Ch. 1301..1310

Chapter 1301 Make It Public

Lynette actually resorted to making such a move because of this ridiculous reason, and her actions were deplorable. Of course, the Acree Family were a bunch of scoundrels too, so they deserved to be taken revenge.

However, there was no grudge between the Acrees and Lynette, yet she actually plotted a traffic accident to kill the Acree Family because of such a ridiculous reason.

Evidently, a person like Lynette was a huge threat.

Furthermore, it dawned upon him that Lynette had shown mercy to Sonia when Lynette went after her the past two times. Otherwise, Sonia would have been…

At that point, Toby tightened his grip on his cell phone and no longer allowed himself to ponder over the situation.

Right now, he merely had one notion in his mind, and he was determined to send Lynette to prison. Otherwise, if he allowed this woman to remain scot-free out of prison, that would be subjecting Little Leaf to a lot of danger.

After all, he could only guard against someone like that for the time being, but it was impossible to be on guard forever. The only exception was if he went after her and took her life. Otherwise, she would surely cause trouble if she had the chance.

Toby slammed the document in his hands shut, and there was a thunderous look on his face. “From this document, the outcome of the investigation shows that Lynette appears to be the main perpetrator behind the driver’s plot to seek revenge against the Acrees.”

“Yes. That’s because Lynette was the person who orchestrated the entire thing from the start; be it damaging the brake pads or plotting this traffic accident. The driver may seem like the main perpetrator but now it looks like he’s just a puppet in this. After all, he couldn’t carry out the revenge on the Acrees. It was Lynette who gave him the idea and made things convenient for him. As such, even if she didn’t plow a car into someone, based on the sentencing in a criminal case, she’s also the main perpetrator. Even more so, her actions are considered to be way worse than the driver’s actions because the driver plowed the car into the Acrees to seek vengeance; he harbored a grudge against the Acrees. However, that’s not the case for Lynette. She did this entirely out of her selfish intentions, so she’s definitely the main perpetrator.” Tom nodded and replied.

Meanwhile, Toby narrowed his eyes. “Are the police aware of this?”

Tom shook his head. “They haven’t discovered this because our men found the SIM card on the ground. The police are unaware of this. I reckon that Lynette must have instructed the driver to get rid of the SIM card before he took action. She must have been worried that the police would find it and from there, her involvement in this would be exposed. However, she would never have expected the driver to dispose of the SIM card carelessly. He just tossed it aside at a spot not too far from the accident rather than destroying the entire thing. That’s why our men managed to find it on the ground.”

Tom reckoned that perhaps even the supreme being found it hard to watch Lynette’s nasty acts, so that was why their men had managed to find the SIM card. It was quite a shame because Lynette had such an adorable face on the surface but was, in fact, ugly inside.

“Hand this SIM card to the police.” Toby handed over the document to Tom.

Tom took it from Toby. “President Fuller, if we hand this to the police then it’s quite likely that Lynette will face life without parole. She might even be sentenced to death. You…”

“Do you think I care about that?” Toby lifted his eyes and shot a calm look at Tom. “I don’t even care about Harry, so why would I care about her?”

Tom shifted his glasses slightly and smiled. “I’m sorry, President Fuller. I’ve said too much. I know what to do. I’ll get one of our men to send it to the police right away.”

Toby affirmed with a grunt, “After you send it over, reveal this on the internet too.”

“Reveal this on the internet?” Tom was slightly surprised.

However, Toby was noncommittal, and his eyes had an icy look. “You must have seen what’s happening on the internet?”

“Yes.”

“If I just reveal Lynette’s actions yesterday, those dumb people on the internet would remain convinced that I’m too harsh on the Lores. Once I reveal this, then that would shut their mouths, wouldn’t it?”

At that point, it finally dawned upon Tom. “I understand. I’ll inform our PR department to release a statement.”

Toby lifted his chin. “What’s going on with the other two companies?”

Tom considered the situation for a moment before replying, “Our men have gathered enough evidence to prove that they have breached the law. They have been lax in their ways, so it was very easy to uncover evidence proving that they breached the law. I reckon that our men have already submitted the evidence to the disciplinary board. It won’t be too long before we receive news that those two companies are under investigation. As for those two women, right now, they’re still hospitalized. They’ve been kicked out of their homes, and their families issued statements online regarding that, but there has been too much news today, so their statement didn’t cause a ripple.”

Toby nodded slightly to indicate that he had taken note. “Ignore these two companies and the two women. Focus your efforts on observing what’s going on at the Lores.”

It was quite a shame because he had planned for the two women to go up against Lynette. Unexpectedly, he discovered that Lynette had done such a despicable thing in secret, so her fate was destined. Once these two women got discharged from the hospital, Lynette would likely have been imprisoned, so there was no way the two parties would go up against each other. Nonetheless, nothing was set in stone. It could be that Lynette had done some other nasty things that they weren’t aware of, but it was known to those two women instead, and perhaps those two women would report Lynette. By then, Lynette would be sentenced to more criminal acts.

“Go on.” Toby smiled slightly with the curl of his thin lips and gestured to Tom.

Subsequently, Tom left the room with the document.

Shortly after that, the PR Department of Fuller Group issued a detailed statement stating why Toby severed ties with the Lores. There were five reasons stated.

First, Lynette purposely created an untrue scandal about Sonia, which triggered Toby’s displeasure. Not only were the Lores unrepentant and unapologetic about that, but they even behaved arrogantly and came over to tell them off.

Second, During the dinner party last night, Lynette instigated her two sidekicks to come over and cause trouble; they destroyed the door to Toby and Sonia’s lounge.

Third, Lynette attempted to harm Sonia and endangered Sonia’s life.

Fourth, Lynette intentionally murdered someone. She plotted the traffic accident involving the Acrees, which resulted in the death of the Acree Family’s driver, Mr. Acree’s coma, and Miss Acree’s crippled legs, so Lynette had committed a serious crime.

The fifth reason was to be announced later as evidence was still being collected.

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Based on the above reasons, relevant corroboration was also included, especially for reasons three and four.

For the third point, Fuller Group included surveillance camera footage from the dinner party last night in the corridor of the toilet where Lynette had attempted to shove Sonia.

Lynette had assumed that there was no surveillance camera there, but in fact, those in attendance of the dinner party last night were the upper echelons of society, so the host and hostess were worried that something bad would happen to these people and that they wouldn’t be able to take responsibility for it. As such, the host and hostess had paid for the installation of surveillance cameras at every corner of the hotel and even for areas that most people assumed were without surveillance.

Although there were no surveillance cameras installed in the bathroom, there was one installed on the ventilation system installed on the ceiling right outside the corridor of the bathroom. The things that Lynette did to Sonia last night were captured on the surveillance camera.

When Lynette reached out to shove Sonia, the evil look on her face was captured clearly, and one who saw the look in Lynette’s eyes would shudder.0

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She had an angelic and adorable look, but once it was tinged with an evil expression, she looked very ugly and scary.

Everyone on the internet who saw Lynette’s expression on their computers or cell phones couldn’t help shuddering in fear.0

As for the fourth point, Fuller Group included some evidence that wasn’t surveillance camera footage but was a photocopied document. The content in the document was actually scarier than the footage of the third point.

In the photocopied document, there were text messages between Lynette and a stranger. The content of the text messages clearly documented how Lynette plotted the traffic accident, instructed her men to damage the brakes, and arranged for the offender to wait in the right position before making a move. Each of the text messages sent a shiver down one’s spine; it was terrifying to read them.

At that moment, everyone on the internet was in a frenzy.

Chapter 1302 The Doomed Lores

The netizens were mainly ordinary people. Although they knew things were not simple in the rich’s social circles and that most of them had committed some sort of dirty deed, it was the first time they encountered someone like Lynette, who blatantly plotted a traffic accident to kill someone.

‘Omg. She plotted a fatal car accident just to stop someone from attending a dinner party. The Lores’ precious lady is such a monster!’

‘This is so terrifying—bone-chillingly scary, I’d say. I thought the riches could only get as vile as playing sabotage, but I didn’t realize that murdering is in their books too! Have I been too innocent or what? Do the riches take the judicial system as a joke?’

‘I strongly urge the authorities to investigate the rich thoroughly. I’m sure Lynette Lore isn’t the first person to do so, and surely, she won’t be the last. Perhaps there are others more vicious than her.’

‘That’s right. I support that! I strongly urge the authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly.’

As soon as the comment above was posted, those on the Internet supported that stance wholeheartedly. They swiftly took action and tagged the relevant departments to obtain a response from them so that the wealthy families would be thoroughly investigated.

No one doubted the authenticity of the evidence released by Fuller Group.

After all, Fuller Group was a reputable and distinguished establishment, so indeed, they would not fool around with such a serious matter. Besides, Toby’s mentor was a part of the Lore Family while Lynette was his mentor’s granddaughter.

