Chapter 92 Chapter 92
Wendy hadn't expected him to come right out and tell the truth. Despite her quick wit, she was taken aback for a moment. After a few seconds, she finally replied coldly, "I'm here today solely to take care of business. Nothing else."
Benjamin smiled, his gaze drifting over her.
Wendy instinctively looked down at her work uniform and added, "I'm filling in for a colleague who's feeling unwell."
Benjamin smiled, seemingly uninterested in pressing the matter. He simply said, "Well, then you can leave now, right? I'll have Michael escort you back." With that, he called Michael in.
He treated her like an ignorant child, which filled Wendy with inexplicable irritation. She had already stood up to follow Michael out, but the more she thought about it, the less willing she felt to leave. She turned back around, stood in front of him, and asked, "Benjamin, since you knew why I came here, why did you help me just now?"
Benjamin seemed slightly taken aback, his eyebrows arching slightly. He studied her for a moment before waving Michael away.
Once they were alone again, he tilted his head back slightly and looked at her with a detached expression. "Young lady," he said coolly. "I admire your courage. But courage isn't the same as recklessness."
Wendy had heard similar words from Grace once before. At the time, Grace had said, "I acknowledge your boldness, but I don't consider recklessness a form of courage."
This made Wendy feel a surge of anger. She clenched her fists and glared coldly at Benjamin. "That's right. That's exactly who I am. I won't be a coward like everyone else. I'm not afraid of death, and I'm not afraid of you. At worst, you'll just kill me."
Benjamin watched her calmly. After a moment, he chuckled with a hint of resignation in his tone. He motioned for her to sit down and continued, "Wendy, I won't kill you. Your father's death had nothing to do with me."
Wendy hadn't expected him to bring up her father and watched him warily.
Seeing her reaction, he tugged at the corners of his mouth and gave a self-deprecating smile. "I have no reason to lie to you. With just you and your grandmother left in your family—one young, one old—if I wanted to kill you, I could hire a vagrant to do it. Then, I'd dump your bodies deep in the mountains or wilderness. No one would ever find you."
He was telling the truth. Wendy had to admit that if she and her grandmother vanished together, nobody would notice.
After a moment, she suddenly asked, "Are you really Alex?"
Benjamin countered, "Do you believe I am Alex? A death row inmate who was swapped out of prison and reinvented as the CEO of Norman Science? Do you believe that?"
"But Ms. Hill said you are Alex," Wendy stated, her gaze fixed intently on Benjamin as she studied his expression, searching for a crack.
Benjamin suddenly fell silent. After a long moment, he lifted his eyes to meet hers, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Grace and I did have some disagreements, but they had nothing to do with your father. I'm sorry about what happened to him, though I had no part in it."
Wendy latched onto the key point in his words. "What's your connection to Ms. Hill?"
Benjamin pressed his lips together, his expression hardening as he refused to answer. "That's none of your business."
"But it involves my father's death—that is my business!" Wendy retorted immediately, her tone sharp and demanding. "Shortly after Ms. Hill asked my father to verify your identity, he died in a sudden car accident. The vehicle responsible just happened to belong to a company under Norman Science. Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"
Benjamin remained expressionless. After a moment, he asked her, "Do you know how many companies Norman Science owns or how many vehicles they have? If you're accusing me of murdering your father just because the vehicle belonged to a Norman Science subsidiary, Wendy, don't you find that ridiculous?"
Wendy exclaimed, "Of course it's not just that! The key is Ms. Hill! If you had nothing to hide, why won't you talk about her?”
Benjamin frowned deeply and fell silent again. After a long moment, his expression softened slightly. "I care for Grace, but she's convinced I'm Alex, the death row inmate. That's the conflict between us.” He tugged at the corner of his mouth, offering a self-deprecating smile, and added, "Ridiculous, isn't it? But that's how absurd life can be. I met her by chance and fell for her, but she's obsessed with proving that I'm Alex just because of my looks.”
The answer was so unexpected that Wendy froze for a long moment. Finally, she stammered, "But Ms. Hill has a husband."
Benjamin smiled. "Yes, she has a husband. But I'm not one for morality. I used my methods to tear them apart. Now she hates me even more."
Though he was smiling, his smile carried a faint trace of self-mockery and sorrow. Wendy didn't know what to say. Benjamin broke the silence first, chuckling softly. "All right, young lady. I don't wish to discuss these matters further, nor do I accept any moral judgments from you. You're just like Grace. You approached me for my fingerprints, too, didn't you?”
Since he already knew everything, Wendy decided that hiding anything further would only make her seem petty. She decided to admit it. "Yes, the fingerprints Ms. Hill took weren't clear enough to use."
