Ch. 486..490

Chapter 486

Olell stared at her calm and fair face. When he saw thic confidence in lier, his deep gaze became complicated.

However, he strongly believed that Tara was a gentle and kind woman. How could she have urged her aunt to hurt Madam Carter? After a long silence, le said, “Grandmother’s legs are weak but it’s not entirely impossible for her to climb up the hill for you. I’m also sure you know the reason that I saw you and Edmund together.”

Sylvia tried to shake his hand off but he continued to hold on to her wrist tightly, not giving her a chance to free herself.

She shot a cold glare at him and said, “If you don’t believe me, fine, but I’ve already investigated and found out the truth.”

Odell’s eyes remained glued on her as he said to Cliff, “Cliff, please ask the guests to disperse.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cliff immediately asked the guests to leave,

Most of the guests were relatives of the Carter family, while some of them were close friends

and business partners.

They were curious about the truth but they were able to read thie room.

During the engagement party, Odell’s presumably dead wise had come back from the dead and brought a ton of explosive truth with her. If this became widespread news, it would leave a dent on his reputation.

The guests cooperatively got up and left.

The spacious hall soon became quict.

Tara came down from the stage and limped over to Odell’s side. With tears streaming down her face, she said, “Odell, my aunt did come to me before Grandmother’s accident but she’s here to do some traveling. She also went out on the same day so I don’t know if she’s ever been to Northpeak Resort but she doesn’t even know Grandmother or Sylvia. Even if she was there, she wouldn’t have hurt Grandmother and accused Sylvia.”

“Tsk… Tara, you really know how to shill the blame.” Sylvia clicked her tongue and curved her lips into a sharp grin.

Tara Immediately argued, “I’m not shifting the blame, I’m telling the truth!”

Odell frowned and looked at Sylvia. “What else did you find out”

“Release me first.” Sylvia tried to pull her hand out of his grip.

He narrowed his eyes and Sylvia raised a brow at liis reaction.

“I won’t talk if you don’t release me.”

Odell went silent for a moment before looking at Cliff. “Bring all the hotel security over and tell them to block all the exits.”

Cliff nodded and went out to carry out the order. Within a short time, all the security guards stood guard at the two main entrances.

Odell then released Sylvia’s wrist.

Sylvia took a few steps back to widen the distance between them.

She crossed her arms and raised a brow at Tara’s pitiful look before she said, “Tara, ten days before Grandmother’s accident, Odell went on a business trip abroad and your aunt arrived on the same day, am I right?”

Tara’s gaze shifted. She said, “I don’t remember anymore. It happened too long ago.”

“It’s okay, l’ll help you remember then.” Sylvia continued, “You were being watched by the bodyguard that Odell sent to your house so you couldn’t go out freely. When your aunt visited, she would go out every morning and even hired a driver for the purpose of following me wherever I went.

There were two days when I sent Isabel and Liam to kindergarten that I bumped into Edmund, so she took pictures of me and him together. If I’m not wrong, she sent the pictures to you and you sent them to Odell.” The moment her voice subsided, Odell aimed a sharp look at Tara.

He had indeed received the pictures from Tara and it was precisely because of those pictures that he had started to have suspicions about Sylvia and Edmund’s relationship. It had driven him to end his business trip prematurely and make his return where he had witnessed his grandmother falling down the hill. Tara nervously looked down. She had not expected Sylvia to find out about all of that, so she suspected that Sylvia must have located the hired driver as well.

Chapter 487

As she felt Odell’s sharp gaze upon her, Tara decided to bite the bullet and reveal a part of the truth. She continued to cry as she said, “Odell, I did receive the pictures from my aunt, but it’s only because Sylvia and I were friends that my aunt recognized her. She told me that she had taken the pictures of Sylvia and Edmund by chance and asked me about it. I didn’t know she had hired someone to follow Sylvia!

“She told me she came to Westchester as part of her travels and I believed her. I don’t really contact her that often, so why would I have incited her to do all this?”

When Sylvia had shown up earlier, Tara had already realized that Melanie had disappeared. She suspected that her mother must have run away after sensing that something was wrong.

Since Melanie was no longer present at the scene and Odell would not be able to locate her, Tara shifted all the blame onto her mother.

As she proceeded with her plan, she continued to weep and act as is a great injustice had been done to her.

Odell frowned.