If it was not because of her despicable actions, they were sure that Toby would not have done all this, even if she had repeatedly targeted Sonia. Ultimately, those on the Internet who had previously found Toby too harsh against the Lores now switched sides and supported him.

They were easily swayed and simple-minded. They generally sided with the weaker party, so whoever put on a more pitiful act would win their trust easier than the other party. However, this was not an indication that they would support a murderer. It was fine for them to forgive someone’s mistake, but murder was an unacceptable crime.

‘It’s no wonder that President Fuller insisted on severing ties with the Lores. These are all the reasons behind his decision. I knew there was no way he was as described by the others. He’s not someone unreasonable and poor in judgment who would sever ties with his mentor because of a minor incident after being infatuated with a woman.’

‘Hey, the guy who commented above, you said a different thing last time.’

‘Yeah. From the start, I realized that something was not right in this matter. I’ve never doubted President Fuller. Looks like I was quite right in my instincts. Haha. Those who said I was brainless for trusting and supporting President Fuller should come out now to face the music.’

Face the music? No way! There was no way they would come out to face the music, but they could delete their previous comments and keep a low profile instead.

Those netizens who had come forward to point fingers at Toby for being heartless and ungrateful when he made the announcement now blushed in embarrassment. They quickly deleted their comments and even changed their usernames just to avoid being mocked by others who had not commented negatively about him.

At that moment, not only did they feel awkward, but they hated Lynette to the core too.

That woman was so vicious and committed all these misdeeds, yet she had the decency to go on the Internet and sob about her innocence. She mentioned that she had merely committed a tiny mistake.

It was then they mobbed the video Lynette had posted of her complaints while she sobbed, and they started to attack her with all sorts of ruthless words and even cursed her.

The web moderator saw those comments, and despite frowning at them and thinking that the words were nasty, he did not stop them for his reason. He also found her actions despicable, which exceeded everyone’s imagination.

That was murder! Although the Acrees were not exactly the nicest people either, they had never offended Lynette. However, she went after the Acrees, whom she was not even enemies with, just for a ridiculous reason.

One could also think of this from another perspective—if one of them inadvertently offended her one day, would she have to resort to murder too? It was because of this that the netizens were hostile toward her.

Although most of them attacked Lynette and the Lores, a small proportion of them were just watching the debacle. As for the topic they were interested in, it was related to the fifth reason listed in the statement released by Fuller Group.

‘Hey, guys. What do you think that statement means? What do they mean by ‘due to insufficient evidence, this is to be announced’? Did Lynette or the Lores commit something else?’

‘That must be it. Otherwise, why would there be the word ‘evidence’ stated? I’m just curious whether that’s as serious as the fourth point.’

‘I reckon it must be more serious than the fourth point.’

‘Hey, the guy above. Why did you say so? Could you explain?’

‘Yeah! Explain it to us.’

Others repeatedly tagged the person, and at that point, he was quite full of himself as he replied slowly, ‘Look. Fuller Group released Lynette’s misdeeds in order according to the severity, especially the third and fourth points. The third point specified that she attempted to harm Miss Reed behind her back, but everyone should know that the event was held at level ground, so one may or may not die from being shoved. However, as mentioned in the fourth point, Lynette damaged the brakes on someone else’s car, and that would cause the person’s death, so the fourth point is much more severe than the third one. Similarly, the fifth point must be more severe than the fourth one.’

‘That makes sense. If that’s the case, then what exactly did she do on that unrevealed fifth point?’

‘We would have to get Fuller Group to answer that question.’

As such, the people on the internet swarmed to Toby’s social media profile out of curiosity and left comments, hoping that he would reveal it to them.

Naturally, he did not do so, but they did not give up and continued to tag the relevant authorities, hoping they would investigate things and find out the truth as soon as possible to account for the netizens.

Not only were there ordinary members of the public watching the unfolding debacle, but the rich also secretly rubbed their hands in glee as they watched the drama. As soon as the rich saw the netizens tagging the relevant authorities to investigate them, they shivered in fear.

They were well aware of what they had done, and even though they were not as sadistic as Lynette, they had committed misdeeds before.

As such, the rich scrambled to berate the nosy netizens while quickly getting rid of the evidence of their wrongdoings. Those who evaded tax started to repay the amount silently; the ones who neglected to compensate their staff quickly did so, and those who used inferior materials on their production line to produce stock swiftly changed their materials into ones of good quality.

Ultimately, everyone was afraid that the relevant authorities would investigate them to appease the netizens’ complaints. If the authorities discovered something, then the fate of the Lores awaited them too.

To avoid this, everyone hastily repaid, compensated, and modified everything that they were supposed to.

Undeniably, Toby’s action of announcing this was beneficial. Not only could he restore his besmirched reputation, but he could also rid the corrupted corporate world of some unethical ones.

This was a great thing for both him and Sonia, especially her. She did not even expect that Lynette was involved in the Acree Family’s car accident. To be more precise, Lynette was not merely involved in it. She was the main perpetrator!

After Toby announced the matter, there was no doubt that Lynette would spend the rest of her life in prison. After all, she was as venomous as a viper and would now be kept behind bars. From now on, they would not have to worry about her pouncing out to cause harm out of nowhere. This was great news indeed for Sonia.

Meanwhile, this was not good news for the Lore Family and Lynette. It was undoubtedly bad news, and even more so, it was horrible. At that moment, the Lores were at the hospital keeping Harry company, so they were unaware of the sensation on the Internet.

Chapter 1303 A Sealed Fate

Harry had suddenly collapsed, and that incident occurred so abruptly that it landed a huge impact on the Lores. They could not help feeling stricken by that.

They were well aware that the strong pillar that could support the entire Lore Family did not lie among any of them, but Harry was the very key in all this.

His role as a professor at the university allowed him to build up a lot of connections in the academic world. These older generations in the field also had connections in every industry.

That was why each time the Lore Family needed help in any matter, the problem would be resolved easily once Harry made a move to contact any of his close friends in the academic world. Most importantly, he held the position of Toby’s mentor.

There were some things that his friends in the academic world could not quite achieve, but Toby was an exception. Therefore, it was fair to say that the Lores were able to continue surviving and stand tall because Harry was still around.

If he suddenly passed away, then the older generations in the academic world would no longer care about the Lores. Even Toby would gradually cut ties with their family.

Although he had already severed ties with the Lores, there was a chance that they could rebuild the connection if Harry survived.

However, if he passed away, then their hopes would be dashed entirely.

As such, none of them wished to see Harry ill. As soon as they heard that he had collapsed from the shock upon seeing Toby’s statement, they were frightened out of their wits. Subsequently, they hastily took leave from their jobs and rushed to the hospital to care for Harry.

However, they did not expect the hospital to diagnose him as having symptoms of a moderate stroke. Once he regained consciousness, his health would be worse than before.

For example, in the past, he was able to walk without a cane, but from now on, he would need a cane to support his movement. If his condition was more severe than expected, then he might even need to be in a wheelchair.

Another example would be that in the past, he could articulate and gesture smoothly, but from now on, his speech might become slurred, or perhaps even stutter. His moves would become slower than before, and it might be tough for him to grip something in his hands.

Ultimately, Harry would no longer be as sprightly as he was; he would end up as a frail old man needing constant care. This came as a significant impact on the Lores.

Though they all heaved a sigh of relief because he remained alive, his body was considered destroyed, and they were unsure how long he was able to keep going.

As soon as the diagnosis was made known, the Lores were dejected. The mood in the room turned somber. Even Amelia burst into tears more than once.

Although Grayson did not tear up, he looked extremely downcast. Meanwhile, Lynette stood expressionlessly by the windowsill. No one knew what she was currently thinking of.

As for the other members of the Lore Family, they had received word as well and scrambled to get back to the country from abroad. Those who were out of town also made plans to return to Seafield.

After all, Harry was in such a state, so they had to return to visit him. There was a chance that they might not get to see him again.

“Sob. Honey, why did everything end up in such a state?” Amelia sat next to Grayson and continued to whimper softly. “Why did Dad suddenly collapse?”

He was significantly annoyed by her cries. “That’s enough! Stop crying. Why are you asking me? I have no idea at all. I only knew Dad attended a dinner party with Lynette and somehow angered Toby again. That resulted in him releasing a statement that he would sever ties with our family.”

As they spoke, they glanced in unison at Lynette, who was standing by the window.

Evidently, their exchange of words was intended for her ears. The couple had asked her this question more than once. After all, Harry remained unconscious, so they could only ask her about the matter, for she was the only one who attended the dinner party with him.

However, she kept mum and steadfastly refused to tell them what happened despite their persistent questions. In the end, they had no choice but to put up this act.

