Chapter 304
Theodore’s secretary was organizing his desk when someone suddenly burst in Startled to see who it was, the paused. “Mr. Ford Ey right o’clock. Mr. Russell hasn’t arrived yet.”
Ashton, visibly exhausted from a sleepless night, was nevertheless brimming with urgency “Call Theodore. Find out where he is. I need in see him.”
The secretary frowned. “Why not call him yourself?”
“Just do it,” Ashton snapped. “Don’t ask questions.”
“Alright… Reluctantly, she picked up the phone.
A moment later, she hung up and looked at him with concern. “He said he’s at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Is he… unweli?”
“Don’t
be dramatic. He
He’s visiting someone. With that, Ashton turned and headed straight for the hospital.
Inside the ward, Eliana took advantage of a pause between bites of breakfast to ask, “How did it go with Ashton last night?”
Theodore’s expression darkened at the mention of the name. “He’s gone abroad.”
Eliana pressed her lips together, then said quietly, “I really think we should let the police handle this. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Theodore’s tone softened. “I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry. Just finish your meal”
After swallowing a bite, she added, “I want to go home today.”
He frowned. “No. You’re not fully healed yet. You need more rest”
Eliana gave a faint smile. “I can rest at home. And it’s a lot more comfortable.”
Just then, a series of urgent knocks came from the door,
Eliana turned and caught sight of Ashton. Her voice wavered. “He’s back.”
Outside, Ashton froze at the sight of Eliana’s pale, frail figure. Regret warred on his face, He didn’t mean to hurt Eliana and only wanted to
find Harper.
Theodore set the breakfast aside and walked toward the door. Ashton drew in a deep breath. As soon as the door opened, he spoke, “Theodore, I swear, I had nothing to do with Eliana’s brake failure.”
Theodore said nothing, a cigarette between his lips.
Ashton pressed on. “Think about it. If I wanted to kill her, why not just shoot her? Why mess with the brakes? It doesn’t make sense.”
Only when the cigarette had burned to its end did Theodore speak, voice low and hoarse. “You didn’t shoot because it would’ve drawn attention. You tampered with her car so it would look like an accident.”
Ashton’s face tightened. “Do you really believe I’m capable of that?”
Theodore looked him straight in the eye. “You told me last night you wanted her dead. I recorded it. The police have it now.
Chapter 904
Ashton finched, recalling Theodore’s repeated questioning over the phone.
The first time he hadn’t heard clearly. The second time, he’d answered out of spite
“I didn’t know about the brakes. I only said that because I was angry.”
“Tell it to the police,” Theodore said coolly
Ashton stared at him for a moment. “You’re not thinking straight. Let me speak to Eliana Just for a moment.”
Theodore’s tone turned sharp. “You think I’d let you hurt her again?
Ashton’s lips parted but no words came. He knew whatever trust he’d once had was gone.
Just then, a group of officers emerged from the elevator. They were here for him.
Ashton’s eyes reddened. Tine. I’ll cooperate. But Theodore, I gave up bringing Harper back from Meliora and came straight here, for no reason other than to clear my name.”
The officers, seeing he wasn’t resisting, made no move to use force.
As he was about to be led away, Ashton suddenly gave a faint smile. “By the way, Harper’s pregnant. I’m going to be
He looked more alive than he had in days. He had no reason to harm Eliana, not when he was about to become a father, not when Harper was
so close.
For a moment, something flickered in Theodore’s eyes. Still, his voice was steady. “Take him.”
At 9:30a.m., inside the Russell Group’s conference hall, Anthony glanced at the empty head seat and allowed himself a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
A few board members exchanged puzzled looks. “Strange,” one of them murmured. “Mr. Russell called for this early meeting himself. Why is he the one being late?””
Theodore’s secretary offered a hesitant explanation. “Mr. Russell was called away unexpectedly. I’m afraid he won’t be able to attend. Perhaps it’s best if we adjourn?”
“What’s come up?” someone asked, but Anthony remained silent, far less curious than the others.
He could guess where Theodore was, either at the hospital watching over Ellana or at the precinct pursuing answers about the brake failure. But regardless of how thoroughly he investigated, all he’d find would be a carefully orchestrated accident.
The image of Elana lying in a hospital bed gave Anthony a brief pause. But the thought was quickly replaced by the reassurance that Theodore, preoccupied as he was, would be unable to divert attention back to the company any time soon. He hadn’t let Logan down.
With that, Anthony rose to his feet. “Let’s not be so quick to leave,” he said, drawing the room’s attention
A slight smile touched his lips. “Since we’re all here, why not take the opportunity to decide whether we’ll proceed with the Wren Group partnership and move forward with the Deepcove bid?”
At Ashbury Police Station, Ashton stepped out of the patrol car and turned to the officer beside him. “Officer, would it be possible for me to review the surveillance footage from before Eliana’s accident?”
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Chapter 304.
Given Ashton’s cooperation and the fact that the investigation was still ongoing, the officer agreed. He led him to the metal pulled up the footage of the rear–end collision on Ashbury Road,
Ashton watched it carefully, then said, “Could I also see the surveillance from around the government building?
The officer hesitated. “Mis Russell parked in a relatively secluded area. Unfortunately, the camera envering that corner was partially obscured by tree branches. Nothing useful was recorded.”
The mounting coincidences unsettled Ashton.
It was starting to look less like an accident, more like a calculated setup. And he, by sheer misfortune, had played the scapegoat.
After a moment, he asked, “How many cameras are positioned around the building?”
“Five in total,” the officer replied. “One on each side, plus the ane blocked by foliage.”
Ashton suggested, “Then let’s review footage from the remaining four. I want to identify everyone who appears on camera between the time Eliana parked and the time she left. One by one.”
The officer raised his brows. “That’s going to be a lot of work.”
Ashton shook his head. “The government building is the highest authority in Covenhill. The number of people with clearance to conduct business there each day is limited. And anyone hanging around without a legitimate reason? That’s who we should be looking at
“True,” the officer said, realization dawning, though a new concern quickly surfaced. “But the government building is Mr. Jean’s domain. Will he even permitan investigation?”
AD
