Chapter 20



“I… I…” Sarah faltered, her complexion ghostly as terror gripped her. Her hands shook violently as she clung to her phone, words failing her.

Jake, stunned, quickly took Sarah’s phone from her trembling hands and answered it.

“Hello?” Jake asked, his voice echoing through the phone in Linsey’s grip.

“You sent someone to kill Kallie!” Linsey yelled, her finger jabbing in Sarah’s direction. “I’ve already called the cops! We have undeniable evidence! You’ve orchestrated a murder, and there’s no escaping jail now!”

Linsey’s glare at Jake was intense.

“I really don’t know anything about this…” Sarah’s voice broke into sobs, her distress palpable.

“The evidence is here, plain as day! What can you possibly say to that?” Linsey barked.

Just then, the man sprawled on the floor stirred and cried out, “I’ll confess everything! Just please, don’t let me end up in jail!”

“Alright, speak up. If you’re honest, I might just let you walk away,” Linsey replied, ready to agree if it meant tarnishing Sarah’s reputation in Jake’s eyes. After all, involving the police wasn’t necessary if she could leverage the Brooks family’s clout to handle the man quietly later.

Tears streamed down the man’s face as he spoke. “I feared Kallie would reveal the truth, so I attempted to kill her. She was constantly demanding money, and I simply couldn’t afford it…”

Linsey’s face stiffened with shock. “What did you just say? Repeat that. If you’re not willing to speak the truth now, would you rather confess at the police station?”

“I am speaking the truth! I even recorded our last phone conversation. Listen to it yourself!” the man exclaimed, raising his voice.

Linsey quickly sifted through his phone, locating the most recent call recording. The timestamp confirmed it was the call from Sarah.

“Calm down. I’ll secure another fifty thousand for you to hand over to Kallie. Just don’t do anything rash, okay?” Sarah’s voice quivered with urgency through the recording.

“If I hand over five hundred thousand this time, that woman will only come back for more! How am I supposed to keep up?” the man replied, his voice laden with despair.

“But she’s Jake’s wife! We’re talking about life and death here! You can’t treat this lightly,” Sarah implored.

“So what? I’m at my wit’s end! The confidential information she provided fetched only two hundred thousand, but she’s blackmailed me for a million! She’s threatening to tell Jake and have him take my life!” The man’s voice resonated with despair in the audio recording.

“If it’s between being killed by Jake or driven to death by her, I’d rather not go down alone. Don’t worry about me! Go on, tell Jake if you must. See if he spares me!” With those final words, the man ended the call, and the recording stopped.

“I have more evidence!” the man on the floor shouted again. “Kallie’s texts are all on my phone. I’ve kept every single one!”

“That’s a lie! How could Kallie be blackmailing you? She would never do such a thing!” Linsey was in disbelief, yet Jake swiftly approached and took the phone from her grasp. He quickly located Kallie’s number.

“Five hundred thousand. Tonight is the final deadline. Bring it to the fifteenth floor of Grace Hospital. I’ve sent Linsey away already.”

“You have another week to come up with five hundred thousand, or I’ll tell Jake about the documents you stole. I’m his wife. He wouldn’t dare touch me, but he’ll surely deal with you!”

“The last five hundred thousand you paid isn’t enough. Hand over another five hundred thousand.”

Jake scrolled through the menacing messages rapidly. At the top, a photo caught his eye. He clicked on it. It was his project proposal from a month earlier.

The photo displayed the printed document, and in the top left corner, the edge of a gold pen peeked out. He owned only one gold pen, using it exclusively in his home study and never taking it elsewhere. Kallie was the only person with access to his study.

Jake radiated a stormy aura as he approached Kallie and handed her the phone, saying, “See for yourself.”

Grasping the phone with her only functioning left hand, Kallie’s eyes widened as she read the message. By the time she finished, she was so shaken that she nearly toppled from the hospital bed, only to be steadied by Linsey.

“This is defamation! Kallie would never do so!” Linsey exclaimed in disbelief.

“Linsey, could it be that you’ve never truly known your friend?” Sarah interjected, her voice gentle yet piercing.

“Impossible! This is defamation!” Linsey’s voice broke with fury.

The next moment, Sarah grabbed the phone and hit the call button. Instantly, Kallie’s phone began to ring.

Sarah stated icily, “Just as you claimed, the evidence is undeniable.”

“If that’s the case, why did you help cover it up? Why not expose Kallie right away? This is all a setup!” Linsey bellowed.

“Shut up!” Jake snapped, his voice thick with restrained anger, cutting off Linsey.

Jake ignored everyone else, his gaze fixed solely on Kallie.

“Did you do this?”

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