Chapter 262

Vespera continued chatting with Brianna. She felt truly happy for them—and for herself. They could finally close the book on the lingering pain and grief they had endured for five years. Moreover, she had finally settled the score with Tina. Though she had to admit, she couldn't have done it without Dominic. Even if he was willing to let Rebecca take the credit, she couldn't possibly play dumb and pretend otherwise. The realization made her anxious, but she decided to rack her brain later…after everything with Tina was over.

Once they left the farmhouse, they headed straight to the police station. Dominic had already met with both Halewick and Ashford's chief police officer and passed on Brianna's message. Without full assurance of fairness, she wouldn't hand over the evidence. At the same time, he subtly shared his stance. He'd have the evidence backed up by the proper authorities to put Brianna at ease. If that still didn't work out, Dominic assured her he wouldn't mind going to the higher-ups. And if he did, he wouldn't stop at exposing a few spoiled apples—that should make them comply.

After the discussions, both parties agreed that once the evidence was confirmed, Tina would be arrested immediately.

At the hospital, both Tina and Jade were awake. When Jade found out Tina had survived, she lost all her will to live. She lay in bed, refusing food and water, her eyes blank and void of life. In another room, Tina woke up screaming and cursing from the sharp pain coming from her shoulder and her bandaged hands.

Claire, who had just been bailed out, tried to comfort her. But she didn't dare mention that Luke had refused to help and had already returned to Halewick, planning to completely abandon Tina. Once Tina calmed down after throwing a fit and heard the police were coming, she panicked.

“B—But the corpse…” she said, frightened.

“Don’t worry. They didn’t find it—someone moved it. Just say Jade has lost her mind, and you’ll be fine. I’ve got everything under control. Nothing’s going to happen to you,” Claire whispered.

Tina sighed in relief. As soon as she felt in the clear, her expression twisted with hatred as she thought about Jade.

“Jade is as good as dead! How dare she attack me? I’ll be sure to cut off her hands and legs,” she hissed. “And Vespera—does she think she can steal Luke just because she has dirt on me? In her dreams! Just wait, I’ll make her suffer a fate worse than Jade’s!”

“No! Stop talking like that. And never, ever cross Vespera again!” Claire warned.

Me found Vespera terrifying. She didn’t dare tell Tina how she’d faked fainting and left her to die when Jade attacked her.

Tina paused. Something didn’t sit right with her.

“Wait, Vespera showed up in Ashford like she was ready to ambush us. How did she know we set a trap?”

A thought struck Claire—Luke. Could he have teamed up with them?

“Mone, you know something, don’t you?” Tina asked coldly. She caught the flicker of surprise on Claire’s face, something that told her things had gone wrong. Before Claire could answer, the door burst open.