317 Chapter 31Meanwhile, at Liam’s house.
“How did Nathaniel know so much about our plan?” Desmond asked the very question Ximena had asked earlier. Actually, it was the question on everyone’s mind.
He swept his gaze through his team and assessed everyone. There was no way Zaria would side with the man she hated the most. Zeus and Lucy, on the other hand, had had enough of Nathaniel.
Ximena had been as shocked as everyone else when Ciara turned on them and besides, she would rather die than betray both her best friend and her boyfriend. Evan was every horrible thing imaginable but a backstabber was not one of them. Especially not when stabbing them in the back might just lead to the salvation of the man he hated to the core.
He hated to admit it, but everything pointed toward Natalie. She was the one who contacted Nathaniel with every piece of information she had, and also the one who came up with the idea of the fake wedding to begin with. Not to mention, the one with the most recent motive. It was one thing to hate one’s parents but to want them dead was another. It was easy to believe she hated Lucy and her family for the plane blast.
He would have been suspicious of her but he knew her all too well. Even if she wanted to take revenge, she wouldn’t put herself in the line of fire. Not to mention, she couldn’t lose four friends at the same time simply because she was angry with one person.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized the attack had been meticulously planned so that Natalie would be the most obvious suspect. Which made him believe, one of the people he had just canceled out was the culprit. Every single one of them was a suspect—including Natalie herself.
“We have a rat among us.” He eyed everyone for signs of guilt. Of course he knew whoever the rat was, they would not show much emotion on their face.
“Let’s do this the Dark Knight way.” Lucy smirked and nodded to Evan. “Evan, who do you think could be behind this?”
.....
He frowned. Why was he being asked? Still, he kept a straight face. “A woman.”
“Why would you think so?” Lucy had not expected that kind of answer.
“Do you know who is capable of stabbing you through the chest, hiding the knife and crying the most tears at your wake, hiding guilt behind anguish? A woman. They are a dangerous species.” He looked at the women glaring at him. “If a man did this, he wouldn’t be able to fake it for long. A woman, on the other hand…well, you get the idea.”
“He kind of has a point.” Lucy admitted even though his logic was a bit twisted. Nearly seventy percent of serial killers in Olphire were women.
She turned to the women. “Zaria, what do you think?”
Zaria cursed. This was not the kind of conversation she wanted to have. It was way too uncomfortable. “I think a woman who can pull off a plane blast wouldn’t have any problems doing this. But again, you don’t need to hide behind a man you hate with your capability.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. She had avoided the question. “Ximena?”
“Zeus.” She dropped the name and held her hand up before she could be told he was not a woman. “Hear me out. As soon as Zeus left the bridal chambers, Nathaniel went up to find Zaria. How convenient.”
Zeus nearly laughed at the ridiculousness but then he realized how right she was. The timing did make him look guilty.
Lucy smiled. “Des?”
“Zaria. How long was he in that room before you killed him? Why didn’t you make a move earlier?”
“Because she’s pregnant?” Zeus scowled at him.
She knew it would break into a fight if he didn’t stop it. She was not trying to make them accuse each other. If she had everyone recount the details of where they were and what they did, the culprit would make sure they had an alibi.
On the other hand, making them state why they found each other suspicious provided way more information than they thought.
“I know who the culprit is.” Lucy declared. They all went quiet. She swept her gaze across them. “Of course, it’s a hunch. I will keep investigating.”
“What happens to the culprit once they are caught?” Desmond asked.
Lucy, who was about to leave, stopped and took a deep breath. With a swipe of her fingers, she took a switchblade out of her pocket and flicked it. “This. I will not stab anyone. I will peel their skin off inch by inch, layer by layer, and let them watch it happen until I finally let them die. No one messes with my family.” They didn’t accomplish their mission but still.
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Later, everyone had dispersed and Desmond took Zaria home. Zeus had followed them to check on Rosaly and drove now that he was present.
“Did you at least get the footage?” Desmond asked him. The aim of getting a decoy bride was for the surveillance to not be entirely made up.
“Unfortunately, the first one is messed up. It appears as though Zaria turned on Liam during the wedding and shot him. I can’t edit it to reverse the roles either because Liam shooting Zaria doesn’t look good either.” He peeked at them briefly. “But I did get the one of Nathaniel trying to attack Zaria in the bridal chamber. You guys have to pay me for that.”
“You fucked up, so no payment for you.” Desmond glowered at him. As if Nathaniel would have gotten that close to hurting Zaria if he hadn’t left her alone.
He gazed down at his fiancée who had fallen asleep.
Once they found out who the culprit was, Lucy would have to get in line.
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AN
Quick guess, who do you think the culprit is? They will be revealed within the next 1-3 chapters.
3/5
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