Chapter 499
[Lawyer]: “Jesse pressured me into taking on that case five years ago. I ended up blaming everything on Charlotte, the real victim. I’ve felt guilty ever since and I’m ready to face whatever consequences come my way.”
[Law Enforcement Officer]: “The real culprit was Jesse. Charlotte was innocent. I let money cloud my judgment and ignored my conscience. To make up for it, I’ve reported myself and I’m willing to accept whatever the law decides.”
The video went on for a while, with more people showing up. One by one, they apologized for smearing and framing Charlotte back then.
When the video ended, Melissa just stared, completely lost for words.
…
Across the city, The Main Estate felt heavy with tension. Olivia and her parents sat in stunned silence as the story kept flipping online.
The moment the truth came out, their phones wouldn’t stop ringing. Everyone wanted answers.
Elizabeth and Olivia had never imagined Charlotte could pull this off, tracking down every person involved and somehow convincing them to risk everything to tell the truth.
“Steven Elizabeth’s voice trembled. Her eyes were already red. “What are we supposed to do?”
Steven leaned forward with his head in his hands. The company had just gone bankrupt, and now this? He couldn’t believe it.
Back then, he’d suspected Charlotte had been set up. But Jesse had just landed a huge deal overseas. Any scandal would have blown it all up and cost the company a fortune. For the sake of the group, and since Charlotte really hadn’t been herself, Steven had looked the other way.
He never thought it would come to this. What now? He had no idea.
It was obvious Charlotte had planned everything to bring them down.
“Mom, call Jesse and warn him,” Olivia said quietly, anxiety twisting her voice. “As long as Jesse isn’t around, there’s no way to confirm any of this.”
“If we just wait, maybe it’ll blow over.”
Elizabeth nodded and grabbed her phone, but all she got was a message saying it was turned off.
A sense of dread settled over her.
Right then, her phone buzzed with a news alert. She glanced at it and almost dropped the phone.
[Jesse Turns Himself In]
“Wait, isn’t Jesse still in Veridia? Why would he come back and turn himself in?”
Olivia’s voice was shaky, her mind spinning.
Suddenly, she pictured Charlotte’s cold, emotionless face.
Wrecking the company was only step one.
Who was next? Was it her?
A chill ran through Olivia’s whole body. Panic crept in.
What was Charlotte going to do to her?
Outside the police station, a sleek sports car was parked at the curb. Charlotte gorgeous and poised, leurigear the back seat, sipping. milk. There was something almost childlike about her, despite
о
everything.
Hans returned to the car window. “Anthony, Charlotte, he’s inside. They’ll go through
the process, then send him to the psychiatric hospital.”
Anthony just nodded, then turned to
Charlotte and wrapped his hand around hers. His voice was gentle.
“Just hold on a couple more days Once he’s in the hospital, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Charlotte nodded, calm as ever. She wasn’t in a rush. She could wait.
She passed the milk to Anthony, grabbed her tablet, and opened a mysterious, blue screen. She found several posts that had fueled the umors With
several a few qtuck taps
anonymous usernames were replaced with real names.
Olivia.
Melissa.
In an instant, the whole internet went wild all over again.