Sylvia scoffed. “Tara, didn’t you just say that your aunt doesn’t know me or Grandmother and would never have hurt her and accused me?”

Tara choked upon hearing those words. “I… I thought that my aunt didn’t remember you anymore!”

“So you now believe that your aunt has been following me and that she trailed me to Northpeak Resort to push Grandmother down the hill and framing me for that?”

Tara looked down and said in a small voice, “It might be true but I have to confirm it with my aunt first.”

She secretly clenched her fists and cursed Sylvia for being ab*tch deep in her heart. Melanie was already gone and as long as she continued to deny it, it would be difficult for Sylvia to prove to Odell that it was her who had incited Melanie to commit the act. The room went silent for a second. Sylvia then chuckled and said, “Okay, we’ll have to call your aunt to come forth so that you can question her.” Tara immediately looked around and pretended to look for Melanie. She then seigned a consused look and asked, “Where is she?” “Oh my gosh. She ran away?” Sylvia also felgned a surprised look. Tara’s gaze shisted as she continued to say, “I don’t know. I remember she was sitting over there.”

Odell then turned to Cliff.”Look for her immediately!” “That won’t be necessary,” Sylvia suddenly said.

Odell shot a baffled gaze at her, as did Tara. Sylvia then turned to the stage and raised her voice, saying, “Sherry, bring her out.” As soon as she finished speaking, two people emerged from behind the stage. One was Sherry who was wearing a cap while the other one was Melanie, who had been tied and gagged with a cloth.

Sherry pushed Melanie forward.

Their appearance silenced the room again. Odell looked intently at Sylvia’s frosty but confident look. Beside him, Tara widened her eyes in disbelief and her body started to tremble. In the blink of an eye, Melanie was led over to Sylvia.

S

Melanie widened her eyes in fear as she stared at Tara. She made a muffled noise with her gagged mouth as if she was trying to explain herself.

Sherry then removed the piece of cloth from her mouth. Before Melanie could say a word, Tara cried even louder and said, “Aunt Melanie, did you really follow Sylvia without me knowing? I thought you said

that your purpose of coming here was to travel? Why did you do this behind my back?”

Chapter 488

Melanie gulped nervously and explained, “Tara, I did it for your benefit. I could see how much you loved Master Carter and I just couldn’t bear to see you like this everyday. I thought I could find some evidence that Sylvia was seeing another man so that you could return to Master Carter!

“You still shouldn’t have followed Sylvia!” Tara screamed. She wiped her tears away and continued, “Tell me the truth, did you follow Sylvia and Grandmother to Northpeak Resort?”

Melanie’s gaze became evasive. She said, “I did, but I didn’t push Madam Carter down the hill!”

The surveillance cameras at the resort had been down that day so no one had seen her go up the hill. As long as she continued to deny it, no one would be able to prove that she had pushed Madam Carter down the hill.

Tara then asked her, “You really didn’t push Grandmother down the hill?”

Looking resolute, Melanic insisted, “I really didn’t do it!”

Tara then turned to Odell. “Odell, my aunt said that she didn’t do it.”

Odell glanced at Melaníc before turning to Sylvia.

Sylvia laughed. She laughed at Melanie and Tara’s magnificent acting skills before saying,” That day, Grandmother and Aunt Tonya had taken the kids to po rafting so I went hiking up the hill alone. All of a sudden, some middle-aged woman found Edmund and deliberately told Edmund that I might be in danger up there. That was the reason that Edmund went up there to look for me.”

She then looked at Melanie, “Melanie, were you that middle-aged woman?”

Melanie’s gaze remained evasive. “No, it wasn’t me. I simply explored the resort that day and I didn’t even see Edmund at all.”

Sylvia shot a frosty gaze at her and said, “But Edmund said that the middle-aged woman who told him to look for me was you.”

Sherry had taken Melanie’s picture to the detention center and confirmed it with Edmund.

Melanie screamed, “I didn’ı! You little b*tch, don’t you dare try to frame me!”

Sylvia stared at her coldly.

Odell also stared at the woman coldly.

Melanie became nervous and looked at Tara. “Tara, she’s trying to frame me!”

In her heart, Tara secretly cursed her mother’s stupidity.

