Chapter 297
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The moment those words were spoken , the crowd erupted in chaos .
Someone in the crowd shouted , “ What ? Framing Aria Saxon for murder ? Who did she supposedly kill ? ”
“ Simon Tate , ” said a villager from Briteron . “ He died in the river up in the mountains – Aria Saxon found his body . Because of the pandemic , it became a sensitive situation , so we had to keep it under wraps . ”
Someone else said , “ The police initially investigated and concluded it was an accidental drowning . But for some crazy reason , Simon Tate’s parents went berserk , ignored everyone trying to stop them , and stormed into the police station , accusing Aria Saxon of killing their son to get back at her for that old insurance fraud . ”
“ So it turns out Hannah Gibson paid Simon Tate’s parents to frame Aria Saxon ? Is she out of her mind ? Why is she so obsessed with targeting Aria Saxon ? ” someone in the crowd blurted out , their voice dripping with disdain .
Another one said , “ Of course she’s obsessed – what do you expect from a homewrecker who stole someone else’s place ? ”
The cold steel handcuffs snapped around Hannah’s wrists with a metallic click . She instinctively yanked her arms away , shrieking , “ What are you doing ? This is a false accusation ! Let me go ! ”
Jackson stepped forward , firmly gripping her shoulder , his gaze sharp . He said , “ Do you really think we’d arrest you without solid evidence ? ”
With that , Jackson yanked Hannah to her feet .
Hannah stumbled , her eyes wide with panic as she turned to Liam . “ Liam , help me ! They’re framing me ! ”
Liam stared at her in utter disbelief , his voice shaking . “ Hannah , did you really pay people to frame Aria ? Why did you do this? ”
“ I didn’t do it , Liam ! Please , you must believe me – trust me , please ! ” she cried out desperately , her voice trembling .
All tenderness vanished from Liam’s eyes , leaving only bitter disappointment .
‘ Plagiarizing students ‘ work and falsely accusing Aria of murder ? Just what won’t that woman stoop to ? ‘ Liam thought in disgust .
Dragged by the officers , Hannah stumbled toward the patrol car .
As she was being dragged past Aria , Hannah suddenly lunged forward , pointing at Aria and shrieking hoarsely , “ Aria stole my $ 30,000 laptop ! I’m suing her ! That laptop in her hands is the evidence ! ”
Hannah shrieked , her voice cracking with desperation , “ If you’re arresting me , then you have to arrest her too ! ”
Hannah’s shrill scream cut through the air , laced with the wild frenzy of a desperate last stand .
Aria remained composed , a faint , knowing smile tugging at the corners of her lips .
Aria calmly held up the laptop , her voice steady as she challenged , “ Take a good look — is this really your laptop ? ”
Hannah’s eyes bulged as she finally saw the laptop clearly . Her expression changed drastically . “ You … you set me up ? ” she shrieked , her voice trembling with rage .
If she had stuck to claiming she only took an empty flash drive and denied stealing the research , she might have gotten away with it .
Now that she had admitted it , the laptop was a smoking gun – legally obtained and fully admissible in court .
Hannah completely lost control , her face twisted with rage . All she wanted was to tear Aria apart . She shrieked hysterically , “ I’ll kill you ! I’ll tear you to pieces ! ”
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Fryderyk yanked Hannah back with a firm grip . “ Take her away ! ”
The moment Hannah was escorted into the police car , the livestream chat exploded .
Viewer A : [ Yeah ! Aria is such a badass ! That move was absolutely brilliant ! ]
Viewer B : [ She totally fell for it . Hannah Gibson’s gonna lose her mind ! ]
Viewer C : [ This ending is so satisfying . For once , those business moguls didn’t get away with bullying people with their power . ]
Viewer D : [ Just saying … isn’t Aria Saxon a business mogu
Viewer E : [ Hold up – that’s not a fair comparison ! Hannah Gibson has been riding on her family’s coattails , while Aria Saxon built her empire from scratch . How can you even put them in the same category ? ]
After a long pause , a doctor from Heffner Hospital murmured , “ So … our clinical trial was actually for the students of Mandino University ? ”
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