Chapter 97 The Arrest Warrant
"Now you have heard it for yourself. This is no gossip news," Devon said angrily while Patricia continued to stare at the TV screen, stunned. "I should have had this girl arrested, detained or something the very first time I saw her. If I had, Elena would still be alive," he added through gritted teeth.
"Oh my God, this is all my fault," Susan cried, drawing the attention of Patricia and Devon to herself. "I was the one who accepted her application when it was sent. I failed to do a thorough background check on her like I did with the others. I was blinded by the good CV she had, and I added her to the selected applicants scheduled for the interview," she explained, whimpering.
"Don't blame yourself, Susan. That girl is a deceiver. She is like a chameleon, changing her appearance to hide her true self. If she was able to deceive Bryce and deceive my family, how could she not deceive you?" Devon consoled, tapping Susan on the shoulder gently.
"What matters most is we now know who she is. I will make sure she gets a death sentence," Devon said and exited the guest living room, leaving Susan and Patricia, who still appeared to be in a state of shock after hearing the news.
"Excuse me," Patricia said and also stood up, leaving Susan alone in the living room.
"This is super great. I don't think I need to find someone to kill Angela in prison. It looks like Mr Devon is going to do that for me," Susan thought with a smile plastered on her face. "With Angela gone, Bryce will be mine. I am going to be Mrs Moore, and all the Moore fortune would be mine. You don't need certificates and hard work to make money; what you need is a brain. No, what you need is a smart brain like mine, plus good acting skills," she thought, and her smile broadened.
Susan turned around to leave, and she came face-to-face with Bryce. The smile on her face vanished immediately.
"Bryce?" Susan called out to him, staring at him like she had seen a ghost.
"What are you doing here?" Bryce questioned with a frown.
"I..... I... I came to visit your family," Susan stammered, squeezing her brow.
"Susan, stop trying to go through my father to get to me. I will never marry you today, nor tomorrow, even if Angela is guilty," Bryce said angrily.
"Bryce, why would you say such a thing to me?" Susan asked, her voice shaking and her eyes suddenly becoming teary. "We grew up together, and you were always protective of me. What changed?" she asked, her voice expressing how hurt she was.
Bryce had grown to dislike Susan's character following the stunt she pulled at the office to have Angela's contract terminated, just like she did with his previous good secretaries employed. He didn't turn a blind eye to Angela's cases because something about Angela made him want to protect her. This is how he discovered all the other secretaries were innocent. He realised Susan had not changed. She was still using him to take down others like she was doing when they were very young.
"Yes, we grew up together, and I was always protective of you until I discovered you took advantage of my soft spot for you and made me do despicable things to innocent people," Bryce said, not at all moved by Susan's sad face and the pain registered in her voice when she spoke.
"Bryce, why will you say such a thing about me? I never did anything bad. People took advantage of me and bullied me because I had no parents. And don't forget you are the reason my parents are no more. If you had not suddenly appeared in the middle of the driveway that night, maybe my father would not have driven into the ongoing fountain construction, and the car burst into flames," Susan said with tears streaming down her face.
"Susan, I didn't deliberately get into the middle of the driveway; someone pushed me. I fell onto the driveway," Bryce defended, trying not to feel guilty and fall for Susan's emotional blackmail.
"Whether pushed or not. What were you doing outside at that hour in the first place? You were supposed to be inside the house, playing with me while we waited for my parents to come pick me up, but you went out for no reason and got my parents killed," Susan said in tears.
Bryce went silent, recalling the day Susan's parents' car drove into the ongoing fountain construction, and then the car burst into flames upon falling into the dug space for the fountain. He was playing hide and seek with Susan, and he thought he saw Susan outside when he descended the staircase, which had a window on the side looking outside the huge compound. He simply went out to find Susan, and someone pushed him, making him fall onto the driveway. Susan's parents were already in the compound, exiting the roundabout with the huge fountain construction in the middle. Bryce, while lying on the driveway, covered his eyes when the car headlights hit him. He saw the car quickly move in the direction of the dug space for the biggest fountain ever. He heard screams, and next was the flame of fire following an explosion. His parents quickly came outside, and Susan came out, but she was immediately carried back into the house together with Bryce. They moved out of that house, and Devon took Susan in to prevent her from being sent to the orphanage.
"One day, whatever happened that day will come out, and I will be set free from this guilty tripping," Bryce said and left the place to search for his father.
"It happened 12 years ago, good luck with that," Susan whispered on her lips, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.
"Dad, I understand you hate Angela for whatever reason, but that is no reason to interfere with the investigation," Bryce said angrily to his father after barging into his father's office.
"Bryce, are you crazy?" Devon retorted. "You barge into my office, no greeting, and you dare accuse me of interfering with the investigation?" he questioned, standing to his feet behind his desk.
"Dad, how else did the news get leaked to the media if that is not your doing?" Bryce questioned, facing him squarely.
"Bryce, you think I have time for things as petty as this?" Devon questioned. "I don't like Angela because of whose daughter she is, but I will not stoop so low to get her out of my family. I would rather take everything away from you if you intend to follow this madness of remaining married to her. That I know will force you to let her go," he defended.
"Fine, I am sorry for accusing you wrongly, but Dad, people don't change overnight. I stayed with Angela under the same roof for months; she is not capable of doing such a thing. I feel someone is framing her up," Bryce said. "I didn't want our case to continue running in the news. I also needed time to do my investigation," he said.
"Son, you have no idea who this Angela girl is. I rejected her because I know who she is, and one day I will tell you. For now, let's focus on getting justice for Elena," Devon said, calming himself.
Devon's phone buzzed, and the two men had their attention drawn to the phone lying on the table. The screen of the phone lit up, and there was a readable message showing on the locked screen.
We have the arrest warrant.