La Novels
Chapter 1573
"Do you think the person we saw earlier was Winnie?" Jamie gripped his arm tightly. "I have to go back and check. The fire was so intense. What if she didn't make it out?" Even imagining it made her feel like she couldn't breathe.
Her sister had died in a fire.
What if Winnie was still alive but ended up perishing in the flames because of her negligence? How could Jamie ever forgive herself?
"Jamie, don't go back. The police have already sealed off the area," Ben said, stepping in to stop her.
"But if that was Winnie..."
"You said it yourself. You're not certain. So why risk your life for a possibility? Have you thought about what would happen to Charlie if something happened to you?" There was another thought Ben didn't voice. "What would happen to me if you were gone?" he muttered to himself.
Jamie stared at him, tears streaming down her face.
Heart aching, Ben pulled her into his arms. "I'll have my assistant help you look into it. Let's go home first."
Hearing the words "go home", Jamie felt a fleeting warmth in her heart, even though she had been resisting the idea moments earlier.
"Okay," she murmured.
What Jamie didn't notice was a van parked not far from the villa.
Inside, a woman dressed in a sleek black dress sat with long, wavy hair cascading down her shoulders. Her face was striking and icy, like a rose blooming in the night.novelbin
If Jamie had seen her, she would have been utterly shocked.
Because this woman was none other than Winnie, the person she had been searching for.
But Winnie was no longer the same as before.
"You deliberately let her go," a man sneered from the driver's seat.
Winnie flinched and quickly denied it. "I didn't!"
"Don't bother pretending. I saw everything. Who would've thought that after coming back from the dead, you'd still be soft-hearted toward your sister? Is that what they call blood ties?" "I didn't let her go." Winnie's voice wavered.
The man chuckled, clearly indifferent to her protests. "Say what you want. But the fact remains that you didn't complete the task I gave you. That means no antidote for you this month."
"You can't do this! You promised me!" Winnie's pupils contracted in panic as she leaned forward, grabbing at the man in desperation.
Unmoved, the man replied coldly, "I promised you the antidote *if* you completed the task. Did you finish it?"
Winnie glared at him with intense hatred, the kind of loathing that nearly shattered her rationality.
But the faint glimmer of reason told her to hold back. For now, she couldn't fight back.
Watching her struggle through the rearview mirror, the man smirked, clearly satisfied.
"Smart choice. You know who controls your life now, so don't forget it."
He paused, his tone suddenly turning sharp. "There won't be a next time."
Winnie's lashes trembled. "I understand..."
The van pulled away, leaving no trace it had ever been there.
Staring out the window at the passing scenery, Winnie's heart twisted in pain as she t seeing Jamie earlier.
about
belongs to en.kikis, net
*
She had to find a way to tell her.
The investigation into the arson at the villa's winery dragged on for days, yielding no leads.
There was only one potential suspect.
A cleaner who had escaped that day mentioned seeing a woman in a black dress, faintly smelling of gasoline.
When Jamie learned of this, she immediately went to find the cleaner.
"Are you certain you saw a woman in a black dress that day?" she asked urgently.
The cleaner nodded.
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In that instant, it felt like all the strength had been drained Jamie's body. Her heart
torn
between anguish and ret
The good news was that Winnie might still be alive.
The bad news was that Jamie couldn't understand why she would do something like this.
Troubled by her thoughts, Jamie's change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Ben.
Rather than confronting her directly, Ben decided to wait.
"Mommy, you've been so upset these past few days. Did I do something to make you mad?" Charlie's soft voice snapped Jamie out of her daze as she sat beside
him, Tost in thought while he played.