"Mia is dead."
"Mia is dead?"
Old Ashley looked over in shock, disbelief written all over his face. "How could this happen? Did something occur?"
Deanna nodded. "It was Garrett. I don't know the specifics, but Garrett contacted me, asking for help to leave the country. I reported him to the police immediately."
"You did the right thing. This kind of matter must be reported to the authorities."
Old Ashley nodded in agreement, though his feelings were as complex as Deanna's.
Was this karma? Retribution?
They hadn't even confronted Mia yet, and she had already met her end.
Garrett was in jail, facing either a death sentence or decades of imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Emily received a call from the police, informing her of Mia's death.
At first, Emily couldn't believe it. "Officer, you must be mistaken. Just a few hours ago, I left my mother's place."
"The incident occurred after you left, Miss Jones. I understand this is hard to accept, but Mia is indeed deceased. We need you to come and identify the body."
The officer explained patiently.
Emily was truly panicked now.
After hanging up, she rushed to the police station as quickly as possible and found the officer who had called her. She demanded, "What happened? How did my mother die?"
"Miss Jones, I understand your grief. Please try to remain calm."
The officer noticed her agitation and tried to soothe her before discussing the case details.
Emily couldn't calm down. "My mother is dead! How can I be calm?!"
She shouted and then asked again, "Who is the killer?"
"The killer is someone you know-your father, Garrett. He has been apprehended."
Seeing Emily's distress, the officer decided to explain what they had learned from Garrett during interrogation.
Emily was stunned into silence.
She couldn't believe it was her father who had killed her mother.
The officer then placed a case file in front of Emily and said, "All evidence has been verified. Please sign here to conclude the case."
Emily stared blankly at the file but didn't sign immediately.
She asked, "What will the court's verdict be?"
"According to Garrett's statement, he accidentally pushed your mother, leading to her death. The sentence will likely be fifteen to twenty years in prison."
The officer explained the potential sentencing.
Emily was dissatisfied.
"Why not the death penalty? Shouldn't a life be repaid with a life?"
"That's how the law works," the officer said helplessly. "Unless the crime is exceptionally severe, death sentences are rare nowadays. Most cases result in prison terms."
Realizing that Garrett wouldn't face the death penalty, Emily felt a surge of anger.
But she knew there were other ways to seek justice for her mother.
That afternoon, Emily brought Mia's body back to their villa and called in staff from the Howard family to arrange a funeral.
After setting things up, she began notifying relatives, starting with her grandmother and other family members.
The last person she tried to contact was Raphael.
However, Raphael didn't answer her calls.
It was then that she realized she hadn't seen Raphael for several days.
She had been busy taking care of her mentally unstable mother and had postponed looking for Raphael.
Leaving instructions for the staff at the villa, she headed to Howard Group.
No matter what, Raphael needed to attend her mother's funeral as her son-in-law.
Moreover, with relatives arriving soon, she couldn't afford any embarrassment.
To her frustration, Raphael was not at Howard Group when she arrived.
She called for his secretary and demanded, "Where is your CEO?"
"Sorry, Mrs. Howard. Only his assistant knows his whereabouts," the secretary replied apologetically.
Emily was furious. She considered calling Raphael's assistant but remembered how uncooperative he had been last time and decided against it.
Instead, she went to someone who could control Raphael.
Within minutes, Emily reached the chairman's office on the top floor.
"Dad, my mother is dead. Raphael isn't answering my calls. Can you get him back?"
"If your mother is dead, solve it yourself. Bringing Raphael back won't change anything," Aiden said irritably without even asking what had happened. "Our Howard family is more influential now. If your mother brings any trouble to us, you and your mother can get out of this family!"