Chapter 154 This Timing Is Not Right
Liam quickly brought in the technical team.
The spacious living room of the villa was temporarily commandeered. The air was heavy with tension—aside from the low hum of equipment, there was no other sound.
Alexander sat on the sofa, a cigarette between his fingers. The scarlet ember flickered in the dim light, and a long ash had accumulated, but he had forgotten to ash it.
The servants were being watched by bodyguards, kneeling in a corner on the other side of the living room.
Their faces were pale in the shadows, their bodies trembling slightly, even their breathing deliberately suppressed.
The atmosphere was like the stillness before a storm.
Liam paced back and forth behind the technicians, his eyes scanning screen after screen.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of one display, his brow furrowing tightly.
The footage showed the apartment hallway surveillance, timestamped over a month ago.
In the corner, a blurry dark shadow quickly flashed past.
Moments later, thick plumes of black smoke filled the screen, the image warping violently before fading into snowy static.
And this...
Liam's heart suddenly tightened.
It was the day of the fire.
Although Celeste had presented what she called ironclad evidence at the time, accusing Caroline of hiring someone to commit arson, Liam had always had doubts.
Considering how closely she was monitored and how weak she was, where would Caroline have found the energy or means to bribe someone to set a fire?
Moreover, the fire had broken out precisely when Alexander, upset about Caroline's situation, refused to come home.
He had never believed Caroline would deliberately commit arson. More importantly, if Caroline really could bribe someone to set a fire, why would she be bullied by the servants?
"Wait, this segment..."
Just as Liam was about to instruct the technician to isolate the suspicious footage for separate analysis, the person in charge of another group suddenly looked up.
"Liam, preliminary sorting is complete. The footage regarding Mrs. Hamilton's mistreatment has been filtered out."
Liam's heart sank. He immediately looked toward Alexander.
Alexander's fingers, still holding the cigarette, trembled slightly. The ash finally broke off, falling onto the expensive carpet.
He raised his head and forced out a single word.
"Play it."
The screen lit up, and the first surveillance video began playing.
The time was about a year ago. The scene showed the pantry outside the kitchen. Caroline, wearing thin loungewear, came downstairs.
She looked sick, her steps unsteady.
She walked to the refrigerator, trying to get a bottle of water, but barely had the strength—even opening and closing the door seemed difficult.
A stout middle-aged maid passed by. Seeing Caroline, her face immediately showed undisguised disgust.
She deliberately rammed her shoulder hard into Caroline.
Caroline, already thin and weak, stumbled from the impact.
The water bottle flew from her hand and crashed onto the floor, water splashing everywhere.
"Just my luck!" the maid cried out dramatically. Not only did she not apologize, she pointed at the water on the floor and scolded shrilly.
"Look at you! So clumsy! Making such a mess! Hurry up and clean it! Do you think you're still the young lady of the Neville Family?"
Caroline kept her head down, her expression unclear, just silently crouching to pick up the broken glass pieces.
Seeing this, the maid deliberately bumped her again.
Caroline's body swayed and she fell to the floor, her palm landing right on the glass shards. The sharp edges cut into her palm, blood seeping out.
"Idiot! Clean it up now!" the maid cursed.
"Can I have some water first..." Caroline licked her cracked lips.
"I haven't had food or water for three days... let me have some water first, I promise I'll clean up..."
The maid kicked her over.
"You want water? If you don't clean this up properly, you'll go hungry for three more days!"
Caroline's shoulders curled slightly. She struggled to get up and slowly cleaned up the broken glass with her bloodied hands.
The maid stood nearby, arms crossed, coldly watching her clumsy cleaning, still cursing under her breath.
"Bad luck! Troublemaker! You deserve it!"
Alexander's breathing suddenly grew heavy, his grip on the sofa armrest visibly tightening.
The second video.
The time was six months ago, late at night.
The scene showed the stairway corner leading to the basement.
Caroline had just been released from the basement, her steps unsteady, her face deathly pale.
Two young maids blocked the stairway entrance, exchanging malicious glances.
One of them suddenly stuck out her foot, viciously tripping Caroline just as she stepped onto the last step.
Caroline cried out and tumbled straight down the stairs.
Her frail body slammed into the rusty iron door at the bottom, curling up at the base of the stairs, moaning in pain.
The two maids stood above, covering their mouths, laughing gleefully.
One even mimicked her falling posture, making faces at the other.
Only when a bodyguard's footsteps approached did they suppress their laughter and leave, pretending nothing had happened.
Alexander's eyes snapped shut, his chest heaving violently, his temples throbbing.
He remembered that time.
He remembered when Caroline returned from being locked in the basement, she had large bruises and scrapes on her temple and arms.
She had said the servants tripped her.
He had not believed her, thinking she was seeking sympathy, and had even increased her punishment because of it.
The third video.
The time was two months ago, afternoon.
The scene showed the living room.
There were no servants in the room. Caroline sat alone on the sofa drinking tea.
An empty chair sat across from her, but she acted as if someone were there, drinking tea while smiling, occasionally saying something.
Alexander straightened up.
That smile on her face...
That smile, eyes curved—it belonged to Edith.
She really was playing Edith even in private, imitating how she used to receive guests in this house.
Suddenly, she stood up and skipped lightly toward the kitchen.
She opened the refrigerator and rummaged inside.
Finally, she pulled out an exquisitely packaged pink strawberry cream cake.
It was Edith's favorite dessert brand when she was alive. Every week Alexander had someone buy it and put it in the refrigerator, but Caroline...
Alexander suddenly remembered—Caroline had never liked very sweet things since childhood, and she was mildly lactose intolerant. Eating cream easily upset her stomach.
On screen, Caroline took the cake and returned to the sofa.