Lynette was coldly unfeeling, and despite Amelia’s heart-wrenching sobs, she remained silent the entire time. Furthermore, she became rather impatient when they asked so many questions.

“That’s enough. What’s with all the crying and persistent questions? Right now, the most important thing is to find a way to resolve this matter. Once Grandpa regains consciousness, I hope he would be able to see that we’ve resolved the matter rather than sobbing in here.” Lynette glared at her parents impatiently.

Though Grayson and Amelia were already used to their daughter’s poor treatment toward them in contrast to Harry, the look Lynette shot at them remained hurtful to the couple.

Grayson chided her, “We’re your parents! What’s with that attitude you’re showing us, huh? Is that the way a daughter should talk to her parents?”266100

Yet, Lynette snorted scornfully. “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to be your daughter anyway. You’re just two pieces of trash.”

“You—” Grayson and Amelia were angered beyond words.

At that moment, the ward to the room was pushed open from the outside, and a nurse walked in with a displeased expression. “Are you guys done? Don’t you know you’re in a hospital right now? Can’t you see the words on the wall stating, ‘No loud noises’? How dare you guys cause such a disruption here. Even if your patient here doesn’t need rest, we’ve got other patients around who do.”

As soon as the nurse’s words hit, the entire room descended into silence, and everyone stared at her incredulously.

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Clearly, they could not believe their ears. How dare a measly nurse show attitude while speaking to them in such a rude tone!0

Soon, Lynette came to her senses and glared at the nurse with a twisted expression. “Who the heck do you think you are, and how dare you speak to us this way! You don’t mind losing your job, do you?”

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It was true that the Lores were now in a bad state, but they were not beaten just yet. It was easy for them to go after a measly nurse.

However, the nurse was completely undisturbed by Lynette’s words and even smirked disdainfully. “If this was in the past, I might be afraid of your words, Miss Lore. However, I’m no longer afraid of you. After all, you’re a murderer about to be imprisoned. What else can you do to me?”

Lynette’s expression turned sour as soon as the word ‘murderer’ hit. Her eyes widened in shock. “W-What do you mean by that? What murderer?”

Does this person know about last night’s incident? No! That’s impossible. I did everything in secret, and even Toby was unaware of things, so how did she know? This must be a sham. It isn’t true. Lynette reassured herself in her mind, but somehow, the more she tried to comfort herself, the more she found it hard to calm her turbulent emotion, surging her anxiety.

Though Grayson and Amelia felt hurt by Lynette’s words, their love for their daughter ultimately prevailed. Naturally, they would not be able to tolerate hearing someone speak ill about their daughter, so they instantly glowered and stood up. Subsequently, they pointed at the nurse and yelled, “What sort of nonsense are you on about? What do you mean by ‘murderer’? We can sue you for libel!”

“That’s right.” Grayson nodded.

The nurse pursed her lips with a disdainful look. “Libel? I did not defame your daughter. She’s a murderer and an extremely vicious one too. Right now, this is all over the Internet. Your daughter plotted the Acrees traffic accident for a ridiculous reason. Rather than arguing about this with me here, you should start thinking of what to bring for your daughter when you visit her in prison in the future.”

After the nurse said that, she shot a cold look at Lynette before pushing the medication cart out of the room.

At that point, Grayson and Amelia were stunned in place inside the room.

What did the nurse just say? She said Lynette plotted the Acrees’ traffic accident yesterday, which is all over the Internet. How can that be possible?! Our daughter can’t be that vicious! Besides, she’s not capable of that! That must just be rumors on the Internet. Yes, that must be it!

The two of them were of that opinion and turned to look at Lynette in unison. However, their hearts plummeted upon noticing her pale face and frantic expression.

Chapter 1304 Taken into Police Custody

Grayson and Amelia were her parents, so they naturally knew her well. They were aware since she was young that she would end up with a pale face and frantic expression once her mistake was uncovered by someone. That was an indication that the nurse was right, and their daughter had indeed committed murder.

As soon as Amelia realized this, she heard nothing but a ringing noise in her ears. She took a deep breath as she felt her world spin in front of her before she fainted.

Grayson was shocked upon seeing her faint and quickly rushed over to break her fall. Subsequently, he placed her on the couch by the side. They were in a high-class VIP ward, so a couch and a lounge were prepared.

After doing so, he finally turned to stare at Lynette in disbelief. “Lynette, is it true, about what the nurse mentioned earlier? Did you actually… murder someone?” he spoke in a hoarse voice, and it took him some time to complete his sentence.

Although he was not exactly perfect, he had never killed anyone in his life. There was no way he would commit such a crime, and he did not dare to either. However, he never expected his daughter to have the guts to do so.

At that point, Lynette saw the look in her father’s eyes, which appeared to have acknowledged her as a murderer. In response, she could not seem to contain the raging anger within her as she yelled at him with a distorted expression, “What do you mean by that?! So, do you think I’ve murdered someone with just the nurse’s words?”

Grayson moved his lips. “I don’t trust her words, but your behavior makes me—”

“I didn’t do it!” She seemed to have gone through a huge shock as she cut him off in a voice shriller than ever. “I didn’t murder anyone! I did not!”

I merely did something to the Acrees’ car and informed the fisherman who harbored a grudge against the Acrees. Other than that, I didn’t do anything else. I wasn’t the one who drove the car into the Acrees’ vehicle, so how could they say that I’m a murderer?! I did not kill anyone! I didn’t!

Meanwhile, Grayson’s mouth was slightly agape upon seeing Lynette’s crazed look as she yelled at him. He could not seem to come up with any words to say.

At that moment, he was fully convinced that his daughter had indeed committed murder. Otherwise, she would not be so emotional and react so badly.

Feeling his blood run cold, he pointed at her and trembled uncontrollably. The look he gave her was as if she was a stranger to him. “Lynette, how could you even do that? It’s murder!” he questioned in a heartbroken voice.

He was a bad man, but the worst thing he ever did was to frame someone and cause the person to be taken custody by the authorities.

Other than that, the most he would resort to was taking advantage of others by flaunting his relationship with Toby and snatching someone else’s collaborative relationship or business. He had never endangered anyone’s life. However, his daughter…

As soon as Lynette saw the pained look on her father’s face, she knew he would not believe her no matter how hard she tried to explain herself. As such, she decided not to do so and sneered coldly instead. “Well, you’ve assumed that I’ve committed murder, haven’t you? So, what’s next? Are you going to call the cops on me? Sure, go ahead. Call the cops right now if you want to.”

She was undaunted at all.

Anyway, in her mind, she had merely instructed someone to damage the Acrees’ car, revealed their whereabouts to that fisherman, and helped that fisherman figure out a way to exact revenge. I didn’t do all that personally, so how could they point me out as the murderer? I’m innocent in this. I didn’t execute things personally, so I’m not a murderer!

Furthermore, she felt that even if Grayson reported her to the authorities and she ended up being taken into police custody, she would certainly be fine.

Yet, he was taken aback by Lynette’s words. Call the cops on you? No, in fact, that notion had never crossed his mind.

Even though Lynette was displeased with him, and despite her murdering someone, she was his daughter after all. He had never thought of calling the cops on her. Naturally, he would not have gone to lodge a report.

His words were spoken out of shock, and he was appalled by her brazenness.

For a moment there, Grayson was rendered speechless as he descended into silence. He could not seem to come up with the words to say.

However, Lynette did not care what was on his mind. She was pleased to note that he had stopped talking and no longer interrogated her by asking those ridiculous questions. Subsequently, she took out her phone and tried to locate the article that the nurse mentioned earlier. She wanted to find out what was going on exactly.

How did the matter of me plotting the traffic accident of the Acrees get exposed? That fisherman promised me that he would delete all the evidence of our exchange before he made the move. How did everything end up on the Internet?

She bit her lips and scrolled on her phone. Soon enough, she figured out the reason. It was Toby behind all this. Toby did this!

Her eyes were bright red at that point, and her fingers trembled as she held her phone and stared with disbelief at the contents of it.

Toby was the one who posted this! How did he find out, though?!

Lynette considered things in her mind but could not come up with an answer. She stared intently at her phone as her breath became hitched. What does Toby mean by all this?! How can he do this?! Does he know how much trouble I would encounter once he reveals all this on the Internet?! Does he know how badly my reputation would be affected by all this?!

Suddenly, tears streamed down from her reddened eyes. Not only did her hands tremble, but her entire body also quivered violently.

She could not accept being treated this way by Toby. He had callously and mercilessly ended her without any regard for its impact on her.

“Toby… You’re too merciless.” Lynette bit her lips hard, and hatred and grievance were evident in her voice.

She felt that Toby’s behavior was a betrayal of her and her feelings for him. She loved him so much and treated him nicely, but he…

Ironically, it did not even cross her mind how she had treated him.

