Chapter 140
After glancing at them, Alexander turned his gaze to Charles. Then, like discarding trash, he shoved him away.
Charles stumbled backward several steps before crashing into the tea service behind him, landing in a heap of shattered glass.
Alexander pulled out a white silk handkerchief and methodically wiped his hands, as though he'd just touched something filthy.
"The Langley family's internal affairs don't interest me."
"But Charlotte is my future wife. Her mother is my mother. Who the hell do you think you are to lay a hand on her?"
The moment those words left his lips, he tossed the handkerchief carelessly to the floor.
The room erupted in shocked murmurs.
Charlotte glanced at Alexander but said nothing.
She'd never expected him to stand by her side without hesitation, not at a moment like this.
Charles clutched his bruised hand and hauled himself up from the floor, his face twisted in humiliation.
Still, he refused to back down, addressing Alexander directly.
"Mr. Harris, I don't care how powerful you are—you can't just ignore reason, can you?"
"Victoria's missing. We're all worried sick. It was Charlotte who insisted on contaminating the scene. I was only trying to stop her to preserve evidence for the investigation."
"Even as a member of the Harris family, you can't overstep and interfere with the Langley Group's internal investigation, can you?"
Alexander saw right through the attempt to corner him. A mocking smile curved his lips.
"Internal investigation? With you in charge?"
"By the time you figure anything out, it'll be too late."
Without sparing Charles another glance, he turned to Charlotte, his expression softening considerably.
"Don't worry. I've already sent people to the scene. The Harris family's security team is working with the police to cordon off the relevant roads. The authorities have taken over the accident site. We should have answers soon."
A flicker of surprise crossed Charlotte's eyes.
She hadn't expected Alexander to move so quickly—or to mobilize such extensive resources for this.
Her heart softened slightly.
She looked up at him again.
"Have they found anything new?"
"My team discovered that the SUV was deliberately forced off the road by a heavy-duty cargo truck and pushed over the cliff."
Alexander's expression grew serious.
"We traced the tire tracks and checked the surveillance footage at the mountain road entrance. We identified the truck's make and the direction it headed."
"We tracked it down to an abandoned quarry about three miles from the scene."
"Unfortunately, the plates were stolen. The actual owner reported the truck missing last night."
His eyes darkened.
"The interior had been wiped clean. No fingerprints, no hair—nothing."
Charlotte's face fell slightly. She hadn't expected them to be so meticulous.
"Don't worry." Alexander seemed to read her thoughts. He reached out and patted her shoulder gently, though his gaze locked onto Charles, who was being helped to his feet. "Even the most professional teams slip up somewhere."
"My people found a set of tire tracks near the quarry on a dirt road—tracks that don't match the truck at all. Based on the tread pattern, we confirmed they belonged to a black van."
"We followed that lead and discovered that before the incident, someone called Ms. Langley's private number from an overseas virtual number."
The moment Charles heard 'black van' and 'overseas virtual number,' his face changed. His pupils contracted sharply, and his left eyelid twitched involuntarily.
Charlotte caught it immediately.
Now she had her answer.
Charles was absolutely involved in this—or at the very least, he knew what had happened.
But Charlotte didn't call him out. She knew Charles didn't have the capability to orchestrate something like this. Whoever was behind him had done all this.
Charles was just a pawn they'd pushed forward to take the fall.
Exposing him now would be pointless. It would only tip off the real culprit.
So she looked away, pretending not to notice his reaction.
"Take me to the scene."
Hearing Charlotte's request, Alexander nodded and escorted her out of the Langley Estate.
Soon, the Rolls-Royce pulled away from the estate, heading toward the accident site.
From the moment she got in the car, Charlotte leaned back against the seat with her eyes closed.
She wasn't sleepy. Her mind churned with the attack on the Langley Group and Victoria's kidnapping.
Details replayed over and over in her head as she searched for other critical clues.
"You suspect Charles?"
Alexander's sudden question broke the silence in the car.
Charlotte opened her eyes and gazed at him quietly.
After a long moment, a faint smile curved her lips.
"Weren't you the one who deliberately mentioned those details just now?"
Alexander laughed, admiration flickering in his eyes.
"In that kind of situation, hardly anyone can stay truly calm. Charles has a guilty conscience. Of course he couldn't."
Charlotte nodded. "I'm guessing he's not the mastermind, though."
"He doesn't have the guts. Or the brains."
"At most, he's an inside man—someone who provided Victoria's whereabouts and phone number."
Alexander's eyes narrowed slightly as he rubbed his chin.
"There aren't many people in Imperial City who could convince Charles to play inside man."
"And whoever it is also can go after both the Langley Group and Victoria. When you narrow it down like that, the list gets even shorter."
"Don't worry. I'll have Asher investigate all of Charles's financial transactions and call records from the past three months."
"If he was involved, there's no way he didn't leave a trace."
Gratitude flickered in Charlotte's eyes at Alexander's offer to help.
"Thank you."
"Your problems are my problems. No need to thank me." Alexander shook his head, his deep gaze fixed on her. "What are you planning to do next?"
At his question, a cold glint flashed in Charlotte's eyes.
"If they want to play this game, I'll play along."
"They probably think hacking the company's system and kidnapping my mother will make me panic and lose my edge. That's just stupid."
She pulled out her phone, typed out a message, and sent it.
Once that was done, her expression turned cold again.
"I've already had someone compile all the data from when the company was attacked. But we still need your people to track down the physical evidence at the scene."
"I'm going to come at this from both angles and flush out this rat."
"Got it." Seeing her serious expression, Alexander nodded without hesitation.