Zoe was so pissed off as she thought back on the whole thing. But she only had herself to blame. If she dared to say anything she shouldn’t say, she would put her whole family in danger.
“Mr. Bradley, I’ve recorded their conversation, and I’ve mailed it to you. This is a secret between us,” Charles called Linford immediately after Clara left the prison.
Linford frowned after hearing the recording. He could tell there definitely was something wrong with Clara. Or Zoe wouldn’t have said that.
“I’ll be there this evening. You keep an eye on Clara,” Linford decided to talk to Zoe himself. Maybe he would get something more by doing that.
Candace was pulling at his sleeve when he hung up the phone, asking for ice cream.
“Only one,” Linford said as he went to the refrigerator.
Candace had been on a healthy diet lately because of her dad.
“I’ll probably need to go out tonight. You take care of yourself,” Linford turned to Cristelle. Cristelle almost rolled her eyes.
She could always take care of herself. What was this man worried about exactly? She was an adult.
Linford only smiled gently.
Before Linford could walk out of the hospital, Cody somehow caught up with him, “Wait!”
“Yes?” Linford halted his pace, waiting for his son’s words.
Cody had a serious look on his little face, “Are those people telling the truth on the internet?”
Linford nodded, “Yeah.”
“That Zoe seemed to come from a big house. Are you still gonna get revenge, Mom? You won’t let her get away with what she did, will you?” The boy looked him directly in the eyes.
“Of course, I won’t let her run away.” Linford answered directly, “Who said these things to you?”
Cody pouted, “It doesn’t matter. Remember what you said. You have to avenge Mom and Candace.”
With that, he turned around and walked away.
****
Mr. Wayne finally left Pop. The Wayne’s were excited. They thought Mr. Wayne would find a way to get Zoe out of jail.
But Mr. Wayne went directly to see Zoe in jail.
The old man sat down on his chair, shaky and old, “Zoe, what happened exactly? I need you to tell me the truth.”
Zoe went to hold his hands the moment she saw him, “Great Grandpa… You’ve got to save me! You’re my only hope now. I don’t want to be in prison for the rest of my life.”
Mr. Wayne patted the back of her hand, “Calm down. Tell me what happened. I can’t help if you don’t tell me the truth. I’ve asked the police officer to leave us alone here. You can tell me everything.”
Zoe only listened to her granny and her great-grandpa. She wiped her tears and told the old man everything, “I really didn’t mean to do that… I was just… so stupid… I did those for her just because of what she said.”
Mr. Wayne thought for a while, “You hurt Cristelle just because of something other people said? You don’t hold your own intention?”
Zoe knew she couldn’t hide anything from this wise old man, letting it all out, “I heard Jasper and Cristelle used to be quite close. I don’t want them to be close again. That’s why I decided to kill Cristelle. I was just being dumb. Besides, Clara had been there to make things worse. She’s in love with Linford. She did nasty things more than I’ve ever done… I know what she has.”
“Okay. That’s enough,” Mr. Wayne stopped her. This dumb girl had just been a chess piece all this time.
Clara used the White House to threaten them. It seemed like their family couldn’t make it anyway. They were gonna break sooner or later. Mr. Wayne didn’t feel the necessity of holding on.
“Zoe, my girl, no one can escape her responsibility. You tried to kill the grandchildren of the Bradley house. They won’t let you go that easily,” Mr. Wayne sighed, “You need to own it.”
Zoe’s eyes widened in fear as she heard that, “Pop… You… you can’t abandon me… I am a Wayne family member. You can’t do this to me. Please… PLEASE DON’T LEAVE IN JAIL! I did those stupid things because of Clara! She asked me to do that. Are you also gonna abandon me for the wealth and fame of the family?”
“No. I will halt all cooperation with the White House now,” Mr. Wayne’s voice was deep and tired.
Zoe’s eyes lit up.
But the old man continued, “The Wayne house will fall from the list. The family will only get worse. But you still need to pay for what you did. As for Clara, we don’t need to worry about her. She will expose herself sooner or later. Linford would only make her pay ten times harder by then. You must be really careful since this day, girl. I’ll ensure you won’t get bullied by others in jail.”
Mr. Wayne started to cough violently after saying that.
Zoe cried, “Please… Grandpa… Don’t leave here.”
“This is the only way to save you, silly girl. If you don’t admit what you did, Clara will find a way to kill you. She’s powerful right now. You know she can do that,” Mr. Wayne looked serious.
Zoe covered her mouth in shock, but she still couldn’t believe what she had just heard, “Pop, is there really nothing you can do? She’s just a White. Making me take all the consequences is just silly. Why can’t I drag her down as well? If Linford gets to know that she has done so many despicable things, he won’t let her go that easily.”
Mr. Wayne shook his head. This great-granddaughter of his was so spoiled that she had lost all her sanity, “If the war starts, our house also won’t end well. My solution is the least severe punishment our house could afford. Don’t you remember what happened to Clyde?”
Zoe fell completely silent after hearing that. The Bradley house was the most powerful family in this city, and Clyde Bradley served his country well. His death had been deemed as an accident. But there were so many versions of the truth of his death. People said there were disputes among the big figures behind the truth of his death.