Chapter 435: The Truth Comes to Light
Wendy didn't even glance at her; she just handed the microphone to the middle-aged woman.
"Thalia, don't be scared."
"Tell everyone what happened to your daughter, Madeline."
Thalia's hand shook like a leaf as she gripped the microphone.
She took a deep breath, suddenly lifted her head, and locked her bloodshot eyes on Sophie's face.
"It was you!"
"Sophie!"
"You pushed my daughter Madeline off the rooftop!"
The words hit like a bombshell.
The room exploded into chaos!
Sophie's face went ghostly pale. "You're lying! I don't even know your daughter Madeline!"
"Don't know her?"
Thalia let out a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her face.
"You pushed Madeline off, made it look like a suicide, and then gave me half a million dollars to keep quiet!"
"You said if I dared to speak a word, I'd end up like Madeline!"
"I was scared! I really was!"
"But Madeline can't rest in peace!"
Wendy calmly took over, signaling the staff to display a large projection screen behind the podium.
"Here is the transaction record from Sophie to Thalia."
"This is the unexplained two million dollars that appeared in the account of the officer who investigated the scene shortly after."
"And the coroner, here's the altered final report that contradicts the initial autopsy findings."
Piece by piece, the evidence was laid out clearly on the big screen!
Sophie staggered, screaming.
"Fake! It's all fake!"
"Wendy! You witch! You forged evidence to frame me!"
Wendy ignored her hysteria and turned to Tessa, her gaze softening.
"Tessa, it's your turn."
Tessa shook her head in terror, trembling all over.
Wendy gently held her hand, silently giving her strength.
A digital writing pad connected to the big screen.
Tessa, shaking, wrote her tearful accusation stroke by stroke.
[My name is Tessa, and I was involved in the Rocky Island Hotel incident.]
[What I said during the live broadcast was true. I changed my story later because the Russell family kidnapped me.]
[They tortured me, forcing me to lie.]
[To cover up the truth, they even...]
Tessa stopped writing.
She looked up, pointing to the scar in her mouth in front of all the cameras, tears falling like broken pearls.
[They cut out my tongue!]
The entire venue was in an uproar!
Reporters surged forward like a wave, flashbulbs creating a sea of white light!
"You're all insane!"
Sophie was completely unhinged, pointing wildly at Wendy.
"It's you! You bribed them! You set me up!"
The scene was in total chaos.
Just then.
A voice, cold as steel and filled with absolute authority, cut through the noise.
"Ms. Russell, don't be hasty."
"The real show hasn't even started."
The room fell silent instantly.
Alexander, flanked by a group of black-suited bodyguards, slowly made his way to the podium.
His presence was so commanding that the crowd parted to make way for him.
Beside him was a man in his forties, with a weathered face and eyes full of conflict and fear, his head bowed, avoiding everyone's gaze.
Alexander reached the center of the stage and stood firm.
His gaze swept over everyone, landing precisely on Liam in the VIP section, whose face had turned ashen.
His lips parted, his voice not loud but each word sharp as a knife.
"Liam, do you recognize him?"
Alexander gestured to the man beside him.
"Cecil."
"From the North Ridge Town factory," Alexander continued, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "The guy who hit the detonator in that explosion."
Liam's grip on the armrest tightened, nearly splintering the mahogany beneath his fingers.
Cecil shuddered, cold sweat soaking his back.
Alexander's voice grew even colder, like a judgment from hell. "Cecil, lift your head. Look at Liam, look at the cameras, and spill everything you did back then."
Under immense pressure, Cecil seemed to lose all strength, collapsing to his knees.
He lifted his head, eyes clouded with tears of regret. "I'll tell, I'll tell everything."
Cecil's voice was hoarse and desperate, echoing through the room via the microphone.
"It was Mr. Russell! It was Liam! The new drug the factory developed had issues, killing many people! To cover it up, he ordered the plant manager to have me blow up the entire factory!"
Cecil trembled, pulling out a piece of yellowed, charred paper wrapped tightly in leather from his pocket.
"This is the engineering log from back then, with his signature, instructing me to plant explosives in advance. And this, this is my bank account, where he deposited the hush money."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry to my coworkers! Sorry to the patients and families who died because of the drug!"
Cecil wept bitterly, banging his head on the stage.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
All cameras, all eyes, were fixed on the VIP section.
Liam's face turned from ashen to lifeless gray. His body trembled violently, lips quivering, unable to utter a word.
Beside him, Sophie had already collapsed, her once proud face now filled with utter despair.
Amidst the blinding flashes, Liam's eyes widened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He fell backward, stiff as a board.
The scene descended into madness.
Medical teams rushed in, lifting the unconscious Liam onto a stretcher, the venue in complete disarray.
Reporters nearly shoved microphones into the collapsed Sophie's face.
But Alexander wasn't finished. He had one last gift for the once untouchable Sophie. He took a tablet from Gilbert, connecting it to the big screen.
"Media friends, don't rush off," Alexander's voice was icy, like delivering a death sentence. "Aren't you curious how the Russell Group managed to win the 'Dawn Project' bid at an impossible price?"
The screen shifted. Encrypted emails, transaction records, familiar names all appeared. Government officials, Russell family insiders in the Harvey Group, and Turner Group employees who were bought off!
"She used money to bribe everyone who had access to the bottom line. This is Ms. Russell's so-called business acumen."
Alexander's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Sophie, do you think you're clever?"
Sophie looked up sharply, her once beautiful face now twisted with madness. "Alexander! You set me up! You! You orchestrated this!"
"Yes!" Alexander admitted without hesitation, stepping closer to her, looking down from above.
"I used your proudest methods to drag you into hell. You like playing the game of swallowing the elephant, so I showed you what it's like to be swallowed whole."
"No!" Sophie screamed in despair.
At that moment, the venue doors burst open.
A team of uniformed, stern-faced police officers marched in, swiftly taking control of the entire venue.