Chapter 271 She Understands Why Now

Chapter 271 She Understands Why Now

When Jenna reached his hand, she paused.

Blood had dried on the back of that hand. His knuckles were covered in purple bruises and torn skin.

She wiped away the bloodstains gently, carefully, as if afraid of hurting him.

"When you were little and got into fights, it was always your right hand that got hurt," she said softly.

"Someone called your mother an abandoned woman, and you threw yourself at them. One against three, and you kept fighting even after your hand bone cracked. Your mother scolded you, and you hid under a tree refusing to go home. I was the one who brought you band-aids. Do you remember?"

No one answered her.

She continued wiping, moving to his forehead, cleaning away the dried, blackened blood around the deep wound on his brow.

"You stopped fighting after that. You said fighting was stupid, that truly capable people didn't need to use their fists. But look at you—you fought again. Who did you fight this time? Why didn't you tell me? I thought you hated fighting."

Her voice was unnaturally steady, as if discussing everyday matters. But the hand gripping the towel had begun to tremble.

Ethan stood in the doorway, turning his head away, unable to bear watching.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from behind.

A police officer hurried over.

"Ms. Mellon?" The officer glanced at her, then checked the documents in his hand.

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, but could you help us identify another body? We found some important information in Mr. Russell's encrypted files. Based on the contents and his travel records before departure, it appears he went to that estate specifically to avenge you. The files contain detailed records of the threats and attacks you suffered over the past year, and the connection between these incidents and an international criminal organization we've been investigating."

Jenna's hand shook. "Another body?"

The officer nodded and pushed open the door to another morgue room across the hall.

Jenna walked in.

The refrigerated drawer was already open, white vapor still drifting out.

She approached and looked down at the face.

Golden-brown hair, sharp features, and on the left side of his neck, an extremely deep, long knife wound. The flesh gaped open, no longer bleeding, but the congealed blood around the wound remained horrifying.

His eyes weren't completely closed, revealing a thin slit through which his blue irises showed eerily pale under the cold white lights. The corner of his mouth still held the shock of his final moment.

Andrew...

Jenna's body swayed violently.

The officer stood behind her and continued, "This deceased is registered as Charles Howard, birth name Andrew, an illegitimate son of the Howard family. According to intelligence in Mr. Russell's encrypted files, the Howard family's eldest son—the real Charles Howard—was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident years ago and couldn't appear publicly to handle family affairs. To maintain their public image and business empire, the family brought Andrew back to act as a stand-in, having him operate publicly under Charles Howard's identity. The files contain detailed records of this criminal organization's internal structure, financial flows, and numerous criminal acts. With this evidence, we'll shortly arrest the real Charles Howard."

He walked to Jenna's side and held out the evidence bag containing Edward's phone.

"Mr. Russell had a micro-camera on him that recorded the entire incident and uploaded it to the cloud in real-time. We found the video on his phone. In it, he engaged in violent physical conflict with Andrew. While being repeatedly beaten, he used a concealed knife to sever the other man's carotid artery. He was then shot by guards on the estate grounds and died from blood loss."

The officer continued speaking, but Jenna could no longer hear clearly.

She stood frozen, staring blankly at Andrew's face.

Then she slowly turned her head, looking through the half-open door toward the refrigerated drawer across the hall.

Edward still lay there. The towel she'd placed beside his hand was still warm. The water in the basin still released its last wisps of steam.

She finally understood everything.

This was never an accident.

From the moment he boarded that plane, he had already decided to leave his life here.

Andrew was dead, but the Howard family behind him wouldn't let it go.

They were a dynasty rooted in Eldoria for a century, with the best legal teams, the deepest political and business connections, countless ways to cover up a murder case, then turn around and continue hunting down her family back home.

Eliminating Andrew alone wasn't enough—far from it.

Like pulling a tooth while leaving the root, eventually a new poisonous fang would grow back.

And with Charles's perfect stand-in dead, the retaliation would be even more vicious.

So he needed Andrew to die by his own hand, making this murder case impossible to cover up.

Only if the deceased was the head of Russell Corporation, one of Emerald City's top ten taxpayers, a name that could occupy the front page of international financial news—only then would it work.

His life carried too much weight. So much weight that even if the Howard family exhausted all their resources, they couldn't suppress this case.

So much weight that international media would swarm, police would have to investigate thoroughly, so much weight that the real Charles, confined to his wheelchair, could no longer use an illegitimate stand-in to shield himself from all responsibility.

He had used his own life to nail the Howard family's coffin shut.

Then used his last strength to hammer in the final nails.

Jenna's hands began to shake.

Starting from her fingertips, spreading to her wrists, to her arms, to her entire body.

Her lips trembled as she turned and walked back step by step to the opposite morgue room, to Edward's side.

Then her knees buckled, and she knelt on the cold tile floor, pressing her forehead against his already frozen hand.

"Edward, how could you be so foolish? How could you be so foolish?"

The dam she'd been holding back since receiving the phone call finally collapsed completely in this moment.

She had already said she didn't blame him.

She'd said it was all in the past, told him to look forward, told him to live well.

But he still used his life to repay this debt.

In the most resolute way, he placed himself as an offering on the scales, trading the Howard family's destruction for her safety for the rest of her life.

She could even imagine Edward's expression as he went to his death.

It must have been calm, even carrying a hint of relieved smile.

Just like that day in the restaurant when he said to her with reddened eyes, "Jenna, am I a coward?"

It turned out he was never a coward. He had simply saved all his courage for the very end.

Urgent footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Someone pushed through the door, pausing briefly at the entrance before walking over with heavy steps.

Jenna didn't lift her head, but she knew who it was.