Chapter 449

Carly froze in panic. “1_” Her eyes darted to Lucy in desperation.

Without missing a beat, Lucy stepped forward. “I wasn’t Carly! It was me! I was the one who contacted Scarface and planned the whole kidnapping!”

Celine watched Lucy carefully. She was really willing to take the fall for Carly. Celine sneered, finding it ironic that Lucy was willing to protect Carly like a devoted mother. She was Lucy’s biological daughter, yet Lucy had always treated Carly like her own while casting her aside. What had she done to deserve this?

No matter how cold she tried to be, the betrayal still stung. Gasps spread through the crowd.

“Mrs. Tate, was it really you?” Hailey questioned. “Mrs. Tate, Celine is your own daughter! You actually hired criminals to kidnap her? Were you trying to have her killed?”

Lucy hadn’t expected the truth to come out like this, but she couldn’t let Carly take the blame. If she did, her reputation would be ruined, and Adam would never forgive her. So, she took it all on herself.

Lucy turned to Celine. “Celine, I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen.”

Celine let out a cold laugh. “Sorry? If I remember correctly, you and Mrs. Tate Senior cut ties with me a long time ago. If I had stayed in your family, I probably wouldn’t have even known how I died.”

Hailey scoffed. “Celine saw you as family, and you repaid her by trying to get rid of her. Do you even have a conscience?” The crowd erupted in murmurs. “What kind of mother abandons her own child…?”

“She’s completely consumed by her obsession. It’s unsettling.” Lucy’s face burned with humiliation, but with so many people watching, she forced herself to stay composed. This time, both she and Carly had lost everything.

Celine turned to Carly. “Carly, do you really think the USB drive in your hand holds any evidence?”

Carly stiffened, gripping the drive. “What are you talking about, Celine?”

Perry chuckled. “Curly, Mrs. Tate, you’ve been played. That USB drive is empty.”

Carly and Lucy’s faces went pale.

Perry turned to Mam. “Scarface was taken in by Mr. Alvarez, who’s already gone through everything and found nothing. But when I mentioned the USB earlier, Mr. Alvarez didn’t correct me. I have to thank him for playing along.”

Carly turned to Adam in shock. “Adam, is that true? You knew the USB was fake all along?”

Adam met her gaze. “Yes, I knew,” he said calmly. He had already done a full investigation when Scarface was taken care of, including cracking the money trail. He knew it was a bluff from the very moment Perry claimed the USB held transaction records.

Petty had played them flawlessly, using a fake USB to lure Carly and Lucy into revealing themselves. They had covered their tracks well, but they were no match for Perry and Adam. With just one move, everything fell apart.

Carly felt like her world was crumbling. She turned to Adam and asked, “Adabu, schone side are you gu! Why would you betray me likus vakke…?”

Celine smirked. “Betray you? Didn’t you just claim you had nothing to do with this? Why are you panicking if Mrs. Tate acted alone?”