CHAPTER 235

Ethan paused and turned around to look at Holly. "I did my best, Mom, but I cannot help you. No one can help you," he said. "You should have thought about this outcome when you ordered the murder back then. My lawyer will do the best he can to reduce your sentence, but there is nothing else we can do."

"You cannot do this, Ethan! You have to get me out of here. I can't go to prison. It's too horrifying! I will not survive here! Please, Ethan!" she wailed.

He left the room without saying another word.

"Ethan!" She tried running after him but was stopped by the policeman standing guard. "Ethan!"

She was only shoved back into her cell after Ethan had walked out of potential sight.

Back in the cell with barred windows and doors, Holly curled up in her bed and wrapped her arms around her head. She was trembling in fear.

After all, she had heard a lot of prison stories.

It was a place with inedible food, cramped cells, cellmates who were bullies, and daily labor.

She had never done a single job in her entire life. However, she would soon be locked up in a cell with several other women. She would be forced to eat disgusting food and live in a place she would never even look at. Additionally, she might even be bullied by the people she was locked up with.

No.

No way.

She was a daughter of the Baker family, the wife of Taylor's second-in-line heir. This should not be her fate.

If only she knew... She would never have given Scott the money.

He had been nagging her about how she had pushed Leigh Shefford's mother to the ground. If the girl's grandfather kept investigating, Holly would be dragged in.

He even told her about how George's parents had never liked her in the first place, so if they found out she had killed someone, they would force George to divorce her.

For some bizarre reason, she fell for Scott's words and gave him the money.

Of course, she knew what he was going to do with the money, but she pretended she did not.

She thought she would be fine since she had only given him money.

She did not expect Scott, her own brother, would tell the police she was the mastermind while he was just obeying orders. All that just so he could have a reduced sentence. Ethan paused and turned around to look at Holly. "I did my best, Mom, but I cannot help you. No one can help you," he said. "You should have thought about this outcome when you ordered the murder back then. My lawyer will do the best he can to reduce your sentence, but there is nothing else we can do."

After so many years, neither of them could prove who was telling the truth anyway.

However, there was no doubt that she had given him the money. The police had found the evidence.

Every policeman who saw her looked at her with disgust and hatred. They thought she was a cold- hearted snake.

The lawyer said she would be sentenced to ten years or more.

She had never been so afraid before.

If she had to be imprisoned for ten years, she would rather die.

She did not have the strength to commit suicide though. Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

Finally, she knew what it meant to live a life worse than death.

With her head buried in her arms, she sobbed her heart out.

If she knew this would happen, she would have told Scott to turn himself in. She might even go talk to the police herself.

He was the murderer. How was it any of her business?

She should not have given him the money all because he was her brother and she should protect him. In the end, all she did was get herself thrown into prison.

A deep sense of regret enveloped her.

Accompanied by a great amount of hatred.

After leaving the station, Ethan wandered around like a lost soul for hours. After a long time, he mysteriously found himself back at Sun Garden, staring at Leigh.

"Why are you back?" She was surprised. "Have I not made myself clear?"

"It's not that." He shook his head before awkwardly saying, "I just remembered I forgot to apologize to you."

"It's fine," she said with an indifferent voice. "The pain I suffered is not something that could be forgiven with a simple apology. I do not want to hear any apologies or words of regret. All I want to see is the main culprit arrested and punished!"

"I understand." He nodded. "If it were me, I would do the same. However, I still feel guilty and would like to apologize or do something for you..."

"Is that so?" She gazed at him with a raised eyebrow. "I had your mother and uncle arrested. I thought we were enemies forever."

"We are not." He rejected the very notion of it. "You did not sentence them to prison; they did that to themselves. After all, what comes around, goes around. This is justice. This is the natural consequence of their past actions."

Leigh stared at him, astonished. "You are quite rational about this."

She assumed he wanted to bribe her into letting Holly go. She did not expect him to speak so logically.

It was very surprising for a crooked mother like Holly to have raised a proper son. It made her do a double take.

He dazedly looked at her before finally blurting, "You saved the life of my business partner in Talvit last year. You left without telling us your name. I... My business partner and I have been looking for you. We wanted to thank you and compensate you..."

"There is no need. I saved your business partner, not you. He should be the one thanking me, not you." Leigh had traveled to a lot of places, seen a lot, and helped many. The person she saved in Talvit was nothing to her and had been forgotten soon after. After all, she only acted according to her own fancy and not out of a desire for gratitude.

However, those who owed her a favor would not be allowed to forget about it. She would ask for her due compensation in time.

"No," he said. "That deal was important to me. I had put a lot of energy and resources into it. If he had fallen ill, the project would be culled, leading to major losses on my part. You saved his life, which helped me. I owe you thanks."

"Fine." She had no choice but to accept the gratitude. "In that case, I accept your thanks. Anything else? If that is all, I must be off."

He hesitated.

There was so much he wanted to say to her.

Before he met her, he thought love at first sight was just a scam.

He only realized it was possible after meeting her.

After just one fated glance, he could not forget her at all.

He had been looking forward to this meeting for so long, yet when he finally saw her again, he did not have the right to even tell her how much he loved her.

It did not matter what he thought, after all. There was no way things would work out between them.

It was logical and rational for her, the victim, to have his mother arrested. Even so, she was the reason Holly was going to prison. Could he really feel no resentment toward her?