Chapter 483 - Mastermind
Callum had always had a high EQ, so even though Damon had called him out, his expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "Grandpa, there must be a misunderstanding. We and Tristan have been close friends for years, and almost everyone in LA knows this. How could we have killed him? I bet the Parkers are just using this as an excuse to attack us. Can they produce any evidence?"
He was actually not as calm as he seemed to be on the surface.
The fact that the Parkers had already suspected them meant that it was definitely a huge warning. If they searched along the clues, they would definitely be able to find traces of evidence from their bank transaction records and call history pointing to them.
They had planned this murder too hastily. In fact, Callum had begun devising it immediately after Lucas rejected his friendship and he left Caldo Mountain, which was less than an hour before Tristan's death.
Thus, he hadn't been able to leave all stones unturned. But his greatest reliance was his friendship with Tristan, which seemed close in the eyes of outsiders. So basically no one would suspect him..
However, now, not only did the Parkers suspect him, but they also accurately claimed that he had tried to frame someone else for the matter to make him the scapegoat. So he ended up harming the Owens instead.
Callum knew that the person he had framed was none other than Lucas, so he wondered if the disaster was caused by Lucas. That's incredible!
But no matter what, the top priority now was to absolutely not admit that he was the one who had plotted Tristan's murder!
At the side, Elijah also nodded and chimed in, "Yeah, Grandpa, we've been friends with Tristan since we were kids, and everyone knows that we're best buddies. How… how could we have possibly plotted his murder? Mr. Parker, you… you can't put the blame on us and make my grandfather lose his grandsons too just because yours is dead, right?"
His EQ was no match for Callum. So although he was also defending himself, he stammered from time to time, and his voice was obviously shaky too.
"Hmph, how ridiculous!" Damon sneered. "You two are really shameless! You made such a big mistake, but you still refuse to admit it. You're even accusing me of setting you two up, huh? Don't think that your plan is seamless. As long as we investigate it, we can naturally find countless evidence and clues! Don't try to deny it in front of me!"
He glanced at the Owens and continued, "The disaster that your family is facing today is all because of you two bastards. Now that things have come to this, you still refuse to admit it. Do you want to drag the entire Owen family down with you?"
Elijah immediately looked even more flustered.
Callum's face also turned pale, and he could no longer seem as innocent as before.
Seeing the changes in their expressions, the Owens also vaguely guessed the truth and couldn't help resenting Elijah and Callum.
"I was wondering why the Owens were suddenly facing such a disaster when we were doing fine before. It turns out it was caused by the two of you!"
"You guys actually dared to lay your hands on Tristan Parker? You are really terrifying. To think that you'd actually backstab your best friend! We don't mean anything to you, do we? Mr. Parker is right. You guys are just out to drag us down with you!"
"Joseph, the truth of the matter has come to light. These bastards Callum and Elijah did something unforgivable and caused such a big mess for our family! I suggest we kick them both out immediately and hand them over to the Parkers to deal with!"
"I agree! These two scourges must be disowned! They're the reason we've landed in this mess! Mr. Parker, I hope you and that mysterious man will spare us innocent people!"
...
Many of the Owens members were enraged and demanded that Elijah and Callum be expelled from the family immediately to quell Damon's anger.
Callum's face was gloomy and extremely ugly.
At this point, Joseph could tell that his grandsons must have done something malicious to implicate the entire family. Regardless of how protective he was, even if he wanted to let the matter rest, the angry, implicated family members wouldn't agree.
In the end, Joseph nodded with a bitter smile and said through clenched teeth, "Okay, I can hand them over to you. But you must promise me to let the Owens go and not to make another move against us!"
Within just a little over two hours, they had been dealt a massive blow that was bigger than ever. It could be said that there was only a fine line between bankruptcy and annihilation. But if the Parkers and the people behind them were willing to stop and let them off, they would at least be able to keep their reputation and slowly make a comeback despite having taken a big hit.
Callum's and Elijah's hearts sank in dejection.
Since Joseph already said this, it meant that he was really going to hand them both over to Damon.
They were indeed the masterminds who had plotted Tristan's murder, and the Parkers wouldn't let them off lightly!
All of a sudden, they turned pale, and Elijah's legs went limp as he fell straight onto the ground.
To their surprise, Damon slowly shook his head after hearing Joseph's request. "It's impossible to spare the Owens. It's not me you've offended but someone else. This is what he wants to do."
Joseph's face became even more sullen, and after thinking about it, he gritted his teeth and said, "Since you can't make the decision, let me go talk to him!"
Damon raised his head, looked at Joseph like he was a fool, and then burst into laughter. "Do you think that's possible? The Owens are destined to be exterminated by that man. Only then will his anger be appeased. This is the price you pay for offending him and trying to use him!"
Damon didn't want the Owens to continue surviving either.
As long as the Owens were destroyed, the Parkers would be able to become the absolute hegemon of the city. Although they would still have to follow Lucas's orders from now on, it wouldn't affect them much as long as no one knew about it.
The Parkers would only be valued by Lucas after the Owens were completely destroyed. They would then no longer have to worry about Lucas changing his mind and deciding to support the Owens instead.
Regardless of the perspective, the Owens had to die!
Joseph moved his mouth, but a sense of misery surged in his heart immediately.
Things were truly unpredictable in this world. Just a few hours ago, he was leisurely trimming flowers in his garden. But in the blink of an eye, the building collapsed, and the Owens were about to vanish in his hands.
This was the place where he had put in decades of hard work and also the efforts of his ancestors. Joseph was extremely indignant to let his family get ruined just like that!
"Damon Parker, you're not qualified to decide if the Owens can survive or not! No matter what, I have to speak to that mysterious man behind you!" Joseph said with exceptional determination.
Damon frowned slightly and was just about to say something, but he suddenly saw a blue Porsche park at the Owens' doorstep and a familiar figure stepping out of it.
"Mr. Gray!" Damon immediately exclaimed in panic!