Josiah fell for a scam and lost all his savings. On top of that, he got neck-deep in debt.

If he couldn't make the payments, those bloodsuckers would cut off his arms and legs and ruin his family's life.

Just when he was agonizing over this dilemma, he heard Rosetta mutter, "I wonder how Lucian's doing."

That gave him the hint he needed. I have an idea. I might be out of money, but Raphael is not. Lucian isn't, either.

Lucian was only sixteen, but from what he knew, Raphael was already raising him to be his heir. Raphael would take Lucian with him to the company so he could learn the ins and outs of it. He was also very generous to Lucian when it came to money. "Try investing the money," he would say.

Well, that generosity was relative, of course. That kind of money was pocket change for Raphael, but it was enough for Josiah to solve his most crucial problem. He pretended to feel for Rosetta and told her he was willing to return to Dusktown if she wanted to see Lucian.

Rosetta was puzzled by that decision. She asked, "I thought you said Raphael would start to dislike him if I were to ever return. Didn't you say he would lose his love for Lucian if I went back to see the boy?"