Chapter 520 Manipulating The Child
Chapter 520 Manipulating The Child
Anne didn't expect that it was Cindy who had betrayed them.
"Well, now that Cindy has escaped, finding her is a difficult task. Let's try our best anyway." Anne sighed.
Rose nodded. Everyone fell silent. They had to nip the problem in the bud. Otherwise, its impact would affect their business in the long run.
"Anne," Rose called after a moment's hesitation, "Do you know that Cherry's identity has been exposed?"
Anne arched her brows in shock, shaking her head in disbelief. "What's going on with her now?"
Kevin also looked at her with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. He didn't intend to bother Cherry in any way. However, the woman's wrongdoings had ruined her life now.
She had already killed someone without any remorse or guilt. Now, she had planned to kill someone else as well. Cherry deserved to be punished for her mistakes. Even spending the rest of her life in jail would serve her right.
Rose took her phone and showed a video to Anne. She saw the clip and shook her head in exasperation.
"One has to make up for their mistake rather than hiding it. Cherry has crossed all limits; she deserves it."
"But..." Kevin frowned. "I had used all my connections then but couldn't find any evidence that Cherry is Kristine. I wonder how the reporter had found out the truth."
Everyone stared at Kevin. They, too, had the same doubt.
Kim was hiding in the dark, stirring up chaos in their lives. They didn't think that revealing the truth about Cherry's identity would have been a coincidence.
"Useless chess pieces need to be destroyed," said Anne, staring into Kevin's eyes.
The man nodded. He glanced at the reporter in the video before calling his assistant.
Perhaps talking to the reporter would lead them somewhere and clarify all their doubts.
In the evening, the lawyer and a design expert arrived at the Fu Family's mansion. Anne submitted the previous designs and the company's surveillance video to them.
After a careful inspection, the expert took off his glasses and sighed, "Mrs. Anne, we can see your personal touch in all your design works. The current designs look similar to your previous work. It is obvious that you have designed them."
Anne beamed with joy. "Could you please give me a written report of your evaluation?"
The expert nodded in agreement. Therefore, the servant led him out.
Meanwhile, the lawyer had already seen the company's surveillance video. They didn't have evidence of anyone stealing their design sketches. However, the video footage had captured their discussions and the draft they had prepared for their outfits. The evidence was enough to prove that their ideas were original.
"The surveillance videos will prove that the designs belong to the LF Group. I'm one hundred percent confident about winning this case!" The lawyer smiled reassuringly to the couple.
The evidence had made everything a lot easier. The case was in their favor now. They could prove that the LF Group were the original designers.
Kevin and Anne exchanged glances. They still had a lot of doubts.
"The TS Company has dominated the market for more than a decade. It is pretty obvious that the decision-maker of the company is an intelligent person. But they shouldn't have stooped low and stolen our design. It can ruin the company's reputation that it had managed to earn over the past years." Anne knitted her brows in confusion. "Why would the TS Company take such a stupid decision? They are experienced enough to understand the consequences of their mistakes. Isn't that strange?"
Neither Kevin nor the lawyer could answer her question. They were equally confused.
They had enough evidence to prove Anne's innocence now. However, something seemed to bother them. They couldn't be fully happy.
"Well, please help us win this case." Kevin stood up and held the lawyer's hand.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kevin. I will try my best!" The lawyer smiled confidently.
Kevin nodded and sent him off in person.
Once they were out of sight, Anne turned around and looked out of the window. A strange fear had settled in her heart.
'What on earth do you want to do?'
Just then, Eddy ran downstairs in a hurry. His eyes widened when he saw Anne; the boy almost tumbled down the stairs. Anne's heart leaped to her throat; she was frightened that her boy might fall. "Slow down! Be careful!"
Eddy shook his head and grabbed her hand. "Mommy, Ella is missing!" His eyes were full of panic.
"What? How come?" Anne's face turned pale. She sprang to her feet and looked around. "What the hell is going on? When did she disappear? Did anything happen before she left? Did you ask the servants if they have seen Ella?"
Eddy shook his head fiercely. Sweat beaded his forehead. "Ella has been grumpy for the past few days. She wanted to be on her own, so I didn't want to bother her. I just went to her room, but she wasn't there. I asked Aunt Tara about what had happened. She told me that you gave your consent to let her go out."
The frown on Anne's forehead deepened. "But I haven't seen her since morning. How will I let her leave the house?"
She ran to the kitchen and saw Tara washing the dishes. "Tara, what's going on? When did I permit Ella to leave the house?"
