Chapter 191 Burial Site
Moris had staked out Riverbend Manor all night. The basement surveillance was real-time, and he'd had the dubious honor of witnessing the entire torture process by a sadistic killer.
Bruce had gone from begging for mercy at the start to complete despair by the end. Just before dawn, he finally lost his life at Anthony's hands.
At eight in the morning, Anthony emerged from the estate in a suit and tie, got in his car, and drove away.
Moris followed in his own vehicle, while another bodyguard continued watching Riverbend Manor.
Anthony's destination was unclear. Moris only saw him make a phone call, then just keep driving straight ahead for over two hours.
He drove out of Majestic City entirely. On a small side road, Anthony finally stopped.
He got out of the car and stood by a utility pole for a while, smoking two cigarettes before leaving.
After Anthony departed, Moris got out to take a look. There was nothing particularly special about this spot, but he remembered—Ms. Bourbon's parents had been in their fatal car accident right here.
What was Anthony doing? Coming to reminisce about past successes?
Moris shrugged and pulled out his phone to report his progress. Which was to say, no progress at all.
He'd thought he could tail Anthony undetected today and dig up some secrets. Unfortunately, he'd missed this golden opportunity.
On the other end, Alexander didn't seem surprised. "He usually has his assistant handle things. That Leo has been with him for years—basically, every evil thing Anthony's done, Leo's cleaned up after. The bodyguard watching Leo hasn't reported back yet. Let's wait and see."
Moris could only respond with disappointment. "Yes, sir."
After a pause, he asked hesitantly, "Mr. FitzRoy, about Bruce being killed by Anthony... should we tell Jennifer?"
Alexander laughed softly. "Already arranged."
Moris sucked in a breath. Something he'd only just thought of, Mr. FitzRoy had already set in motion. Was there like an Einstein-sized gap between them?
Mr. FitzRoy's brain was probably beyond anything Moris could aspire to in this lifetime. Then again, he'd never met anyone who could compare to Mr. FitzRoy, so it wasn't that Moris had a low IQ—Mr. FitzRoy was just exceptional. At least Moris still worked by his side. Rounding up, they were basically equals.
Alexander had no idea where his young assistant's imagination had just wandered. He said, "Come back for now. You worked hard last night. Take the day off and get some rest."
Moris felt a bit sheepish. "It wasn't that hard."
All he'd gotten was one video. He hadn't caught anything else.
Meanwhile, at the Watson residence.
Jennifer stared at a video on her phone, trembling slightly.
The video had come from an anonymous email—a five-second clip from a surveillance camera near the club. Those five seconds made her break out in a cold sweat.
Because in the video, her beloved Bruce was being shoved into a van by several vaguely familiar figures. The van sped away, and the license plate was one she knew by heart.
Those men were people Anthony kept on payroll for dirty work. That van was one Anthony had bought for convenient operations.
She knew this because three and a half years ago, on that rainy night, Anthony had taken those same men in that same van to clean up her mess!
Now those men and that van had been turned on her, used against the person she loved most.
Her son knew how deeply she cared about Bruce. She and Bruce were in love, yet he still went after him.
In his heart, didn't his own mother even deserve to pursue her own happiness?
Jennifer's fingers trembled as she called Anthony.
The first few calls were rejected. Jennifer stubbornly kept calling until finally, sounding annoyed, he picked up. "Mom, I'm in a meeting."
Jennifer's face darkened, her voice shaking. "Where did you take Bruce? Anthony, you promised you wouldn't touch him. How could you lie to me?"
Anthony said, "Hold on."
There was rustling, like he was walking outside.
After more than ten seconds, Anthony spoke again, his tone resigned. "Mom, I didn't touch him. Who told you I did?"
After each of his releases, his mood would be unprecedentedly calm. Even facing the most troublesome situations, he could remain composed. The effect usually lasted about three days.
Today was only day one, so he had plenty of patience for Jennifer's accusations and reproaches.
Jennifer's voice shook with anger. "You're still denying it? Even now you're denying it? Do I need to throw surveillance footage in your face before you'll admit it? You sent people to kidnap Bruce. Where did you take him? Did you hurt him?"
Anthony caught the key word, his brow furrowing involuntarily. "Surveillance? What surveillance?"
"Someone sent me surveillance footage. In it, your people pulled him into the van, right on the street!" Jennifer's heart was breaking. She was frantic and furious. "Anthony, I already know. Just give Bruce back to me and I won't hold any of this against you."
Anthony's tone was innocent. "Mom, I told you I didn't touch him. Is someone whispering things in your ear? I've told you not to believe everything people outside the family say. They're trying to drive a wedge between us. Who knows if that video is even real?"
Jennifer paused. "Fake?"
"Yeah. Technology's so advanced now—AI can make totally convincing deepfakes. Mom, you're really wronging me here. I haven't done anything. You like that student. Why would that bother me?"
Jennifer was somewhat convinced. "Really?"
Anthony laughed helplessly. "Of course it's real. Why would I lie to you? Mom, if there's nothing else, I need to get back to my meeting."
Jennifer had to agree. "Alright, go ahead. But when you have time, send someone to look for Bruce. I'm really worried about him."
"Okay," Anthony said.
After hanging up, Jennifer sat on the sofa staring at the video on her phone. It looked so real. If it was fake, it was an incredibly convincing fake.
Could Anthony really not be lying? Was someone trying to turn them against each other?
Before Jennifer could sort through her thoughts, Rachel stormed in from outside, viciously kicking off her heels and throwing her purse and coat aside.
A maid quickly rushed over to tidy up. Jennifer looked at her daughter with displeasure. "How many times have I told you? Be elegant. Be refined! That's how a lady from a distinguished family should act! If people saw what you just did, imagine how they'd laugh!"
