"Listen to this first."
Vincent was stunned after listening to the recording. "This... was recorded by Miss Quinn?"
"Vivian is a bit young and lets her guard down too easily. The mont she heard Elle was there, she rushed right over. But she’s not witless. On her way, she ssaged to say Ruby had invited her to dinner. When she arrived, she also discreetly sent her location. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten to the scene so quickly." Jett Sterling put away his phone. "Once she was there, she couldn’t exactly take out her phone to secretly film a video, so she quietly recorded the audio instead. It was just in case things got ssy and she needed proof. She never thought sothing would actually happen."
"Miss Quinn is very clever." Vincent knit his brow. "Judging from the conversation in the recording, my father was murdered by soone else after she passed out. And what’s more, it was soone he knew."
"Exactly," said Jett Sterling. "The police ran a detailed analysis of the audio clip using advanced technology. They isolated the sounds of a third person—the killer’s footsteps—as well as the sound of the knife stabbing your father. If you want to hear it, you can request it from the police later on."
Vincent’s fingertips trembled!
Jett Sterling continued, "The police determined from the footsteps that the killer is likely a woman. But she put a lot of force into that single stab—it was a fatal blow. She must have utterly hated your father. You could start your investigation from that angle and see what enemies your father might have had."
"I understand. I’ll start investigating from that angle. Jett, thank you."
"Don’t ntion it."
Jett Sterling’s phone suddenly rang. Vincent rose to leave. "I’ll get going then. If you find any leads, please let know right away."
"I will."
Vincent left the study, his steps unsteady as he walked downstairs.
Suddenly, his foot found empty air, and he pitched forward!
The instant he was about to tumble down the stairs, a hand gripped his arm, yanking him back from the brink!
Vivian Quinn had used all her strength to pull him back and lost her own balance. They both tumbled to the floor!
She hissed in pain, sitting up and rubbing her arm. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine." Vincent snapped out of his daze. "Thank you."
"You look terrible. Haven’t you been sleeping well these past few days?" Vivian Quinn asked, a little worried. "If you’d actually fallen just now, you could have been seriously hurt."
"I really haven’t gotten much rest." Vincent buried his face in his hands, hiding his exhaustion.
"But you seed to be holding it together before," Vivian Quinn said, curious. "Did Jett tell you sothing just now?"
"He played the recording for . I heard my father’s last words," Vincent said, his voice laced with pain. "My father and I... we weren’t very close. I’m the eldest son, so he was always especially strict with . I moved out on my own as soon as I started working. For all these years, whenever I saw him, we mostly just talked about work. I can’t recall a single tender mont between us, nothing like a loving father and a devoted son. Even on Lunar New Year, we’d go our separate ways right after dinner."
"My third great-uncle said that my dad went to see him. He talked about Shirley, and he also ntioned . He said... he said I was his pride..."
"But that’s a wonderful thing. It ans your father truly loved you," Vivian Quinn said, trying to comfort him.
"No. All these years, I thought the Wentworth Family couldn’t asure up to the Sterling Family. Jett and I are the sa age, but I could never compete with him, and I thought my father was disappointed in . That’s why we spoke less and less. I even grew cold toward him." Vincent’s anguish deepened. "I never knew... I never knew I was his pride... Do you know what he actually told my third great-uncle? He said, ’Vincent may not be the most brilliant of his generation—not when you have a kid like Jett as a benchmark—but I’ve never once compared him to Jett.’"
"’I pushed him toward politics, saying it was to smooth the way for the Wentworth Family. But the truth is, I wanted to keep him out of the business world. Vincent is fiercely competitive, and I was afraid that if he went into business, he’d get hurt going up against Jett. All I ever wanted was for my children to be safe and healthy their whole lives.’"
Vivian Quinn felt a sting in her nose. "He was a good father. I’m sure that you never have and never will disappoint him. You will always be his pride."
"Why am I only finding this out now..." Vincent buried his face in his knees. "I regret it so much. Why did I never just open up and have a real talk with my dad? I never imagined he would die... that he would die like this. He must have had so many regrets when it happened..."
Vivian Quinn couldn’t resist gently patting his back. "The one thing in this world we can’t control is the unexpected. I’m sure your father’s spirit wouldn’t want you to feel this way. And I believe that the regrets of this lifeti can be nded in the next."
Jett Sterling erged from the study and saw the scene at the top of the stairs. His brow furrowed slightly. "What happened?"
Vivian Quinn scrambled to her feet. "It’s nothing."
Vincent reined in his grief and got to his feet. "I was a ss and almost fell down the stairs. Thankfully, Miss Quinn saved ."
Jett Sterling’s brow furrowed even deeper. "There’s an elevator over there. And this was dangerous. What if Vivian had fallen with you?"
"You’re right. It was an accident. I have a lot to deal with, so I’ll be going now."
Vivian Quinn watched Vincent leave before walking over to Jett Sterling. Seeing his dark expression, she asked, "What’s wrong? Who upset you?"
Jett Sterling looked up at her. "I’m asking you, what if you had fallen down the stairs with him?"
Vivian Quinn: "..."
"I was coming out of Elle’s room and saw how distraught he looked, so I just wanted to see what was wrong. I never thought he’d nearly fall down the stairs. I grabbed him out of instinct, what’s wrong with that? I couldn’t just stand there and watch him fall. A fall from here could be serious."
"It’s because it’s so easy for sothing to happen that I don’t want you getting involved," Jett Sterling said, displeased. "What if you’d gotten seriously hurt? Who would be responsible then?"
"Jett, are you saying I’m being a busybody again?" Vivian Quinn pouted. "But it was just instinct! I couldn’t help it."
Jett Sterling sighed in resignation. "Fine, let’s drop it. Just... don’t do anything like that again."
Vivian Quinn didn’t argue, changing the subject back to the case. "The leads we have are limited. It won’t be easy to find the killer, will it?"
"For now, our initial assessnt is that the killer is a woman who knew Vincent’s father. Vincent is going to look into it."
Vivian Quinn said thoughtfully, "That’s a high-end gated community, isn’t it? A normal person can’t just walk in."
"Easton Rivers is already looking into that. The villa is usually empty; only a maid goes by to clean periodically, so there are no security caras. We can only search the periter."
"For the killer to strike so brazenly ans they must have cased the place thoroughly. They knew there were no caras and might have even hidden inside the villa beforehand!"
"That raises a question, then," said Jett Sterling. "According to Ruby, Vincent’s father only decided to invite you to dinner the night before, just before bed. Ruby then made the arrangents and chose that villa. How did the killer manage to make so many preparations overnight, completely undetected?"
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