bChapter /bb187 /b

bAfter /bbSte /bpicked up, she said to Jordan, “I’ve got something to take care of right now, so I can’t talk. I’ll catch up with youter.” She bdidn’t /beven give Jordan a chance to say anything before hanging up.

Ste walked up to the hotel front desk and asked, “Hi, could you tell me if someone named Monroe Johnson is staying here?”

The clerk checked the name and shook her head. “No, there’s no one by that name.”

“What about Anna Hayes?” Ste asked.

“No Anna Hayes either, but we do have a Ste Hayes,” the clerk replied.

The clerk nced at the photo on the ID and then looked at Ste. “Wait, that’s you! Didn’t you check in here yourself?”

Ste suddenly felt a wave of unease rise up inside her. She said, “Can you tell me which room I’m in? I forgot my room key when I stepped out, and I left my phone behind, too.

“There’s someone in my room, but I can’t get in touch with him right now.”

“Oh, it’s room 2608,” the clerk replied.

“Alright, thank you,” Ste said. Then she made a beeline for the elevator.

She thought, ‘There’s no doubt Anna is inside, but how did she manage to use my ID? ‘I’ll have to go to the police station and look into this

When she reached the 26th floor and stepped out of the elevator, she heard a group of women screaming. Ste immediately sensed something was wrong, and she hurried over.

“It was her. I just saw her go in with that man. She must have killed him,” a maid shouted as she pointed at Ste.

Monroe was there, too. When he turned to look at Ste, his face was full of surprise. “Ste, what are you doing here?” Monroe asked.

“Who’s dead?” Ste asked.

Almost everyone instantly assumed Ste was the murderer. People stumbled away from her in fear, and some had already taken out their phones and called the police.

Ste arrived at the door. “It’s him?” she said. Even though the man was already dead, Ste recognized him at a nce.

Monroe stared at her in disbelief. “Wait, you know him? Weren’t you just at the restaurant? There’s no way you could’ve done this. iSo /iwhy is everyone saying you’re the killer?”

As soon as Ste saw that the man lying on the floor was that doctor, she instantly put the pieces together. She said, “Mr. Johnson, you’ve already said it all. What more do you want me to say?”

“What do you mean?” Monroe asked,

“You know the truth,” Ste said.

Of course, the hotel security noticed right away when someone died. They rushed upstairs and started clearing out everyone nearby.

It wasn’t long before the police arrived. They began gathering evidence at the scene and questioning people, and iin /ithe end, all the evidence seemed to point straight at Ste. Then Ste was taken to the police station.

bChapter /b187

bMonroe /bfollowed them to the station and said, “I can prove she didn’t do it. We were together the whole time.”

bSte /bshot Monroe a strange look and thought, ‘He knows full well this was probably Anna’s doing. Doesn’t he like Anna? Shouldn’t he be bcovering /bfor her? So why is he standing up for me?‘

With a brief word, the police took Ste away.

On his way home, Monroe caught a news report. “At 12:36 p.m. today, a neurosurgeon from the General Hospital was found dead at the Phoenix Hotel. The suspect has already been taken into custody. It’s Ste Hayes, the CEO of Hayes Group.

“The rtionship between the victim and the suspect is still unclear, but with Hayes Group’s supermarket about to open, this shocking incident might have a major impact on theunch. We’ll be watching closely for any updates.”

Not long after, another news update came through. “Breaking news! Andrew Hayes, the former CEO of Hayes Group, is preparing to return and take back control of thepany. What will happen next? Stay tuned for more updates.”

Monroe couldn’t shake the feeling that Ste was getting caught up in some invisible web. At the same time, he had this nagging suspicion that there was more to Anna and Andrew than met the eye.

Monroe asked a maid and learned that Anna was at home, so he hurried over right away. Not far away, he saw Andrew and Anna arguing.

Andrew shouted, “You said you had nothing to do with that doctor, Anna. Why did you do this? I worked so hard to raise you, hoping you’d marry a good person one day, but you and that doctor… Have you no shame?”

Anna shot back, “What was I supposed to do? I was so young. He tricked me and threatened me. I was too scared to go to the police or tell

you.

“I had to pretend like I enjoyed it, but inside, I was miserable. What’s the point of ming me now? Didn’t I already help you out?”

“But you-” Andrew started.

“Anyway, he’s dead now. Talking about it won’t change anything. The cops will never pin this ion /ime, anyway,” Anna said.

Monroe tuned out the rest of their conversation. Everything he’d suspected was now confirmed. He couldn’t believe that the girl he was into was actually so terrifying. She killed someone, a full–grown man.

Both of them seemed to realize Monroe was there. Then Andrew shot Anna a look. Anna was shocked.

When the doctor died, Andrew immediately suspected Anna. She had no way to hide it from him, so she had no choice but to admit it. Anyway, as long as she spun any story for Andrew, he’d believe it without question.

But now that Monroe knew the truth, Anna was totally panicking inside.

Monroe walked up to the two of them and asked, “Did you kill that doctor on purpose?”

Andrew tried to speak up for Anna, but Monroe cut him off before he could say a word. He kept staring at Anna and waiting for her answer.

“Yes, I did kill him,” Anna said.

Andrew stared at Anna in utter disbelief. He thought, ‘How could she just confess like that in front of Monroe?‘

Anna didn’t even nce at Andrew, but he seemed to get the message. Without another word, he quietly walked away.

Monroe hadn’t expected Anna to confess so directly. He couldn’t help but look at her in a whole new light.

Anna said, “I really had no choice. Whether you believe me or not, I did it. That doctor had been treating me since I was a kid. I knew him, i

1 am g

Ret back, but he threatened mur

I turned eighteen, he would assault me in the exam room. My parents were just stude

addared to tell anyone, he’d leak the video of him assaulting bme/b. I was so young and termed, and I couldn’t do anything. Just the hought of that video getting out of my family losing all their dignity.

“swalowed it all and kept quiet. But I never thought my silence would only make things worse. For years, he kept abusing me, and I was too scared to tell anyone

“bJust /ba few days ago, he sent those videos to Ste. I was terrified she’d expose me, so I went bto /bbeg her for help, but she… she just turned her

back on me…”