She went on the Internet to tell a sob story and distorted the truth to hide the things she had done, causing the netizens to misunderstand Toby. Meanwhile, the public scolded him for being heartless, but she had never even considered the impact of her actions on him.

Ultimately, Lynette was someone who always regarded her actions as being right and would never be at fault. However, if someone treated her the same way as she did to them, it would be unacceptable for her; it was considered a betrayal and disappointment to her.

Anyway, she held a drastic stance as she was the only one who could disappoint others, but no one else was allowed to dissatisfy her.

At that point, she was inconsolable and felt an intense hatred toward Toby. Furthermore, she vowed to never love him again after the hurt and disappointment she inflicted on her. She was determined to take revenge against him and put him through the pain she felt.

As for those foolish netizens who were focused on cursing her, she would take steps to go after them one at a time. It was easy enough to imagine things when in fact, there was a harsh reality to face.

As soon as Lynette started to have notions of exacting revenge, she heard a knock on the door.

Grayson did not think too much about the situation as he took a deep breath and went over to open the door. As soon as he did, his expression darkened immediately upon seeing two uniformed police officers by the entrance.

If this had happened previously, he would not panic upon seeing them but would ask impatiently for their purpose of coming over. Now that he knew his daughter had committed murder, he was filled with panic, anxiety, and fear as soon as he saw them.

“W-What’s the matter?” Grayson asked with trepidation as he gripped the handle tightly with both hands.

In actuality, he knew quite well what the two officers were here for.

If possible, he would rather be the one to deal with the two officers and find an excuse to send them away. As such, his daughter would be safe.

The two police officers naturally took note of his reaction upon seeing them.

They exchanged looks with each other, and one of them retrieved his credential before waving it in front of him. Then, the police officer said coldly, “Good day, Mr. Lore. We’ve got a case involving your daughter, so we would like to see her. Is she here?”

Chapter 1305 Taking Lynette Away

They’re here to look for Lynette indeed! Grayson’s head exploded for an instant. He quickly replied in a loud voice, “No, my daughter isn’t here. If you’re looking for her, please leave this place as soon as possible and go somewhere else instead.

This is my father’s ward, and there’s nobody else here besides my father and me. Just get out of here.” As he spoke, he attempted to close the door. However, how could the two policemen be sent away so easily? One of them quickly put his foot in the door, preventing Grayson from closing it.

The policeman who had spoken just now looked at Grayson with a half-smile. “Mr. Lore, we visited your place before coming here, and one of your maids told us that you and your family are taking care of Old Mr. Lore in the hospital.

Also, we just asked the nurses in charge of the wards on this floor, and they said they didn’t see Miss Lore leave after her arrival. In other words, Miss Lore is still here. So, Mr. Lore, please cooperate with us and get her to come out. Otherwise, we’ll take it that you’re obstructing us from carrying out our duty, and we can also take you away according to the law.”

They can take me away as well? Grayson’s face froze for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, the two policemen immediately shoved him aside and entered the ward.

Only when his shoulder bumped against the wall did Grayson come to his senses. His countenance changed, and he hurriedly turned around and entered the ward after them, saying, “What do you mean? Is this how you guys carry out your duty as policemen? Do you know what your behavior is called? This is called illegal intrusion! How dare you—”

The two policemen paid no heed to his words at all.

The policeman who had spoken previously nodded to the other policeman, who immediately turned around, spread his arms, and blocked Grayson’s way, keeping him from coming forward to stop them.

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Of course, Grayson wasn’t willing to be stopped like this. He struggled several times, but how could he, weakened long ago by years of hard drinking and debauchery, fight against the policeman who exercised daily? Subsequently, he was soon marched out of the ward by the policeman, who decided to also take him to the police station for questioning. This guy has repeatedly prevented us from looking for Lynette Lore, so it’s obvious that he also knows what she did. This puts him under suspicion of shielding Lynette Lore, so it’s best to take him back as well.

With Grayson taken away, silence instantly descended upon the ward.

The policeman staying in the ward first took a look around, but there were no signs of Lynette in the ward other than the old man lying on his sickbed and Amelia, who was lying on the couch. At the sight of this, he knitted his brows in agitation. Is Lynette Lore really not here? But all the information shows that she indeed came here and never left. Even Grayson Lore’s reaction earlier indicates that Lynette Lore is here. So, is she hiding somewhere in the ward right now?

Just when he was pondering whether to search the ward for her, the door to the restroom opened, and Lynette came out of it while shaking her wet hands with a sullen expression.

When the policeman saw her, his eyes lit up and a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Seems like I don’t have to look for her. She’s come out by herself.0

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Lynette also noticed that Grayson was no longer in the ward. Instead, there was a stranger. At first, she wanted to ask who the stranger was, but her face turned pale the next second when she saw the police uniform that he was wearing. Although she still didn’t think she had committed murder, she nonetheless felt inexplicably guilty and scared when she saw a policeman. She clenched her teeth, wanting to seize the initiative by chasing the policeman away, thinking that he’d probably just entered the wrong place and that she’d probably be fine after chasing him away. “You—”

However, no sooner had she uttered the first syllable than the policeman produced the evidence and looked at her frostily, saying, “Hi, Miss Lore. We found you suspicious of the Acree Family’s car accident last night, so please come with us.”0

Lynette’s pupils shrank, and she stepped back unconsciously. “What nonsense are you talking about? Who is under suspicion? What does the Acree Family’s car accident have to do with me? I’m not going with you. Please go back by yourself, or I’ll file complaints against you. Don’t think you can do anything just because you’re the police. Get out of here or I’ll make you feel sorry for it!”

The policeman wasn’t surprised by Lynette’s response. After all, he’d seen much of this; almost every suspect reacted this way when they saw policemen like them. Therefore, he laughed instead, saying, “Miss Lore, it’s not up to you or me whether the car accident has something to do with you. It depends on the evidence. Our evidence now proves that you have a lot to do with this, so please go with us, or you’ll have to face serious consequences for resisting arrest.”

However, Lynette didn’t seem to hear the words ‘resisting arrest.’ She growled emotionally, “I said get the hell out of here! I didn’t do anything, so you guys have no right to make me go with you! Get your *ss out of here now!” She pointed at the door.

The policeman’s face hardened. Having run out of patience, he instantly removed the handcuffs from his waist. “Miss Lore, we’d asked you twice, but you refused to cooperate with us both times. Since that’s the case, don’t blame us for being rough with you. I came this time with an arrest warrant issued from above, so I have the right to put the cuffs on you. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said. With that, he struck swiftly and arrested Lynette at once. After pinning her against the wall with her hands behind her back, he proceeded to put handcuffs on her.

Unable to move one bit, Lynette panicked all over, especially when she felt the ice-cold handcuffs on her wrists. Scared out of her wits, she kept struggling and screaming, “Let me go! Remove the handcuffs! I didn’t kill anyone, and you guys have no right to put handcuffs on me! Let me go! Aaaaaah!” Her extraordinarily shrill screams brought a pained look to the policeman’s face, and he quickly released one hand free to cover one of his ears.

It had to be said that Lynette’s screams sounded terrifying, so much so that even the unconscious Amelia was awakened by them. When she opened her eyes to see her daughter held by a man, she quickly grabbed her purse and was about to hit the policeman with it. “Let go of my daughter! Who are you? How dare you make moves on my daughter here?”

Sensing the flow of air behind him, the policeman swiftly released Lynette and dodged aside.

Amelia nearly fell when she failed to hit the policeman. Luckily, the wall was right in front of her; she barely steadied herself by placing her hand on the wall for support.

The policeman warned her expressionlessly, “I’m a policeman, Mrs. Lore. Do you know you just attacked a policeman? I can arrest you right away for that.”

A policeman? Amelia was startled for a moment. So, he’s not a hoodlum or something. The next instant, however, her countenance changed at the sight of the handcuffs on Lynette’s wrists. “Y-You’re here to arrest Lynette?”

The policeman straightened his police uniform. “Miss Lore is under suspicion for a car accident, so we have to take her back for questioning,” he said while attempting to grab Lynette.

Amelia hurriedly stepped in front of her daughter. “What nonsense are you talking about? My daughter has never done such a thing. You can’t take her away!”

Lynette stood tearfully behind her. She looked extremely pitiful, with no trace of her previous arrogance toward her parents. “Please save me, Mom! I didn’t kill anyone, and I’m not the one who killed them! You can’t let them take me away!”

Amelia looked back and patted her on the shoulder. She said with a determined look in her eyes, “Don’t worry, Lynette, I’ll protect you. I won’t let them take you away.”

Moved by her words, Lynette nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Amelia then turned back to look at the policeman opposite her with the same determined look in her eyes. “I’ll never let you guys take my daughter away.” Having been a coward throughout her life, she finally stood up for her daughter at this very moment. Unfortunately, it was a wasted effort.