The blood on Tara's face drained in an instant. "Miss Ella wanted to go out, but we didn't let her leave the house. So she called you in front of us and told us that you had granted permission. We had no choice but to let her go."
Anne rubbed her forehead in frustration. She finally understood what had happened. Ella had pretended to call her in front of the servants. No one could guess that the little girl would be smart enough to make up a story, so they had believed her.
However, it didn't matter whether she lied or not. They needed to know where she was.
"What happened?" Kevin walked in with a puzzled look on his face.
Anne turned around and grabbed Kevin's hand; she told him about what Ella had done. Kevin grew worried. He strutted out of the house, hoping to find her.
Eddy was equally worried, so he followed his father. Both Anne and Kevin were aware of his friendship with Ella, so they didn't stop him.
After Anne and Kevin got into the car, the bodyguards followed them in the other cars.
Although going with the guards everywhere was a little overboard, they still had to pay importance to their safety.
It had been a long time since Colin had gone missing. Ella didn't cry for him anymore, but she had stopped eating. The poor girl had lost weight; she looked like a fragile doll. Anne knew that Ella was a sensible girl. But she was worried about her father now.
The girl didn't have anywhere else to go, so they guessed that she might have gone to her old house.
Five cars stopped in front of the Shen Family's house. Anne and Kevin got off the car quickly when they saw Ella. The little girl was standing in the yard, staring at her house as if she was petrified to step in.
Ella was a puny girl. She had lost her mother, and Colin was all she had. However, the man was missing now. The poor girl had lost her father as well. How would her innocent heart cope with the loss? Anne closed her eyes; she couldn't watch the girl suffer.
After taking a deep breath, she turned to look at Eddy. The boy understood what she meant. He nodded and walked towards the yard.
"Ella," Eddy called concernedly.
Ella slowly turned around. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw him. However, it was soon replaced with anger and hatred.
Eddy's body froze when he met the girl's cold gaze. He was worried about her at first. However, her anger frightened him.
Ella had always been kind to him. She always tried talking to Eddy even if the boy seemed uninterested. However, Ella was looking at him as if he were a stranger.
Eddy's heart began to race violently in his chest. His body moved back on its own accord. However, he summoned all his strength and walked toward Ella. He sighed and grabbed Ella's hand, but the girl pushed him away.
Ella's move surprised him. He didn't expect her to shove him. Eddy lost his balance; he clutched his chest and fell to the ground.
Neither Anne nor Kevin expected such a thing to happen. They quickly ran up to Eddy and helped him up.
"Eddy, what happened? Are you all right? Does your heart hurt?" Anne panicked. She cupped his cheeks and began stroking his hair.
Eddy's heart was fragile. He couldn't withstand shock or unexpected blows.
The boy didn't answer the question. He stared at Ella in shock. "Why did you push me, Ella?"
Tears streamed down the little girl's face. She gritted her teeth and looked at Kevin. Her innocent face revealed a hatred that didn't belong to her age.
Kevin swallowed loudly. He couldn't believe his eyes.
What happened to Ella? The murderous look on her face frightened everyone.
"You are all liars! All the people in your family are liars! You have killed my father and lied to me that someone has kidnapped him. It is him who killed my father. You all lied to me. You lied to me. You lied to me. You are the murderer. You've killed my father. I will punish you!" Ella roared and ran towards Kevin. She clenched her fists and began punching him over and over again.
Her tiny fists couldn't hurt Kevin, but her anger and accusation broke his heart into a thousand pieces.
Anne didn't expect that Ella would turn vindictive. She felt that someone had manipulated the little girl and sown the seeds of hatred in her heart.
Anne's face turned a little pale. She bit her lip and pulled Ella into her arms. The girl continued to thrash, but she held her with all her might.
All of a sudden, Ella leaned closer and bit her neck. Anne yelped in pain but stood still. Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
"Ella, tell me, who did you meet after leaving the house?" she hissed through her teeth. Tears prickled Anne's eyes as the girl bit her harder. "Ella, we've known each other for such a long time. Don't you really know anything about us? Would you rather believe a stranger than listen to us?"
Ella's mouth parted, but her teeth remained on her neck. Anne closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. "If we had hurt your father as you say, why would we let you stay with us and make you comfortable? Think about it, Ella.
Your father is a smart man. If we were bad people, he would have never let you stay with us!" Anne reasoned with her patiently.
Ella's body stiffened when she heard her father's name. She closed her eyes and burst into tears.