Stepbrother’s Crime, War Hero’s Tortured Hell Chapter 06

Stepbrother’s Crime, War Hero’s Tortured Hell Chapter 06 The Scar That Exposed the Truth

A cold draft swept through the funeral hall, making the candle flames flicker in and out.

Three full seconds of dead silence hung over the courtyard after my declaration.

Grandfather was the first to snap out of the shock, slamming his cane hard against the stone ground.

“Insolent wretch! Where did this stray come from, daring to raise havoc amid the Maddox family’s funeral rites!”

Father narrowed his eyes and studied me intently, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.

Serena clapped a hand over her mouth, her complexion draining of all color in an instant.

Only Lucas caught a fleeting, barely perceptible flicker of panic across his face,

yet in an instant, he slipped back into his usual mask of feigned sorrow.

He stepped forward to shield the rest of the family, his tone soft yet heavy with intimidation.

“Colonel, today marks the anniversary of my younger brother Silas’s passing. The Maddox household is holding a funeral service. Whichever division you hail from, I implore you to show respect for the deceased.”

I raised my hand and undid the top two buttons of my military uniform, revealing a scar just below my collarbone.

That was the wound Lucas left on me seven years ago when he cut off my penis.

Beneath the lamplight, the scar glowed dull crimson, coiled like a twisted centipede.

The moment Serena laid eyes on it, she froze rigid, as if struck by lightning.

Her lips quivered, and her voice scraped out faintly from her throat.

“Silas?”

I turned to face her.

“You still recognize this scar, Serena?”

Tears flooded her eyes instantly. She dropped to her knees with a heavy thud,

“Silas! It’s really you! You’re still alive! Thank God, you’re alive!”

She scrambled forward weeping, reaching to clasp my legs.

I stepped sharply backward, my voice frigid as shards of ice,

“Don’t touch me. Disgusting.”

Her face turned ghastly pale, her lips trembling too violently to utter a word.

Grandfather hobbled forward leaning on his cane, jabbing a finger straight at my nose and roaring.

“You disgraceful son! How dare you show your face here again! You committed an unforgivable crime against your own mother and brought shame to the Maddox family. Even if you’re still alive, you will always be a stain on this family’s name!”

I snatched hold of his cane and twisted it sharply.

The wooden shaft snapped clean in two.

Grandfather stumbled backward, caught just in time by Father.

“Matricide?”

I fixed my gaze on Grandfather, my tone terrifyingly calm.

“Grandfather, did you witness me take her life with your own eyes?

“You heard nothing but Lucas’s word, and condemned me as the killer without a second thought.”

Father’s face flushed deep purple, prominent veins bulging across his forehead.

“How dare you talk back! Your stepmother was found dead in your bed, your body covered in her blood- who else could have done it?”

“Then let me ask you this.”

I advanced a single step toward him.

“Where are her fingerprints? The hair strands left on the bedding? The trajectory of the bloodstains at the crime scene?

“Did any official forensic examination ever take place?”

Father fell silent, stunned.

Grandfather likewise froze.

Whispers rippled through the crowd of assembled guests.

Lucas’s countenance darkened drastically. He seized Father’s arm abruptly.

“Father, pay no heed to his lies! He is merely trying to divert suspicion! He is the killer, and he destroyed all evidence long ago!”

“Destroyed?”

A cold smile tugged at my lips.

Lucas, you’ve finally let it slip.

“How would you know the evidence was destroyed?”

Lucas’s pupils constricted sharply.

“Unless you were the one who erased it.”

A roar of astonishment swept the entire courtyard.

Serena jerked her head upward, staring at Lucas in utter disbelief.

Father turned toward him too, resolve wavering in his eyes.

Lucas ground his teeth, glaring at me fiercely.

“Silas, do not slander me without proof! What tangible evidence can you possibly produce?”

“Evidence?”

I pulled a USB drive from the inner pocket of my uniform and held it aloft.

“Seven full years of surveillance footage from the prisoner-of-war camp, every single frame preserved.

“Audio recordings of your conversations with the accomplice, including the call where you plotted the murder.

“Your stepmother’s diary, written before her death, contains a detailed account of how you threatened her into staging the scene. You told her that if she didn’t cooperate, you would destroy her reputation.”

“And the truth behind the death of your birth mother.”

Lucas’s face drained completely of color.

He staggered backward, knocking over a funeral wreath behind him.

White mourning cloth cascaded down and draped over his frame, shrouding him like a burial shroud.