Chapter 71
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She burst into tears before finishing.
Lucille heard every word clearly from the observation room. Maricela became his executive assistant?
Traveling with him on business? Appearing everywhere together…
But if she’s his assistant, today’s events suddenly made sense.
Outside, Cedrick comforted Maricela instead. “We don’t know exactly what happened yet. Once Lucille’s settled, I’ll investigate thoroughly.”
Maricela sniffled between sobs. “Harlan and David.already checked. Wires in the meeting room caught fire… they must’ve aged badly. I failed my regular inspections. I’m so sorry…”
“If it was faulty wiring, that’s hardly your fault. What would you know about electrical systems?”
He dismissed her. “Go home. We’ll wait for the fire department’s report. I’ll be here a while longer.”
“Alright… Could you please give these flowers to Lucille? They’re from Harlan, David, and me. We’re still family after all. Even if Lucille dislikes us… we hope she recovers soon.”
Lucille: ?
?
?
Hypocrisy in this?
And is Cedrick out of his mind?
Maricela majored in science–she’d know about electrical fires!
She absolutely knew!
Lucille had spotted the wiring issue while trapped inside.
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She’d even seen the clean cut–someone deliberately sliced through the insulation.
She’d tried calling.
After her first round of trapped–in–the–meeting–room rescue calls got ignored, she discovered the wiring problem and made a second round of calls. Including to Cedrick. If just one person had answered, today’s fire wouldn’t have happened.
In that moment, pure hatred flooded her.
Did I stand in anyone’s way?
Didn’t I ask you for a divorce?
She’d already decided to leave. In two weeks, she’d sever everything here. Say goodbye to the past. Return their perfect, outsider–free world to them. So why do this to her?
Set fire to kill her?
Then she’d play along.
Then she wouldn’t let certain people off either.
Lucille knew there was a smoke detector in that conference room–any hint of smoke would set it off.
She was allergic to mangoes, so the scent hit her instantly. When the cup reached her, she knew it wasn’t passionfruit lemonade. At least not purely. Someone had definitely mixed in mango juice.
Someone set her up. Fine, she’d play along.
She called the fire department first because she genuinely needed help–and she genuinely saw the spark ignite.
Forcing mango juice on her? That was a death sentence. Allergic shock during a fire? Unconscious while burning alive?
Alright, she’d drink it.
If someone wanted to commit a crime, she’d help make the guilt stick.
But from past reactions, mangoes only gave her rashes. Never unconsciousness.
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Why would the culprit assume she’d pass out?
Had to be Cedrick.
Only once, shortly after their wedding, she’d accidentally eaten mango cake. Severe allergy. Not wanting Cedrick to see her rash–covered face, she hid in her room, pretending to sleep. She ignored his knocks. Mrs. Chen panicked, babbling about allergic shock: “What if something happened to Mrs. Maynard?”
So Cedrick broke down the door. Finding her lying there, he truly thought she was in shock…
She didn’t know who wanted her dead–or if everyone did. But she knew mangoes wouldn’t kill or knock her out. So she’d fake it.
Even the line “Cedrick, if I die, you won’t owe me anymore” was an act.
Playing the victim? Easy.
But faking it till hospitalization felt disrespectful. She wouldn’t waste doctors‘ time over a rash.
Outside the observation room, Cedrick and Maricela were still talking.
Lucille sat up, spotting her bag on the table. She reached for it.
“Lucille, what do you need? Let me get it!” Cedrick hurried back in.
Maricela lingered outside, watching through the door.
Lucille already had her bag. Unzipping it, she found her phone–still charged.
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Chapter 72