Chapter 156 Anonymous Kindness

Chapter 156 Anonymous Kindness

Stephanie's POV

Emma's eyes were red-rimmed as she nodded gently at me.

I froze on the spot, my mind going completely blank, a persistent ringing filling my ears.

After a long moment, my eyes turned completely red too.

I stepped forward and gripped Emma's hand tightly.

"How could things turn out like this... why did it have to be you two? You're both such good people..."

Emma lowered her head, burying her face in her palms, her shoulders shaking violently.

She cried with complete devastation, as if releasing a lifetime's worth of grievance and rage all at once.

She cried for a long time. When she finally lifted her head, her face was streaked with tears, her eyes swollen beyond recognition.

She grabbed the tissue box from the table, pulled out two tissues, and roughly wiped away her tears. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to steady.

"Don't be sad anymore. This all happened a long time ago. I've made my peace with it now. Life has to go on."

I could clearly sense that while her words spoke of letting go, her heart still harbored resentment.

She had never truly moved on—she'd just forced all that pain deep down inside.

I didn't call her out on it. I didn't want to reopen those wounds.

I just squeezed her hand tighter and responded softly, "You're right. Life has to go on."

She sniffled, wiped away the remaining tear tracks on her face, and straightened her posture.

"After I was rescued, I lived with Elisa until I became an adult. Later, I got into medical school. During my forensic medicine courses, I realized there were a lot of inconsistencies in Yasmin's cause of death."

"The medical examiner ruled it drowning at the time, but when her body was brought back to the orphanage, I saw it with my own eyes. I remembered every detail of her condition."

"I specifically hired an artist to recreate every mark and injury on her body, then took that documentation to the most authoritative forensic professor at our school for evaluation."

"The professor took one look and told me that yes, Yasmin died from drowning, but she wasn't forcibly held underwater. There were no scratch marks, no signs of struggle. If she'd been dragged under while trying to save me, her instinct to survive would have left marks. But her body was clean. Nothing."

My heart clenched violently, a chill spreading through my entire body.

"Furthermore, based on the location and pattern of the bruising on her body, the professor determined that those marks weren't from impact—they were symptoms caused by blood clots."

"Blood clots?" My face registered pure shock.

"Yes." She nodded with certainty.

"She'd been force-fed massive amounts of illegal drugs over a long period. Her body was already completely destroyed. The blood clots were a side effect of those drugs. The professor also reached one critical conclusion—Yasmin didn't die during the drowning process."

My breathing stopped completely.

"After you were pulled ashore, Yasmin made it out of the water too." Emma looked directly into my eyes, enunciating each word carefully. "She died after getting to shore. From a sudden heart attack."

I sat there in a daze, completely stunned.

I stared at the steam slowly rising from my teacup as my vision gradually blurred.

Every scene from that summer afternoon came flooding back.

Kaitlyn's hysterical accusations. The cold stares of everyone around me, looking at me like I was some kind of monster.

So she really didn't die from drowning.

It was the long-term drug abuse that destroyed her body, and in that final moment when she used every ounce of strength to save me, her body simply gave out.

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

Finally, the whole truth was laid bare.

Kaitlyn had known Yasmin's true cause of death from the very beginning. That's why, before anyone could raise questions, she preemptively pinned the murder on me, deliberately covering up the truth to prevent anyone from discovering the flaws in her story.

She'd used a child's fear and guilt to perfectly conceal all her crimes.

I covered my face, my whole body trembling with sobs.

"I was so stupid... back then I only knew I was being wrongly accused, being blamed. All I did was cry. I never thought to investigate what was actually wrong with Yasmin's body. If I'd discovered it sooner, if I'd uncovered the truth earlier..."

"Stephanie." Emma's voice came softly as she placed her hand over mine.

"Don't blame yourself. Yasmin's death had nothing to do with you. Even if she hadn't had that heart attack that day, the long-term drug damage would have taken her life sooner or later. Her body was already completely hollowed out. You just happened to be there at that exact moment, giving Kaitlyn the perfect excuse to cover up her crimes."

She paused, her tone carrying long-suppressed hatred.

"She wasn't even human. When she dies, she'll go straight to hell."

I forced myself to take a deep breath, pushing down the churning emotions, and looked up at her. "What happened after that?"

Emma leaned back in her chair, her gaze drifting toward the distant scenery outside the window.

"After I came back and opened my clinic, I kept tabs on the two police officers who handled the case and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. They did the examination, they issued the drowning death report—they absolutely falsified evidence. Over all these years, I've uncovered quite a few scattered clues, but the evidence was too fragmented. It wasn't nearly enough to convict them."

I immediately asked anxiously, "You still have those clues, right? Give them to me—I'll help you continue investigating!"

Emma shook her head gently. "There's no need, Stephanie. Everything's already been completely resolved."

As she finished speaking, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

"A while back, a stranger suddenly contacted me. He asked for all my clues, and three days later, he sent me a complete set of solid evidence. I immediately submitted the evidence to the higher-level police department, and not long after, everyone involved was investigated. The medical examiner and the two officers from back then—they're all in prison now."

Something soft and tender stirred in my heart.

"That person... who was he?"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know him. He never revealed his name. He only contacted me using a temporary number, and after sending the evidence, he disappeared completely. But I can tell you this—he's an incredibly kind, incredibly good person."

Listening to her words, a clear suspicion suddenly surfaced in my mind.