Chapter 1306 Sharing the Good News

How could the police not take a person of interest away just because someone prevented them from doing so? Wouldn’t that trample the police’s authority underfoot?

The policeman’s face darkened as he looked at Amelia with a serious expression. “Mrs. Lore, I’d advise you to step aside. By blocking my way, you’re obstructing us from carrying out our duty as policemen, which would allow us to also take you with us according to the law. So, if you don’t want to go with us to the police station for an investigation, please step aside. Otherwise, you will follow us back to the station.”

As soon as he said that, Amelia subconsciously lowered her outstretched arms a little. The next instant, however, she recalled something and raised her arms again, and her expression became determined once again. “I know nothing about obstructing police duty; all I know is that you want to take my daughter away. As a mother, I’ll never allow you to do that.”

The policeman massaged his temples. “Seems like you won’t listen to us. Very well then. We will take you with us,” he said. With that, he stopped trying to reason with Amelia or showing her respect. He stepped forward, shoved Amelia aside, and grabbed Lynette once again.

Lynette screamed and yelled, “Save me, Mom! Save me!”

Hearing her daughter’s heart-wrenching cries for help made Amelia’s heart ache so much that she found it hard to breathe. After steadying herself, she lunged at the policeman again, threatening, “Let go of my daughter, you mugs, or I’m gonna fight you to the death!”

Seeing how unreasonable she was, the policeman got angry, too; he immediately called the other policeman inside.

Naturally, the other policeman had heard the noise in the ward, but he remained outside without going in since he had to keep an eye on Grayson. Now that his colleague had called him inside, he removed his handcuffs and put them on Grayson before marching him into the ward.

After he and Grayson entered, the policeman who had grabbed Lynette said, “Mrs. Lore is obstructing police duty. Let’s take her with us as well.”

The other policeman nodded. “Okay, seems like they both know their daughter is suspected of murder. Also, they vehemently prevented us from taking her with us, which lands them under suspicion of shielding a suspect. According to the rules, we can indeed take them away for an investigation.”

Naturally, Grayson, Amelia, and Lynette overheard the two policemen’s conversation.

Lynette aside, Grayson and Amelia instantly found it unacceptable. They yelled at the policemen, “What nonsense are you talking about? Our daughter didn’t kill anyone, nor did we shield any suspects. You’re committing slander against us! We’re gonna file complaints against you guys and strip you of your uniforms!”

The two policemen were unperturbed by the husband and wife’s fierce threats. After all, they’d heard a lot of similar threats before. Whenever they arrested a suspect, the latter and their family would always say things like this to resist in an attempt to make them back down and give up arresting them, but none of these attempts had been successful. Paying no attention to the family of three, they took out their phone and called their colleague, who was waiting in the police car downstairs outside the hospital.

After having been informed of the situation, the third policeman immediately rushed to the scene. With that, Grayson, Amelia, and Lynette were forcibly removed from Harry’s ward by the three policemen.

Unwilling to be taken to the police station, the three Lores struggled and hurled abuses along the way. Their speech was so profane that people were astounded, unable to believe that such vulgar language actually came out of the mouths of some rich people who called themselves members of a respectable family. Don’t they say these rich people are educated as elites and thus always speak politely and use honorifics in their conversations without uttering a dirty word?

But now, it didn’t seem that the Lores were incapable of using foul language; on the contrary, their vocabulary included quite a lot of profanities, some of which not even ordinary people were capable of uttering. However, the fact that the Lores could blurt out these profanities without thinking showed that their upbringing could be criticized.

With all the hospital’s patients, doctors, and nurses looking on, the three Lores were shoved into the police car and taken away, during which time many took out their phones to take photos and videos of the spectacle, of course. Subsequently, photos and videos related to the arrest soon appeared on the internet, and the news of the Lore Family being taken away in a police car instantly became one of the biggest trending topics on the internet.

Delighted to learn about this, all the netizens responded by flooding the screen with emoticons like handclaps and fireworks to celebrate the Lore Family’s arrest.

Furthermore, the fact that the Lore Family had been taken away in a police car undoubtedly confirmed the press statement issued by the Fuller Group that Lynette had indeed committed murder. Now that the murderer had been taken into custody, the netizens were naturally happy to share the good news.

Sonia saw all this, too; her red lips curled slightly as she released the mouse, raised her arms, and stretched. Lynette will probably spend the rest of her life in prison after being taken away this time. Well, that takes a load off my mind. Now I no longer have to feel irritable over another love rival, nor do I have to worry anymore that this love rival will often show up in front of Toby and me in the future. Also, I no longer have to feel disgusted anymore by how she stops at nothing to cozy up to Toby and scheme against me. In any case, a demon like her deserves to stay in prison.

Just as she was immersed in her thoughts, her phone rang. Putting her thoughts aside for the time being, she glanced down at the phone on her desk; it was a phone call from Daphne’s mother.

As Rita had said, Daphne’s phone couldn’t be reached. In order to find out whether Daphne had really gone abroad to further her studies, Sonia had no choice but to call Daphne’s mother. She had called her just now, but no one answered the phone despite the phone call getting through. Still, she didn’t expect Daphne’s mother to call her instead. “Hi, Mrs. Robinson.” She picked up the phone with a polite smile on her face. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Sonia Reed, Daphne’s former boss.”

“Oh, you’re Daphne’s boss? I know you,” replied the baffled voice of an aged-sounding woman on the other end. The next second, she laughed in surprise, saying, “Nice to talk to you, Miss Reed. Daphne told me about you, saying you had taken good care of her. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Sonia touched her cheek in embarrassment. “Don’t mention it, Mrs. Robinson. I should be the one thanking Daphne for taking care of me instead. I knew almost nothing when I first took over the company. Had she not assisted me, I’d probably have been at a complete loss for what to do.”

“Oh, not at all. You two were just helping each other.” The woman laughed amiably. Then, she asked, “By the way, Miss Reed, did you call me to ask about something?”

“Yeah, I did. The thing is, didn’t Daphne go abroad to further her studies after quitting her job at my company? Mrs. Robinson, you also know about this, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” The woman was filled with relief as she spoke of this. “Actually, Daphne had always wanted to further her studies to improve herself, but for several reasons, she didn’t make up her mind for a long time in the past. As her mother, I’d also advised her to do so, but she never agreed. On the one hand, she was worried about the prospect of it, but on the other hand, she was tempted to do so. She was torn between these feelings and was never genuinely happy, and it pained me to see this. Now that she’s finally made up her mind to further her studies abroad and fulfill her wish, I can finally heave a sigh of relief.” The woman laughed gleefully as she spoke of this.

Sonia fell silent. After a while, she asked, “Mrs. Robinson, do you know the name of the company where Daphne furthers her studies? The thing is, we forgot to include this in our survey at the time, and now we can’t get in touch with Daphne either, which is why I made a special effort to call you to ask about this.”

The woman smilingly said the name of the company without doubting Sonia’s words.

Sonia pursed her red lips for a moment. “Alright, I got it. Thank you, Mrs. Robinson.”

“You’re welcome,” the woman replied with a smile. Then, she asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to know, Miss Reed?”

Chapter 1307 Going to the Factory to Take a Look

Sonia bit her lip hesitantly for a couple of seconds. “Actually, there really is one thing. Mrs. Robinson, are you sure Daphne really is furthering her studies abroad?”

The instant the woman on the other end heard this, the smile on her face froze. “Miss Reed, what do you mean by that?”

Sonia forced a smile. “Well, the thing is, a secretary at my company saw someone who looked very much like Daphne when she was out this morning. Daphne’s phone was unreachable the entire time as well, so this secretary of mine wondered if the one she saw was indeed Daphne and whether she wasn’t furthering her studies abroad at all. Mrs. Robinson, as you know, Daphne and I were close, so it’s only natural that I have to find out where she actually is to put my mind at rest, no?”

“Oh, I see.” The woman nodded in relief before smiling again. “Don’t worry, Miss Reed, Daphne is indeed abroad. I think the one your current secretary saw was probably someone who looked like her. Many people look alike nowadays, and besides, Daphne has taken photos of herself with the company while she’s abroad.”

“Is that so? Alright then, I got it, Mrs. Robinson. I’m relieved to hear that she’s still abroad. I shan’t keep you any longer, then. Goodbye, Mrs. Robinson.”

“Goodbye! Feel free to visit my place when you’re free, Miss Reed,” the woman replied cordially.

“Okay,” Sonia responded politely.

After ending the phone call, she put down her phone, interlaced her fingers on her desk, and sank deep in thought, wondering if Daphne was really abroad.

She didn’t start the phone call by asking Mrs. Robinson whether Daphne was abroad because she wanted to sound her out on whether she knew Daphne wasn’t furthering her studies at a foreign company. After all, Mrs. Robinson was just an ordinary person incapable of acting. If she were to know Daphne wasn’t abroad, she’d definitely give herself away when Sonia sounded her out. Even if she was capable of acting, she wouldn’t have been a very good actor, and Sonia would still have been able to figure out something was amiss.

