Chapter 301
Her rhetorical question landed with absolute finality.
The backyard plunged into a dead silence.
The suspicion and contempt on everyone’s faces instantly froze.
Celeste Carlyle sat in her wheelchair, keeping her head lowered so no one could catch the fleeting flash of malice in her eyes.
Jarred’s dark gaze abruptly focused, landing on Sienna’s cold, stubborn profile, a storm of incredibly complex emotions churning in his eyes.
He understood the psychology of this game all too well; human nature was never this contradictory.
A true villain would only apply pressure and coerce, never genuinely save lives.
He knew better than anyone that Sienna was proud, independent, and undeniably honorable to her core.
She disdained using underhanded tactics to threaten others, let alone saving someone while simultaneously plotting their ruin.
She had never been the villain in this story.
Sienna didn’t look at anyone else.
Her gaze fixed entirely on Mrs. Bridges, who was slumped on the ground.
“Mrs. Bridges, you claimed I put you up to this. Tell me, exactly how did I instruct you?
When, where, and what exactly did I tell you to say? I want you to repeat my supposed instructions word for word p>
Collapsed on the ground, Mrs. Bridges didn’t dare to lift her head, much less meet Sienna’s eyes.
She was shaking uncontrollably, her forehead pressed hard against the freezing pavement as tears cascaded down her face.
The last shreds of her conscience were on the verge of collapsing; the guilt and torment were suffocating her.
Seeing Mrs. Bridges in such a state, something flickered faintly in Sienna’s eyes.
A person could endure their own suffering, but very few could bear the suffering of their family.
Sienna didn’t blame her, but she also had no intention of just letting this slide.
She knew Mrs. Bridges was innocent, but nobody deserved to be a sacrificial lamb.
Mrs. Bridges’ cries grew louder, her body practically flattened against the ground.
Her lips trembled violently; it was obvious she couldn’t hold out much longer and was on the brink of confessing the entire truth to the crowd.
They were just one step away from turning the tables and clearing Sienna’s name.
But in that crucial, heart-stopping moment, Celeste, who had been watching in silence, suddenly spoke up in a soft, airy voice.
Sitting in her wheelchair, her pale face carrying a sickly, fragile vulnerability, she looked utterly harmless.
“Ms. Sloan is kindhearted and means well by saving lives, I can certainly understand that p>
Celeste furrowed her brows slightly, wearing an expression of sympathetic realization. Her gaze landed on Mrs Bridges, her gentle Words masking lethal poison.
“But Mrs. Bridges doesn’t just have a husband, right? I remember she also has a daughter studying at a top university abroad.
If it were me, I wouldn’t be foolish enough to use someone so close by as leverage—a simple investigation would expose everything.
But someone overseas is entirely different. They are far from reach, out of sight. You could do anything to them, and no one would ever know p>
That short paragraph instantly inverted the entire situation, reigniting the crowd’s suspicion.
Sienna’s pupils dilated slightly, her heart sinking like a stone.
She had missed this variable.
She knew Mrs. Bridges had a critically ill husband, but she had completely forgotten about the daughter living overseas.
She had never met the girl, only hearing Mrs. Bridges mention her in passing shortly after marrying Jarred.
Mrs. Bridges had suffered poor health in her youth and hadn’t had this daughter until she was forty, the elderly couple treated the girl like an absolute treasure!
Almost the exact second Celeste finished speaking, Jarred’s gaze shot over.
Those eyes, honed during his time as a SWAT captain, now carried an almost razor-sharp scrutiny.
Like a predator locking onto its prey, he studied every inch of Celeste’s face.
A chill ran down Celeste’s spine under that intense glare, her fingers involuntarily tightening around the armrests of her wheelchair.