Sylvia had simply said something and Melanie had already reacted so nervously. She had even called Sylvia a bitch out loud. If that was not a guilty reaction, what was? Fortunately, most of the surveillance cameras had been down on that day, so Edmund’s

testimony alone could not prove anything. Tara put on a pitiful look on her face as she looked at Odell and said, “Odell, I don’t think my aunt’s actions were intentional. She’s just a little impulsive.”

Odell pursed his lips. The blank look on his face veiled bis true emotions.

Tara then looked at Sylvia and said, “Sylvia, maybe you are right but even if my aunt told Edmund to go find you, it doesn’t mean that she pushed Grandmother down the hill. Besides, Edmund clearly knows

that you’re married yet he still went up there to look for you. Shouldn’t he have been a little smarter and just walked away?”

Sylvia’s lips curved into a cold grin. “Tara, are you still trying to shift the blame onto me and Edmund?” Tara immediately said, “I am not. That’s not what I meant. Please understand!”

She then looked at Odell pitifully and said, “Odell, please believe me.”

Odell remained silent, his eyes glued to Sylvia. The deep gaze had a strong hint of complexity behind it, which made it difficult for others to know what he was really thinking.

Sylvia had no intention of trying to discern his emotions. Her current priority was to clear her name and prove Edmund’s innocence.

She smirked as she looked at Tara and said, “Tara, did you really think that I’d be talking nonsense with you without any solid evidence?” Tara’s gaze shifted. She asked in a small voice, “What evidence?” “After Grandmother fell down, the police found sour sets of footprints on the hill. Other than me, Edmund and Grandmother, there’s one more set of unidentified footprints which the police kept as evidence until now. Can you confirm that the set of footprints doesn’t belong to your aunt?”

Tara was shocked.

Footprints? She had managed to find Melanie’s footprints?

Sylvia continued, “If you think your aunt is innocent, then let’s take her to the police station and see if the footprints belonged to her.”

Sylvia then shot a frosty and sharp gaze at Melanie.

Melanie’s legs grew weak and she fell onto the floor with a thud.

The spacious hall went silent once again. Sylvia grinned as she looked at Odell. He was staring at Melanie with an extremely cold and intimidating expression on his face.

Melanic iminediately began to break out into a cold sweat. She said in a trembling voice, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t push Madam Carter. Those are not my footprints!” Sylvia scoffed. “Then let’s go to the police station and prove that those are not your footprints.”

Chapter 489

“No! No! I don’t want to go!” Melanie started screaming. She struggled and tried to break free from Sherry’s grasp. However, her hands and legs were tied up, so as soon as she managed to break free, she fell on the ground.

Sherry chuckled.

Sylvia smiled coldly.

The grim expression on Odell made him look terrifying.

Tara secretly clenched her fists but her body trembled uncontrollably.

There was a moment of silence as everyone turned to stare at Mclanie.

Even a fool could tell that she was feeling nervous and guilty.

Soon, Melanie broke down from the pressure and realized that her crimes had been exposed.

Not daring to look at Odell or Sylvia, she avoided their gazes and turned to Tara. She panicked and tried to crawl towards Tara as she cried out for her help. “Tara, please lielp me! Help me! I did all this for your benefit!”

Tara took a few steps backwards and looked at Melanie with an expression of disbelief and pain. “Aunt Melanie, even if it was for my benefit, you can’t just hurt grandmother! She’s Odell’s dearest family member! How am I supposed to face Odell from now on?”

Melanie now realized that Tara was shifting all the blame on to her and was trying to cut ties with her. Her eyes widened in disbelief and lier body froze. It was obvious that Tara was not planning to help hier and had decided to push all the blame on her.

Melanie was forced to stomach all the grievances because she was Tara’s mother. However, she did not want to die just yet because she still wanted to live an extravagant lise.

Melanie crawled to Odell and started to beg, “I’m sorry, Master Carler, i momentarily lost my head, please forgive me!” Odell peered down at her with a frosty look on his face. His emotionless face was like a cold piece of sculpture, with only a murderous intent showing: He would never have thought that his grandmother had been pushed down the hill by this middle-aged woman. Not only that, the woman had even framed Sylvia and made it look as it Sylvia had done it to cover up that she was having an affair with Edmund.

To think that he had believed it! He had really believed that Sylvia and Edmund had hurt his grandmother!

Not only had he imprisoned Sylvia and made her watch over his grandmother, he had even broken her leg

With eyes as cold as ice, he lifted his leg and kicked Melanie away.

