Chapter 1029: Chapter 1028
Jack grilled Stinger all night to no avail.
The next morning, Rosemary was having breakfast when her grandparents across the table spoke up.
"Rose, your aunt and uncle mentioned that you caught someone who was sabotaging their company from the shadows? Goes by the name ’Stinger’, right?" Bernard suddenly asked.
Rosemary hadn’t expected her aunt and uncle to spill the beans to her grandparents. It seemed they were at their wits’ end and wanted her grandparents to step in and demand the culprit from her.
With that in mind, Rosemary calmly replied, "Yes, I have him."
"I hear he’s a nasty piece of work. He poisoned your aunt and uncle’s restaurants. Now, a bunch of folks ended up in the hospital, and their families are knocking on their door for an explanation. Your aunt and uncle didn’t dare make public that you caught Stinger, but they need to give those people an answer. So, they want to question Stinger about why he did it," Bernard explained.
"Rose, why did you catch Stinger in the first place?" Cornelia asked, puzzled.
"He hired a hitman," Rosemary said nonchalantly, "to kill me."
"What? That’s news to me," Cornelia exclaimed in shock. "Why didn’t you tell us before? When did this happen? Kenneth and Louisa didn’t say a word."
"Was it that Harris girl, what’s her name, Yolanda?" Bernard suddenly remembered. "Not long ago,she kidnapped your friend and Edith, trying to force you out in the open. Is she in cahoots with Stinger?"
"To be precise, Stinger funded her, giving her the means to hire a hitman. The hitman’s contact also came from him, and to ensure my demise, Stinger gave her a poison called ’Seven Orifices Hemorrhage.’"
"Outrageous!" Bernard slammed the table, seething with anger. "What kind of vendetta does Stinger have against you to go this far?"
"I’m still trying to find that out," Rosemary explained. "No luck yet."
And that was one of the reasons she had taken Stinger into custody.
"It seems Rose’s questions are even more pressing than what Lucas need." Cornelia said to Bernard,
"Let’s have Lucas wait a bit longer, let Rose get to the bottom of this."
"That Harris lass couldn’t have the resources on her own. Her family’s bankrupt, and she’s left without
parents, alone and vulnerable. It must be Stinger’s support that allowed her to target Rose. This Stinger, wanting to kill Rose and causing such distress in Lucas’ businesses, who is he exactly."
Before Bernard could finish, his phone began to vibrate. He answered, "Beverly, my dear."
Rosemary continued her breakfast in silence, not joining the conversation.
Hearing Beverly on the other end putting pressure on her grandfather, Rosemary cut in, "Grandpa, let me speak to her."
"Rose will talk to you, just a second," Bernard handed the phone to Rosemary.
Rosemary switched to speaker and said bluntly, "To be frank, Stinger is also linked to the fire incident at the health clinic years ago. Aunt Beverly, are you in such a hurry because there’s a secret you can’t afford to let me uncover?"
She remained patient, her tone gentle as if speaking to a child.
"Since you two are innocent, then just wait for Stinger’s confession," Rosemary didn’t even wait for further discussion; she promptly ended the call.
Bernard and Cornelia were taken aback by their granddaughter’s decisiveness.
"Rose, why do you think the Stinger is connected to the clinic fire from back in the day?" Cornelia couldn’t help but ask.
"There are a few leads that match up. Don’t worry, Grandpa and Grandma, I know my aunt and uncle are in a tight spot. I’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and hand over the culprit to them,"
Rosemary assured, showing her mature side.
"Alright. Just don’t overwork yourself, dear. If there’s anything we can do to help, just say the word," Cornelia said with affection.
"Will do."
Meanwhile.
When Serena woke up, she found a message from Martin saying there was this amazing breakfast place nearby, but it had a one-hour wait, and he wanted her to sleep in until she read his note.
Other than Martin’s, there were no new messages on her phone.
She felt a twinge of panic, mixed with irritation. By now, that person should have reached Baradocia.
They had a system: if he sent a message in their agreed-upon format, it meant he had safely arrived abroad, and she didn’t need to reply.
But it was already nine in the morning.
Just then, the door to her room swung open. "Martin? You’re back already? I thought you had to wait in line for an hour."
Her sentence was cut short when she saw it wasn’t Martin who entered, but Fitch, and she was immediately overcome with a bad feeling. Instinctively, she reached for her phone to call Martin.
Fitch strode up to her in a few quick steps, grabbed her throat, and demanded, "The car accident—did you set it up?"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Serena tried to pry his hands off, but his grip was too strong to resist. "Let’s go, what are you doing?"
"Speak now, or I’ll snap your neck," Fitch threatened, tightening his grip.
Her face turned beet red, struggling for air. Desperate, she clawed at Fitch’s hands. Her vision was dimming, she was on the verge of passing out. "I’ll tell you, just let go."
Finally, Fitch eased his hold.
Only then did Serena realize she hadn’t addressed Diana with respect like she used to do.
"It seems you won’t regret until you get the punishment," Fitch said, his hands closing around her throat again.
"Fitch, you’re insane." She was gasping for breath, her head spinning, her vision blurring, "Help."
The door to the hospital room swung open as Martin stormed in, his smile freezing on his face as he caught sight of the scene before him. With a rush of urgency, he shoved Fitch aside and raced to Serena’s side.
"Serena, are you alright, Serena?"
Serena felt the grip on her throat release as Martin’s voice reached her, sounding as though it came from miles away. Her vision went pitch black, incapable of discerning any shapes, and her body felt utterly limp.
But she could sense Martin shaking her, and she coughed reflexively, her focus snapping back as she saw the worry etched deeply into his features. After a violent bout of coughing, she gasped for air, as if being yanked back from the brink of death.
"Water," Her voice was raspy and weak, "I need water."
In a fluster, Martin grabbed a glass of water and held it to her lips.
Serena could barely lift her own arm, let alone hold the glass, so Martin gently helped her drink. After a moment, she seemed to recover slightly, clinging to Martin and sobbing into his chest.
Martin cast a resentful glance at Fitch while comforting the woman in his arms.
"Martin!" Fitch couldn’t believe his eyes and was itching to knock some sense into him, "She’s the one who caused your sister’s car accident, and you’re still defending her?"
Martin’s patience had hit rock bottom. He stood up, marched over to Fitch, and swung a fierce punch.
"Are you freaking serious?" Fitch was livid, having not anticipated that his old buddy would throw a punch over some dame. If he hadn’t dodged in the nick of time, that blow could have sent his guts spilling out.
"You nearly strangled her to death!" Martin roared with a rage that made his whole body shake.
"Fine, you want to come at me for her? Bring it on, my face is right here, hit me!" Fitch taunted, seeing Martin hesitate, and then he threw a punch straight at Martin’s face.
"Today I’m gonna knock some sense into you!" Fitch, seeming to have lost his mind, was now entangled in a brawl with Martin.
Martin couldn’t believe Fitch had the audacity to act so brazen after doing something so vile, and every punch he threw was filled with fury.
Seeing the chaos, Serena frantically pressed the call button for help.
The Cooper family’s servants and bodyguards, who were in the next room attending to Ansel and Florence, rushed over after hearing the commotion. Upon discovering Martin and Fitch in a fight, they
hurried to pull them apart.
"I’ll throw the evidence in your face and you’ll regret it!" Fitch was beyond furious, "Just remember what you did today!"
He stormed off in a huff, with Martin equally enraged.
The servants and bodyguards knew better than to interfere further and quietly returned to their posts.
A nurse asked Martin if he needed his wounds dressed, but he didn’t respond, his expression grim and troubled.