Chapter 160: Cooperate with us

Chapter 160: Cooperate with us
Third person

Wait… Valerie just stood still for a few minutes, her mind blank, her head spinning.

A gentle tap from Elliot had her snapping out of her daze. She looked up at her robot. “It's fine, he's a friend. Give us a moment, please,” she murmured absentmindedly. Elliot glanced at Victor briefly, a warning flashing in his eyes before he stepped back.

As Valerie's eyes locked onto Victor's, she felt goosebumps erupt all over her skin. The initials "VA" flashed into her mind. He was the anonymous person who had been helping her all along. How??

"How are you...?" Valerie's voice trailed off as the memories came flooding back. 

The first time he'd texted her, she was literally about to enter Adam's office with a knife. He had been standing just outside the door. So she didn't think too much about him. He was Karen's bodyguard. 

He had always been in plain sight, but she never recognized him. Even on the yacht... he was always there. He knows about all Karen's plans; that's how he knew that she’d be here at the airport… how he was able to save her at Tessa's party… how he knew the venue for the board of directors meeting.

“VA is the initials for Victor Anderson.” He raised a brow, an amused smile on his face as he studied her stunned self. “I was quite worried that you'd figure me out.”

Still, Valerie couldn't wrap her head around why he'd do this to Karen. I mean, they had more than a boss-employee relationship going on.

“W-why?” She stuttered, her features still twisted in shock. “Why would you help me? Why would you want her dead? I thought you two were…”

“She killed my sister,” he blurted out. His expression was cold, his eyes hard.

“Wow,” Val murmured under her breath, her thoughts quieting down. That explained a lot of things. “I'm so sorry about your loss.”

He just nodded.

Val took a few more seconds trying to process everything. Alas, she looked up at Victor. “Uhm, thank you for everything,” she whispered, feeling tears burn at the back of her eyes. 

She was very grateful for the times he'd saved her… for the information he'd provided.

“No, thank you.” He turned to look at her, his hard eyes holding hers. “For putting that woman in her place.”

Valerie wiped off a stray tear that had just made its way down her cheek.

The young man's eyes dilated on her, something akin to pity swirling in their depths. "I witnessed everything that happened to you that night. Sorry, I couldn't do more about it."

“Were you already Karen's bodyguard then?”

“No,” he shook his head, a self-deprecating smile forming on his lips. “I wasn't. I tagged along with my sister. She was Mr. Scott's nurse.”

Her eyes flew open again as the realization hit her. “Wait… wait… Your sister was Mr. Scott's nurse?” 

…. The one that was killed because she knew something about Mr. Scott's death? Valerie completed in her mind.

“Yes.” His jaw tightened. “Karen cut her purposeful life short.”

“I'm so sorry…” Valerie whispered again.

“At least she can rest in peace now,” he muttered, a muscle ticked in his jaw as he stared into space. “You did it. You didn't let Layla or anyone stop you.”

“Layla? You knew about that too?” A wave of shock coursed through her again, and at this rate, she was going to run out of capacity for surprise.

Victor’s curled into a smirk and he winked at her.

She gasped at his silent response. “Do you know how she died too?”

He turned his entire body to face her, his arms crossing around his chest and stared at her squarely. “What do you think?” He raised a suggestive brow. “She was going to rat you out.”

Valerie's jaw dropped to the ground. She picked up and then struggled to find her words. “So y-you put her in my car?”

“Yes,” he simply said. And when she didn't say anything for the next few minutes, he explained, “They were going to make your death look like an accident. Got there with an unconscious Layla, put her behind the wheel, and started the car.”

Silence continued to stretch. They both stood beside each other, watching people move around with luggage in hand; one guy just proposed to his girlfriend, and she turned him down.

“So what will you do now?” Valerie finally asked.

“I'll probably just go to my hometown…” he murmured without sparing her a glance, his eyes on the heartbroken gentleman who remained on his knees, sobbing, even after the lady had walked away.

“Where's that?”

“Idaho.”

“Oh nice, I'm a big fan of their Russet potatoes… So fluffy and delicious,” she groaned.

“Yeah?” He chuckled. “Well, you should call me if you visit; I own a big potato farm.”

“Whoa… Really?”

He smiled.

“Well then, miss,” he bowed slightly. “I hope Harrisons enterprises do well under you.”

“Thanks.” She returned his smile, a tint of pride added to hers. “Though it won't be Harrisons enterprises anymore.”

He just smirked and then left.



In the interrogation room, 

Karen sat on a metallic chair, her eyes fixed on the officer across from her.

"We have quite a lot of incriminating evidence against you," the officer began. "However, it's clear that you didn't commit the crimes yourself. You're more of a…” She peered at Karen, trying to find the appropriate word. “...facilitator."

Karen's brows raised, and she eyed the officer suspiciously. “Not that I'm admitting to the crime… But would that make any difference?”

The officer leaned forward, her voice taking on a persuasive tone. "We're willing to offer you a deal. A reduced sentence, if you cooperate with us."

Karen pressed her lips into a thin line, her expression wary. "What kind of cooperation?"

The officer's smile was bland. "We want you to confess to the part your parents played in Ashley's attempted murder.”