Secrets 283
Chapter 283 Breaking Point
Finished
“If we’re talking about the Lane family owing favors, then that would be too heavy a debt.”
Scarlett blinked in surprise. Jasper rarely strung together more than a few words, let alone explained himself.
She couldn’t help glancing at her mother with new respect. Truly, Sophia had once been a towering figure in the capital’s circles–enough to make even Jasper slip into a deferential mode.
Taylor, however, frowned. Something about Jasper’s tone grated. To him, it sounded almost obsequious, as if Jasper were trying too hard. Was he angling for a partnership with the Lane family? It didn’t quite add up.
Sophia, with her effortless poise, pressed on. “No matter what, you must stay for dinner tonight.”
Jasper inclined his head. “Thank you.”
She immediately ordered the staff to prepare and told Scarlett, “You keep Jasper company for now. I’ll make the arrangements.”
Taylor stepped in quickly. “I’ll take him around–I know the place better!”
Scarlett could only look between them. None of this felt normal anymore.
The interrogation room was bathed in harsh, sterile light. The hum of the fluorescent tubes filled the silence like a mosquito’s whine. Aurora sat hunched in a metal chair, nails digging into her palms, flecks of plaster still clinging beneath them from her failed attempt to claw at the wall the night before.
Captain Hawthorne dropped a file onto the table with a thud. Its cover was stamped in black: Attempted Murder. The words struck her like a hammer.
“Aurora,” he said, his voice glacial, sliding a stack of surveillance stills toward her, “we traced a number in your call logs–someone saved as “Tiger.’ Half an hour before the crash, you wired him a hundred thousand.”
The images showed a dark sedan, windows tinted, the driver’s silhouette blurred but the license plate clear. In the next shot, sparks flew as metal twisted, debris scattering across asphalt.
Aurora’s throat bobbed. Then, with a jarring laugh that broke on itself, she blurted, “It was Grace! She put me up to it!”
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8:31 Sat, Sep 27
Chapter 283 Breaking Point
90
Finished
The officer taking notes froze mid–scribble. Hawthorne arched a brow, gesturing for her to go
“Grace told you to hire someone to stage the crash?”
“She gave me the entire plan!” Aurora leaned forward, desperation distorting her features. “She said all I had to do was find Scarlett’s route. I thought it was for a business move! Who knew she’d actually set up a crash? The hundred thousand was her startup money!”
She yanked at her collar, revealing a faint bruise on her collarbone.
“She cornered me in a parking garage. Said if I failed, she’d ruin me—make me drop out of school! Do you know how hard I worked to get in? I can’t lose that!”
Hawthorne flipped open his notebook. “How did Grace put you in touch with the executor? Who gave you Tiger’s number?”
“It came through an overseas app!” Aurora’s eyes widened, pupils trembling. “She handed me an encrypted USB stick–Tiger’s contact and three bank cards were on it. Said if I did well, I’d be rewarded endlessly. She forced me to destroy it after–threw it in the river myself!”
Just then, the deputy entered with fresh evidence. He whispered to Hawthorne, laying down a bank transfer record. The sender’s name–Layton.
Aurora’s shriek split the room. “It’s him! The Kramer family’s driver! Last month I saw him with Grace in Kramer Corp’s garage, hauling four black tires out of the trunk. Same tread as the ones from the crash car!”
Her words mixed truth with lies. Layton was indeed the Kramer family’s driver, but the tires tied to him were actually linked to a smuggling case.
Hawthorne’s face betrayed nothing. “And where were you during the crash?”
“I was home–the entire Lane estate can vouch for me!” Aurora’s reply came too fast, fingers twisting her sleeve. “Grace told me not to get my hands dirty. Said the cleaner I stayed, the safer it’d be,”
When Hawthorne moved on to question Grace, the reaction was immediate and explosive.
“Absurd! Murder? Me? Don’t be ridiculous!” Grace’s voice cracked into hysteria. “I know the law! Do you think I’d ever be stupid enough to commit something like that?”
The accusations, to her, were madness. How could she, standing here with her perfect hair and polished nails, suddenly be branded a killer?