Rachel didn't care. "Let them laugh. I'm already a joke anyway!"
Jennifer frowned at her. "What's wrong with you? What happened out there?"
She'd never seen her daughter this upset before.
Rachel took the fruit tea a maid offered and drank some before snorting coldly. "Guess why Ethan broke off our engagement?"
Jennifer's frown deepened. "Because he fell for someone else?"
Either that, or he'd found a better option, or the Green family had simply changed their minds. But the Greens weren't some minor family—their word was their bond. They wouldn't casually cancel an engagement.
So the problem had to be with Ethan.
Seeing her daughter was willing to talk now, Jennifer pressed, "What happened? Tell me! Don't keep your own mother in suspense!"
"I'm not keeping you in suspense. I'm just furious!" Rachel slammed her cup on the table, seething. "Ethan fell for someone else!"
"I knew it." Jennifer sighed. "They hold all the cards. What can we do? Unless you're confident you can win Ethan back from that woman, there's no other option."
She'd been telling Rachel to get closer to the Green family, to find a way to win Ethan back. But Rachel refused, feeling it would insult her dignity.
In Jennifer's opinion, what was dignity worth? As long as you achieved your goal, right? Just like how she'd landed the siblings' father back in the day. No matter how the marriage turned out, at least she'd successfully produced a son and daughter and secured her position in the Watson family.
She hadn't wanted Rachel to live that kind of life, but Rachel had insisted on this engagement. Now that it fell through, she wouldn't fight for it. Jennifer found it infuriating.
Rachel didn't notice her mother's impatience. Her expression was dark as she spoke through gritted teeth. "The woman Ethan likes is Arabella's friend. That Daisy."
Jennifer froze, slowly sitting up straight. "What did you say? Ethan was seduced by Arabella's friend?"
"Yeah." Rachel's smile looked worse than crying, her voice icy. "Mom, you think that's not deliberate?"
Jennifer shook her head, her voice darkening. "How could it be a coincidence? It must be Arabella trying to get revenge on us. After finding out you were marrying Ethan, she sent her friend to sabotage you. And obviously, she succeeded."
Jennifer's tone was cutting. Rachel was silent for a moment before saying, "Mom, I can't let this happen."
Who did Arabella think she was, scheming against her?
So what if she married well? Did she really think someone like Alexander could have genuine feelings? Would truly love her?
It was just novelty. Sooner or later, Alexander would get bored and toss Arabella aside like a used rag.
"What do you want to do?" Jennifer asked.
Rachel said coldly, "I'm going to make Arabella pay."
Sure, Alexander protected her perfectly, but there were other ways to get to her.
But Jennifer scoffed at her daughter's plan. "Stupid! The Watson family has already crossed Arabella enough. You want to pile on more? Even if this really was Arabella deliberately getting revenge on you, you can't go after her. Do you want to destroy the company? Do you want to stop being the Watson family's young lady?"
After a pause, she continued, "Your priority right now is to win Ethan back! Men all want the same few things. If you're willing to humble yourself and sweet-talk him, he'll come back."
Rachel bit her lip. "I'm not willing to accept this."
Jennifer snorted. "So what if you're not willing? When you're outmatched, what can you do? On one side is trouble, on the other is the Green family goldmine. How do you choose?"
Rachel said nothing, just turned and went upstairs.
Jennifer shouted after her furiously, "Idiot! How did I give birth to such a fool!"
Upstairs, Rachel grew angrier the more she thought about it. She understood what her mother was saying, but she genuinely didn't know how to win Ethan back. She'd tried every method, even humbled herself to serve him, and he'd just sneered at her.
Her mother was thinking too simply. Ethan would absolutely never come back.
Since the outcome was already determined, why bother trying to salvage things? She might as well get her revenge and feel better about it.
Arabella dared to treat her this way? She wasn't someone to mess with either!
But she couldn't target Arabella directly. How could she teach Arabella a lesson without Alexander tracing it back to her?
Rachel thought in circles until suddenly her eyes lit up. She knew!
Meanwhile, Alexander's surveillance on Anthony had made significant progress.
Shortly after Anthony left that morning, Leo had appeared with others. As usual, they dragged the body from the basement into a vehicle and drove away.
Alexander's bodyguard had followed undetected and actually found where Anthony disposed of bodies.
Sure enough, not in the city but in the suburbs. The outskirts of Majestic City still had farmland. Surprisingly, Anthony owned several acres there.
Leo stopped the car by the road and directed people to dig a large pit in a field.
It was winter, so there was no one around. Nobody witnessed the scene.
Once the pit was dug, Leo had them throw Bruce's body in. After burying it, they drove away.
The bodyguard photographed the scene and sent it to Alexander.
Alexander quickly replied: [Well done. Go rest.]
Having completed his assignment, the bodyguard drove off.
In his office, Alexander studied the photos the bodyguard had sent, his expression meaningful.
After a long moment, he printed the image and placed it in a file folder specifically created for mapping Anthony's activities.
Now he had Anthony's body disposal method and video evidence of his criminal abuse. Only one question remained.
What was his motive? What was his goal?
Murder wasn't like other crimes. You were putting your own neck on the line. Anthony couldn't be killing people just for fun, could he?
Alexander organized the information he'd gathered and sent it to a friend at the police station. [Is this enough to convict him?]
The response came quickly: [Not quite. Higher-ups suddenly started cracking down on everything. Your evidence is solid, but if Anthony recants his confession, it's not impossible he could walk away clean.]
Alexander stared at that message for a long time without responding.
He was getting impatient again. Lately all his patience seemed reserved for Arabella. With everything else, especially things related to her, he kept losing his composure.
He couldn't continue like this. It would inevitably lead to mistakes.
Alexander put down his phone, grabbed the file folder, and headed out.