However, when Sonia purposely sounded her out just now, she realized that the latter sounded natural as usual without showing signs of feeling guilty or panicking. In other words, she wasn’t lying. The one lying was Daphne, who had also lied to her mother that she was furthering her studies abroad when she actually wasn’t. So why on earth did Daphne do this? Why would she lie to everyone? Did something happen to her, or is she in some kind of danger?

Sonia was filled with worry. Then, she unclasped her hands and picked up her phone again, calling the detective agency that she had gone to before as she intended to have them find out about Daphne’s situation. It wasn’t until the detective agency agreed to take up the job that her mind was somewhat put at rest. No matter what, the fact that Daphne is still able to go around outside probably proves that she’s safe for now. Perhaps only by finding her and figuring out what happened to her can I help her thoroughly. She massaged her temples.

Just then, there was a knock on the door to her office.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sonia looked up and saw Rita come in with a pile of documents in her hands. She said, “President Reed, these are the proposals from all departments for the staff’s Christmas benefits. Please take a look at them and decide which proposal to follow through on.”

Upon hearing her say that, Sonia smiled. “Right, Christmas is just around the corner.”

“There’s half a month left before that.” Rita placed the documents in front of her.

Sonia reached out and pulled the documents toward herself. “Which will pass in the blink of an eye. Okay, I’ll read them as soon as possible and tell you which proposal to follow through on before the office closes this afternoon. Get the Purchasing Department to arrange for the goods to be procured as soon as possible and distributed to the staff before the holiday.”

“Alright.” Rita nodded. “By the way, President Reed, there’s one more thing. All the machines in the factory have been installed and have undergone preliminary tests. They’re working well, so the factory director asked when you’d like to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony.”

The so-called ribbon-cutting ceremony was actually no different from the opening ceremony of a store; all one had to do was pick an auspicious date, have some flowers and other kinds of decorations in place, and hold an opening ceremony. On the other hand, those who were more particular or superstitious about this could invite a priest to bless the place. In short, everything was up to Sonia.

After pondering for a moment, Sonia replied, “I have yet to settle on a date. How about this? I’ll go to the factory after work this afternoon to take a look. If everything looks good, I’ll come up with a date for the ribbon-cutting ceremony tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll tell the factory director about this later,” Rita replied with a smile.

“Uh-huh.” Sonia nodded. Then, she recalled something and continued, “By the way, as for Daphne, I’ve called a detective agency to have them look into her whereabouts. I’ll tell you if there’s anything.”

“Yes, President Reed.” Rita smiled even more happily. She and Daphne were friends, so it was only natural that she cared very much about the latter and wanted to know what had happened to her. Therefore, she was very pleased to hear Sonia’s words. “Well then, President Reed, I’ll go ahead with my work.”266102

“Just go.” Sonia nodded.

After Rita had left, Sonia picked up the topmost document of the pile and started leafing through it. These were all kinds of suggestions for the staff’s Christmas benefits, which weren’t work-related, so she flipped through them very quickly. After all, all she had to do was pick the most suitable suggestion from all of them. As a result, she finished dealing with these documents in two hours before choosing and sorting out suggestions that she thought were pretty good. After adding her own ideas, she had them sent to the Purchasing Department.

Time passed quickly; in the blink of an eye, it was already afternoon. Sonia stood up and tidied up her office. She prepared to send Toby a text message telling him not to pick her up from work later because she had to go to the factory to take a look and would drive back to Bayside Residence on her own later. As it turned out, she had just typed the message and was about to send it before she heard a man’s soft cough from the door to her office.

She subconsciously looked up to see Toby leaning against the door frame with his thin lips curled slightly. He was smiling at her.

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Sonia smiled, too. “Why are you here?”0

Toby came in. “To pick you up from work.”

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Sonia put down her phone. “I was just about to text you to tell you not to come.”

The man frowned. “Why?”

“The factory has finished undergoing construction, so I’m about to go there to take a look. I said a few times before that I wanted to go there, but I didn’t. This time, I have to go there and take a look no matter what, so you’ve got no choice but to go back on your own first,” Sonia explained apologetically.

Toby hugged her around the waist and took her into his arms. “I’m here already, so how can I go back by myself? I’ll go with you.”

“Really?” Sonia stood slightly on tiptoe before wrapping her arms around his neck.

The man nodded. “Or what? Can I lie to you? Let’s go,” he said before letting go of her waist. Taking her by the hand instead, he led her to the door. “We’ll go there, take a look, and then return home as soon as possible. You’re not gonna stay there for long, no?”

Sonia shook her head. “Of course not. We’ll leave after taking a look.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The two left the office together and were, of course, stared at by the staff members along the way. At first, Sonia had felt a little embarrassed by how the staff members looked at them, but now that she’d gotten used to it, she was able to brazen it out and be comfortable with it.

However, she was a bit unlucky, for she ran into Asher again when she stepped out of the elevator.

Asher was standing outside the elevator, probably to take the elevator upstairs. Seeing Sonia and Toby come out of the elevator, he was surprised for a moment. Then, as he recalled something, a hint of excitement flickered across his eyes and then disappeared so quickly as if it were an illusion. After darting an impassive glance at Sonia, he turned to Toby with an ingratiating smile, asking, “Picking Sonia up from work again, President Fuller?”

Sonia rolled her eyes. What a hypocrite.

Chapter 1308 The Truth About Quentin’s Death

Is it not hypocritical of him to look at me with disgust while asking about me in an affectionate tone of voice? If he really loathes me, then he should call me a b*tch or something instead, no? If he does that, I’ll think more highly of him. “Let’s go. Just ignore him,” said Sonia to Toby as she held his arm.

Toby never intended to pay attention to Asher in the first place. Upon hearing her words, he nodded slightly and replied, “Mm-hmm.” Then, they walked past Asher and left.

Watching them from behind, Asher narrowed his eyes for a moment before bursting out laughing in excitement.

Seeing him laugh like this, his assistant behind him asked in puzzlement, “President Dafoe, have you come across something that makes you happy?”

Asher turned his wristwatch and replied somewhat meaningfully, “Yeah, it’s a good thing—a very, very good thing, in fact. My dream will come true after tonight.”

“Huh?” The assistant still looked puzzled.

Asher stepped directly into the elevator with no intention of elaborating on it.

Meanwhile, Sonia closed the door to the passenger seat and lowered her head to fasten her seat belt in the car.

Toby was fastening his seat belt as well. After she was done buckling up, he finally turned the car key in the ignition and started the car. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Sonia nodded.

Toby released the brakes, and the car started moving forward.

Sonia lowered the car window a little. Suddenly, she said with a laugh, “A lot of things have happened today.”

Knowing she was referring to the news on the internet, Toby jutted out his chin in agreement. “There’s a lot indeed.”

“How did you know Lynette was the mastermind behind the Acree Family’s car accident?” Sonia asked curiously while turning to look at the man.

Toby frowned. “I didn’t know that at first. I thought the one helping the driver was one of the Acree Family’s enemies, so I didn’t intend to get involved. I had Tom withdraw our men, but just when they were withdrawing, one of them spotted the SIM card disposed of by the driver beforehand and found out that Lynette was the one he had contacted.”

Sonia was surprised. “That’s a really dramatic turn of events. I guess even God could no longer bear to see Lynette’s behavior, which was why He let your men discover the SIM card to expose Lynette’s wrongdoings.”

“You’re right,” the man agreed with a smile.

Sonia then pursed her lips for a moment. “Speaking of it, Lynette is so wicked at heart. I thought it was already very malicious of her to plot against my life behind my back last night, but never did I think she could plan a car accident and kill people so calmly and naturally.” This woman is really comparable to Tina. Both of them are crazy women capable of doing anything.

“That’s why she’s destined to spend the rest of her life in prison. It’s even possible that she’ll be sentenced to death,” Toby said while turning the steering wheel.

Sonia let out a sigh. “The Acrees weren’t kind either, but there was no bad blood between them and Lynette, after all. Even so, Lynette plotted their car accident just because she wanted to prevent Miss Acree from showing up in front of you. Speaking of it, it was bad luck for them to come across her.”

“As they say, the biter is sometimes bitten. Now that both the Acrees and Lynette have gotten what they deserved, we don’t have to care about them anymore.” Toby turned to glance at her.

Sonia happened to be looking at him as well. “Lynette isn’t gonna get out of prison, and it’s a dead cert that the Lore Family will go bankrupt because of you. I guess it won’t take long before we hear the news of their bankruptcy. How are you gonna deal with the rest of the family—especially Harry?”

