Chapter 174
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Chapter 174
“If I’d known things would end up like this, I never should’ve pushed you to marry her in the first place p>
“You really think…” For once, a hint of obsession slipped into Chris’s usually detached voice. “You could have forced me p>
Mrs. Xander Sr. froze, something stormy rising in her eyes.
“What did you just say p>
Chris lowered his gaze slightly. A chill settled over his features. He stood, took his coat from the arm of the lounge chair, and turned toward the door.
Mrs. Xander Sr. suddenly stopped him. “Why have you been investigating the Scott family all these years? What are you really trying to find p>
He stopped with one hand on the door. The other hand, still gripping his coat, tightened into a fist. His jaw went rigid.
“Nothing p>
He opened the door and walked out without looking back.
Outside the Xander estate, Gavin was already standing by the car with the door open.
Chris tossed his coat inside, then sank into the soft leather seat. He pressed two fingers to his brow, his whole body giving off a worn-down, defeated air.
The car pulled out of the Xander estate and headed for Blackwood Manor.
“Not a word of this gets back to her p>
Gavin heard the order from the back seat and nodded. “Understood, Mr. Xander p>
“But… are you really going to keep this from her forever p>
Chris turned and looked out at the passing night. “She couldn’t handle it p>
Gavin didn’t ask anything else.
Just then, Chris’s phone started ringing. He looked at the name on the screen, lips pressed tight. His fingers closed hard around the phone, but he still didn’t answer. He let it ring until it stopped.
A few seconds later, Gavin’s phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Mrs. Xander.
Only then did he realize the call Chris had ignored was from Winter.
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He looked up at the rearview mirror and asked, “Mr. Xander, it’s Mrs. Xander. Should I answer p>
Silence filled the back seat.
Gavin quietly looked away, then answered the phone.
“Gavin, where’s Chris p>
Gavin frowned slightly. Winter’s voice sounded calm, but there was something off about it.
His tone stayed as respectful as ever. “We’re on our way back to Blackwood Manor p>
He thought she had called because she wanted to say more.
Instead, she just said flatly, “Okay p>
Then she hung up.
A lighter clicked in the back seat.
Chris lit a cigarette. The ember glowed faintly in the dark, too weak to light the shadows on his face.
Then Gavin heard him say in a low, hoarse voice, “Drive faster p>
Gavin pressed harder on the gas, and the car picked up speed as it headed toward Blackwood Manor.
They hadn’t even reached the security checkpoint. Then suddenly, a figure came running out of the bare woods on both sides of the tree-lined road and threw her arms out in front of the car.
Gavin’s face changed, and he slammed on the brakes.
The cold wind whipped through Winter’s long hair. Under the headlights, her face looked so pale it was almost transparent, as if one more gust might tear her apart.
The cigarette slipped from Chris’s fingers. Sparks scattered as it fell, flaring for a second before dying out just as quickly.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes.
In the thick darkness, he looked at Winter standing there in the wind. His fingers clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, the joints cracking softly.
Mrs. Xander Sr. had asked what he had been investigating about the Scott family.
He couldn’t even remember when it had started anymore.
It had been too long.
Back when she was still a teenage girl.
What had he been investigating?
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Evidence that would prove the Scott family was innocent.
He had lost his parents as a child, yet he had spent all these years searching for proof that the family supposedly responsible for their deaths was innocent.
It was absurd. Pathetic. A betrayal of everything he came from.
All because, deep down, he wanted the Scott family to be innocent.
D
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Florence
A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.