Chapter 279

With calm, unhurried steps, the figure appeared before him-it was unmistakably Anastasia.
“You… what are you doing here?” Thomas stammered, shock etched across his battered face.
Anastasia didn’t bother to answer. She strode right up to him and looked down, surveying the sorry, half-conscious man sprawled at her feet. Thɪs chapter is updated by.net
“Tsk, tsk. You look awful,” she remarked, her tone more amused than sympathetic.
Thomas, furious, nearly choked on his own anger.
He glared at her, a sudden suspicion flashing through his mind. “You betrayed Mr. Harrison Lancaster, didn’t you?!”
Anastasia’s face went cold. Without warning, she lifted her foot and delivered a swift kick to his shoulder. Thomas, who’d just managed to prop himself up, was knocked flat onto the ground again.
“How dare you—” he sputtered, rage twisting his features.
“Shut up!” Anastasia’s voice was icy. She stared him down. “You’re accusing me of betraying Mr. Harrison Lancaster? Do you even hear yourself?”
She took a step closer, her eyes narrowing. “You’re the only one who had access to Mr. Lancaster’s medical records. If you think I leaked them, then tell me when did I ever get close enough to you to steal them? When did I ever have the chance?”
The realization hit Thomas hard, draining the color from his face. He’d been so stunned to see Anastasia here that he’d lashed out without thinking. But she was right—she’d never had the opportunity to get her hands on those files.
Anastasia let out a cold, mirthless laugh. The thought gnawed at her: if she hadn’t intervened today, Harrison would have had to come himself, risking who knows what. She remembered the last time, how horribly he’d been hurt-all because Thomas had blindly trusted Alice. The memory made her want to kick Thomas again out of sheer frustration.
“And you have the nerve to question me?” she sneered. “You’re suspicious of me, but you’re not asking yourself how those files-files only you ever touched- ended up in someone else’s hands?”
“Why don’t you wonder, if someone wanted to threaten Mr. Harrison Lancaster, why didn’t they take me hostage? Why go after Alice, who barely matters?”
“And if I recall, I warned you not to trust Alice, didn’t I?!”
Her meaning was painfully clear. Thomas’s face twisted with denial. “No. No, that’s impossible!”
“It couldn’t have been Alice!” he snapped. “She’s not like that. First you drove her out, and now you want to slander her too?”
Anastasia gave a short, scornful laugh. “Not like that? Then answer my questions.”
Thomas’s face turned ashen, his confidence crumbling. Even if he told himself Anastasia was lying, her words hit too close to the truth.
“Enough with the stubborn act,” she said coldly. “Since you’re here, I’ll do you a favor-let you see the truth for yourself.”
With a nod, she signaled to the men behind her. “Take him.”
Thomas had no idea what she meant, but a wave of dread washed over him.
Could Alice really No. That couldn’t be. Alice was gentle, innocent-she would never betray Mr. Harrison Lancaster.
Anastasia led the group to meet up with Logan.
From a distance, she spotted him and there was Alice too, being helped along by one of the men, her face streaked with tears.
The moment Thomas saw Alice, he tried to call out—”Ali-” but Anastasia clapped
a hand firmly over his mouth. “Quiet. Don’t say a word.”
“You wanted the truth, didn’t you? Then listen to Alice yourself,” she whispered, her tone sharp as glass.
She sent Logan a quick message.
Logan glanced down at his phone, then looked over in their direction, barely acknowledging them.
Alice hadn’t noticed them yet. Logan leaned in and asked her something quietly. Suddenly, Alice broke down, sobbing-