Chapter 89 Lillian's Achilles Heel
Dwight sat behind his desk with a furrowed brow. What he'd initially thought was an accidental tiger attack on Manuel and the others had turned out to involve a hired assassin.
Even more shocking to Dwight was that Lillian seemed to be connected to the whole thing.
Dwight glanced at Olivia, who stood there in a daze, her expression dark with thought.
'So this involves Molly, too. That woman wasn't just trying to humiliate me; she wanted me dead! Matthew, you say you still love me, but what are you going to do about this?'
Olivia's mind was consumed with how Matthew would handle this choice.
Thinking about Matthew and Molly's relationship, they were siblings after all, while she was just some woman who'd suddenly appeared in his life. In terms of importance, how could she possibly compete with his sister?
Suddenly, a voice snapped Olivia back to reality.
"Olivia, whether you believe me or not, even though we have our differences, I wouldn't stoop to murder over something like this!"
Lillian looked at Olivia with complete seriousness as she spoke.
However, when Olivia turned to look at Lillian, there was a hint of mockery in her eyes that made Lillian's heart race with panic.
The police then examined Lillian's phone records and found no calls to Molly. They also couldn't find the business card in her office.
Ultimately, lacking evidence to prove Lillian's involvement in the incident, the police had to return to the station.
But before leaving, they warned Lillian not to leave the city.
Olivia returned to her office, and soon her phone buzzed with a message.
The text was from Matthew, and its contents left Olivia stunned.
Shortly after, Matthew called.
"When I had John investigate Lillian, he dug up some dirt from her past that might help you."
"I understand." Olivia's response was flat before she hung up.
After ending the call, Olivia stared at her phone in silence. She knew Molly was involved, and she desperately wanted to ask Matthew what he was thinking, but the words stuck in her throat.
On the other end, Matthew sensed something off in Olivia's voice, filling him with dread, but he didn't know what to say.
Meanwhile, after receiving the information, Olivia went to find Lillian.
She pushed open Lillian's office door, startling the woman inside.
"Didn't anyone teach you to knock before entering? Where are your manners?"
Lillian stood up from her chair, glaring at Olivia.
Olivia closed the office door, hands in her pockets, and walked over to face Lillian calmly.
"You look pretty rattled."
"That's none of your business. You still think I did it?"
Lillian glared at Olivia, even pointing toward the door for her to leave.
Olivia ignored Lillian and surveyed the office instead.
There was just a desk, a computer, and a shelf displaying various certificates and awards.
Olivia looked at the certificates and smiled.
"You seem to really enjoy these accolades, like you're afraid people won't notice them."
Olivia picked up one of the certificates to examine it, which infuriated Lillian.
"Keep your hands off that. It's not for you to touch."
Lillian tried to snatch it back, but Olivia slapped her hand away.
"How dare you hit me?"
Lillian's eyes widened as she screamed, but Olivia held up her phone.
"Would you like everyone to know about your plagiarism and research fraud?"
Olivia smiled at Lillian, who stared at the phone screen in terror, trembling all over.
"Where did you get this? It's fake. You fabricated it."
Lillian's pupils constricted as she refused to acknowledge what was on the screen.
It showed two similar research papers, one of which was Lillian's.
"Whether I fabricated it or not, I could turn this over to the police or let the internet decide. What do you think?"
Olivia looked mockingly at Lillian until the woman fell silent.
What Olivia said next made Lillian tremble even more violently.
"Before you came in, the police told us what the assassin said. His target was always me. But when you walked in, Dwight only mentioned that the assassin had manipulated the tiger to attack all three of us, yet you immediately specified that you didn't want to kill me. How did you know the assassin's real target was me?"
Olivia stepped closer to Lillian, who collapsed into her chair, her face pale with fear.
"I meant to say 'you all,' I was just too nervous... no, angry. I hate being falsely accused, so I misspoke."
Lillian's face was ashen as she tried to explain.
But Olivia placed the certificate in front of her.
"I'm giving you two choices. First, you can refuse to admit you were involved, and I'll expose your research fraud. Second, you can admit the truth, and I'll pretend this never happened; after all, you weren't the mastermind."
Olivia's voice was low and tempting, while Lillian stared at the certificate, seeing her own pale face reflected in the glass.
The office fell silent for over three minutes before Lillian finally spoke.
"It was Molly. She had that assassin contact me, saying she could help solve my family's financial troubles. But I had to come up with a plan to eliminate you. After the plan failed, she stopped contacting me, and I can't reach her."
Lillian numbly revealed her conspiracy with Molly.
Olivia watched coldly, a recording pen hidden in her pocket, capturing everything.
Lillian cared deeply about her reputation, so she absolutely couldn't tolerate having fraud allegations spread around. That would be worse than killing her.
After Lillian confessed everything, Olivia snorted and turned to leave the office.
"You'll keep my secret, right? You'll honor your promise, won't you?"
Lillian didn't dare raise her voice, only following behind Olivia with quiet pleas.
But Olivia ignored Lillian and ran straight out of Happy Paws Animal Hospital.
She found Zack waiting by the entrance and got into his car.
"Zack, drive me to Molly!"
Olivia's heart burned with suppressed rage. That damn woman, Molly, had pushed her too far.