Toby narrowed his eyes and replied with a frosty expression, “Harry had a stroke and is now still lying unconscious in the hospital and unaware of Lynette’s arrest. Lynette’s parents weren’t involved in her wrongdoings, so they’ll be released very soon. They’re not handicapped, so they won’t starve to death if their company goes bankrupt. What’s more, there are other people in the Lore Family. They’re either living abroad or in other parts of the country, but they’re hurrying to Seafield because of Harry’s illness this time, and they’ll take care of the three of them. Of course, they can only look after them until all evidence of Harry murdering Professor Randall has been gathered.”

Sonia smiled. “You’re right. So, how’s the gathering of the evidence going?”

Toby’s brows furrowed at the mention of this. “It’s still the same. Harry has long since erased all traces of it after so many years, so all we could find are just insignificant bits of clues that can’t be used as conclusive evidence. That’s why I’ve invited Miles Snyder to come to Seafield.”

Sonia’s pupils shrank when she heard the man’s name. “You mean the Miles Snyder who helped Tina hypnotize you?” She had met Miles only once, but he had left a deep impression on her until now. With long, white hair and extremely beautiful features, the expressionless man had not only helped Tina before but was also Tim’s senior.

“That’s the one.” Toby nodded.

Sonia was puzzled. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to let him hypnotize Harry into making a clean breast of everything of his own accord?”

Toby explained noncommittally, “In reality, hypnosis is prohibited because it can easily destroy a person’s psyche. That’s why the police normally don’t crack cases using hypnosis except when they’re dealing with violent and wicked people. Harry’s case isn’t serious to a level where it’s necessary to hypnotize him into coming clean about his wrongdoings, but I can’t care that much about it anymore. There’s no knowing how much time he has left after suffering a stroke at his age, so I have to make him confess to his crimes while he’s still alive and able to move around normally. Only then can he be convicted under the law. Otherwise, if he’s dead or really paralyzed, even if I find evidence of his crimes, the law can’t do anything about him, and I’ll be unable to avenge my professor.”

“I see.” Sonia nodded as she understood his methods. Extreme times call for extreme measures, of course. “But there are a lot of hypnotists, of which Tim is one. Why does it have to be Miles Snyder? He helped Tina before, you know. Won’t you mind that?” she asked while looking at Toby.

Toby lowered his eyes. “Tim is just a dabbler in hypnosis, so there’s no need to ask him for help. As for Miles, I do have complicated feelings about him. It’s true that I’m angry at him for working with Tina to put me under hypnosis. Normally, he’d have also been a target of my revenge, but it doesn’t help that my current heart was his brother’s. This alone prohibits me from getting back at him. After all, I owe my life to his brother.”

This time, Sonia was at a loss for a reply. Indeed, he owes his life to Quentin. Although Quentin’s death wasn’t his doing, he was indeed the cause of Quentin’s death. Quentin died because his heart matched his, so Toby is right that he owes his life to Quentin.

“Didn’t we suspect earlier that it was Tina who plotted Quentin’s car accident? Tina had a crush on you and learned by chance that his heart matched yours, so she plotted his car accident and gave his heart to you. You’ve been investigating whether this is true, so how’s the investigation going at the moment?” she asked curiously.

The man’s thin lips compressed into a thin line as frosty vibes emanated from his every pore. “I’ve found out almost everything and found the witness at the time over a few months. The truth was exactly as we guessed it: Tina indeed plotted his car accident.”

Sonia let out a gasp of horror. “I already knew the outcome, but it inevitably shocks me to hear that it was confirmed to be true. How could she do that? Quentin had gone out with her for three years!” She failed to comprehend it.

Even if Tina took a shine to Toby and no longer had feelings for Quentin, she and Quentin had at least been in a relationship, which proved that they once had feelings for each other. How could she be so cruel to someone whom she once had feelings for? Is she a devil?

Chapter 1309 The Most Innocent Person

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No, she’s even worse than the devil. When a devil falls in love with a person, they will act selflessly for them. However, that’s impossible for someone like Tina. “What exactly is going on? Tell me.” Sonia tugged on his arm, urging him to hurry up and give her the details of his investigation.

Toby did not disappoint her and lightly parted his thin lips to say slowly, “Back then, Tina dated Quentin because he was handsome enough to make her look good.”

“That’s true. With Miles looking like that, I can tell that Quentin’s looks weren’t far from Miles’ based on his looks, although I never saw what he looks like. With a boyfriend like that, it would make her look much better when she took him out.” Sonia nodded and continued, “Besides, I just remembered something. When I was in college, I heard people talking about Tina’s boyfriend who looked like an angel. That probably was Quentin.”

He hummed in agreement. “It is him. During their three years of being together, Quentin had feelings for Tina. I’m not sure how she felt about him though. But she probably didn’t like him back, or she wouldn’t have been so cruel.”

“You have a point.” “The first time I met with Tina was at a charity banquet. Back then, my heart condition was so severe that I couldn’t stand up and could only stay in a wheelchair, and Tina came to talk to me then.”0

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“What did she say to you?” Sonia asked, sending him a furtive look. As he sensed her jealousy, Toby felt elated. After all, that meant that she cared about him. “She didn’t say much except for a few questions about my pen name,” he replied.

Sonia froze for a moment before her face twisted into a frown. “I used to be dormmates with Tina in college, and when I exchanged letters with you, she mocked me by saying that I was old-fashioned for having a pen pal in this day and age. At that time, she obviously looked down on me for exchanging letters with you.0

Until one day, she stopped and was very concerned about whether I had written to you or not, and whether I had received your letters. Later, I realized that she had peeked at our letters and somehow realized that you were the one writing those letters to me, which was why she decided to sound you out at the party you mentioned. She was probably trying to confirm if you were the one who sent the letters to me.”

“I think so too. However, I didn’t think much of it at first and just had a casual conversation with her before dismissing her. Then, the second time we met, it was when my heart had completely failed, and I had come to terms with my death in the hospital. That time was a week before my heart transplant surgery. She came to the hospital and told me that she was Maple and mentioned some of the contents of our letters, so I believed her.”

At this point, Toby turned to look at Sonia, his eyes full of guilt. “I’m sorry for not realizing that she wasn’t you from the start. By the time I noticed that something was wrong, it was too late, and I had already been hypnotized.”

It was true that he had not suspected Tina was not Maple before he went for surgery. After all, with his sickness, he was barely awake for most of the day and didn’t have the energy to realize that something was off.

It was only after his surgery had ended and his body had recovered a little that he had the time and energy to talk to Tina, and only then did he notice several questionable things from their conversation. However, before he could solve his doubts, Tina had Miles hypnotize him and convince him that she was Maple.

Sonia shook her head. “It’s fine. Before I knew the truth, I did hate you, but now that I know what happened, I understand that you were a victim as well. You don’t have to feel guilty.”

She flashed him a reassuring smile, indicating that he shouldn’t overthink things.

He was still driving, and after seeing her smile, he felt as if a burden was lifted off his heart. He turned his eyes back on the road and continued to drive. “Tina came to my ward a week before I agreed to meet with you and told me she was Maple. I thought that it was a blessing from God that I could see you before I died, so I subconsciously overlooked that she knew that I was John, and which ward I was staying in. After all, I’d never mentioned these things in my letters as I intended to tell you in person when we met. I thought my body would be able to hold up for a little longer, but I ended up collapsing before the date we agreed to meet. If not, Tina wouldn’t have had the chance to impersonate you.”

“Although we’ve been through a lot, we finally met each other, didn’t we?” Sonia smiled. “All right, let’s stop talking about this. Every time we have this conversation, you’ll feel guilty. Let’s go back to the matter of Quentin instead. How did Tina know that Quentin’s heart was compatible with yours?”

“After Tina came to see me in the hospital, she began to stay in the hospital to take care of me. Hence, she’d seen all my treatment plans, my condition, and so on. Besides, my blood type is the same as Quentin’s. Tina is a vain person, and at that time, even though she was the daughter of the wealthy Gray Family, she valued the Fuller Family more and did not take her family’s money seriously at all. Now that I think about it, I suspect that Tina probably knew from the beginning that she was not the Gray Family’s biological daughter and that it was uncertain if she could succeed her family in the future.”

“She’s trying to leave a way out for herself.” Sonia was taken aback by the realization.

Toby nodded. “That should be the case. Back then, the Fuller Family and Fuller Group were not as huge as they are today, but we were still considered a leading company in Seafield. Tina wanted to ensure a lifetime of glory and wealth, and she had a greedy nature on top of that. Hence, after learning that the person you were talking to was me, she came up with a way to be with me in your place. Otherwise, she would’ve had no chance to get close to me at all. In order to become Mrs. Fuller, she could only find a way to save my life, and it just so happened that Quentin’s blood type was the same as mine. She then took the risk and tricked Quentin into getting a medical checkup at the hospital.”

