Chapter 1095

When Anastasia heard Layna's name, a suspicion flickered in her mind.

Could Layna be mixed up in all this?

She'd warned Juliana back when she was pregnant, worried something like this might happen.

Anastasia turned to the housekeeper. "Was Layna home at the time?"

"She was," the housekeeper replied. “Miss Layna stayed home all day."

Juliana shot her a glare. "Anastasia, what are you plotting now? Trying to pin this on someone else again? The two of you always back each other up."

Jason cut in, questioning the housekeeper. "If you had nothing to do with the peanut oil on the stairs, what's your connection to Mrs. Salstrom?"

"I don't know Mrs. Salstrom," the housekeeper answered honestly. “I just happened to run into her today. I don't know anything about perfumes, so since she was there,

I asked her for advice. My lady's fall had nothing to do with her.”

“Liar,” Juliana snapped. "You're both in on it. Anastasia, you're just jealous—I know you are! You planned this so I'd lose my baby. You went to my doctor appointments with me, you pushed me to stay at the hilltop villa—probably hoping to catch me alone. If I hadn't refused, you'd have had your chance."

“Juliana, are you nuts?" Anastasia was fuming. "I shouldn't have bothered looking out for you. Maybe you deserved a little pain. No good deed goes unpunished, huh? Like feeding a dog and getting bitten for it."

"Oh, you think you're some saint? If you are, may I get hit by a car the next time I step outside!" Juliana shouted, raising her voice for everyone to hear. "Officer, I want to press charges. Anastasia killed my child-she has to pay! Arrest her now!"

Jason looked like he'd had enough. "Juliana, everything you're saying is pure guesswork. Your housekeeper already said she doesn't know Anastasia. I have no grounds to detain anyone. Bring me real evidence if you want to file a case. This is a police station, not the set of your personal drama."

"You're all in this together," Juliana raged. "I'm filing a complaint! You're biased-just because you're friends with her. I want to see your chief."

"That's enough!" Jason slammed his hand on the desk. "If you keep interfering with official business and wasting police time, don't blame me for doing things by the book. Assaulting your own housekeeper is already a crime."

"She deserved it!" Juliana was beside herself. "She admitted it was her fault I miscarried."

She shot Anastasia another venomous look. "Don't think I don't know you're behind this just because you keep denying it. You and I are not done, Anastasia.”

Anastasia rolled her eyes so hard she could see her own brain.

Juliana refused to let it go, making a scene at the station until Jason finally called the Stranz family.

Scott was out of the country, so Mrs. Goad came to take Juliana home.

The housekeeper was left behind at the station-there was no way she'd dare set foot back in the Stranz house now, not with Juliana on the warpath.

Anastasia walked over and quietly asked, "Be honest, was there really peanut oil on the stairs?"

"There was, the housekeeper said, "but I cleaned it up. And really, why would there be peanut oil on the stairs? That belongs in the kitchen l have no idea how it got there, but I swear it wasn't me."

Exactly—peanut oil is for the kitchen. Why would it be on the staircase?

If it had been spilled all over, Juliana couldn't have missed it coming down.

The housekeeper said she smelled it, which meant there was nothing to see-just the scent left behind that pointed to someone deliberately smearing it where no one would notice.

None of the housemaids would make such a careless mistake or risk it. That left only one person.

After the housekeeper left, Anastasia finally shared her suspicion with Jason in a low voice. "I think Layna did it.”

“That little girl?" Jason was stunned. “She's Juliana's niece, right? I heard Juliana spoils her. Why would a kid that young do something like this?"

shook

Anastasia shook her head. "I don't know. But if it wasn't an accident, she's the only one who could have done it. That kid is... selfish. Cold, even. She once left Pattie stranded at the station, and when Pattle got kidnapped, Layna lied and said she hadn't seen her. Layna... Just wait. She's going to be real trouble when she grows up."