Chapter 502 Understanding His Difficulties
"I need you to grasp the gravity of withholding the truth." Winnie before her, standing tall. "You're confined here, akin to a prisoner awaiting judgment. Oscar isn't your bargaining tool anymore. I've uncovered who took him. Even Lawrence is privy to it. You wouldn't want me to divulge to Lawrence that you were colluding with Ishara, hiding Oscar, would you?"
"That's nonsense! I already told you, I don't know how Oscar disappeared."
Darcy was painfully aware that without Oscar's whereabouts as leverage, she would be worthless to Lawrence and he would personally get rid of her. She desperately sought a way out.
Winnie lowered her head and grabbed Darcy's hair. "I'm not concerned about the aftermath. I want to understand precisely what transpired that night. How did you lose Oscar? And what about Stephanie's location that evening? Did she also vanish?"
Darcy's mind was in disarray, her jaws tightly clenched. "Even if you were to kill me, the only information I can offer is that my associates initially took Stephanie and Oscar to that old villa in the mountains. Then, out of nowhere, they informed me that Oscar was missing. Do you think we didn't search for him? I personally scoured for him half the night.
"I had no idea who snatched your son, let alone Stephanie. And as for this Ishara you're talking about, I don't even know the person. How am I supposed to know who you and Mr. Lawrence managed to upset? For all I knew, they were tailing me, waiting to ambush in secret. The only reason I kept quiet was to use Oscar's disappearance as a way to stay alive."
"You didn't come face to face with the individuals who took Oscar?"
"No." Darcy had later suspected that Ishara might have orchestrated things behind the scenes.
Winnie sifted through her words, her gaze honing in, altering the focus. "You indicated that Stephanie was also taken?"
Darcy, presuming Winnie had bought into her narrative about Oscar, swiftly nodded. "Stephanie vanished alongside Oscar. The catch is, we couldn't locate Oscar, but Stephanie... she was brought back. They assumed she must have been so ill on the brink of death. Since she is of no value to them, they let her go."
Winnie's expression darkened. Swiftly, her hand closed around Darcy's throat, cutting off her breath. Her eyes bore into Darcy's, demanding, "How long was Stephanie missing?"
"I need to think. Perhaps about four hours or so."
"What was her condition when she was returned?"
"I don't know."
"Think!"
Darcy struggled to breathe, intimidated by Winnie's wild demeanor. "One of my associates mentioned Stephanie was found unconscious, lips tainted black as if poisoned, but still alive. I was preparing to head to the mountains, but you and Mr. Lawrence had already pinpointed the location, so I panicked and hurried back to Lymington."
Winnie didn't fully trust her statement. She pressed on, giving Darcy no chance to catch a breath or to think. "Did you harm Stephanie? Maybe inject something into her spine?"
"I... I didn't. After I realized Mr. Lawrence was suspecting me, I was scared she would die. How could I have the time to harm her?"
Winnie narrowed her eyes. She had deliberately accused her of harm and Darcy had denied it. If Darcy had inflicted any spinal injections on Stephanie, her response wouldn't have been like this. So, during those four hours Stephanie was missing, she could have been with Ishara. There was ample time to do something to her body, possibly injecting some chemical or poison into her spine.
A chill ran down Winnie's spine as the tendrils of conspiracy took hold. There was a possibility that Stephanie's abrupt illness was not an accident but a carefully orchestrated scheme.
The mere thought of Ishara sent shivers down her spine. Ishara's level of knowledge about medicine intrigued her.
"You don't know Ishara? Haven't heard that she's the one who kidnapped Oscar?" Winnie circled back to the heart of the discussion.
Her gaze sent chills down Darcy's spine, prompting a guilty twitch. "I honestly don't know her. If I knew she had taken my hostage, I would've turned over the evidence to you and Mr. Lawrence a long time ago to clear my name."
Winnie thought to herself that even if Darcy did know, she lacked the evidence to prove Ishara's involvement.
