I nodded in acknowledgment before I filled the empty glass on the table with water.
“Have you gotten into any fights with anyone recently, Mr. White?”
“Not that I can remember.”
“Or offended anyone when you misspoke? Or had any disagreements over business dealings?”
“No. White Corporation has always been above board in our operations. We value trust…”
Any possible criminal motive had been covered through their inquiry but without making any headway.
There was a tall one amongst the officers who seemed to direct his focus rather strongly upon me. “Was Ms. Stanhope also inside the car during that time?”
I nodded cooperatively. “That’s right. Marcus and I were together. We were on our way home.”
Then the rest of them started to drive the same questions they had for Marcus my way.
Mostly, they were about who I might have encountered recently and whether any of them stood out to me.
I had just regained consciousness and did not have many friends apart from Marcus, Emery, and the others.
But speaking of enemies…
There seemed to be just the one.
Rylee’s murderous look still gave me the jitters when I recalled it.
When I was about to mention it, Marcus put the attention back on himself. “She could not remember much as she had only come out of a lengthy coma recently. Basically, she was with me most of the time and rarely interacted with outsiders.”
The officers nodded upon hearing that and did not probe further.
They seemed to get on well with Marcus and left him with some good wishes before they departed. “Leave this to us. You take care of yourself.”
I turned to him after they left. “Do you know someone in the station?”
“I helped them out with a few cases when I went overseas a couple of years back.”
As he seemed to have no intention of elaborating, it would not seem proper for me to press further. “The overseas cases must have been quite dangerous. It’s a good thing that you made it out okay.”
The man smiled slightly as he seemed to have remembered something when I spoke. “Indeed. But by the looks of it, it was worth the trouble.”
…..
After Marcus had his breakfast the next morning, I prepared to go home and make him some staple dishes.
Even if he did not say so explicitly, the distinctively average fare offered at the hospital clearly did not appeal to his fussy taste buds.
I had just reached the gate when a loud screeching of brakes rang out. Turning around, a black automobile skidded to a stop to my side. Out stepped a woman with flowing blond locks, wearing a glittery dress. She came right at me.
Her face was obscured by a pair of shades, so I was not able to tell who she was right off the bat.
It was when she removed them that I recognized her as Rylee.
Rylee must have gotten used to the attention; her getup was more over the top than the last time I saw her.
The woman gnashed and ground her teeth as she stabbed a finger at my nose. “Sienna Stanhope, you slut. How the hell did you manage to still stand there in one piece?”
She did not seem inclined to veil her blood-lust toward me in the least.
I must be an idiot if I still couldn’t figure out why.
The thought of the moment when our lives hung by a thread had my fingers tighten into a fist. “Were you the one who tampered with Marcus’ car?”
“That’s right.” Rylee raised her voice to shift the blame onto me. “So what if I did? Anyone who tries to protect you deserves to die!”
Before I could react, she lunged at me and caught me by the jaw, forcing me to look directly into her eyes. “How is it that you can manage to dodge a bullet every single time? But know that this is just the beginning. Next time, I’ll have you know what real horror is!”
The vise-like grip she had on me hurt my face.
I gritted my teeth and shook her off. “Does a human life really have so little value to you?”
Rylee let out a scoff, acting as though she had just heard the biggest joke ever. “Human life? Isn’t mine worth nothing to all of you? I’ll never forget how I’ve been left to die inside of that freezing cell, so don’t you dare die on me yet, Sienna. I’ll have you suffering for the rest of your life!”
With that, she spat on the ground and turned to leave.
As I watched her silhouette fade into the distance, I finally understood why Emery had called this woman a raving lunatic who couldn’t be reasoned with.
I took a deep breath before I pulled out my phone and calmly called the police.
…..
When I sent Marcus his lunch, I was guilt-ridden and subconsciously avoided making eye contact.
It was as Marcus had described it when they took his statement. He was an honest-to-goodness businessman. Genial and humble, he would not casually make an enemy of anyone.
I was the cause of the accident that day; I had unwittingly dragged him into my mess.
When I had all of the meat placed on his side, Marcus finally sensed that something was off. “You look distracted. Are you not used to the spare bed?”
There was little else I could do except come clean. “I’m sorry. That accident happened because of me.”
Marcus nodded. He paused briefly before he replied, almost jokingly. “It looks like that person really wants you dead.”
“It does appear to seem that way.”
Rylee must have been tracking me for a long time and knew that Marcus and I were quite inseparable. That was probably why she had targeted him.
There were no grudges between them. Rylee would not have gone ahead and done what she did if she had even the slightest sliver of compassion within her. In retrospect, perhaps she might have been inside the car that suddenly intercepted us that day.
Rylee was psychotic. She had already concluded that I was that Sienna Stanhope and wanted me dead, regardless of the collateral damage caused.
It would appear imperative that I establish my own identity. Should the police be unable to take her to task, I fear that I would be treading on thin ice going forward.
At the same time, I was curious about what sort of enmity there was between Sienna and Rylee that the latter had to seek vengeance no matter the cost.
…..
Upon receiving my report, the police arrested Rylee, who went by the alias of Vivian Wiesmann. As she had been quite meticulous, it took considerable effort on their part to investigate thoroughly before they could formally charge her.
It was unbelievable how she managed to reappear on television a few days after. I was sure someone exceedingly powerful must have her back.
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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