She told Benjamin Levis that she had given birth to stop him from pestering her again.
She didn’t expect that he would bring this up in front of Jasper Milton. It seemed like he did it on purpose.
Jasper looked at her. His eyes were deep and dark, like a bottomless pit.
She didn’t know how to respond.
Benjamin smiled and said, “You’re not lying, are you?”
Stella bit into a watermelon and stared at Benjamin. She tried to think of an answer that would make Jasper to not be suspicious of her as well as stop Benjamin from pestering her.
But she just got more and more nervous.
In the end, she decided to just dodge the question. “Are you very free?”
“I just want to know why you act like a woman with me and a girl with other men?” Benjamin asked in a strange tone.
“I think you like me and I don’t want to give you any hope. So I found something you can’t accept to make you stay away from me,” Stella replied bluntly.
“What?” Benjamin was shocked. “Why would I like you? Why would I like such a pretentious woman? Were you just imagining things?”
Stella looked at him suspiciously. “Oh, did I misunderstand? You’ve been aiming at me since we met.”
“I’m doing it because I can’t bear how arrogant you are. If that can be regarded as liking you, how many people do I have to like?” Benjamin said sarcastically.
“Oh, is that so?” Stella put on a deliberately suspicious tone. “If I don’t like a person, I will certainly stay far away from him. And, Mr Levis, there are many people who don’t like you.”
Stella raised her eyebrows and smiled provocatively.
“Stop it,” Jasper suddenly ordered.
Stella looked at Jasper, bewildered.
“Doesn’t she look ugly with that smile of hers?” Benjamin said to Jasper.
“Enjoy your breakfast. I’m done.” Stella grabbed her bag and got up.
Jasper’s expression darkened. He shot a glance at Benjamin.
Benjamin was sizing Jasper up at the same time. “Do you like her?” he asked.
“What does it have to do with you? Gather everyone in your room at ten thirty sharp.” Jasper stood up.
“Why must it be in my room? Why not yours?” Benjamin protested as he also stood up.
“We’ll meet in the hotel’s conference room then,” Jasper said. He left before Benjamin could protest further.
Benjamin frowned, feeling very displeased.
Mr. Milton was really arrogant.
He saw the large portion of food left behind by Stella. He was too lazy to get his own food so he dug into Stella’s leftovers..
At 10:30 a. m.,
Stella got the notification to gather in the conference room.
She was the first to get there and took her seat.
Jasper came in and put a plastic bag in front of her.
Stella was surprised. He bought her bread and cake.
He didn’t say a word. He sat down next to her and looked at her with his deep eyes.
The room was quiet but his eyes seemed to say everything.
Stella was really hungry. She took a piece of bread and took a big bite.
He bought her yogurt too.
Jasper was still as attentive as before.
After a while, everyone arrived. Benjamin was the last one in.
He saw Stella eating bread, so he sat down next to her and said with disdain, “You girls are really weird. You left the buffet breakfast unwanted just to eat bread here?”
Stella ignored him.
“Well, we gathered everyone here to look into the case together,” Jasper’s subordinate, Mr. Cher, said.
“Have you gotten any updates from the forensic guys?” Benjamin asked unhappily.
“Yes,” Mr. Cher replied.
Benjamin laughed and said, “You’re really a high-ranking official.”
He was referring to Jasper, and everyone knew it.
Stella was astounded that no one had yet murdered Benjamin for being so insufferable.
“Carry on,” Jasper ordered.
Mr. Cher continued, “The first female died from being strangled by a steel wire. Foaming agent was used to block her private parts. DNA of Jae Chyl, Zion Chyl, Zackery Chyl, and Horland Zachary were found. Before she died, she was raped by all four of them.”
Benjamin interrupted. “Who is Horland Zachary?”
“He was one of the missing youths, the drowned boy in the first glass tank,” Mr. Cher explained.
Benjamin nodded. “Whose child is the baby?”
“According to the DNA analysis, the baby was the biological child of Jae Chyl. He was thrown to his death. The biological mother of the baby was in the same glass tank with the baby,” Mr. Cher said.
“There’s a hidden compartment in that secret chamber. What did you find in it?” Benjamin asked.
“Three identity cards, all female. Also their luggage and Hale Summer’s diary. Hale Summer was the deceased in the first glass tank.
According to the diary, three of them were supposed to go to work, but they were deceived by Jae Chyl to go to the castle and had suffered from all kinds of inhumane treatment there.
The public claimed to occasionally hear women’s voices, it was probably them.
The other two males were the missing teenagers.
According to their bone growth, they died at the age of 18, which is the age they were reported missing. The murderers were Jae Chyl, Zion Chyl, and Zackery Chyl.”
“How many years have they been missing?” Benjamin asked.
“25 years,” Mr. Cher replied.
“Oh my God, could it be that their ghosts were seeking for revenge?” Benjamin’s assistant suddenly gasped. She felt her hair standing and her face turned pale.
“If it was so, then they would not have survived till now. These three people died twenty-five years ago.” Stella said.
“The murderer must be related to the first female, Hale Summer,” Benjamin said as he looked at Stella. “They have all logged into an adult website and watched the same video. The women in the video looked like Hale Summer.”
“Have you seen it, Mr. Levis?” his assistant asked.
Benjamin : “…”
Stella laughed. What an apt question.
“I did it for the case,” Benjamin explained, flushed.
“O…. h,” Stella replied
Benjamin’s face turned even redder. He put his hand on the chair behind Stella and said, “Why should I lie to you? And isn’t it normal for guys to look at things like this? Don’t you watch it too?”
He was too close to her, and the question was too awkward. So, she turned her face away.
Benjamin approached Stella and took a deep breath. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? You weren’t surprised at all when I brought this up.”
Stella : “…”
Jasper watched their interaction coldly, and his face turned livid. “She watched it with me.”
Stella : “…”