Realizing she wouldn't get more information from Darcy, Winnie narrowed her eyes. "Draft a sworn statement with full legal gravity. Bear in mind, if it's revealed that you lied or provided false testimony, you could find yourself incarcerated."
Darcy hesitated momentarily. However, drawing strength from her conversation with Ishara, she composed the testimony, steeled herself, and affixed her signature.
Winnie left, deflated and shaken. Darcy retreated to the bathroom, staring at the bruises on her neck in the mirror, a surge of hatred flickering in her eyes.
Attributing her current predicament to Winnie, she felt reduced to this state, trampled upon. Although Ishara had manipulated her, it was Winnie whom she harbored greater disdain for. Darcy wished ill upon Winnie and her two sons, hoping they would go to hell.
Furthermore, an opportunity to coerce Ishara into cooperation presented itself. Swiftly, she sent a text to Ishara.
"Ishara, I didn't admit that you took Oscar instead I protected you. Otherwise, my statement could have prompted Lawrence to eliminate you immediately. In return, assist me in escaping Lymington. I want to 'disappear' from here. "I can provide details about Mr. Lawrence, anything you wish to know, in exchange. Let's join forces and bring Winnie down sooner."
Ishara's anger flared when she read the message. She hadn't anticipated Darcy, a minor player, aiming for her position and effectively blackmailing her. She couldn't allow Darcy to disclose information to Lawrence.
Darcy sought to leverage Ishara to evade Lawrence's pursuit. Ishara had no option but to reluctantly agree to Darcy's terms—for the time being.
-
The next day, Winnie reported her fruitless interrogation at Darcy's to Jeremy, indirectly informing Lawrence through Jeremy that she had learned nothing about Oscar.
Nevertheless, Winnie did uncover substantial findings regarding Stephanie's illness.
With a compelling intuition, she was eager to unveil the precise nature of the changes in Stephanie's body, investigating whether it harbored lethal toxins or carcinogenic residues.
As she strained against her restraints, Dr. Moore implemented an information blackout on Stephanie's condition, strictly adhering to the unwavering edict from Lawrence. He remained tight-lipped about the cause of Stephanie's illness, disclosing not a single detail.
Regarding the subsequent treatment plans and the specific nature of her illness, Dr. Moore maintained his silence."Ms. Winnie, all you need to know is that Stephanie’s treatment will proceed methodically, and she has a fifty percent chance of recovery. Mr. Lawrence will ensure the treatment goes smoothly, okay? If you wish to stay and care for Stephanie, to be by her side, you are welcome. But please, don't push for information that isn't necessary."
Winnie pondered deeply on why they were so adamant about keeping her in the dark. Lawrence was so afraid of her discovering something. He seemed unaware of Stephanie's blood disease, the necrosis of her spine and the necessity for a bone marrow transplant to facilitate healing. If he was unaware of the needle mark on Stephanie's back, then suspicion had not yet fallen on Ishara.
He and Dr. Moore had concocted a 'diagnosis,' and their opposition to her involvement was vehement.
In the days that followed, as Winnie cared for Stephanie with teary eyes and watched her vitality ebb away, she understood the terror Lawrence must have witnessed. As a son, his heart must have been torn apart, frantically searching for a way to save Stephanie. She could empathize with his intentions, his grief, and his desperation.
She also came to realize why he was so concerned about Ishara’s health, fretting over every little cough or drop of blood. It was because Stephanie's life hung in the balance. Now that she understood his predicament, she considered confronting him about why he kept her in the dark. There was a calculated motive behind his relationship with Ishara. He could have been upfront about it.
If he had been willing to come clean, then she would have shared her suspicions about Stephanie's illness, specifically the troubling needle mark. Only by laying bare the true nature of Stephanie's condition, allowing no more secrets, could she have hoped to uncover the cause and the culprit behind it.
A week flew by, and it was time for Winnie to return to Trento City.
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