Adrian Sutton’s cold, powerful aura startled Judith Caldwell.
When their eyes t again, she trembled, a chill running through her.
’This pretty boy is actually quite intimidating when he’s angry.’
Left with no choice, she retrieved the key and unlocked the door.
The mont the door swung open, a faint, musty odor filled the air.
It crept into their nostrils, a deeply unpleasant scent.
The room inside was pitch-black, without a single sliver of light.
If not for the light spilling in from the hallway, the room would have been a suffocating black box.
Suddenly, Claire rcer burst out of the room.
Her hair was a ss, and her clothes were in disarray.
Her eyes were red and swollen, and a look of terror crossed her face when she saw Judith Caldwell.
The mont she saw the police, tears of grievance stread down her face.
"Officer, please, you have to help ! I don’t want to be locked up by them."
"I just refused to marry the old man they picked for , and now they’re locking up."
Claire rcer sobbed, gasping for breath as she spoke.
Though her behavior was a bit theatrical...
...the sight still sent a sharp pang through Adrian Sutton’s heart.
"This room has no windows and no lights. It’s a sealed space."
"I suspect they weren’t just trying to imprison my friend."
"I believe they intended to use this to quietly murder her..."
Before Adrian Sutton could finish, Judith Caldwell jumped in to cut him off.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"I only told them to lock her up! When did I ever say anything about murder?"
’Attempted murder was a far more serious cri than false imprisonnt.’
Adrian Sutton’s cold eyes, however, were fixed on Judith Caldwell.
’If this weren’t the wrong ti and place, he would have strangled her on the spot.’
He steadied himself and said,
"Locking soone in a sealed space can have severe consequences."
"Such as carbon dioxide poisoning."
"As the oxygen in a sealed space is depleted, the carbon dioxide concentration steadily increases."
"When the CO2 concentration reaches one percent, the person locked inside will experience headaches and shortness of breath."
"At five percent, they might fall into a coma from oxygen deprivation, which could even be life-threatening."
"Officer, am I correct?"
The lead officer nodded.
"So, they did this knowing full well that locking soone in a sealed space could be life-threatening."
"Doesn’t that make their actions suspected attempted murder?"
Adrian Sutton asked again.
The lead officer nodded again.
"My friend—the victim—is emotionally unstable and trembling all over."
"She must have suffered imnse psychological trauma."
"I’m concerned about the damage to her ntal health..."
Before he could finish, Claire rcer went limp and collapsed against him.
Adrian Sutton was so frightened his heart nearly stopped.
"Claire, Claire..."
Claire rcer gave his arm a discreet squeeze.
He finally let out a breath of relief.
’So she was faking it...’
’She’d really scared him to death.’
’But his Claire was so clever. They were working together seamlessly.’
"My friend has lost consciousness, and the ambulance is here."
"I’m taking her to the hospital imdiately for a thorough physical and psychological evaluation."
"Any objections?"
The officers all shook their heads.
’This was a man even Director Cheney had to show deference to.’
’How could they possibly object?’
And so, Adrian Sutton swept Claire rcer into his arms and carried her downstairs.
Back on the second floor, the police continued their questioning.
"Who locked this door?"
Judith Caldwell pointed to the maid. "It was her."
The maid imdiately shot back in protest.
"Ma’am, we only locked the door on your orders."
’Dammit, this is just a job.’
’She wasn’t about to take the fall for false imprisonnt and attempted murder.’
The other maid quickly chid in.
"That’s right, Ma’am. For years, everything we’ve done has been on your orders."
"Don’t you dare try to pin this all on us now."
"We just work here. We follow the orders of the family."
Judith Caldwell was left speechless.
She never expected her usually timid and cautious maids to be so sharp-tongued.
She shot them a vicious glare.
Having gotten the gist of the situation, the police officer addressed Judith Caldwell.
"Ms. Caldwell, you deliberately restricted Claire rcer’s personal freedom by locking her in a sealed space."
"Your actions constitute suspected false imprisonnt and attempted murder. Please co with us."
"You two will also need to co with us to the station to give a statent."
anwhile, a crowd of reporters who had already gotten wind of the story was waiting outside the rcer residence.
When they saw Adrian Sutton erge carrying Claire rcer, the reporters instantly sward them, flashes erupting as they snapped a frenzy of photos.
"Excuse , sir, what’s Miss rcer’s condition?"
Adrian Sutton replied, "She was illegally confined in a sealed room by her adoptive parents."
"She was extrely agitated when we rescued her and has suffered imnse psychological trauma from the ordeal."
"On top of that, after being in a sealed space for so long, she may have carbon dioxide poisoning. She has now lost consciousness."
"I’m on my way to take her to the hospital for a thorough examination."
’This was a huge story.’
The reporters scrambled to keep up with him.
"Could you tell us what exactly happened?"
"Why did the rcer Family lock her up?"
Adrian Sutton continued toward the ambulance without breaking stride, answering their questions as he walked.
"The rcer family was trying to force her, a twenty-four-year-old woman, to marry a greasy, fifty-six-year-old lecher."
"You in the press should be quite familiar with this man—it’s Hugo Bower, the one whose three wives all died."
At the ntion of his na, the reporters’ faces filled with shock.
Hugo Bower was infamous in dia circles.
Three of his wives were already dead.
Rumor had it that each of his wives had bruises and injuries on their bodies at the ti of their deaths.
They were suspected to have died from dostic abuse.
But in every case, Hugo Bower reached a private settlent with the deceased’s parents.
The implications were an open secret.
’And the rcer Family was going to marry off their beautiful, flower-like daughter to Mr. Bower?’
’Were they insane?’
Adrian Sutton continued:
"My friend refused to marry him."
"So the rcers locked her in a little black room with no windows and no lights."
A reporter raised a question.
"But from what I know, wasn’t Miss rcer supposed to marry the eldest son of the Sinclair family?"
Another reporter added,
"Exactly. Why would the rcers still be forcing her to marry Mr. Bower?"
"Are the rcers trying to marry one daughter off twice?"
Adrian Sutton said, "Miss rcer no longer has any connection to the Sinclair family."
"I can’t elaborate on the details, as it concerns Miss rcer’s privacy."
"You can ask her directly at the hospital when she wakes up."
"As for the matter of the rcer Family’s illegal confinent of my friend, you can ask the police about that shortly."
With that, Adrian Sutton climbed into the waiting ambulance, still holding Claire rcer.
The mont they were in the ambulance, Claire rcer—the girl who was supposedly overco with emotion and suffering from imnse psychological trauma—woke up.
"Thank you, Adrian Sutton."
She hadn’t expected Adrian Sutton to work so quickly.
Not only had the police and ambulance arrived, but he had even summoned a whole crowd of reporters.
Now, those reporters had docunted everything that happened at the rcer residence tonight.
’By tomorrow, the entire city of Rhonia would be in an uproar.’
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