Cristofer then smiled and continued, “You probably think I’m a coward, right? Well, I think I am, too. By the way, not everything that went missing was stolen by Victor. I took the most valuable item among them.”
“You…” Estelle was shocked. “What did you steal?”
“A wedding dress,” Cristofer replied. “That day, with Geoffrey’s help, I regained my memories as Mr. Mysterious. I went to a wedding dress store to buy a wedding dress for you. There was a beautiful one in the store’s window. The dress had a diamond-studded hem that looked like stars in the sky. Unfortunately, the store was closed at that hour, so I couldn’t buy it. I was too impatient to wait, so I broke the window and took the dress.”
Estelle was stunned by his revelation. “I had no idea. Wait, you mentioned regaining your memories as Mr. Mysterious?”
“When did this happen?” she asked.
“It was on the day you went to the Grand Hotel in Hadale City with Victor for the first time. He sent me a picture of you resting against his chest,” Cristofer explained.
“So, you went to the hotel that day?” Estelle asked, her eyes wide with shock.
“Yes. After stealing the wedding dress, I went there. My plan was to take you to the Malus Halliana tree and have a wedding ceremony with you again. But when I saw you with Victor…”
“We didn’t do anything! I felt uncomfortable and left him!” Estelle hurriedly clarified.
“I know,” Cristofer replied in a hoarse voice.
“You mentioned regaining your memory. Have you remembered everything that happened when you were Mr. Mysterious?” Estelle asked, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Yes, I’ve remembered everything,” Cristofer confirmed.
“Could you tell me how you regained your memory?”
Hearing her question, Cristofer looked away to avoid her gaze and replied to her, “I… suddenly remembered everything.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“How did you really injure your legs?” Estelle asked skeptically.
“I was in a hurry to see you and had an accident while riding my motorcycle,” Cristofer claimed.
Estelle smiled wryly and said, “You’re lying again.”
“I’m not…”
Before Cristofer could finish his sentence, Estelle interrupted him, “When you were Mr. Mysterious, you used the same excuse. I asked you how you hurt your arm, and you told me it was from a motorcycle accident. I didn’t believe you and pressed for the truth. Then you said you had the accident to avoid pedestrians. Cristofer, you always lie to me. What else have you lied to me about?”
Cristofer admitted, “I lied when I said I didn’t love you anymore.”
“…”
“That’s it. I haven’t lied to you about anything else,” Cristofer confessed to her sincerely.
Estelle was left speechless.
****
The next day, Estelle met with Rebecca and shared the conversation she had with Cristofer the previous night.
“Was he telling you he loves you?” Rebecca asked, poking her glass with a lemon slice. She looked concerned and asked, “Estelle, what are you planning to do about your relationship with him?”
Estelle didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she shook her head, stirred her coffee with a spoon, and took a sip.
Rebecca sighed and said, “I can’t give you advice on this. As your best friend, I think it’s wrong that Cristofer hurt you for Gretchen. But knowing that he’s Mr. Mysterious, who risked his life to save you, makes me feel a bit sympathetic towards him. He’s not entirely unforgivable.”
Estelle smiled and replied, “I’ll take it one step at a time.”
“By the way, did you hear that Gretchen’s sentence got reduced?” Rebecca asked.
“Reduced?” Estelle was surprised. “She was convicted of intentional homicide. How could her sentence suddenly get reduced?”
“Victor posed as Cristofer and influenced a high-ranking prison official to shorten Gretchen’s sentence. I heard she’s going to be released on parole.”
“What?!” Estelle was shocked.
Rebecca clenched her teeth and explained, “Victor did this on purpose to cause problems for you and Cristofer. If Melody hadn’t been executed by lethal injection, he would have tried to get her released too.”
“Have you heard any news about York?” Estelle asked immediately.
Rebecca replied, “No, I don’t think he would dare to show up again. He sold Victor for fifty thousand dollars, which changed Victor’s fate. Victor must despise him deeply. Plus, he defended Jimmy. If either of them finds York, they won’t let him off the hook. York will face the consequences sooner or later.”
Estelle nodded in agreement, thinking, ‘York has committed many terrible deeds. He should face the consequences.’
Suddenly, her phone rang, and it was a call from the front desk of the Hudson Group. Estelle answered and said, “Hello, this is Estelle.”
“Miss Hudson, please return to the office urgently!” came an anxious voice from the other end.
Estelle asked, “What’s going on?”
“A woman has arrived at the company with a child and is causing a scene. She claims that you…” The receptionist hesitated, embarrassed. “She claims that you were the reason her relationship fell apart and that you used unfair means to have her imprisoned and plotted to harm her. Many reporters are here now…”
****
When Estelle and Rebecca got to the Hudson Group, they saw lots of reporters and people taking pictures and videos outside the building. It was so crowded that they couldn’t even see what was happening.
Rebecca was surprised and said, “Wow, why are so many people causing a commotion here?”
Estelle took a deep breath and replied, “Rebecca, stay here and wait for me. I’ll handle this situation.”
Rebecca asked with concern, “Can you handle it alone?”
Estelle explained, “I have to deal with this for the sake of my company. Gretchen didn’t go to Hans International Corporation; she came here to get back at me. I won’t let her succeed.”
Rebecca gasped, “Wait, you mean the woman causing trouble inside is Gretchen? Is she out of jail?”
Estelle nodded and said with a smirk, “Yes, Victor is always quick to do bad things.” After a moment of thought, she walked around to the building’s back door and went inside.
“Miss Hudson, you’re here at last,” the receptionist who had called Estelle earlier said anxiously.
Estelle calmly asked, “What’s going on?”
The receptionist explained, “There’s a woman with a three-year-old child kneeling at the building’s gate. She’s saying bad things about you and begging you not to harm her.”
“Did anyone else come with them?” Estelle asked.
“No. This woman is so difficult to deal with. And it’s so strange that so many media came here.”
“How long has she been here?” Estelle asked while walking along the hallway.
“She’s been here for more than an hour.”
“Okay, I see,” Estelle nodded calmly.