Lucinda told him everything that happened the day before when Natalie was taking Joe home.
Shane’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re saying that your daughter’s not the culprit?”
“It’s not her.” Lucinda nodded, her eyes swollen red.
Shane narrowed his eyes at Natalie. “Why didn’t you tell me something as important as this?”
Natalie laughed haughtily at his accusation. “Do you think I didn’t want to? You didn’t even give me the chance to see you.”
Just thinking about Jacqueline at the door last night annoyed her to the core.
Shane frowned as he examined the anger and mockery on her face.
When he was about to respond, a prison guard walked up to them. “You can see Number 257 now.”
That was Alice’s number.
They did not use names in prison. Each inmate was assigned a number.
Lucinda glanced at Natalie. “Mrs. Thompson, we can see Alice now.”
“Let’s go.” Natalie nodded and followed the woman.
She noticed that Shane was right behind her.
Tilting her head, she asked him, “You want to see her too?”
Shane ignored her, his face stone-cold.
Natalie scoffed at herself. How silly of me! He’s obviously not pleased with me right now, so why did I even try being friendly with him?
Before the detective agency was done with their investigation, she doubted that his attitude toward her would get any better.
So be it!
Thus, Natalie decided not to respond either and put on a poker face.
The two were clearly husband and wife, but at that moment they looked to be much more distant than a pair of strangers.
Shane didn’t want to admit that his attitude toward Natalie was not right, and continued to ignore her.
It was not so much that he loathed her because of Yulia. It made more sense to say that he simply did not know how to get along with her.
But now when he noticed that Natalie was letting him get a taste of his own medicine, he did not like it one bit.
His face turned a lot more sour because of his internal conflict.
Very soon, they arrived at the prison’s visiting room.
Natalie saw Alice again.
Alice looked much paler and thinner than the first time Natalie met her, and was clearly malnourished. Her long hair had been cut off, leaving her nearly bald. To describe her as having one foot in the grave might not sound like an exaggeration.
Lucinda broke down when she saw her daughter in such a terrible state.
Alice wanted so much to console her mother but, while her lips moved, she was unable to make any sounds.
Sighing, Natalie picked up the phone and greeted the woman inside, “Hi, do you remember me?”
Shane stood behind her, his narrowed eyes gazing at the woman behind the glass.
Is she really not the culprit?
Looking at Natalie through a pair of empty eyes, Alice picked up the phone too. “Yes, I do.”
Her voice was hoarse and dry, like she had not drunk anything in a long time.
But Natalie knew that was not it. Alice had not spoken for too long, so her voice had taken a strange turn.
“Your mother told me all about it yesterday. You’re taking the blame for someone else; is that true?”
Tears began rolling down Alice’s face. “How could she lie to me…? She lied to me… She said she’d pay off all our debts, but she didn’t… How could this happen?”
She thought about her brother, who was the victim of bullying, and her mother, who was constantly being threatened.
She regretted it terribly. She regretted having believed in the woman’s empty promises so foolishly.
But she had more room for hate. She hated that woman for going back on her word!
Natalie caught the hatred brewing in Alice’s eyes. Hence, she was absolutely convinced that the prisoner was really innocent — Alice was being used as a scapegoat.
Shane came to the same conclusion as well. His fists clenched tightly on either side as a menacing aura emanated from him.
This is great. Just great. He thought sarcastically.
The culprit dared to trick me!
“Who’s she?” Natalie locked her gaze with Alice. She was eager to get more information about the real culprit.
Alice knew that Natalie was sought by her mother to help her, so she forced herself to stop crying. Eventually, she managed to hold herself together. She replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t met her before, but I’ve heard her voice. It sounds familiar, but I can’t for the life of me remember where I’ve heard it before.”
