Chapter 341: The Breaking Point
What Sierra said almost shattered Jonathan. Always a smooth talker, he suddenly had no words at all. He kept saying he’d protect Sierra, that he wouldn’t let her suffer again. But right under his nose, she had endured torment unlike anything before. That was something Jonathan would never be able to forgive himself for.
“Sorry” felt too hollow. He wanted to hold Sierra tightly, but he didn’t feel worthy. After a long pause, he finally said, “I’m here. Get some more sleep.”
The drugs in Sierra’s system hadn’t worn off completely. She had only just woken because she’d been so tense earlier. Now that she knew Jonathan was there, she drifted back to sleep. Even after something like this, Sierra still trusted him so completely. That crushed Jonathan.
A sound like a beast’s growl tore from his throat. Afraid of waking Sierra, he forced it down, the sound turning into low, ragged gasps.
At that moment, the hospital room door opened carefully. Quinn peeked her head in, about to speak—when Jonathan suddenly turned and snarled, “Get out!”
Startled, Quinn quickly pulled back and shut the door.
“How is he?” Mateo asked quietly.
It took a while before Quinn could speak. Her face was pale. “Give Jonathan a little more time.” She lowered her head, trying to hide the panic and jealousy in her eyes. She had known Jonathan for so many years, but she had never seen him like this. Not even when his aunt died had he looked so feral.
Did he know she was behind this? No, impossible! She was sure today’s incident couldn’t be traced back to her. She had erased all evidence. She went over everything that had happened again, replaying every word, every expression. Once she was certain there were no slip-ups, she finally relaxed. No one had noticed anything strange about her. Maddox and the others just assumed she had been scared by Jonathan.
Maddox took a deep breath. “I’ll go in.”
What happened today had to be addressed eventually. And since it had started because of him, he owed both Jonathan and Sierra an answer. He had already identified a few suspicious people. He hadn’t moved on them yet—he figured Jonathan would want to handle it himself.
When the door opened again, Jonathan looked over coldly. Before he could speak, Maddox said first, “It’s about what happened tonight. Want to talk here, or should we step outside?”
Inhnathan [sic] glanced at the… [illegible] …Sierra tucked her blanket even tighter, then stood and walked out.
Chapter 341: The Breaking Point
He nodded at Mateo to pull up the surveillance footage. The first clip froze on the cake Sierra had eaten.
“Sierra had cake and fruit. I had both tested afterward—no issues. But I realized the batch I tested wasn’t the same one she ate from. Someone clearly swapped them. So I checked everyone involved and found this server and the person in charge of purchasing to be highly suspicious. There’s one more too,”
Maddox motioned for Mateo to switch the footage. It showed the glass Sierra had used. Right after she set it down, someone came and cleared it away. Seemed normal at first. But then, the glass was nowhere to be found. Mateo caught it—when the server turned a corner, the glass was gone from his hands. They searched the trash, but it had already been emptied.
Of the three, Maddox found that server the most suspicious. If he had nothing to hide, why get rid of the glass? Of course, since they hadn’t been interrogated yet, the exact details were unclear. Maddox had kept his distance to avoid suspicion, so for now, they were just being watched.
“They’re under guard. Do you want to question them yourself, or let Stone handle it?”
Jonathan looked at Maddox, then asked, “What about the other person!”
The one who tried to assault Sierra. He couldn’t even say the words.
Maddox understood. “Sorry. I didn’t find anything unusual.” He didn’t mention that they could wait for Sierra to wake up and ask her. That would’ve been far too cruel.
Jonathan nodded. “Bring them in.” That meant he was going to handle the interrogation himself.