In the taxi, Natalie Morgan stared blankly into space the entire ride.
Her mind was a ss.
It was one thing after another.
As they passed the Lynch Residence, she saw several fire trucks parked out front.
"Such a nice house, burned like this. What a sha," the driver remarked casually.
Only then did Natalie Morgan lift her gaze and look over.
The Lynch Residence.
The place where she had lived for over a decade.
The Lynch parents were always busy with their business, so she had spent most of her childhood ho alone, but it held many mories.
Now, this place belonged to Wanda Lynch.
"Driver, could you pull over up ahead?"
The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "We’re not at your destination yet. If you get out here, it’s gonna be tricky to calculate the fare."
"It’s fine. I’ll pay the full fare."
Natalie Morgan ended the trip on her phone.
Only then did the driver pull over and let her out by the side of the road, reassured.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered in front of the Lynch Residence.
Staring at the windowsill where she used to study as a child, she saw it was no longer recognizable.
"I heard it was arson. Logically, there’s hardly anyone left in the Lynch Family. They couldn’t have made any enemies, so why would soone set it on fire?"
"Maybe it was a burglar? They failed to steal anything and just set the house on fire out of frustration?"
"That’s way too bold. It’s a cri! You can’t just go around setting fires whenever you feel like it."
"I think the police caught the arsonist at the scene. The guy kept shouting that soone put him up to it. Looks like they really did make an enemy."
"There’s just that one crippled daughter, and she was only found later on. How could she have made any enemies?"
"Who knows."
Listening to their wild speculation, Natalie Morgan suddenly felt a void open up inside her.
She stood at the gate for a long ti before finally leaving.
「At the hospital.」
After falling down the stairs, Wanda Lynch had suffered a broken leg and was temporarily blinded by the smoke.
She was crying and making a scene, clinging to Theodore Grant without letting go. "Theodore, I’m really blind! I really can’t see! Don’t leave , don’t go, okay?"
"I won’t go. The doctor said your blindness is temporary. You’ll be fine in a couple of days. Don’t be anxious, just focus on getting better."
He gently patted her back, his own expression grim.
"Who on earth set the fire? Were they trying to burn to death?" Wanda Lynch hugged Theodore Grant’s waist, her grip tightening. "Theodore, is soone trying to hurt ? I’m so scared."
"Don’t be afraid. I’m here."
"Theodore, please don’t leave , okay?"
"I won’t leave."
A doctor and nurse ca over to give Wanda Lynch an injection.
She drifted off into a groggy sleep.
The gentle light in his eyes vanished as he walked out of the hospital room.
Secretary Bell approached and reported to Theodore Grant in a low voice, "Mr. Grant, the police said they’ve caught the arsonist."
"And?"
"The arsonist said that..." Secretary Bell hesitated. "...Mr. Grant, the arsonist claims he was acting under soone’s orders."
Theodore Grant’s eyes narrowed. "Under orders? Who gave him the orders?"
"He said it was... Natalie Morgan." Secretary Bell also produced a screenshot of a money transfer and a photograph. "This is the transfer record the man provided—a full 100,000 yuan. And this, Mr. Grant, take a look. This is a photo of Natalie Morgan at the scene."
’That Natalie Morgan has so nerve. Not only did she hire soone to do her dirty work, she even went to the cri scene herself.’
Theodore Grant didn’t speak.
He stared at the profile picture of the person who made the transfer, his eyes turning ice-cold.
It was Natalie Morgan’s WeChat profile picture.
Secretary Bell put his phone away and glanced through the glass on the door at Wanda Lynch in her hospital bed. "Mr. Grant, the police will likely arrest Natalie Morgan on charges of inciting arson. Considering the transaction between her and the arsonist, and how seriously Miss Lynch was injured, I believe if she’s convicted, she’ll get ten years at the very least."
Ten years.
Enough to ruin a woman’s entire life.
After a mont,
Theodore Grant’s eyelids twitched. "Are you sure it was her?"
"That’s what the arsonist confessed. I expect the police will arrest Natalie Morgan soon. As for whether she was frad, that will depend on the investigation that follows."
’Frad?’
’Could she have been frad?’
’She’s always hated Wanda Lynch. Always.’
「At the apartnt.」
Natalie Morgan had just made a bowl of instant noodles and added a sausage to it.
The doorbell rang.
She got up to answer the door.
When she saw the police, she was completely stunned.
"Can I help you, officers?"
An officer presented a warrant. "Natalie Morgan, you are under suspicion of inciting another to commit arson. We are placing you under arrest. Please cooperate."
’Arson?’
She was stunned.
"Officers, you must have the wrong person. How could I... incite soone to commit arson?" She subconsciously took two steps back. "Have you investigated this thoroughly? You can’t just arrest people randomly."
The officer didn’t waste ti arguing, simply showing her the handcuffs. "Please co with us. If you’ve been wrongly accused, we will clear your na."
"No, no." She kept backing away, pulling her hands behind her back. "I didn’t set any fire! Who said I did? Do you have any evidence?"
"Soone confessed and implicated you. And we have a record of a transaction between you two."
’A transaction record?’
’I can barely make ends et myself. Who would I be making a deal with? And for sothing as serious as arson, no less.’
’Is this about the fire at the Lynch Residence?’
"Is this about the fire at the Lynch Residence?" she asked, her voice trembling.
The officer replied, "That’s right."
It was as if she suddenly understood everything.
The mont she was led into the police car, she could almost see her father being put into a police car, just like this.
That sa despair, that sa panic, that sa bewildered look of not knowing what was happening—it was all replaying itself, but this ti, with her.
And just like that, Natalie Morgan was taken into custody.
It was only after not being able to contact Natalie Morgan for several days that Serena Sutton found out she had been arrested.
She tried pulling strings everywhere but couldn’t get permission for a visit.
As a last resort, she went to find Felix Finch.
Felix Finch was also shocked speechless. "Why was she arrested?"
"There was a fire at the Lynch Residence. The arsonist confessed that Natalie instructed him to do it, so the police arrested her."
"Do you guys know the arsonist?" This was incomprehensible.
Serena Sutton had never t the arsonist, though she had managed to find out his na. "No, we don’t."
"Try not to worry. I’ll go ask Theodore."
"Okay."
Felix Finch went to see Theodore Grant.
He was at the hospital, keeping Wanda Lynch company.
"Theodore, I need to talk to you about sothing."
He hadn’t wanted to disturb him, but seeing him being all lovey-dovey with Wanda Lynch, completely indifferent to Natalie Morgan’s fate, made him deeply uncomfortable.
Theodore Grant followed Felix Finch up to the rooftop.
"If you have sothing to say, just say it. I’m busy."
"Do you know that Natalie Morgan was arrested?"
"I do." Theodore Grant’s gaze was dark and unreadable.
Felix Finch stared at him in utter disbelief. "You know? Then you must know why she was arrested."
"She hired soone to burn down the Lynch Residence. Wanda Lynch was injured, and she’s gone blind."
His statent was brief, but it was packed with information.
For a long mont, Felix Finch couldn’t process it.
"You also think she hired soone to set the fire?" He looked at the man before him, finding it hard to speak. "How is that possible? She’s already a nervous wreck dealing with her mom’s and her brother’s problems. Where would she find the mind to hire an arsonist? Besides, that was the ho she grew up in! How could she bear to burn it all down?"
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