“Argh!” Melanie screamed in pain as the kick sent her rolling away. She rolled and crashed into the corner of a table. The spacious hall was shrouded by a depressing atmosphere that was suffocating. Tara was deeply shaken. She simply stood and watched Melanie as trembled in pain without saying a word. Sylvia was also shocked by the man’s strong reaction but she regained her composure quickly. After all, Melanie was the one responsible for Madam Carter’s comatose state, so the kick from Odell was nothing in comparison. The man bellowed fiercely, “Arrest her!” Cliff signaled the security guards immediately. Sylvia’s lips moved as she wanted to say something but before a single word could escape her mouth, two tiny figures dashed into the hall.

They were moving fast as they called out to Sylvia. “Mommy!”

The adorable voices broke through the depressing atmosphere in the hall. Sylva’s gaze shifted. She then bent down and welcomed them with open arms. Isabel and Liam jumped into her arms, almost knocking Sylvia over. She held them tightly in her arms and said, “Isabel, Liam, why are you two here?” Liam said, “Aunt Tonya heard that you were here, so she brought us over.” Sylvia then spotted Aunt Tonya coming in from the entrance. Aunt Tonya was shaking as she looked at Sylvia with teary eyes. Sylvia patted her kids on the head and got up to face Aunt Tonya. With a smile on her face, she said, “Aunt Tonya, I’m sorry to have put you through all this. I’m fine, I’m still alive.”

Chapter 490

Chapter 490

Aunt Tonya wiped her tears away, her voice completely choked up as she said, “You terrible girl… Why didn’t you tell me that you were still alive? I really thought you were gone.”

Sylvia hugged her. “I’m sorry that I made you warry.” Aunt Tonya sighed and smiled. “I’m fine. It’s okay, as long as you’re alive.”

“I still have something to take care of. I’ll explain it all when we get back home.”

Sylvia released Aunt Tonya from her embrace after calming her down.

She then returned to Odell’s side and said, “Odell, I’ve already called the police and they are waiting outside.” Odell pursed his lips in silence and simply stared at her with a complicated look in his eyes.

Sylvia then pulled her phone out from her pocket. Her phone was already engaged in a call so she said, “officer Sach, you can come in now.”

From the moment she had arrived at the engagement party, she had already connected the call with the police officer.

The conversation that she had with Tara and Melanie had all been heard by the officers outside.

The room went silent again.

Odell narrowed his eyes and stared at her.

Tara clenched her fists and stood by Odell’s side. She shot a frosty gaze at Melanie and did not bother helping her mother up.

Everyone was shrouded in gloom, except for Isabel and Liam who cheerfully stood beside Sylvia. Not long after, a group of uniformed police officers entered the room. The leader of the group was Officer Sach, who had been on the phone with Sylvia from the start. Sylvia smiled at him and said, “Thank you, officer Sach.” Officer Sach returned her smile and said, “There’s no need for gratitude, it’s our duty.”

He also gave a polite smile to Odell.

Then, he pointed at Melanie who was on the floor and said to his men, “Take her away.”

Two more young officers came in and cuffed Melanie’s hands before taking her away.

Officer Sach then said, “Master Carter, Ms. Ross, we’ll take the suspect back to the station for questioning and update you on our findings later.” “Thank you,” Sylvia said.

Chaptor 90

Officer Sach then led his men away. Melanie was also arrested and taken away.

“Wait!”

Liam suddenly cried out and stopped the police officers. Sylvia turned to Liam and asked, “What’s wrong, Liam?” Liam went up to Melanie and studied her face carefully. Isabel also curiously went over and stared at the lady’s face. Soon, Isabel pouted and said, “Brother, I think I’ve seen her before.”

Liam then said, “Remember that time when we went to the cinema with Mommy and you wanted a Coke? She’s the one who tried to kidnap us while Mommy was buying popcorn and drinks.”

Isabel’s eyes gleamed. “Oh yes! It’s her! She said she would buy us drinks but she was actually there to kidnap us!”

The room once again turned silent. Sylvia quickly carried them away from Melanie and asked, “Are you two sure that it’s her?”

She remembered the attempted kidnapping at the cinema but Melanie had run away too quickly so she had not been able to get a good look at her face. Isabel and Liam were certain. “We’re sure!” Sylvia shot a cold gaze at Melanie. Melanie lowered her head in guilt.