Chapter 87 She Pulled Every String
He lifted his foot instinctively, ready to deliver another vicious kick.
"Sir! You have to stop!" Liam finally snapped out of his paralysis and lunged forward, wrapping both arms around Alexander's raised leg. "You'll kill her if you keep going! Please, calm down!"
"Kill her?" Alexander froze mid-motion, as if a sudden realization had struck him. His foot slowly lowered. He raised his hand and raked it violently through his once-immaculate hair, leaving it in wild disarray.
"Right... she can't die yet... there are still scores to settle... yes, still scores..."
"Sir?" Liam's voice trembled with apprehension.
"Bring him in!" Alexander whipped around and roared toward the doorway.
The basement door swung open again. Two bodyguards dragged in a trembling male servant and threw him to the floor.
"Sir! Please, have mercy!" The servant's forehead hit the ground repeatedly, scraping the skin raw until blood began to seep through.
"Mrs. Hamilton made me do it! She forced me! The kidnapping was all staged! She told me to sell her to Eclipse Club, said they'd pay top dollar for her, said all I had to do was get rid of her! She said someone would come rescue her, and she even injured me on purpose so I could pretend she'd threatened me! She said it would be the perfect cover to disappear! Mr. Hamilton, I swear I'm telling the truth! I wouldn't dare lie!"
Alexander spun around, his bloodshot eyes locking onto Caroline as she struggled to push herself into a sitting position.
"You dared to deceive me?!"
Nearby, the nightclub owner—the one Caroline had failed to kill, barely clinging to life—saw his chance. He propped himself up weakly, tears and snot streaming down his face as he wailed.
"Mr. Hamilton, please spare me! I... I took the money, I deserve to die! But I swear I didn't know she was your wife! It was this servant... this servant who contacted me! He said she was just some disobedient maid! He's the one who took the payment! I had no idea! Please, I'm begging you..."
"Shut up." Alexander didn't even glance his way. A single gunshot rang out.
The nightclub owner's pleas cut off instantly. A small hole appeared between his eyes, and he collapsed backward, dead before he hit the ground.
The gun swiveled toward the male servant's forehead.
"She told you to sell her, so you did?"
The servant's bladder gave out immediately, a dark stain spreading across his pants as the acrid smell filled the air. He screamed in terror.
"I was forced! And this wasn't the first time! There were other things too! Please don't kill me! If you spare my life, I'll tell you everything! Everything!"
Alexander's eyes narrowed. He slowly lowered the gun. "Talk."
The servant collapsed completely, words tumbling out in a panicked rush.
"The... the apartment fire! Mrs. Hamilton ordered me to set it! She said to burn Ms. Edith Neville's belongings, then make it look like she'd risked her life trying to save them, so you'd pity her! And... and the time she was kidnapped and nearly assaulted—she hired those men herself! She said if she could sleep with you and get pregnant, you'd finally pay attention to her!
"But... but then you gave her the morning-after pill, and she knew she couldn't count on you anymore, so she arranged everything with Dr. Cortes! A staged rescue! I was supposed to sell her to the nightclub according to plan, then Dr. Cortes would swoop in and save her, and when you came looking... you'd think she'd been harvested for organs and was already dead! She could fake her death and disappear! Sir, every word is true! Mrs. Hamilton forced me into all of it! I had no choice!"
Lies! Caroline's mind screamed the word, though no sound escaped her lips.
She jerked her head up, grabbed the knife that had fallen nearby, and lunged toward the servant.
She would kill this lying bastard—
"Stop her!" Alexander barked.
Two bodyguards seized Caroline immediately.
At that moment, Celeste burst through the basement door, tears streaming down her face. She threw her arms out protectively in front of Caroline, who was still struggling against the guards.
"Caroline! Stop lying! Haven't you destroyed enough lives already? Please, just stop! I'm begging you!"
She turned toward Alexander, sobbing, and pulled a tablet from her purse with shaking hands.
"Alex, I... I kept feeling like something was wrong, so I did some digging, and I found... I found all of this. I know I shouldn't have investigated behind your back, but I couldn't stand watching her manipulate you anymore..."
Alexander snatched the tablet from her hands, his fingers flying across the screen.
The display showed several wire transfers from Caroline's psychiatric clinic account to the servant's bank account. The timestamps matched perfectly with each of the previous incidents.
There was also a partially restored surveillance clip—during the apartment fire, a figure moved against the flow of evacuation, running toward the room where Edith's belongings were stored while splashing liquid along the corridor.
Wherever the figure passed, the flames intensified.
The footage was grainy, but the woman's silhouette was unmistakably Caroline's.
The evidence was damning.
"Well, well, well." Alexander's laugh was cold and bitter. "Impressive."
So that's why none of the previous investigations had turned up anything. She'd orchestrated every single incident herself.
"Caroline, I really underestimated you."
Celeste turned to Caroline, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice breaking with accusation.
"Caroline! Edith gave her life so you could live! She wanted you to take care of Alex and his parents! Not compete with a dead woman for his affection! And certainly not use these despicable tactics to hurt people! Wake up!"
Edith's name shattered the last thread of Alexander's self-control.
He hurled the tablet at Caroline with all his strength.
The heavy device struck her temple with a sickening thud. Blood gushed from the wound instantly.
She staggered backward and crashed to the floor, her vision swam with dark spots.
"You bitch!" Alexander roared, closing the distance in three strides. He unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks on Caroline's prone form.
"Staged kidnappings? Arson? Planning to fake your death and run off with your lover?! You've really outdone yourself!"
Caroline curled into a ball, unable even to cry out.
Only when exhaustion finally overtook him did Alexander stop, breathing heavily.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look at him, staring into her hollow, empty eyes. "You said I disgusted you, didn't you? You wanted to run away with your lover? Fine. I'll make it happen."
In that instant, something seemed to click in Caroline's mind. Her unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened.
For the first time, genuine fear broke through the hatred in her eyes.
"Bring him in!" Alexander shouted toward the door.