Chapter 422

Charles’s eyes widened in shock, disbelief washing over him like a tidal wave. How could it possibly be Dahlia?
The nurse’s aide took a step back, visibly shaken by the icy aura that seemed to emanate from Charles. She had already spilled the beans about Dahlia, and there was no going back now. Her fear of Charles was palpable. Between Charles and Evelyn, Evelyn was the more approachable option.
“Ms. Evelyn, I’ll tell you anything you want to know-just please, let me go,” she pleaded, desperation lacing her voice. The last thing she wanted was to end up behind bars. “Please believe me, I never meant to harm Ms. Josephine. It was Dahlia who offered me so much money that I lost my senses and did something terrible.”
“I have elderly parents and young kids to support. If anything happens to me, my family will fall apart. You have such a kind heart; you wouldn’t let that happen, right?”
The aide’s voice was earnest, her eyes pleading. When the plan was still under wraps, the money could have gone towards a down payment for her son’s house, and she could have continued working as a nurse’s aide. But now that the truth was out, she hoped to play on Evelyn’s compassion to get off lightly. After all, her mother wasn’t dead-just in a coma, with a chance of waking up someday.
Evelyn’s gaze remained steely as she looked at the aide. Her pleas stirred no sympathy, only a sense of irony. Her compassion wasn’t for people like this aide, who could put a price on someone’s life.
Evelyn kept her thoughts to herself, her voice cold as she asked, “What exactly did Dahlia have you do?”
The aide, thinking her earlier plea had softened Evelyn’s heart, decided to spill the beans. “Two days ago, Dahlia came to me with ten grand, asking me to spread rumors that Ms. Evelyn was a homewrecker who had drugged Mr. Jenkins to get him into bed, forcing him to break up with his fiancée.”
“I knew the morning shift nurses loved to gossip, so Dahlia told me to take Ms. Josephine over there yesterday morning, then find an excuse to leave her alone.”
Charles and Evelyn already knew what happened next. Charles’s expression was as cold as iron. If it really was Dahlia…
He remembered the things Dahlia had said when she saw him. She acted like she didn’t know his aunt. She claimed his aunt had fainted and fallen down the stairs, and she had tried but failed to catch her.
“Today, she promised me half a million to find a chance to disconnect Ms. Josephine’s oxygen. I only did it because she pressured me.”
“It wasn’t my idea. Dahlia orchestrated everything. It’s truly not my fault.”
The more the aide spoke, the more she convinced herself of her innocence. If Evelyn hadn’t been so stingy, she wouldn’t have been tempted by Dahlia’s money. If Bab hadn’t dangled money in front of her, she wouldn’t have harmed Ms. Josephine. It was all their fault. She was innocent. With her wrist already broken, she wouldn’t be able to do heavy work again. Her job as a nurse’s aide was finished. She had
already been punished.
Charles listened, the chill around him intensifying, applying invisible pressure on
the aide. If she lied, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“Why did Dahlia do it?” His aunt had no beef with her. What reason did she have
to harm her? Deep down, Charles couldn’t connect the word “malicious” with Dahlia.
The question left the aide stumped. She didn’t know Dahlia well enough to understand her motives.
l.nět
Evelyn stood to the side, watching, Charles as he still tried to find
excuses for Dahlia, even with the
seth staring him in the face she let
out a cold laugh, “Why?”
“Because she isn’t who she claims to be!”