"Grace, whose name fitted the person, pure, elegant and beautiful. She was a lady with a classical and aristocratic bearing, as if she were one of the goddesses in ancient times. Yakira was no match for Grace in appearance or bearing. No wonder Leo refused to divorce Grace and marry her instead even after Yakira had pressured him in so many ways."
Paul's mind wandered back to the first time he met Grace. She was like a fairy. He had never met a woman as beautiful as Grace. She was so sweet and tender, whom no one would have the heart to harm. At one point, Paul hesitated, he didn't want to be part of Yakira's evil plan anymore, but this thought had only lasted for a few minutes.
"My cousin Yakira had been jealous of Grace ever since she met her. At first she just wanted to force Grace to leave Leo. But having seen how beautiful Grace was, Yakira knew that she could never compete with her. She was worried that Leo would never get over her even after Grace left him. To get rid of Grace once and for all, Yakira came up with a scheme to cook up a car accident, and Grace would disappear forever from this world, or at least become a vegetable so that Leo would eventually be able to forget her." Hearing this, Luke's brows knitted tightly. He figured Daisy had inherited her mom's genes, although Grace's beauty was beyond his imagination.
"Having felt Leo's indifferent attitude after her last attempt, Yakira stopped pushing him to marry her. She started trying to let Grace know about her existence and cause her to be suspicious of Leo. Then she began carrying out her plan. In the scheme I pretended to be an informant. I called her and led her to the apartment where Leo was cheating on her with Yakira. Sure enough, when Grace got there she saw Leo in bed with Yakira. She collapsed, but said and did nothing but left with a deathly pale face. Everything was going as expected for Yakira. A perfect plan. Leo never knew his wife had been there that night."
Paul drank a mouthful of water. He was scum, but even he had felt guilty when he saw a reasonable, beautiful woman like Grace be suddenly afflicted by grief. However, the skin is closer than the shirt. In order not to be killed by loan sharks, he disposed of his last trace of conscience and helped Yakira become the wife of the CEO of Ouyang Foreign Trade.
"And you sabotaged Grace's car, didn't you?" Luke asked, gritting his teeth. His icy voice sounded menacing and even louder than it actually was in the quiet room.
"How did you know?" Paul looked at Luke in shock. He had made sure everything was perfect. He couldn't believe anybody was able to find any flaw.
"I also know that you used to be an expert in refitting posh cars. You were even faster than the mechanics at Formula 1 World Championship. And the loan sharks put a hit on you because you were deeply in debt through gambling losses. Keep talking." Luke sneered. The file Jonathan had offered recorded details of Grace's car accident, but it couldn't be proved that the device in the car had been sabotaged, because the person who had done it had considered the car's performance, parameters and even errors during his dirty work. Only professionals could have noticed anything unusual. Paul had covered his trail well and successfully fooled the police. The car accident case had been closed sloppily. But unluckily for Paul, in the Mayfly there were elites at refitting cars too, who had seen through his little game.
"I messed with Grace's car a little when she was upstairs. That night Grace drove away with a sad, absent look on her face. She stepped on the gas and sped all the way just as Yakira and I had expected, because one is liable to lose control over their emotions and become irrational when devastated. Flooring the accelerator, as Grace did, is the most dangerous thing one might do in an unstable mental state."
Paul closed his eyes. He had followed Grace in his car that night. He had been pleased that everything had gone well, just as Yakira had planned. But meanwhile, his remaining conscience had been praying that Grace wouldn't suddenly step on the brake. If she hadn't, things wouldn't have turned out to be that horrible after the car crash. Grace would have been severely injured at most instead of been killed.
"You knew what would happen. That was why you chose that means to take her out, not to mention her child. Did you know about Grace's pregnancy before that night and step up your plans to kill her? Or was that just a coincidence?" Luke's fists were clenched tightly as if he couldn't wait to kill Paul on the scene. An innocent fetus had been murdered even before it was born just because of someone's vicious private agenda. It was unbearably brutal and inhuman. Hadn't they feared that they would meet their end one day for their sins? "Yes. At first my cousin just wanted her to become a vegetable or a cripple. But she changed her mind after she accidentally found out that Grace was pregnant. Because Leo didn't know Grace was pregnant yet, Yakira was worried that Leo might dump her if he knew, so she decided to make Grace disappear before Leo found out about the baby." Paul didn't think he was ruthless. It was a dark, cold world. To live a better life, you had to cash in on someone else's life. Anyone else would do the same thing as he did. After all, who would give up a chance to live? And who didn't want a better life except dumb asses? "You have been living a comfortable life after killing an innocent woman. I have to say you are the most despicable and cold-blooded person in the world." Luke looked at him with contempt. Luke might not be noble, but he wouldn't harm innocent people, let alone women and children. All he handled was dangerous people who endangered Edward.
"Not even close. I have been having nightmares in the past twenty odd years. The dreadful scenes of Grace's car crashing into a big truck kept flashing back to my mind. When she was pulled out of the car, she was drenched in blood. That image has always been part of my nightmares which haunt me every night."
Paul got chills every time when he recalled how Grace had used her last gasp to beg people to save her baby when she hung between life and death. Out of great motherly love, she chose her baby's life over her own, a fetus that wasn't even mature yet. She knew she didn't have long, but she didn't want her child to die with her. Even Paul was touched.
Son of a bitch! Piece of shit! You don't deserve to live." Laong kicked Paul angrily. He had never thought of himself as a good person, yet he felt damn good about himself compared with this asshole.
"Then Yakira moved into the Ouyang residence and married Leo as she wished. You also got what you wanted and fled overseas, afraid that your conspiracy would come out one day. For twenty odd years you have been too frightened to come back and never contacted Yakira. But a couple of days ago, your bank account was frozen. You were forced to sneak back. Am I right?"
Luke had never talked so much. He had never been so angry either. He was worried about Daisy. The truth was too much for her. Edward's critical situation had already stressed her out. Luke didn't want to add to her anxiety by telling her the truth. He would wait until Edward was out of danger.
"How did you know all this? Did you freeze my bank account by some trick so you could force me to come back and catch me?"
Paul suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap. He had been wondering how he had gotten caught as soon as he came back. It turned out he had been exposed a long time ago and every move of his had been watched. He regretted trusting in his luck. There was no concealing the truth. It was just a matter of time.
Evils bounce back." Luke sneered. You reap what you sow. How did Paul even have the guts to askx you everything, you should let me go." Paul looked at Luke with a pleading expression on his face. He wondered who these people were and why they were interested in a tragedy that had happened many years ago. They looked like neither gangsters nor the police. Had Yakira screwed up and Leo started to suspect the car accident wasn't so accidental? Did these people work for Leo? Had Leo set him up to get a confession?
Let you go? It's not my call. Luke disdainfully glanced at Paul who was gazing at him with pleading eyes. A sneer flitted over his face. Since when did hunters free their prey? Maybe Fishermen would, but they were not near any water.
Who are you people? Did Leo send you over? Did my cousin offend you so you kidnapped me tto threatened her?
Besides Leo, Paul couldn't think of a second person that would be interested in the things that had happened more than twenty years ago. Wait, there had been a handsome young couple whose bodyguard had rescued Grace. But they were just passers-by. They shouldn't be interested in the matter. Furthermore, even if they wanted to find out anything about it, they wouldn't wait for over twenty years. If it wasn't them, who was it then? Paul was baffled. It was beyond imagining.