“Then, the results showed that his heart was compatible with yours.” Sonia sighed.

Ultimately, Quentin got caught up in the mess and indirectly lost his life at the hands of Toby. It was all because Tina set her eyes on Toby, who happened to have a heart condition and needed a new heart, while Quentin, who was Tina’s boyfriend at the time, happened to have a heart that was compatible with Toby. Thus, she ended up taking his life.

“Quentin became my scapegoat. I should’ve died back then instead of him, but he passed away on my behalf, so I owe him my life. Now that Quentin is dead, my debt to him can never be repaid, so I can only make up for my debt to Miles. That’s why I won’t retaliate for what he did to me. This time, I called him over not only to ask for his help but also to tell him about the investigation results on Quentin. I suppose as a closure for him.”

“It really is ironic that Quentin probably didn’t know until his death that his car accident was carefully planned by his own girlfriend. He must’ve thought his accident was completely unintentional. However, little did he know that his accident had been premeditated since he had his medical checkup. I wonder whether he was touched by how much his girlfriend cared about him when he was undergoing his checkup, though.” At those words, Sonia’s expression turned sentimental. She felt pained for Quentin from the bottom of her heart.

In the midst of everything, only this young boy was the most innocent and guileless person.

“Miles told me that Quentin was still alive when he was sent to the hospital. He had already found out that Tina did not love him anymore and wanted me instead. He also knew that I needed a heart and that my heart just happened to match his, so he asked Tina to give me his heart. Back then, Tina lied and deceived him by telling him that I loved her too, so that’s why Quentin gave me his heart so willingly. He thought that I could bring Tina happiness.” Toby pursed his lips, his tone solemn.

Chapter 1310 The Factory Caught Fire

Sonia drew a sharp breath. “What do you mean? Are you telling me that Quentin might have known his car accident was not an accident, but Tina’s…” Toby pursed his lips, indicating that her guess was accurate.

“After all, it’s too much of a coincidence. Anyone with a brain would be able to realize that something was wrong. Quentin chose to accept his end because he was too kind, and he loved Tina too deeply.” Toby tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Sonia gaped, only finding her voice after a long pause. “What a fool. It really is ridiculous and tragic that Tina managed to get the favor of someone like Quentin.”

“Miles wasn’t aware that Quentin most likely knew the car accident wasn’t an accident. The only reason he helped Tina was that she lied to him, but that doesn’t matter. It still doesn’t prevent Miles from taking revenge.” Looking at the factory in front of him, he found an empty spot and parked the car.

Sonia unfastened her seat belt, saying, “But we haven’t found Tina yet. We shouldn’t be talking about revenge now.”

“We’ll find her eventually.” He reassured her, “I have now collected all the evidence of her murdering Quentin, plus I have the witnesses and physical evidence from back then. Once she makes an appearance, she’ll be facing her retribution. All right, we’re here. Let’s go.”

“Yeah.” Sonia squeezed out a forced smile before getting out of the car.

It had been around three months since the last time she came here. The place had been completely renovated. The land that used to be vacant had a large factory built on it now, which spanned several acres, making it an extraordinarily spectacular sight. As it had yet to officially begin operations, there were only people guarding the factory during the day. Now that it was past working hours, the guards had naturally clocked out.

Moreover, Sonia was only visiting to take a look instead of making an inspection, so there was no need for someone to escort her and provide guidance. Hence, when Sonia decided to come over, she rejected Rita’s suggestion to have the guards get off work later and show her around the factory.

“Not bad.” She closed the car door and looked up at the magnificent factory in front of her with an expression of satisfaction and admiration.

Toby walked over with a chuckle. “The national construction team built this; of course, it’s good.”

“Since the construction of my factory is already complete, does that mean the museum is completed as well?” Sonia asked, looking toward the direction of the museum.

However, it was a bit too far away and wasn’t visible to them at all.

Still, this didn’t stop Toby from telling her about it. “You don’t know yet? The museum has been open for a long time, probably since a month ago. There was even an open exhibition.”

“Really?” Sonia asked in surprise. “I didn’t know that at all. I haven’t heard of it.”

“It’s fine if you haven’t. It’s not that important after all. Come on, let’s go and have a look so that we can leave as soon as we’re done. You’ll probably be hungry soon.” He then took her hand in his and led her toward the entrance of the factory.

“Do you have the keys?”

“Of course, I do. You think I’d come here without the keys?”

He let out a chuckle at her words. “Okay, I was wrong.”

As they arrived at the main entrance, Sonia pulled out the key to the electric gate and pressed it. Soon, the doors to the factory opened slowly in both directions.

At the sight, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s quite high-tech.”

“It’s just a normal electric gate,” Toby commented after taking a glance. He was used to this sight, so he was not as astounded as her.

Sonia rolled her eyes at him, thinking that he was showing off. Though he was already used to it, she wasn’t in the slightest.

Whatever, I won’t bother. If he says something just as boastful again, I’m the one who’d be left speechless.

At that thought, Sonia loosened Toby’s hand and wandered between the massive machines and long stretches of assembly lines. As she gazed at these spanking-new machines, a sense of satisfaction she had never felt before surged in her heart. After all, she had worked hard to achieve everything she was looking at. In the past, she would never have believed that she was capable of doing this.

“What do you think? My factory is pretty good, huh?” She ran forward and turned around with her arms open, sending him a bright smile.

Upon seeing her elation, the man revealed a look of gentleness and indulgence. “Pretty good, indeed.”

“Although it isn’t comparable to the scale of any of the subsidiaries under Fuller Group, I believe that it’ll slowly expand one day.”

“I believe in that too.” Toby walked over and wrapped her in his arms.

Sonia retracted her arms and encircled his waist as well, leaning securely in his arms and enjoying his warm embrace. However, in the midst of their embrace, she suddenly caught a whiff of gasoline, and her delicate brows knitted together in a frown.

“What’s going on? Why is there the smell of gasoline?” She hurriedly removed herself from his embrace and looked around in an attempt to find the source of the smell.

Toby had smelled it as well, and his eyes narrowed.

Sonia approached the nearest large machine and sniffed at it. “That’s strange. It’s not like this thing is leaking oil either.”

Her words caught Toby off guard, and he let out a laugh. “This one uses machine oil, not gasoline.”

Sonia fell into an awkward silence, but her petite face soon turned serious again. “If it uses machine oil, why is there the smell of gasoline?”

“The smell is coming from there.” Suddenly, Toby pointed toward the entrance of the factory.

“Let’s go over and take a look.” As she spoke, she headed toward the direction he had pointed at.266104

Toby was just about to follow her when he sensed something and walked in the opposite direction instead.

Still unaware that he had not followed her, Sonia continued walking as she said, “You’re right. The smell is getting stronger… Hey, what’s that?”

Sonia’s feet came to a sudden halt as she looked at the red light coming from the ventilation windows above the factory entrance, her expression immediately darkening. It’s fire! Someone set the factory on fire!

Her eyes widened at the sight, and her face turned pale. Who started a fire?

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She was certain that the fire wasn’t an accident and was started by someone. After all, there weren’t any sources of ignition in sight when they walked in. Besides, the strong stench of gasoline could only be explained by intentional arson. Someone had tried to set her factory on fire or was trying to murder her and Toby, but whom could the perpetrator be?0

The faces of many people flashed through her mind, but she wasn’t sure who they could be. However, the most important issue at hand was not to figure out who the perpetrator was but to find a way to escape. Although the fire was still outside the factory and had not spread to the inside of the factory yet, it was only a matter of time before it reached them. Hence, they had to free themselves as soon as possible. If they spent too much time inside here, they would either be engulfed by the fire or suffocate to death.

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“Toby…” Sonia turned around and called out to him, only to find that there was no one behind her.

Toby was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go?

Sonia was first taken aback before she soon became anxious. She took out the key from her bag and pressed it at the gates while yelling at the top of her lungs, trying to open it. However, no matter how much she pressed the remote, the gates did not budge an inch, and it didn’t seem like it would open anytime soon.

At the sight, Sonia panicked. She hurriedly lowered her head and looked at the key in her hand. “What’s going on? Is it broken?”

However, the flashing green light on the key showed her that it was not broken. The problem lay with the gate, and that its lock had been destroyed by someone. When they entered earlier, the gates were working normally, but ever since the fire started, the key stopped working, which meant that the person who set the fire had also broken the gates at the same time.

At this point, Sonia was so anxious that she was near tears. If the gates couldn’t be opened, they would be trapped inside here. However, there was still hope—the main entrance wasn’t the only exit. There were more ways out from the back and the sides, and there were also windows, plenty of them, in fact. There’s no way they trapped us inside here by sealing off all the exits. But before that, I have to locate Toby. Where on earth did he go?

“Where are you, Toby?” Sonia clenched her hands, calling out to him once more with a frantic expression.