Bethan shivered violently when she heard the busy dial tone from the phone.
Thump! The phone fell to the ground.
The startled Vanessa quickly came over to catch Bethan from falling. “What’s wrong?”
“I…”
Bethan turned to look at Vanessa, and her tears started to fall. “I killed Anne.
“I killed Anne…”
Had she not been so uselessly bored with staying in the small place with Brettley, and had she not asked Anne to go shopping with her, this accident would not have happened. If she stopped Anne before she attempted to eavesdrop on Jacqueline and James’ conversation, none of this would have happened.
She was the one who killed Anne. She killed her best friend-a very important friend.
She bit her lip. A wave of sadness hit her. Her vision darkened before she passed out.
Vanessa supported Bethan’s body and furrowed her brow vehemently. The police and storekeeper hurried and called 911. Later, they helped Vanessa to lay Bethan on the floor by the side.
Since Vanessa could not unlock Bethan’s phone, she could only use her own phone to call Jude, who eventually picked up.
He sounded annoyed, however. “Miss Chance, I’ve already told you it’s none of my business after I sent you girls to the police station. Stop bothering me, please! I’m really not interested in you.”
Vanessa’s heart throbbed painfully when she heard Jude’s impatient voice. She bit her lip and tried to suppress her emotion. “Jude, listen to me. I’m calling you because I have something important to tell you.
“Someone has killed Anne. Her husband just called, and we confirmed she has indeed passed.”
Instantly, Jude fell quiet after hearing that. After a while, he cursed, “What bullshit are you talking about?”
‘How is that possible? Anne was still alive a few hours ago. How is that possible?’ he thought.
“I’m not talking nonsense.”
Vanessa inhaled deeply. “Bethan passed out because she was in huge sorrow. I can’t get Brettley, that’s why I called you.
“I’m very sad to hear that Dr. Anne was killed, but what happened has happened. We need to think about what to do next. Get Brettley to contact us and come to take Bethan, as well as to deal with John. I think I heard him blaming Bethan for Anne’s death.
“People will often say and do something illogical when they’re in deep pain and sadness. We need to be prepared.”
She took a deep breath. “That’s all I want to say. Hurry and do what I told you. It’ll be good if you can come along. I’m afraid Brettley won’t be able to handle everything on his own.”
With that, Vanessa hung up.
Jude could not believe what he just heard while still holding his phone to his ear. All the time, he had thought Vanessa was a spoiled socialite who did not know the ways of the world and liked to play tricks on people.
When Vanessa talked so calmly and clearly on the phone, he thought differently about her.
Though, had he underestimated her all along?
He shook his head and got rid of the unwanted emotion. It was not the right time to think of this.
After a deep breath, he used his phone to call Brettley. “Brettley, something bad happened.”
Bethan did not regain consciousness even when Brettley arrived at the hospital.
He frowned and looked at Vanessa, who was standing at the door. “What happened?”
Vanessa paused before she went through what happened and told the same things she told Jude.
“I’m not asking about this.”
Brettley’s brow tightened. “I’m asking why you girls made that decision.”
Vanessa paused, and her face paled. “At that time, we thought…we just needed to lure Willow away and go save Anne.”
Brettley furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you two think before you decided that? If the mission James gave Willow is to kill Anne, what do you think she’d do to avoid Anne from escaping when you lure Willow away?”
Vanessa lowered her head quietly after listening to what Brettley said. “She’d…kill Anne to stop her from escaping.”
She never thought of that. For the last 20 years, she had lived in a very simple world, having never experienced this sort of calamity. That was why Vanessa thought the reason Willow kidnapped Anne was to threaten Bethan and that Willow would never go to the extreme.
Thus, she and Bethan decided to go with that solution and lured Willow out.
