Chapter 36

The delivery man’s voice was hoarse. Nash guessed his identity. He loosened his foot and calmly said, “You’re Hannah’s brother-in-law, right?”

Freed, the man immediately grabbed a sharp knife from the floor and lunged at Nash’s throat. Nash caught the blade with two fingers, snapping it in two. Blinded by rage, the man ignored the broken knife and grabbed Nash’s neck. “I’m going to kill all of you Lewises…”

Nash grasped the man’s wrists, holding them apart. “I’m not even a Lewis. Will you please calm down?!”

The man’s grip weakened; his fury subsided. “Who… who are you?”

Nash closed the door. “My name is Nash Calcraft.”

The man released his hold and surveyed the house. Finding Hera absent, he approached Nash. “Who are you, and why are you in Hera Lewis’s place?”

“I’m Hera’s fiancé,” Nash replied.

The delivery man’s face hardened; his fist clenched. Nash, no longer patient, punched him, sending him sprawling.

“With your skills, you think you can avenge your son? The Lewises have bodyguards; any one of them could easily defeat you. Even without protection, Hera could handle this herself.”

The man was in his thirties and clearly weak. Any reasonably strong person could overpower him, let alone trained professionals.

Hearing Nash’s words, the man pounded the ground, crying, “I’m useless… I can’t even avenge my son!”

Nash’s tone softened. “Find solace in your grief. That car accident had nothing to do with Hera.”

The man looked up, tears streaming. “Do you know who killed my son?”

“I have no idea,” Nash replied simply.

The man offered a miserable smile. “If only I had known, I wouldn’t have taken that money. It was the price of my son’s life!”

Nash’s brow furrowed. “What money? Who gave you money?”

“People from the Lewis family. They gave me a large sum, promising to get my son into the best school in Jonford, but only if my sister-in-law helped them with something…”

Nash narrowed his eyes. “What did the person who approached you look like?”

The man shook his head. “He wore a mask, but I heard an old man’s voice. I think he had a mole near his eye.”

Cain Lewis. Nash recalled Cain’s mocking face, the small mole at the corner of his eye—almost invisible, but the man had likely studied the person who bribed him.

Cain had paid Hannah’s brother-in-law’s family, convincing them to pressure Hannah. He then used the excuse of withered plants to summon her to the garden, where Herman gave her medicine and a syringe, instructing her to inject the old man. Hannah, a loyal Lewis employee of over twenty years, hesitated. Her brother-in-law’s family, however, had accepted the bribe, leaving her fearing for their safety if she refused. This explained her subsequent gloom and distraction.