「T City Police Station.」

In the interrogation room, Orlando Evans sat silently, facing several police officers in uniform, one of whom was the chief of the criminal investigation team, Benjamin Robinson.

As the matter involved the Horne Family, Benjamin Robinson took charge of the interrogation himself.

Since her arrest, Orlando hadn't said a word, clenching her lips tightly no matter how the police questioned and interrogated her.

Othiel Evans, who was arrested at the same time, was sent to the hospital for treatment due to his injuries. After being checked and confirmed not to have suffered any serious internal injuries, he was brought back to the police station.

After being interrogated, he indeed confessed to the crime and also laid out his motive. Of course, he identified his accomplice, Orlando Evans, as well.

The two of them had drugged Adele Horne with the intent of rape, which constituted attempted rape, and they were likely to be sentenced. Since Adele Horne was a young lady of the wealthy Horne Family, it was certain they could not escape legal punishment.

He had merely wanted to use Adele Horne to save his family's company, but had he also committed a crime by doing so?

Othiel tried to argue that he was Adele's boyfriend, but was rendered speechless when a police officer countered, "If you were in a relationship and everything was consensual, why the need to drug Adele? It was clearly rape."

Othiel, who had always seen himself as a rich young master, looked panicked after admitting his guilt, presumably frightened by the prospect of being sentenced and jailed. His suave image outside was shattered; a moment's folly had landed him in prison, not only failing to save his family business but also accelerating its demise and tarnishing his own name.

The Horne Family's revenge was entirely through lawful channels and did not constitute commercial crime, so they could only accept their bad luck.

The Evans Family's business was a trading company, and the Horne Family had numerous trading companies that could easily compete for the Evans' clients. How long could you fend them off? Without customers, how could a company continue to operate? When it came to business acumen, the Evans Family was far inferior to the Horne Family, so they were doomed to lose.

"Orlando Evans, Othiel Evans has already confessed to your crimes. Aren't you going to admit to your guilt?" Benjamin Robinson asked coldly, his face turning quite frosty after such a long and unresponsive interrogation.

Benjamin Robinson was actually familiar with Orlando. In his memory, she was a gentle girl with a glamorous appearance, soft-spoken, hardly seeming like a bad person. However, the seductive aura she exuded was off-putting to him, so although they knew each other, they were not friendly.

Just a few days earlier, both of Orlando's parents were arrested, and the next day, scandalous photos of her spread across the internet, destroying her reputation and branding the Evans Family as corrupt. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, Orlando committed another crime. It was as if the entire Evans family was determined to end up in prison.

Orlando looked up and fixed her gaze on Benjamin, tears slowly trailing down her face.

Benjamin prided himself on being strong, confident, and self-reliant, becoming the chief of the criminal investigation team through his own efforts. In contrast, she had always sought to marry into a wealthy family, never considering working for a living. Since graduation, she hadn't earned a cent on her own, relying on Adele Horne's money and spending it like water, facing no pressure since it was not her own. Now here she was, in this situation, opposite Benjamin, a man of integrity, while she emanated malice—one interrogating, the other being interrogated.

The path one takes is a choice of their own making; nobody to blame, nobody to resent.

There were as many women infatuated with Glades Horne as there were hairs on her head; each employed every possible tactic without earning his favor. It was common knowledge that Glades only had feelings for the Bluen family sisters, with whom he had grown up. He was a man other women couldn't win, yet she thought she could.

It was this mentality that led to her current downfall.

She should have given up when Glades Horne and Ruby Bluen became honorary boyfriend and girlfriend. But even after he married Julia Bluen, she had remained unwilling to let go, undoubtedly encouraged by her family—her adoptive parents. Therefore, the people she hated most now weren't the Horne Family but her own parents, or more precisely, her adoptive parents.

"I confess," she finally said, her voice hoarse to the extreme, thick with regret.

She remembered the ways Adele Horne had treated her over the years. Even though Adele would occasionally treat her like a servant or lose her temper with her, overall, Adele had been genuinely good to her.

In ten years, Adele had spent at least ten million on her.

In those ten years, which of the designer clothes she wore hadn't been gifts from Adele? Could she have afforded such luxury or shown off to others based on her own family's means? Every delicacy she had indulged in—wasn't it at Adele's invitation? Given her parents' standing, how could she have ever tasted such things? Whenever she traveled, whether in T City or touring elsewhere, all she had to do was show up; Adele took care of everything else.

If she had taken a step back, if she hadn't aimed for the position of Glades Horne's wife but had been content merely being a friend of the Horne family's young lady, perhaps her own family could have received financial support from the Hornes.

It was her greed, her foolish infatuation, that had led her step by step to lose herself and ultimately, in her quest for revenge, send herself to prison.

After that, she answered all the questions Benjamin asked her.

Meanwhile, the Horne Family continued to call the police station, officially to inquire but realistically to exert pressure.

Benjamin knew full well that Adele Horne had likely suffered a great deal this time, as evident by the Horne Family's constant calls and overt pressure, so he did not take issue with the Horne Family.

After all, no one can bear to see their daughter violated.

Within the Horne Family residence, the heavy atmosphere had been cleared away, replaced with a lively one. They had to put on a facade, as they needed to cover up the incident with Adele.

The wine party began, and invited guests started arriving one after another.

This wine party was ostensibly a social mixer.

The Horne Family did not usually hold a party unless there was a major celebration. This time, it was a social mixer, so naturally, everyone attended. Moreover, it was rumored that the party was indirectly a matchmaking event for the three eligible bachelors among the Horne sons to choose their wives.