Chapter 162: Chapter 162

I nodded and had Angel to help pack up the food for Jean.

I wanted to know what other secrets he was keeping. I needed to uncover all of them.

After breakfast, I coaxed Steven to finish his food and go to sleep.

After Steven fell asleep, I secretly trailed behind Jean as he left the Lincoln residence.

I saw him run into an alleyway and a long way further.

However, my legs were getting sore as I followed him.

Finally, we reached an abandoned factory where several other children about the same. age as Jean were residing.

Most of them seemed to have been born crippled–some had only one arm while others.

were mute or blind.

“I brought you guys food,” Jean said to the other children. He acted like an adult.

I was stunned.

Why didn’t these children go to an orphanage? Their orphan intake had improved in the last couple of years.

“Where did you get all this food, Jean?” a little girl happily asked.

Jean said proudly, “Stephie gave them to me. But you can’t tell anyone else. You have to pretend to not know her when you see her too, understand?”

I hid in the doorway, feeling both anxious and saddened.

These children seemed to really respect Stephanie.

What was her connection to them?

“When will Grandma Rosie leave the hospital? Will she get better?” a boy quietly asked.

“She’ll get better,” Jean said sadly, sitting to one side. “Grandma Rosie will definitely get better with Stephie around.”

I listened to the children in shock.

Grandma Rosie? Was that Stephany’s grandmother? The woman Brandon was using to threaten people with?

I suddenly recalled that I hadn’t once visited Stephany’s grandmother ever since I was reincarnated.

But it wasn’t that I didn’t want to–I just didn’t dare to.

Our closest loved ones were often the ones who could identify the minute changes in ourselves.

So, Stephany’s grandmother was bound to realize that I wasn’t actually Stephany no matter what lie I came up with.

But maybe I really had to pay her a visit now.

These children, Stephany, Stephany’s grandmother, and Jean’s brother were all connected to the serial killer.

Everything seemed to align now, and anyone in this alignment had the possibility of being the killer themselves.

No one could escape suspicion.

I left the alleyway and was about to head straight for the hospital when a black car came to a stop beside me.

As the car window rolled down, I saw Michael sitting in the backseat.

Was he following me Had he actually lost his mind?

“What are you trying to do, Michael Ford?” I questioned.

First, he forced me to see him at his office yesterday. And now, he was stalking me.

Did he have too much time on his hands?

Michael seemed to have expected that I wouldn’t go see him at his office no matter how much he threatened me.

So, he calmly said, “Get in the car.

But I turned to leave.

“If Zion finds out that you’ve been supporting these children in secret all this while, don’t you think the police will take you in for investigation?

“Won’t you become the prime suspect for the person who told these children to kill Yasmin?”

Michael asked darkly. He seemed confident that I would do as he said.

I halted and turned to look at Michael.

He must’ve done his investigation if he could say all this with such certainty.

“I have no idea what you’re saying,” I tried lying my way out as my hands balled into fists.

“After your adopted parents passed away when you were 10, your grandmother, Rose Briary, raised you in the countryside all by herself. She brought you to the city to help you track down your birth parents and took care of you using whatever scraps she could scavenge.

“Your grandmother has helped most of these children before.” Michael tossed out a pile of evidence from the window.

I picked up the photos.

They all depicted Stephany and the children together.

“The Larson family found you when you were 18. But then, you started stealing things. from home and selling them in order to support these children, am I right?” Michael coldly gazed at me.

He continued, “It wasn’t a big deal for the Larson family to lose things here and there, but your sister, Ann, caught you stealing and threatened you with it. She even reported you to the police and humiliated you.

“And ever since then, you became the infamous ugly–duckling–turned–swan who embarrassed her family and made them loathe having a daughter like you.”

Then, Michael said, “Two months ago, a scrawny little kid took advantage of a woman’s sympathy and fooled her into going into an alleyway. After that, the woman disappeared, but her body was found a little while after.”