She bit her lip and clenched her fists. “I only thought about sending people to save Anne quickly…but I didn’t think that far. I thought if Willow wasn’t there, it’d be easier to save Anne. I never thought…”
Brettley frowned when he looked at Vanessa’s pale face. “Miss Chance, I’m not blaming you. I’m just asking: Why didn’t you girls talk to me before deciding that?”
If he knew it, he would never have allowed them to do such a foolish move. They did not even know the reason why Willow kidnapped Anne before they lured Willow out.
“I…”
“If you’re not blaming them, what are you doing?”
Vanessa had not even had the chance to talk for herself when she heard Jude’s distant voice. “Brettley, don’t forget. Vanessa wasn’t the only one who made that decision. Bethan was there, too. Both of them discussed it and decided on this together. Shouldn’t you go to Bethan and blame her, too?”
Brettley furrowed his brow vehemently. He turned to the side and glanced at Jude. “Bethan is still unconscious because she was too upset.”
“So you’re blaming Vanessa for everything because Bethan is unconscious?”
Jude walked over and used his tall, huge body, stepping between Brettley and Vanessa.
“Vanessa doesn’t have any grievances with Anne; Anne’s death won’t bring her anything good. I know you’re all devastated and wanted to find someone to vent out your anger now that Anne is dead, but you looked for the wrong person!”
“Vanessa has nothing to do with this from the beginning. She was never involved in anything when Anne was kidnapped. She was just being kind when she found out the person who kidnapped Anne was her old classmate. She thought she could lend a hand. Don’t you try to blame everything on her!”
Brettley furrowed his brow vehemently. He rubbed his glabella helplessly. “I’m not venting or blaming anyone.”
He just wanted to know the details at those moments.
After a while, he looked at Jude helplessly. “Can Miss Chance and I talk alone?”
Jude snorted. “No.”
Brettley’s brow furrowed vehemently at what Jude said. “Didn’t you say you’re not interested in Ms. Chance?”
‘Why is Jude so eager to protect Vanessa? It’s like they’re closer than a real couple.’ he thought. Jude felt like something was choking him. Rubbing his neck, he replied, “I’m just being reasonable. You can’t possibly blame everything on Vanessa just because she was kind enough to help. Maybe she is partly responsible, but the real villains are those people who killed Anne.
He frowned and looked at Vanessa, who, in her shock, touched his back. “Brettley’s not calm now. Don’t mind what he said.”
He then grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
He strode outside the hospital while holding her hand.
Brettley stood still as he squinted, staring at Jude and Vanessa’s retreating forms. When both of them were out of sight and were nowhere to be seen in the hallway, he turned and entered the hospital.
He asked the doctor with a soft voice, “How’s she doing?”
“Her emotions dropped severely in a very powerful state of shock.”
The doctor sighed. “I’ve already given her the necessary medication. She should be awake within an hour.”
The doctor patted Brettley’s shoulder. “Mr. Morrison, it’s important that you don’t trigger her whatsoever when she regains consciousness.”
Brettley nodded and expressed his gratitude to the doctor before the doctor left the ward. Quickly enough, the door to the ward closed.
Brettley approached Bethan’s bed and grabbed her hand softly. “Bethan.”
Bethan’s eyelashes quivered despite being unconscious.
“I know you can hear me. I just heard about what happened to Anne.”
After he contacted John, he handed Anne’s incident to Vanessa, Bethan, and the police before focusing entirely on gathering information for tonight’s wedding.
Jacqueline went through much trouble to kidnap Anne, just to confirm Brettley and Bethan would attend her wedding tonight. Therefore, he had reason to believe Jacqueline had planned to do something to Bethan and him during the wedding. He needed to prepare ahead so nothing would catch them off-guard.
Alas…he never thought such misfortune would befall him and his companions.
“Don’t worry.”
Brettley took a deep breath while he gazed at the still-unconscious Bethan. “I’ll take revenge for Anne. Willow, Jacqueline, and Adrian. I won’t let any of them go.”
Bethan’s finger moved slightly after Brettley finished talking.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.