When Lucian returned to the Farwell Residence, he saw his wife anxiously waiting in the living room.
Roxanne was trying to control her emotions and relax her mind so that she could get a good night’s sleep. Despite that, no matter how much she tried not to think about it, her mother’s suffering back then filled her mind. How could she relax?
“How did it go? Did the police find any clues?” she asked eagerly when she saw her husband come in.
Lucian tried to choose his words carefully, not wanting to see his wife’s mood sour again. He smiled and said, “Winnie has been arrested and is being interrogated now. Mr. Chapman is an experienced detective who can often break through the psychological defenses of criminals in critical moments, so we’ll just have to see how tough Winnie is.”
When Roxanne heard that, her tense mood relaxed slightly. Following Bill’s instructions, Lucian asked her about his mother-in-law’s life before her illness.
At that, Roxanne struggled to remember. She had been only five or six years old at the time, and her memories were very vague. She only remembered that her mother had been ill for a long time, but she always smiled sweetly when Roxanne came home from kindergarten. Her mother had also made her all sorts of delicious food.
Moreover, her mother loved flowers and had many potted plants that filled up the entire yard. This led to young Roxanne feeling like the scent of flowers always surrounded her during her childhood.
At that time, Grant had just started his business and had built a small factory. He would often travel around and bring Roxanne back small items and snacks from different places. He also gave her mother many gifts, such as clothes and jewelry. Her parents were very loving to each other, and Roxanne felt so happy.
But then, for some reason, her parents started arguing frequently, and it only grew worse and worse. Her mother’s sadness and anger were of no use. Grant would just break things and leave the house, leaving a mess behind. The young Roxanne could only hide in her room, trembling in fear. She worried that Grant would hurt her mother, but fortunately, he didn’t.
Roxanne didn’t know what agreement her parents eventually reached, but suddenly, they stopped arguing. Her mother became busier and started going out every two or three days, leaving Roxanne alone at home.
Although things had calmed down, her mother smiled less and less, and her eyes were always full of sadness. Sometimes, she would hug Roxanne and silently shed tears. That was when her mother began to fall ill. Looking back, those were probably the symptoms of mercury poisoning that had begun to appear. When Roxanne saw her mother’s frail condition, she felt sad as well.
Maybe that was when Roxanne’s desire to become a doctor began to take root in her heart. Her mother’s illness quickly worsened that year, and eventually, she was bedridden. Many household chores fell on the young girl’s shoulders. Her father rarely showed up, and she took care of her mother while trying not to worry her, all while still going to school.
Her mother became increasingly depressed and would often cry uncontrollably. Roxanne didn’t understand at the time, but she did hold her mother tightly and shared in her pain. Those were truly difficult times, But then, out of nowhere, Grant showed up with Winnie and her two kids, Yosef and Yuliana.
Suddenly, Roxanne had a new younger brother and sister. The entire situation completely shocked and angered her mother, which led to a huge argument between her parents.
During the argument, Roxanne heard the word “divorce,” but her mother refused to consider it, which led to Winnie hurling insults at her.
Before this, Grant had been giving them some money, but this suddenly stopped. Hence, Roxanne’s mother had to sell everything of value to keep Roxanne in school and maintain a normal life.
What they didn’t expect was for the illness to last for three long years, as it tormented her mother until the very end. In the end, her mother passed away. After that, Grant forcibly took Roxanne to a villa unfamiliar to her.
Less than a year later, Grant and Winnie shamelessly held a wedding with only a few close friends as witnesses because they didn’t dare to invite many guests.
The memories ended there…
However, Roxanne was deeply trapped in grief and couldn’t pull herself out of it.
“Darling, Darling…”
Lucian called her several times before she slowly came back to reality. Her tears were about to flow again. “My mother had such a hard life, Honey! If I don’t avenge her, I’ll be failing her as her daughter!”
In the police station, Bill drank double the coffee to stay awake and had the officers take Winnie back to the holding cell, stopping the interrogation. He then questioned the two officers in charge of the interrogation, but the results were disappointing.
Winnie had an incredibly strong mental fortitude. No matter how they interrogated her, her expression remained calm. Bill had been observing her pupils during the interrogation but still got nothing.
“I’ve seen this type of suspect before. They’ve been doing this for too many years, so their conscience and morals have been numbed. They constantly self-hypnotize themselves with a clean memory to suppress the truth. That’s how they can appear so calm during an interrogation-they truly don’t think they’ve done anything wrong,” Bill explained to the young officers.
He then added, “Of course, we can’t wrongly accuse anyone. If we don’t have any new evidence by tomorrow, we’ll have to let her go!”
Both officers nodded. One of them asked, “If time is of the essence, why did we suddenly stop the interrogation?”
Bill checked his watch and nodded. “It’s one in the morning now. Let’s give her two hours of rest before we launch another interrogation. At that time, she should be at her most exhausted state, and it’ll perhaps lead to a breakthrough!”
Realization dawned on the two officers. If the suspect was on guard, the interrogation would be ineffective no matter what methods they used. Bill had no plans to sleep that night.
By the time dawn broke, Bill and the two officers were all yawning, but the interrogation record in the case file gave no valuable leads. They had hoped the interrogation would reveal some flaws in Winnie’s story, which they could use to find evidence. Unfortunately, it seemed that plan wasn’t working.
“Mr. Chapman, when it’s time to hand things over to the afternoon shift, we might have to release her!” one of the officers said. Bill nodded. “We have to follow the law. It is what it is.”
As this was not good news, Bill hesitated for a few minutes before finally calling Lucian to tell him about it. Lucian had just woken up, and on the phone, they discussed some details that Roxanne had remembered from the night before..
“Hmm, what was Ms. Jarvis’ mother doing when she was frequently out for a long time? This is very suspicious!” Bill captured the key point at once.
Lucian had noted this as well the night before. He had asked Roxanne, but she didn’t know anything about it.
“Mr. Farwell, have Ms. Jarvis try to remember more details. Maybe she can recall some important memories. I will talk to the forensic team today and see if we can find any other clues,” Bill said quickly before hanging up without giving Lucian a chance to thank him.
Meanwhile, Roxanne had just dropped off the three kids at school and returned home.
When she saw her husband’s worried expression, she managed a smile and said softly, “I can’t be so panicked anymore. Maybe if I calm down, I can remember more details.”
Lucian nodded and walked up to her, hugging her tightly. As Roxanne savored the warmth of her husband’s embrace, she felt safe and secure.
“Isn’t tomorrow the day of Madilyn’s wedding? I’m not in a rush anymore. After all, Winnie can’t possibly disappear into thin air. I’ll help Madilyn celebrate her big day first,” she murmured to herself.
That afternoon, Frieda, Jonathan’s younger sister, rushed back from the north. Jonathan and Madilyn went to the airport to pick her up.
It had been a long time since Jonathan had seen his sister, so he was a little stunned when he finally saw her. Even Madilyn, who had only met Frieda a few times before, noticed how much weight she had lost.
However, Frieda didn’t look haggard; instead, she exuded an aura like that of a sophisticated woman. When Frieda saw Madilyn, she immediately smiled and ran over to embrace her. “Hey, Madilyn! I’m sorry for coming back so late. The project was at a critical stage, so I had to be there.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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