Chapter 305

Chapter 305

Juliana looked up.

Lucas sat down. "Owen. Ashley's younger brother."

Lucas had already told her about this. Juliana didn't understand why he was bringing it up again.

"My grandfather's generation was old money. When my mom married into the Sharp family, the Kingsley family hadn't fallen yet. The two families were evenly matched—they moved in the same circles."

"Later, Owen took over the Kingsley family business. He and my mother had a falling out over a deal. I wasn't involved—I was still in school—but they parted on bad terms. A complete rupture. They cut ties."

Lucas paused.

"The Kingsley family was later hit with a brutal corporate attack. Vicious. Within six months, their cash flow collapsed twice, and they lost most of their shipping operations. Owen went to my mother, hoping the Sharp family would step in."

"She didn't help?"

"No."

Juliana didn't comment.

"After the Kingsley family went under, Owen took what money was left and fled to Astoria. Later, reports said he died there. No one verified it. My mother never mentioned investigating. As far as the Sharp family was concerned, the matter was closed. No one brought it up again."

"But Owen didn't die."

"No." Lucas looked at the reopened USB drive video. "Not only did he survive, he came back."

Juliana shifted her gaze back to the screen.

The man in the video—Owen—pushed her father down the stairs with swift, decisive movements. No hesitation. No lingering. He did it and left.

This wasn't impulse.

"He hates the Sharp family. I get that. But what does my dad have to do with them?"

Lucas said, "I've been wondering the same thing."

Juliana pushed her chair back, stood, and walked to the window.

"I've gone over the time around my dad's accident countless times." Her back was to Lucas. "He wasn't acting strange. No conflicts. Nothing unusual. Just work, home. Normal."

She paused.

"If Owen hates the Sharp family, why target my dad?"

"One possibility," Lucas said.

Juliana turned.

"He wasn't going after your dad. He was going after my mother. Your dad got caught up in it… some connection we haven't found yet."

"What connection?"

"Still looking. There's a batch of documents Logan left that haven't been fully sorted. The lawyers are following up. Also, I had someone re-investigate Owen's movements overseas. A few inconsistencies in the timeline need verification."

Juliana stood by the window, motionless.

"Did your mother know Owen wasn't dead?"

"Not sure. But if she knew, she wouldn't have told me."

"Why?"

Lucas shut down the computer, pulled out the USB drive, sealed it in a small bag, and zipped it closed.

"My mother would rather take certain things to the grave than let another soul know. Not out of fear. But because once they came to light, the decisions she made would be laid bare for judgment. She couldn't handle that."

Juliana turned the sentence over in her mind.

Ashley's younger brother—Owen—came to Ashley for help. She shut the door. If this came out, it would damage her position in the Sharp family and the dignity she'd cultivated for decades.

So Ashley chose to let Owen "die" overseas.

Dead men don't return.

But Owen survived.

"This," Juliana said, "I'm going to get to the bottom of."

The study fell silent except for Lucas's knuckles tapping the desk. One tap, then another. Irregular. Like piecing together a scattered puzzle.

"Owen hates the Sharp family. His target is your mother. But he attacked my dad. Something's missing."

Lucas stopped tapping. "Around the time your father had his accident, was there anything unusual with the Lynd family?"

The Lynd family. Juliana's maternal relatives.

"My grandfather's health had been poor for years. He'd been recuperating abroad, barely involved in family affairs." Juliana said. "My relatives are all overseas doing research. Even less contact with my dad."

Everything seemed unrelated.

The Kingsley family. Shipping business. Corporate attack.

The Lynd family. Medical dynasty. No business ties.

What could connect them?

Juliana's steps suddenly halted.

She stared at a shelf on the bookcase where several old photo albums sat. Without a word, she walked over and pulled out the thickest one.

She placed it on the desk and opened it.

Old Lynd family photos. Black and white. Yellowed. She turned the pages slowly, her gaze sweeping over every face.

Lucas didn't rush her.

Until she stopped on a particular page.

