Chapter 279 The Truth Comes to Light

Chapter 279 The Truth Comes to Light

The cold sea breeze, mixed with salty moisture, blew across Elodie's face and slowly pulled her back from unconsciousness.

Above her was a pitch-black, unfamiliar night sky.

Where was she?

Elodie struggled to sit up, only then realizing she was lying at the edge of a pit.

A freshly dug, deep pit.

The realization made her blood run cold.

"You are awake?"

A cold female voice came from beside her.

Elodie whipped her head around and saw Dione, the Hensley family matriarch who always appeared noble and elegant on TV and in magazines.

Behind her stood several bodyguards in black, each with icily expressionless eyes.

"Mrs. Hensley?" Elodie trembled violently with fear. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Dione's lips curved into a smile without a trace of warmth.

"My son is in jail, his life hanging by a thread. My daughter-in-law was taken from him by you people working together."

"Tell me, should I not find someone to feel the same helplessness and isolation they did?"

"No... it was not me!" Elodie was terrified, scrambling backward. "It was all Rufus! It has nothing to do with me! He forced me!"

"I do not believe you." Dione let out a cold laugh. "You and Rufus are birds of a feather. He hurt my son, and you were his accomplice."

"Since my son might never get out, there is not much point in me living anymore."

"But before I die, I should at least take someone down with me."

"Ms. Turner, will you keep me company?"

Elodie looked at the yawning black pit that seemed ready to swallow everything, imagining herself being buried alive inside.

That suffocating feeling, that darkness, that despair...

"No! Do not!"

Elodie completely broke down.

She dropped to her knees on the ground, bowing low and begging Dione for mercy.

"Mrs. Hensley! Please! Please let me go! I am really not working with Rufus! I have evidence! I have evidence that he framed Mr. Hensley!"

To save her life, she laid down her only bargaining chip without hesitation.

Dione's eyes flickered, but her expression remained unchanged.

"Evidence?" She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What evidence?"

"Video. A complete video," Elodie said urgently. "The day Mr. Hensley had his accident, Rufus called his man into the study. I recorded their entire conspiracy."

"You think I will believe you?" Dione snorted. "How do I know you are not lying just to buy time?"

"I am not! I really am not!" Elodie was close to tears.

With shaking hands, she pulled her phone from her pocket.

"The video is in my cloud storage. Only I know the password. I can show you right now."

Dione gave Garth a look.

Garth immediately stepped forward and took the phone from Elodie.

With Elodie's help, he quickly pulled up a video.

The footage was a bit shaky, clearly filmed in secret.

But in the frame, the faces of Rufus and the bodyguard named Tony, along with their conversation, were crystal clear.

"Transfer the original file and every copy," Dione ordered coldly, forcing down the rage in her chest.

Garth immediately got to work.

After confirming that all video files had been safely transferred to his own device and that he had wiped every trace from Elodie's phone, he nodded to Dione.

"Mrs. Hensley, it is all taken care of."

Dione's gaze fell once again on Elodie, still kneeling on the ground.

Elodie looked up at her nervously, hardly daring to breathe.

She did not know what fate awaited her next.

Death, or life?

After a long moment, Dione finally spoke.

"You can go."

Elodie froze, unable to believe her ears.

"You are letting me go?"

"I keep my word." Dione's tone remained icy. "But I advise you to run far away and never come back to Harmony City."

"Because Rufus will not let you go."

"And I will not save you a second time."

With that, she tossed a large check in front of Elodie and turned to leave.

The group quickly disappeared into the night, leaving Elodie still kneeling numbly by the deep pit.

She clutched the check, completely at a loss.

The immense joy of having survived and the deep fear of what lay ahead crashed over her at the same time.

 

The next morning.

A ten-minute high-definition, secretly filmed video suddenly appeared as the top story on major news media and social platforms.

The title was explosive.

[Hensley Group CEO Murder Case - The Real Culprit Is Someone Else!]

[Shocking Reversal! Chapman Group CEO Rufus's Conspiracy to Frame Exposed!]

Once the video dropped, all of Harmony City erupted.

Public opinion reversed dramatically within just one hour.

Netizens who had been cursing Stefan as a "murderer" and "hypocrite" yesterday have now turned their guns on Rufus.

[Oh my God! This plot twist is more exciting than a movie!]

[Rufus is so vicious! Using such dirty tricks just to steal someone else's wife!]

[Feel so bad for Mr. Hensley! Wrongly accused for so long!]

[Punish the real culprit! Rufus must pay the price!]

[Chapman Group's stock has already hit the limit down! Haha, serves them right!]

With the pressure of public opinion and the Hensley family's full push behind the scenes, the police responded with unusual speed.

That same afternoon, Stefan was released without charges.

And a nationwide warrant for Rufus's arrest was officially issued.

Outside the Hensley Mansion, reporters and citizens who had rushed over upon hearing the news packed the street.

When the black sedan slowly rolled to a stop, the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.

The car door opened.

Stefan stepped out.

He had lost weight and looked much more haggard, but his eyes were still bright and steady.

His gaze cut through the crowd and landed precisely on the figure standing on the steps.

Cecilia.

His Amelia.

Ignoring the surrounding flashbulbs and noise, Stefan pushed forward through the crowd and walked toward her, step by firm step.

Cecilia lifted her skirt slightly and ran down toward him.

Under the gaze of thousands, the two of them embraced tightly.

"I am back," Stefan said softly.

"Welcome home." Cecilia held him as her tears finally broke free.

All the fear, worry, and humiliation of this time melted into the joy of reunion in that moment.

After a long while, Stefan slowly released her.

He cupped her face and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he lowered his head and kissed her deeply.

It was a kiss filled with the wild joy of having come through disaster and a love too deep to ever fade.

Camera flashes erupted in that instant, capturing a scene destined to go down in history.

 

Afterward, they received word from the police.

Rufus had escaped.

Before the warrant was issued, he had already vanished without a trace.

It was as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth.