Chapter 536
“I knew it! I knew something was wrong that day at the cemetery. Jarred never broke a sweat; he must have tampered with it p>
Luna’s face was flushed with righteous fury on Sienna’s behalf.
“Celeste faked her death less than a month ago. How could properly sealed ashes suddenly suffer severe contamination?
It’s a blatant abuse of power! Aside from Jarred, no one else has the capability or the motive to pull this off p>
Thea frowned, shaking her head. “Knowing Jarred’s style, he wouldn’t do something so obviously illegal.
He excels at backing people into corners within the rules, not leaving massive liabilities outside of them.
Besides, we kept a close eye on the entire forensic process. There were cameras at every stage.
Tampering with evidence right under everyone’s noses is too risky p>
Thea pushed her glasses up, shifting her gaze to Sienna. “I’m more inclined to believe the contamination is real.
Someone prepared for this in advance, but that person wasn’t Jarred p>
Luna opened her mouth to argue but couldn’t find the words.
She turned to Sienna, whose utter lack of panic only made Luna’s own anxiety spike higher.
She grabbed Sienna’s wrist, her anger masking a deep layer of desperation.
“Sienna, what do we do now? The DNA route is a dead end; we can’t force her back.
She gets to vanish completely and get away with it! All our groundwork was for nothing p>
Sienna placed her coffee cup back onto the table.
There wasn’t a single shred of defeat in her clear eyes—only the absolute confidence of someone holding a winning hand.
Thea studied her calm, certain features, a knowing smile touching her eyes.
“Luna is about to lose her mind, stop keeping us in suspense. Tell us your plan p>
“If one road is blocked, we take another.” Sienna looked up, meeting the curious stares of her friends with a faint smile.
“The test results only prove that the ashes don’t belong to Celeste. But that was never the only card in my hand p>
With that, she picked up her phone, swiftly unlocked the screen, and dialed a number.
“Alister, hand the evidence to the police p>
Meanwhile.
In the second-floor study at Solstice Hill.
Declan gripped a transparent file folder containing the official report from the forensic center.
He hurried up the stairs, but the moment he stepped inside and saw Jarred signing documents at his desk he swallowed his urgency, taking a breath to steady himself before speaking.
“Boss, the results from the center are in p>
Declan’s voice held an undetectable tightness. When the man at the desk didn’t react he carefully placed the report down, his tone a mix of respect and apprehension,
“The sample was severely contaminated. The extraction failed. The conclusion is that they can’t even confirm the species the evidence is completely worthless.
Jarred didn’t even look up. His eyes remained fixed on the documents, his peripheral vision merely glancing at the final conclusion of the report.
No shock. No surprise. Not a single ripple of emotion.
He never doubted Declan’s competence.
After a long pause, his lips parted, delivering a single, flat syllable. “Mhm p>
It was the completely indifferent tone of a man who had everything under absolute control.
It was as if this suspiciously timed failure was exactly what he had expected all along.
He waved a hand dismissively. “Leave it. You can go p>
But Declan went completely rigid, his feet glued to the floor, refusing to move an inch.
The air in the office instantly thickened, the subtle abnormality immediately caught by Jarred’s radar.