A group of men in suits stood together, holding up a banner. Juliana's finger landed on one man's face.

The man stood on the far left. Young, early thirties, gold-rimmed glasses, hair meticulously groomed. An intellectual air, but sharp eyes.

"My grandfather. Zander Lynd."

Lucas's gaze fell on the photo, lingered, then moved to the banner in the background.

He pointed at a few legible characters—"oceanic…"

"Oceanic Shipping," Lucas said the full name. "Back then, the company fighting hardest against the Kingsley family. It had several shareholders. The Lynd family was one."

Juliana's finger still rested on Zander's face.

"The corporate war that targeted the Kingsley family's shipping and collapsed their cash flow—one of the orchestrators," Lucas's tone was flat, simply stating fact, "was Zander."

The study fell silent again.

All the scattered fragments threaded together by an invisible line.

Owen's hatred had never been limited to the Sharp family who refused to save him.

He also hated those who dragged him down and trampled him into the mud.

Zander was one of them.

This was revenge delayed by over a decade.

Precise. Ruthless. Effective.

Juliana closed the album with a soft sound.

"So that's how it is."

---

Bianca crouched behind the bushes outside Lucas's villa complex.

Kill Lucas. Avenge herself. Avenge her child.

Two figures walked past, accompanied by light conversation and laughter.

Bianca's eyelids twitched. She peered through the gap.

Someone beside Juliana, wearing a beige trench coat, standing tall. Chloe.

They walked side by side, chatting. Chloe reached out and smoothed Juliana's wind-tousled hair. Natural.

Watching them walk past where she hid, she could even hear the last few words on the wind.

In their world, Bianca no longer existed.

She wanted nothing anymore.

---

The next day, someone out for a morning jog found Bianca's body in the river.

Emily came. She broke through the police line. "It was Lucas! It had to be him! He killed my daughter! Go arrest him!"

The police had no choice but to take her back to the station.

"Please calm down. We reviewed the surveillance along the river and canvassed where your daughter was last seen. These are some images we obtained. Please look."

In the interrogation room, the screen lit up.

Hotel lobby footage. Bianca walked in alone, paid, took her room key.

Scene switched to a French restaurant's bar. She sat alone, eating quietly, slowly.

Final image: surveillance along the riverside walkway.

She walked alone by the river. Climbed onto the railing. Without hesitation, jumped.

No one else appeared.

Emily stared at the screen. So Lucas didn't kill her.

She'd bathed properly, eaten one last meal, then left cleanly.

The police handed her the neatly folded coat.

After an unknown time, Emily looked up, eyes red and swollen, voice hoarse beyond recognition.

"Did she… did it hurt?"

---

The coffee shop was quiet.

"Bianca's dead."

Chloe looked at Juliana, waiting.

"The police came to me. They said suicide. Two nights ago, she jumped from the riverside."

Chloe's gaze settled on Juliana's face, trying to read her expression. Nothing. No satisfaction, no sadness, not even surprise. Just pure, almost cold calm.

"Emily went to the police station and made a scene, saying Lucas did it." Juliana picked up her cup, took a sip. Warm liquid slid down her throat. "Later, the police pulled surveillance, and she had nothing more to say."

"When's the funeral?" Chloe asked.

"Day after tomorrow." Juliana glanced at her. "Are you—"

"I'm not going." Chloe cut her off, as if afraid a second's delay would change her mind. "No point."

What would she even go as?

Fellow captive?

Bianca's funeral was simple.

Chloe kept her word. Didn't attend.

Not until evening, when the lights began to glow, did she drive home. She passed a flower shop.

She pulled over, stood at the entrance for a moment, then pushed the door open.

"Hello, what can I get for you?"

Chloe looked around. Her gaze swept over vibrant roses and elegant lilies, finally stopping on a bucket of unremarkable white daisies in the corner.

"Wrap a bunch of those."

She didn't drive directly to the cemetery. Instead, she drove to the riverside.

The very spot where Bianca had jumped.