Chapter 154 Suspected Sexual Assault

Chapter 154 Suspected Sexual Assault

Stephanie's POV

Elisa stepped forward, bent down to pick up the journal, and after closing it, gently placed it back in my hands.

She took my hand and helped me settle back into the wooden chair.

Sitting down beside me, she patted the back of my hand softly and let out a long sigh.

"Stephanie, listen to me."

Her voice suddenly grew hoarse.

"I spent most of my life cooking at the orphanage, always in the front building. I had absolutely no idea what was happening in the back courtyard. Kaitlyn forbade us from going near it, saying the buildings back there had been abandoned long ago—structurally unsound, nobody living there. She claimed she was worried we'd get hurt if we went inside."

"But when I stayed overnight for my shift, I'd always hear crying—broken, intermittent. The sound was faint and distant, coming in waves, like it was rising up from underground. Everyone at the orphanage thought the place was haunted. Rumors spread that this was 'Ghost Baby Hill'—where mothers used to secretly dump their stillborn babies in the wasteland. The stories got more and more terrifying, so we all went to Kaitlyn together to report it."

"Later Kaitlyn called in a priest to perform multiple exorcism rituals all across the orphanage. Not long after, several forklifts and workers came in and spent an entire week renovating the back courtyard. After that, the eerie crying stopped completely."

She turned to look at me, the light in her eyes extinguished.

"It wasn't until the orphanage fell apart completely that we finally understood—it was never ghosts."

"Kaitlyn had hidden all the children who weren't talented enough, who didn't meet her standards, in those abandoned buildings in the back courtyard. Someone was assigned to watch them. Supplies were smuggled in through back channels. They called it 'care,' but it was really just imprisonment. The children weren't allowed to cry or run around. If any child couldn't take it anymore and died, they'd be quietly disposed of. Never a word to the outside world."

When Elisa finished, she fell silent for a long time, as if digesting years of guilt and regret that had weighed on her heart.

"I knew bits and pieces about what Yasmin wrote in her journal," she finally spoke again. "She used to tell me she didn't feel well. Every time I pressed her, Kaitlyn would conveniently appear and say it was just heatstroke from summer, that she was taking medicine to regulate her system, and the discomfort was a normal side effect. I believed it. Kids getting heatstroke in summer—it was so common."

Her voice dropped even lower, trembling uncontrollably.

"The closest I ever came to the truth was when Yasmin snuck over to find me. She acted all secretive and pointed down there, saying it hurt badly. My heart sank right then. I was just about to lift her skirt to check when Kaitlyn suddenly appeared."

My breath caught. A chill spread through my entire body.

"Kaitlyn asked Yasmin on the spot why she'd run out on her own, if she wasn't feeling well. Yasmin honestly said it hurt. Kaitlyn casually explained that it was because she'd been going swimming with you at the beach so much—the seawater wasn't clean and caused an infection. Perfectly normal. Then she just took Yasmin away."

Elisa's sob finally broke through. "I believed every word. I thought kids have delicate skin, sensitive private areas—an infection from dirty seawater causing pain made perfect sense. It wasn't until the orphanage was about to shut down that I snuck back, looking for some keepsake Yasmin might have left behind. That's when I found this journal under her bed."

She raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, filled with regret.

"After reading the journal, I started to piece together the truth. I suspect the medicine Kaitlyn gave Yasmin wasn't anything to 'strengthen her body'—it was sleeping pills. Long-term use causes headaches, joint pain, total exhaustion. And while Yasmin was knocked out..."

She didn't continue, but the filth and evil hidden in her words came through loud and clear.

She suspected that while Yasmin was unconscious, Kaitlyn had someone violate her.

My vision went black. My chest felt like it was caving in.

She was only seven years old—just a little kid who didn't understand anything!

How could Kaitlyn do that to such a young child!

Christopher's hand came down over mine, gently gripping my tightly clenched fist, slowly and tenderly prying my rigid fingers open.

I stared blankly at my open palm and saw deep, bloody marks where my nails had dug in.

"If only I'd paid more attention back then..." Elisa broke down completely, crying softly. "When Yasmin told me it hurt, I shouldn't have been afraid of offending Kaitlyn. I should have insisted on examining her. If I'd noticed something was wrong earlier, if I'd called the police sooner, Yasmin wouldn't have died..."

My lips trembled. It took me a long time before I could force out a hoarse voice. "What was Yasmin's real cause of death?"

Elisa barely managed to stop crying, forcefully wiping her tears away before looking up at me. "After Yasmin passed, they did an autopsy. The official conclusion was accidental drowning—leg cramp while trying to save someone."

She took a deep breath, her tone full of sorrow. "But looking back now, it doesn't make any sense. Yasmin grew up by the ocean. She was an excellent swimmer. How could she suddenly get a leg cramp while rescuing someone? She knew those waters better than anyone—she could've swum back with her eyes closed."

"I think by then, she was already completely weak. Years of being drugged, years of being abused—her body had already given out. Using every last bit of strength to swim out and save you was all she had left."

The tears I'd held back for years finally broke free, streaming down my face.

"When Kaitlyn publicly accused you and called you a murderer, she was just trying to cover up her own crimes," Elisa said heavily. "She was afraid people at the scene would notice something suspicious about Yasmin's death. If someone investigated privately, she could still pay people off to bury it. But if her lies were exposed in front of that many witnesses, she'd have no way to deny it."

"Step by step—she'd calculated everything from the start."

I sat frozen, ice-cold, as if even my blood had turned to ice.

Christopher gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind, pulling me into his embrace.

His arms were as warm as always, but that warmth couldn't penetrate even an inch into my frozen skin.

Elisa cried for a long while, taking deep breaths repeatedly to steady herself before pulling a card from her pocket and handing it to me.

"Go to this address. The people there can tell you more of the truth."

I took the card and glanced down at the address—somewhere in the suburbs I'd never heard of. The card didn't indicate what kind of place it was, just a street number and a name.

I didn't ask questions. I quietly tucked the card away, stood up, and headed toward the car.

Christopher followed close behind, thoughtfully opening the car door for me.

Emily and Rufus immediately got in as well.

As soon as we were in the car, Emily looked at me with concern and gently touched my shoulder. I turned to glance at her and shook my head lightly, signaling that I was fine.

The car pulled away from the farmhouse along the country road, following the address on the card through several unfamiliar suburban streets until it finally stopped in front of a white building.

A small plaque hung by the entrance: 'Family Counseling Center.'

I got out and stood at the door, just about to raise my hand to knock, when the door suddenly swung open from inside.

A young woman carrying a canvas bag hurried out.

The moment she looked up, our eyes met.

We both froze at the same time.