Chapter 914
No doubt about it—he was sharp.
Tessa brought the conversation back to the point.
“But those messages… I really can’t say anything about them. I didn’t want Julian to end up like this. But to be blunt, there’s no way to prove those messages are real. Or rather—how can you prove I sent them?”
She fired the question back without flinching. She worked hard to keep her tone even. After all, the number used in Julian’s phone wasn’t saved under her name. That was exactly why she was willing to take the risk and flat-out deny everything.
“No way to prove it?” Hector gave a cold snort. “We’ve already used digital forensics to trace the origin of those messages. The linked bank accounts all point to the same person.” He leaned in closer, his voice low and ominous at her ear. “So, Miss Tessa, who do you think that person might be?”
The closer he got, the tighter the knot in Tessa’s chest grew. “I… how would I know?” she said, forcing a smile. It didn’t matter. This was all they had—one piece of evidence. As long as she kept denying it, it wouldn’t hold. She didn’t need to worry. Once she was back home, she could ask her mother for help. There was no way her mother would stand by and let her rot in Milford. Absolutely not.
Eventually, Hector dragged Julian over. The moment he got close, both Tessa and Zack caught a strange, sour stench in the air. Tessa immediately wrinkled her nose and instinctively looked up, only to see Julian’s face, caked with grime, practically pitch-black. There was nothing left of Julian’s usual charm—just a vague silhouette of the man he used to be. But even with just one glance, it was still clearly him.
In the next instant, Julian lunged forward, trying to wrap his hands around Tessa’s neck, shouting with crazed conviction. “You venomous woman! This is all your fault! You heartless snake! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this! Can you even sleep at night, you witch?”
Every word came out like blood. His eyes locked on Tessa with such fury, it was as if she’d murdered his entire family. But that wasn’t the case.
Watching him spiral like this, Tessa actually felt a flicker of fear. She quickly ducked behind Hector. “Sergeant, look at Julian’s state—how are we supposed to get anything useful out of him like this? I think we should stop this now.” As far as she was concerned, this had all gone too far. After all, Aurora was perfectly fine now, wasn’t she? Blowing it up further just made them look potty. That was her take, and she didn’t hesitate to say it out loud.
“I think everyone bears some responsibility here,” she said, gesturing with a flick of her hand. “So why not just let this go? We can all walk away from this.”
But Hector didn’t even spare her a glance. He kept his attention on Julian, continuing to prod him for answers. Casually, he tossed out, “And if we did things the way you suggest—downplaying everything, letting it slide—then what would we need police for?”
At that, Zack truly couldn’t hold back anymore. He wanted to applaud. That comeback? Clean, sharp, and absolutely on point. And what was more impressive: Tessa was left with nothing to say!