NovelEnglishChapter 431 Back at Skybreeze Retreat.
Briony opened the file the moment she walked in.
Stewart's research was thorough-painfully so.
Her mother's old case wasn't as simple as it seemed. There was a hidden layer, a secret that changed everything.
And at the center of it all... Neal.
Briony flipped through the documents, her hands trembling. All of this had only cto light in the past few months.
Lauren and Neal had known each other from the very beginning.
Neal had started out in business too, but his ambition got the better of him. Greed led him into smuggling and dirty money. Then, during a government crackdown, Neal killed a federal agent while trying to escape, and ended up at the top of the most-wanted list.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAfter Neal went on the run, Lauren discovered she was pregnant. Alone, she gave birth to Rosita. Not long after, desperate to survive, she started working in nightclubs.
That world introduced her to wealthy men-years spent as someone's kept woman, but most of them grew bored quickly, discarding Lauren with a severance check when the thrill wore off.
Lauren refused to accept that fate. She began hunting for a man who could give her real status.
That's when Neal reappeared, having learned that Lauren had borne his child. He wouldn't leave her alone.
By then, Lauren was already involved with Malcolm Kensington. To keep Neal quiet, she decided to cooperate with him.
Lauren's job was to seduce Malcolm, with the plan to push Julia Hudson out of the Kensington family and take her place as Mrs. Kensington. That way, their daughter Rosita would becthe legitimate Kensington heiress. Lauren would try to have a son, and then Neal would arrange for Malcolm's mysterious "accident," ensuring her son inherited everything.
When the twas right, Neal would get rid of Malcolm for good. Everything the Kensington family owned would be theirs.
It all went smoothly-until the day Malcolm caught Lauren and Neal together. Enraged, he stormed home, drank heavily, and unleashed his fury on Julia.
Julia, battered and terrified, acted on pure instinct. She shoved Malcolm away- then, thrown off balance, she fell herself, slamming her head against the wall. She blacked out.
When she cto, she was told Malcolm had fallen from the balcony. He was dead.
Everyone-including the police-believed Julia had accidentally pushed Malcolm to his death.
But Stewart had uncovered new evidence: on the night of Malcolm's death, a housekeeper saw Lauren fleeing the back garden, visibly shaken.
The housekeeper, afraid of being implicated, had quit and returned to her hometown after the tragedy. Only recently did Stewart's team track her down.
Yet, despite this witness, there was no direct proof tying Lauren to the crime.
The real breakthrough hinged on Neal.
Because Neal wasn't dead.
During the Lockwood family arson case, Neat suffered burns over sixty percent of his body. Stewart's people secretly rescued him, and for four years he'd been in recovery-comatose, hidden away.
A month ago, Neal finally cto.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLast week, Stewart's team brought Neal to Lauren's apartment.
Lauren was dying her illness eating away at her, mind and body weakening day by day.
Still, she clung to her pills, convinced the expensive medication she'd bought would heal her.
She didn't realize how skeletal she'd become.
When she saw Neal, Lauren thought she was being haunted by his ghost, cto claim her.
She had no idea Stewart's people were there too, camera rolling.
Faced with Neal's threats, Lauren broke down. She dropped to herm knees, begging for forgiveness, sobbing as she confessed the whole truth about Malcolm's death:
"It was me! I killed Malcolm, Neal, I had no choice! He found out about us-if he he lived, he'd have destroyed us. You managed to escape abroad, but what about me? I had to survive..." "I married Saul just to give Rosita a proper name! Neal, I was wrong, I really was... please, just leavealone, please!"
Neal glared at her, his eyes cold and sharp. "And the night of the om Lockwood fire? We agreed to torch the place together, grab whatever Saul kept in his safe, and run but what did you do?" "You smashed a bottle over my head from behind! Look atnow, ovel Lauren-this is all thanks to you! I loved you, damn it! Everything did-at those risks, all that blood-was for you and our daughter. And you? You tried to killtoo."
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