Chapter 523 Outburst (16) Can't Lose
"I'm kinda hungry," Cecilia said to George, trying to keep it casual. "George, could you whip up some dinner for me?"
"Sure thing, I'll get right on it," George replied without missing a beat.
If she was hungry, that was a good sign.
What really scared him was the thought of Cecilia completely breaking down over what happened with Alaric.
Honestly, when Cecilia shut herself off, there were moments she felt like giving up.
She was so down that she thought nothing could change.
But then she remembered the good times with Alaric, their happiness, and their future. She didn't want to let that go.
She and Alaric had such a bright future ahead; she couldn't let Dominic ruin it all.
She refused to believe that getting a second chance at life was just some cruel joke by fate.
So, when she hit rock bottom, Cecilia slowly pulled herself together.
She took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and told herself that no matter what, she wouldn't give up until the very end.
With that thought, she opened the door and headed downstairs.
George quickly whipped up a few nutritious dishes for dinner.
Since they were all worried about Cecilia, George and Augustus hadn't eaten either, so they sat down to eat together.
The dinner table was super quiet.
Cecilia ate while casually scrolling through her phone.
From this afternoon until now, she had over 50 missed calls.
Most were from Seraphina, who had called nearly 20 times.
Then there was Dashiell.
Followed by Caspian, Arabella, Theodore, and Genevieve.
Lastly, there were some media calls and even some from unknown numbers.
"Mrs. Whitaker, you should eat more," George reminded her as he saw her looking at her phone.
Cecilia put down her phone, not wanting others to worry too much about her.
She smiled and said, "I'm fine."
"Mr. Whitaker will be okay," George said firmly.
"I know." Cecilia nodded.
She knew there was still the option of a jailbreak, but she didn't want to go that route.
First, a jailbreak would mean that Alaric's crimes were confirmed, and he would forever carry the labels of embezzler and rapist. She couldn't accept Alaric being so humiliated.
Second, a jailbreak would mean they were compromising, giving in to Dominic and the noble family. They would have to abandon all their property and leave their homeland! More importantly, she couldn't accept Dominic and those who had secretly framed them enjoying everything that rightfully belonged to them, living freely and arrogantly!
In summary, she told herself she couldn't lose.
She had lost miserably in her previous life; in this life, she had to repay it double.
Cecilia adjusted her emotions and said to George and Augustus, "Don't worry, I'll make sure Alaric is safe."
"Okay." George nodded heavily.
He believed in Cecilia's abilities.
Even Augustus, who wasn't very expressive, showed his approval of Cecilia.
After dinner, Cecilia went back to her room.
This time, she was alone in the room that belonged to her and Alaric, not to shut herself off but to start analyzing and thinking about the current case.
She checked out the news.
Today, all she saw was Dominic claiming that Alaric had raped and killed Juliana.
She remembered seeing Juliana get into a fancy car that day, and then she ended up dead that night?
She had asked Cassius to look into it.
But after Alaric got arrested, she hadn't followed up, and Cassius hadn't told her who Juliana was with or what she had been up to.
Now Cassius was locked up in Harborvale!
Cecilia clenched her teeth.
It was like one obstacle after another, making it hard to move forward.
She took a deep breath and looked at the headline news.
The news had blown up again because of Alaric's alleged crimes.
She looked at the somewhat blurry photos in the news, showing Alaric and Juliana in some sort of struggle at the entrance of a hotel.
Their actions seemed kind of intimate.
Then there were photos of Juliana's body being pulled from the river in Serenovia City, pixelated but clearly messed up from being in the water too long.
Her sudden death was still hard to wrap her head around.
She had originally thought, if Juliana were to die, it would be by her hand.
In her previous life, Juliana had often humiliated her when she was down. In this life, she had planned to deal with Dominic first and then decide what to do with Juliana based on her behavior. But she hadn't expected Juliana to die so suddenly, so unexpectedly!
She didn't feel any pity.
People like Juliana, who harbored ill intentions, deserved to die.
What annoyed her was that Juliana's death had become evidence to frame Alaric.
The news clearly stated that Alaric had forced Juliana into an abnormal relationship that night, and Juliana, unable to accept being raped by Alaric, had jumped into the river to commit suicide!
Juliana's autopsy report clearly showed signs of rape, but because her body had been submerged for too long, they couldn't extract the perpetrator's DNA. However, the current evidence fully supported the rape charge.
Cecilia gripped her phone tightly, trying to piece together the scene of Juliana's death!
From the news report, it was clear that Juliana had been raped, likely in a brutal manner, to make Alaric's framing even more heinous. Then they had thrown her into the river, ensuring her body stayed submerged for days so that no DNA could be extracted before exposing her death.
Everything was done flawlessly.
Cecilia couldn't help but wonder if Juliana had any regrets when she died.
To gain something that wasn't hers, she had become someone else's puppet at the cost of her life.
Cecilia didn't want to speculate.
People like Juliana didn't deserve any sympathy, and everything was her own doing.
Cecilia exited the news app and called Dashiell.
Surprisingly, even at this late hour, he picked up after just one ring. "Cecilia."
"Not asleep yet?"
"Like you, I can't sleep."
"Is it tough over there?" Cecilia asked.
"A bit. I'm planning to go to Harborvale tomorrow," Dashiell said directly. "I'm still a bit worried, so I want to go in person."
"Be careful."
"Okay." Dashiell nodded, then asked, "How are you holding up?"
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