Benjamin looked momentarily startled, then smiled again. "She's not a professional. How would she know that different surfaces require different tools and methods for fingerprinting?"
Unaware that she had fallen into a trap, Wendy replied, "Yes, for prints on smooth surfaces, you need aluminum powder and specialized water-based transfer paper. Loose powder particles are too coarse. If you use tape to lift them, the prints won't be clear enough.”
Benjamin finally pieced together what Grace had done that morning after taking the milk cup upstairs. She’d pressed his lip prints into the milk and teased him until his mind was filled with her image. Then, with one intensely passionate kiss, she’d rendered him incapable of thought. Afterward, she slipped his fingerprints into her purse and walked away as if nothing had happened.
Even though he knew she’d been deceiving him all along, the realization that every previous encounter had been a performance devoid of genuine emotion still stung.
He nodded slowly, then called Michael back in. “Get some white paper and an ink pad,” he instructed.
Michael looked at him in surprise but asked no questions, turning to fetch the items. Benjamin remained silent as he pressed each of his ten fingerprints onto the white paper. Then he handed it to Wendy, who stood frozen in place. She hesitated before taking the paper, still struggling to believe this was real. She asked, "You're really giving this to me?"
"It's truly yours. But remember to return it when you're done.” Benjamin smiled faintly, though it held a hint of bitterness. He murmured, "Truthfully, if she'd been willing to speak up, I would have given them to her, too."
He carefully wiped the red ink from his fingertips with a wet wipe. Then, he looked up and instructed Michael, who was waiting by the door, to escort Wendy home. He added softly, "Don't come to places like this in the future. Next time you get into trouble, I might not be here."
Wendy felt as if she were in a dream. Hearing his words, she understood his goodwill and murmured, "Thank you," before rising to follow Michael out.
Benjamin sat alone in the room. Not long after, Landon knocked and entered, looking surprised. "Why did you just send that little girl away like that?"
Zach followed behind him, still rubbing his half-swollen cheek. "That girl packs a punch—my face still feels numb. You owe me, bro. Every time you go chasing after women, I'm the one who gets beaten up."
Before Zach could finish, Landon raised his hand and smacked him across the face again. Laughing, he scolded, “Get lost! You have such a villainous face. Go home and blame your parents!"
Benjamin heard this and gave a faint twitch of his lips. "Zach, go find Isabella. Pick your favorite girl. Put it all on my tab."
Zach perked up at this, happily agreeing.
Landon glanced at Benjamin's expression and asked with a smile, "The guys are off playing elsewhere. Should I call them over?”
Benjamin replied, "No need. Let them have their fun."
With that, he stood up and left to find another car to drive. He didn't call anyone to follow him as he drove alone out of Garma. It was after nine o'clock when he called Grace. "Are you heading back yet?"
Grace had just stepped out of the restaurant with Nathan. Hearing his voice, she sidestepped Nathan to answer, "Not yet. We just finished dinner and are about to head back."
Benjamin glanced at the time, his mood darkening further. After asking for her address, he said flatly, "Wait for me there. I'll pick you up."
Grace was puzzled. "No need. Taxis are easy to get here. You go ahead. I'll take one."
But Benjamin wouldn't let her refuse. He simply said, "Wait for me," and hung up.
Grace tucked her phone away. Turning around, she saw Nathan looking worriedly at her. She walked over to him and said, "You go ahead. Someone's coming to pick me up."
Nathan froze. "Benjamin's people?"
Grace had briefly explained her conflict with Benjamin to Nathan, but she had deliberately omitted Alex's involvement and told only half-truths about Officer Meyer.
She didn't want this young man to know too much—it wouldn't be good for him.
Hearing his question, she replied, "Yes, but it's nothing serious. That last incident is over. I'll handle whatever comes next.”
After a moment of thought, Nathan asked, “Ms. Hill, are you sure calling the police really won't help?”
Grace comforted him. "There's a lot involved. Calling the police would just cause me more trouble. Don't worry; I'll be fine."
Nathan remained silent for a moment, but he refused to leave. He insisted on staying with Grace to wait. Grace had no choice but to let him stay. They began to chat idly about school. About twenty minutes later, they spotted a black car approaching from the distance and pulling up in front of them.
Benjamin rolled down his window and gave Grace and Nathan a cold glance. He said to Grace, "Get in."
Grace opened the door and climbed inside. She waved at Nathan, who was standing on the steps, about to bid him farewell. Suddenly, Benjamin leaned forward from the driver's seat. One arm hooked around Grace's neck, and his other hand clamped down on her jaw. He turned her face toward him forcefully, then lowered his head and pressed a fierce kiss onto her lips.