“Any recollection?” Leo’s expression remained unchanged, but Elyse could sense his hostility. The
frostiness sent chills deep into her bones.
She finally looked up shakily with darting eyes. “Leo…”
“You can’t hide what you did forever. Calista from Kirkford Village is the daughter of the family who got
Bria buried under the pillar. The other three are related to their family.”
She did not need further explanation to understand what he was getting at. Not only had he gotten to
the bottom of the incident, but he also hurt everyone she worked with to take revenge on her, and he
didn’t even bother to hide the truth. It was a clear attempt at taunting and humiliating her.
How ruthless!
Elyse sat tensely on the bed and realized belatedly that, before this, Leo had only shown her a tenth of
the ruthlessness he was capable of.
“Get her the best medicine, doctor, and nurse,” Leo gave some instructions and left.
Eugene, who had been following Leo around, stole a glance at Elyse and looked at Leo with pursed
lips. Leo took revenge on Elyse because of her wrongdoing, but he asked Eugene to take care of Elyse
out of courtesy. It was Leo’s way of telling Elyse that Ellen’s kindness could only go so far as to spare
Elyse’s life, and served as a warning that Elyse might end up in a worse situation if she dared to
misbehave.
…
Bria suffered from some fractures but was not in serious condition. When Amelie was released from the
hospital, she brought Bria home with her and hired a doctor to look after Bria.
Meanwhile, Samuel and Julia did not slow down on their investigations. One day, he and Julia visited
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAmelie with the results of their investigation. “Someone purposely shoved Bria under the pillar.”
Amelie had expected the answer, but the truth still crushed her.
“How could they hurt a kid? That’s pure evil!” As one of the victims, Julia took the investigation
personally. She could not hold back her anger and resentment. “Have we found the criminals behind
this? They’d better not get caught because I will skin them alive!”
Samuel gave her a look. He could not deal with her temper, but he also understood that she suffered
from guilt for failing to protect Bria in the accident. He reached out to squeeze her hand.
Amelie was slightly better at keeping her emotions in check, but as Bria’s mother, she was anxious to
know the outcome of the investigation. Samuel read their expression and stared at Amelie with a
knowing look. “I found the people behind the accident, but something odd happened to them. They
were all hurt to different extents over the past two days.”
He pursed his lips tensely before continuing. “The guy who caused Julia’s wrist dislocation got into an
accident two days ago and lost both arms. The couple who shoved Bria under the pillar was now buried
in a collapsed mine. They are alive but are likely to be paralyzed from the incident.”
“The others got into different troubles as well, to the point that the Kirkford villagers thought there must
be some paranormal activities around. They have been holding ceremonies for days to drive away the
spirits.”
Amelie and Julia took deep breaths, for they knew that ghosts were merely superstitions. Someone
was behind the rogue justice, leaving them wondering about the identity of this merciless and ruthless
person.
Their eyes fell on Samuel. Amelie whispered her guess, “Could that person be… Leo…” Leo’s figure
popped up in her mind.
“Leo Alston?” Julia finished her sentence. “Is that possible?”
“Based on our analysis, we could confirm that he was behind the revenge,” Samuel added. Amelie’s
expression crumbled as she struggled to comprehend. She knew that the perpetrators were seemingly
after Bria, but they were really after her.
Is Leo avenging me? Amelie wondered.
“There must be a mastermind behind the collapse. What’s the motive of the villagers in hurting Bria
when they had nothing to do with us?” Julia asked a pointed question. Samuel’s expression changed
when he heard that. After a pause, he explained, “This has been the focus of our investigation. But
someone clearly destroyed the evidence by erasing the key information. That’s why nothing showed up
in our investigation.”
“Erasing information?” Julia’s heart sank. “Who would do that?”
“I’m not sure.” Samuel shook his head. “But one thing is clear—two different groups were behind this
accident.”
“That mastermind must be very powerful to get help from two different groups.” Samuel’s remark led to
more doubts in Julia.
“It’s not hard to guess.” Amelie finally spoke after a long silence. “Just list out the people who hold
grudges against me, and we’ll get the answer.”
Amelie was indeed intelligent. Julia came to a realization and slapped her thighs in excitement. “Yes!
Why have we not thought of that? My kind Elie, you rarely make enemies. There are only a few who
hold grudges against you!”
Julia did not name the three people, but they knew the answer. Elyse Clayton, Melissa Richards, and
Jodie Alston were prime suspects.
The Alstons would never mess with Bria to hurt Amelie, which left Elyse as the only suspect.
Samuel marveled at Amelie’s wits. He appeared troubled when he considered Julia’s point. He finally
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmconfessed with much difficulty, “Something else happened at Kirkford as well. Two days ago, Elyse was
abducted by the villagers and thrown to a madman. The madman burned down the house she was kept
in, and she almost died in the fire.”
“Why didn’t she just die?” Julia cursed spitefully, showing her extreme dislike for Elyse. Samuel went
on, “But Leo Alston arrived on time and saved her life. She suffered from a fractured leg because of the
fire and was warded in the hospital.”
“What’s wrong with Leo Alston? Why is he good to that phony b*tch?” Julia complained grudgingly
again. “Anyway, this shows that the villagers were not coming for Elie—they were after Leo. Is that
right?”
It was unsurprising that Bria and Elyse were tied with Leo because they were close to him. Still, Amelie
held a different opinion. “There might be some misunderstanding. Don’t you think that what the
villagers did to Elyse was intentional revenge?”
“Are you saying that Elyse was responsible for the collapse, and someone who knew the truth got the
villagers to take revenge on her?” Julia’s eyes sparkled excitedly at Amelie’s bold assumption, which
cleared some of their lingering doubts.
Amelie fell silent and pursed her lips with a thoughtful expression. If Leo could discover the identity of
the people who shoved Bria, he must have also found out that Elyse was the perpetrator. Even after
Elyse committed a horrific crime, he was unwilling to hurt her. What’s that about?
She wondered if he was one of the people who helped to erase evidence that implicated Elyse.
He’s still as protective and attentive when it comes to Elyse. Amelie sighed and smiled bitterly. She
realized that Leo only took revenge against the villagers for Bria, not her.
At the thought of it, she stood up without warning, which startled Julia. “Elie?”
“I need to get something done. I’ll be out for a while.” Amelie was gone in no time.
“Where’s Elie going?” Julia was flabbergasted.
Samuel did not reply, but he appeared more worried than before.