CHAPTER 153: CHAPTER 153: COERCED CONFESSION

However, the police did not pay attention to his agitated remarks.

After a while, a policeman found a pair of sneakers from the cupboard under the kitchen sink.

After initial comparison with the shoe sole patterns, the officers’ expressions immediately became serious.

"Miss Jacobs, it looks like you’ll have to come with us to the station to cooperate in the investigation."

In other words, if she couldn’t distance herself from these shoes, she would be taken into custody.

Juliana stared at the shoes, feeling they looked familiar but couldn’t recall where she had seen them.

"These... these aren’t my shoes, I don’t remember ever wearing them," she said.

"Whether or not you’ve worn them, our forensics department will provide the answer. Please cooperate and come with us for the investigation now."

Adrian wanted to step forward to defend her.

But Juliana shook her head at him and cooperatively followed the officers.

...

Interrogation room.

The harsh, glaring light made Miss Jacobs’ face appear even more bloodless.

The policeman opposite her slammed the forensic report heavily onto the table.

"The fabric fibers found inside the shoes match exactly with the socks you frequently wear! It’s ironclad evidence, are you still trying to argue?"

Juliana furrowed her eyebrows but her voice remained calm, "That’s impossible, I have no impression of these shoes."

The young policeman snickered, pressing her, "The soles also tested for traces of blood, even after being washed. The blood type matches! If you’re not the one cleaning the evidence, who else is? Spill it! How did you do it?"

Juliana took a deep breath, raised her eyes to meet his, "I didn’t commit murder, nor would I be foolish enough to hide bloody shoes in my home."

"Still hard-headed!" the older policeman stood up abruptly, moving closer, "Only footprints of you and Chase Miller were found at the scene, and your fingerprints are on the couch in his rental apartment. You left these shoes at home because you didn’t have time to handle the evidence, and we caught you red-handed. Confessing willingly means leniency, resisting means severity. Confess now, and it counts as voluntarily turning yourself in."

Juliana looked at him and responded calmly, "Yesterday when he kidnapped me, I was wrestling on his couch which is why my fingerprints are there. Your deployment records fully prove this can be checked..."

Suddenly, she paused, as if she had caught onto something, then stated directly: "Just because of a pair of shoes with unknown origins, you insist I’m the culprit... Officer, you seem to have been guiding me to confess from the start."

The older policeman’s expression didn’t change, but his gaze subtly shifted for a moment.

He immediately stabilized his tone and said solemnly, "I am giving you a chance for leniency."

Juliana understood that these two seemed to have come with a "mission."

So she stopped cooperating, "I did not commit murder."

Afterward, no matter how much they asked, she only repeated these five words.

The young policeman lost patience, "The evidence chain is complete, the motive is clear, how much longer do you think you can stall?"

Juliana remained silent.

After a brief stalemate, the older policeman deliberately sighed in frustration, "Refusing to confess, then continue to stay here. When you’re willing to explain, we’ll talk again."

The iron door slammed shut, and Juliana’s stomach ached faintly.

Calculating the time, it should be afternoon now.

She hadn’t eaten anything since her arrest early this morning, and her injured stomach was protesting sharply.

She reluctantly walked to the door, raised her hand and knocked on the iron door.

A long time passed, footsteps sounded from outside, and an impatient voice spoke, "What is it?"

"Can I have something to eat?" she asked softly.

The person outside mocked, "You think this is a dormitory, where you can order food? Wait patiently, it’s not yet dinner time!"

The footsteps faded away, Juliana held her stomach, and leaned against the cold iron door before sitting on the floor.

Clearly, everyone she had encountered now had been bought off.

Juliana closed her eyes, pondering how to save herself.

Meanwhile, Summer Shaw was also in a panic.

She had contacted almost every lawyer in the city, but none were willing to take Juliana’s case.

Having exhausted all options, she resorted to pushing Adrian out there.

In theory, lawyers could meet with their clients.

But the detention center was stalling with all kinds of excuses, not letting Adrian meet Juliana, let alone bail her out.

This was obviously manipulated from behind the scenes.

And the only one with such influence could be Isaac Grant’s backer.

Summer couldn’t care less and wanted to find Evan Grant.

Adrian held her back, "Do you want Juliana’s divorce to proceed smoothly or not?"

Summer snapped, "What’s more important than not getting a divorce—going to jail?"

Adrian nodded, "For Juliana, if forced to choose between the two, she would certainly choose the latter."

Summer paused at his words...

Adrian returned to the company.

Jared Langley had just finished a meeting and was slightly surprised to see Adrian appearing in his office.

"Project Helios is in a crucial phase, how does Vice President Langley have time to grace my place?"

Adrian ignored the sarcasm in his words and asked, "Brother, do you know when Uncle will be back?"

In fact, since Adrian was recognized by the Langley Family, the relationship between the two brothers had always been tense.

They only barely maintained the "brother" label in front of their elders.

At other times, they even felt addressing each other by full names was unnecessary, referring to each other simply with "you."

Jared paused, sat back in his chair with a slight snort.

"Uncle’s itinerary is confidential, even Father doesn’t know. What’s the matter, facing issues with the project and wanting to use his connections to get through?"

He mocked.

"You’ve miscalculated! Uncle is famously impartial. Frankly, the Langley Family’s development today hasn’t benefited from him in the slightest. Even wagging your tail before him won’t help."

His words were harsh, but Adrian unexpectedly refrained from countering and instead humbly asked, "Do you have his phone number? I haven’t been back long, and I haven’t interacted with him much or kept his contact."

Jared scoffed, "He doesn’t take calls from strangers."

Adrian realized that there was no way to get anything from Jared, so he turned to leave.

Jared sensed something was amiss and ordered, "Stop!"

Adrian paused.

Jared asked, "What’s happened?"

Adrian turned around, "Kaelan Detention Center is it connected?"

"Who do you want to see?" Jared eyed him.

Adrian contemplated for a few seconds, "Juliana."

...

Elsewhere, Mrs. Langley was having coffee with Stella Windsor.

Mrs. Langley always regarded her reputation highly, not wanting to associate with women like Stella Windsor.

But after repeated requests saying it concerned her son, she reluctantly agreed to meet.

However, she refused to share a table with her, so they sat at separate tables in the rented café space.

Stella Windsor’s face showed slight discomfort, but she forced a smile to close off Juliana’s chance of survival, saying, "You might have heard about my sister-in-law’s affair with my brother, she..."

Mrs. Langley raised her hand to interrupt, "Get to the point, I don’t have much time."

Stella Windsor pressed her lips, "My sister-in-law is promiscuous, always enticing men. This time, caught red-handed, imprisoned for murder, there’s no way she’ll come out. The Grant Family won’t bother with her, I’m only worried she might reach out to Langley Family men for help."