Chapter 494 If Jessica Hadn't Suddenly Appeared
Jessica's laptop contained surveillance footage from the Golden Fortune Restaurant before the fire, which she had been watching repeatedly over the past few days in the hospital. However, there were still some images in the footage that she hadn't examined closely.
The initial surveillance footage she received was from Eugene. She was concerned that he might have edited it, so she asked Landon to help get a complete version. The two sets of footage differed by about ten minutes.
Eugene's footage indeed had several short segments removed. One was from the day before the incident when the restaurant seemed to have a sudden power outage. The surveillance showed a few minutes of darkness, and when the lights came back on, everything appeared normal. The next few segments, totaling only a few minutes, were also blacked out in the surveillance video.
The blacked-out segments were present in the footage Landon provided, but in Eugene's footage, all the blacked-out parts had been removed. In other words, both videos lacked the crucial parts.
From the day before the incident to just before it happened, there were only about ten minutes in total. What exactly did someone do during that time? But for now, it could be proven that Eugene hadn't tampered with the footage.
The person behind the restaurant was said to be a friend of Eugene's. Although they hadn't been in touch much over the years, they still had a good relationship when they met in Washington. Otherwise, Eugene wouldn't have chosen that place to invite her and Gabriel for dinner.
Seeing Jessica repeatedly watching the waiters walking back and forth in the corridor before the fire, Rebecca took away the fish glue, cleaned it, and returned to find Jessica still watching.
Noticing that Rebecca wanted to keep her company, Jessica gestured towards the bedroom with her eyes. "You should go to sleep. Go back to your room and sleep. You've been taking care of me in the hospital for days. Though you're young, you can't stay up all night."
Rebecca looked at her for a while, shook her head, then suddenly turned to close the bedroom door. She came back to Jessica and whispered, "Jessica, I have a secret to tell you."
Jessica looked puzzled.
Rebecca squatted in front of her, hesitating for a long time before saying, "Before I came to the hospital to take care of you, I met some people. I don't know who they are, but they instructed me to stay by your side, observe you and Mr. Harriman, and report everything back to them. If I did as they asked, my mom and I wouldn't be treated coldly in the Jenner family anymore."
Jessica looked down at her, watching Rebecca's conflicted eyes, and asked, "So why are you telling me this?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to deceive you." Rebecca lowered her head. "I told them Mr. Harriman was seriously injured and was still in the ICU, and that you were not seriously injured but very sad."
Seeing Jessica just quietly looking at her, Rebecca raised her hand and quickly grabbed Jessica's pajama sleeve. "But that's all I said. When they asked me more, I just repeated what everyone could see because I really didn't know much else. I really didn't say anything else!"
In the past two days, Jessica had contacted Marshall and figured out some internal connections within Manhattan Construction. If Aaron knew about this, there would have been some changes, and Marshall wouldn't have been so steady without giving her any information.
Jessica put the laptop aside, pulled Rebecca up, and let her sit next to her. She asked, "The other day, I found you being bullied by some people in the back porch of the Jenner family. Had anything like that happened before?"
Rebecca thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, everyone at home usually acts like I don't exist. Since I'm the only child, the adults don't bully me on purpose."
So, it was such a coincidence that three little girls suddenly appeared to bully her when there were many relatives and friends at the Jenner family.
Such a scene could easily terrify a teenage girl. If Jessica hadn't intervened and taken Rebecca away, their might br someone else suddenly appeared to rescue Donald's granddaughter and gain their trust and dependence.
Although Rebecca's mother had no say in the Jenner family and was in poor health, she was still Donald's daughter. Even if she and Rebecca shouldn't bear the Jenner name, in a family with so few members, gaining their support was crucial.
Aaron had tried to get Daniel out of prison in Xyleria, but Gabriel's influence prevented him from doing so. Now, he wanted to win the support of Rebecca and her mother, just as Eugene had tried to win over Samuel, to gain an advantage in the inheritance battle.
But all this depended on Donald not having a will. If he did, Aaron's plan would be futile. No one knew Donald's intentions. Even if he wanted to make a will, he couldn't write it clearly. His warning to Jessica about Aaron was vague lip-reading, indicating his consciousness was already unclear.
But Jessica had inadvertently thwarted Aaron's plan.
Jessica looked at Rebecca. "If you didn't tell me, you could have stayed neutral, not offending either side. After all, you were just passing messages. So why did you choose to tell me?"
Rebecca nervously fidgeted with her fingers, her face conflicted, and her eyes reddening. "I'm seventeen. I can tell who genuinely cares for me and who takes use of me. I'm afraid that if I act on my own, I might lose you."
Saying this, Rebecca, as if afraid Jessica would suddenly get annoyed with her, quickly hugged Jessica's arm. "I know you treat me well."
Jessica patted her head and asked, "You told them Gabriel was seriously injured?"
Rebecca nodded. "Yes, I just said what I saw. At first, I was too nervous to lie. But when I saw Mr. Harriman still in the ICU and in critical condition, I told them the truth."
Jessica looked down at the thin blanket on her lap, silent for a while. After she was discharged this afternoon, Marshall had given her a tip. Manhattan Construction had a project to renovate historical buildings, and Aaron would be returning to Washington within a day or two.
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