Chapter 242: I Didn't Kill Anyone
"An accident?" Charles let out a cold laugh, walking toward the man step by step, looking down at him from above. "A coral snake is venomous as hell. How would an ordinary guy like you get your hands on one? And it just happened to be placed right at the finish line of Emily's assessment? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
The man was nearly suffocating under Charles's overwhelming aura, cold sweat beading on his forehead, but he still stubbornly insisted: "It really was an accident."
"Looks like you won't tell the truth without a proper lesson." A flash of ruthlessness crossed Charles's eyes as he signaled to a nearby bodyguard.
The bodyguard immediately stepped forward, dragged the man from his chair, and pressed him to the ground.
Soon, the interrogation room echoed with the man's agonized screams and the sickening sound of bones cracking. Charles watched expressionlessly, as if observing an insignificant ant. Wesley stood to the side, his brow slightly furrowed, but he didn't intervene. Showing mercy to a would-be murderer would be cruelty to Emily.
After about ten minutes, the man had been beaten nearly to death, covered in wounds, and unable to endure any more. He cried out for mercy: "I'll talk! I'll talk! Stop hitting me! It was Kaida! Kaida made me do it! She said Emily was her competition, and if something happened to Emily, she'd get the promotion spot at the training camp! She gave me a huge sum of money to find a way to get rid of Emily!"
Kaida?
Charles and Wesley exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised. Kaida was an extremely excellent student at the training camp. She had indeed had a few minor conflicts with Emily, but they hadn't expected her to be so vicious.
However, Charles was no ordinary man. He had dealt with far more complex situations than this. While the man's words seemed reasonable, the flicker of panic and deliberate misdirection in his eyes didn't escape Charles's notice. He felt there was more to this story.
"Kaida told you to use a snake?" Charles pressed.
"Y-yes! She said snakes wouldn't be easily discovered, and if someone got bitten, it would be easy to disguise as an accident." The man wailed.
Charles stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly told the bodyguard, "Cut off one of his fingers. Looks like he still doesn't want to tell the truth."
"No! Please no!" The man's eyes widened in terror. He hadn't expected Charles to be so thorough and completely disbelieve his story.
"If you don't want to die, then tell the truth."
"I'll tell! I'll tell everything! It wasn't Kaida! It wasn't Kaida! It was Zoey! Zoey ordered me to do it!"
The man finally broke down completely. He knew that if he didn't reveal the real mastermind, he might actually die here today.
"It was Zoey! She found me and gave me a million dollars to find a way to eliminate Emily! She said Emily stole her man and humiliated her in front of Sean, and she wanted Emily to pay the price! She also said she'd give me another million after it was done! I got greedy and agreed! I only said it was Kaida before because Zoey threatened me—if I got caught, I should blame Kaida, or my family would be in danger! I was scared... I was really scared!"
The man was sobbing uncontrollably, his words incoherent, but this confession sounded much more genuine than his previous statement. Especially when he mentioned Zoey, the fear emanating from his core didn't seem fake.
Zoey?
Charles's expression grew even darker. He remembered the report Kate had submitted—Emily's previous ordeal getting lost in the woods and nearly facing danger had apparently been Zoey's doing as well.
Moreover, those rumors about Emily that had circulated in the training camp had also been spread by her.
Did she really hate Emily that much?
They had only known each other for a few days—how could there be such deep-seated hatred?
"You're certain it was Zoey?"
"Absolutely! I swear it!" The man nodded frantically, afraid Charles wouldn't believe him. "She even gave me a photo of Emily to make sure I identified the right person! She handed me the money herself! If you don't believe me, you can check my bank account—I received a million-dollar transfer just the day before yesterday!"
Charles immediately signaled Nathan to investigate. Soon, Nathan returned with confirmation that the man's account indeed contained an anonymous million-dollar transfer, timed just before Emily's assessment.
With both witness testimony and physical evidence present, and given that this truth had only emerged after severe interrogation, everyone present believed that Zoey was indeed the mastermind. After all, who would endure such agony and still protect the real culprit while falsely accusing another student like Kaida? It defied logic.
But Charles still harbored some doubts. While Zoey disliked Emily, did she really have the courage and capability to orchestrate such a sophisticated murder plot? And how had she managed to find such a desperate criminal to carry it out while living within the confines of the training camp?
However, looking at the man's agonized wailing and terror-stricken state, combined with the transfer records they'd just uncovered, all evidence pointed to Zoey. Charles temporarily suppressed his doubts and told Nathan with icy coldness, "Bring Zoey in for questioning! And keep a close watch on this guy—don't let him die, but don't let him spout any more nonsense either!"
He wanted to see what game this Zoey was really playing! If it truly was her, he'd make her understand what a fate worse than death awaited those who dared cross Emily! As for the temporary worker, he still felt the story wasn't over. That "deathbed confession" had been too "perfect"—so perfect it seemed like someone had carefully scripted it.
When Zoey was roughly dragged into the interrogation room by the bodyguards, Sean stood with a livid expression beside Charles and Wesley.
The moment Zoey saw Sean, she grabbed onto him like a last lifeline, struggling desperately and crying out: "Sean! Sean, save me! It wasn't me! It really wasn't me! I never wanted to kill Emily! I just... I was just a little jealous of her and said some mean things about her, but how could I possibly commit murder!"
Her hair was disheveled, her face streaked with tears and terror. All traces of her usual pretentious aloofness had vanished, leaving only a desperate breakdown.
"Sean, you know me! I wouldn't dare do something like murder! There must be some mistake! Someone's definitely framing me! I'm innocent!"
Zoey sobbed while trying to get closer to Sean, but the bodyguards held her firmly in place.
"Sean, you have to believe me! Please, tell Mr. Windsor, make him believe me! I'm really being framed!" She looked toward Charles, her eyes filled with fear, but still mustered the courage to defend herself: "Mr. Windsor! I admit I had issues with Emily before, and I did some unsavory things, but I swear, I only wanted to embarrass her, to make her unable to stay at the training camp. I never wanted her dead!"
Her demeanor didn't seem like an act.