Chapter 426 The Confrontation between Hunter and Grace
The next day, early morning.
Patricia got up at the crack of dawn, clutching the fragments of a perfume bottle she'd salvaged from the trash, and headed to ICAS, an independent fragrance evaluation center.
She had barely taken a few steps after stepping out of the cab when she sensed someone was following her. An ominous feeling grew inside her. Without daring to look back, she quickened her pace. But so did the person behind her. Panic clawed at Patricia, her heart racing up to her throat, sweat glistening on her forehead.
Fearing her suspicions might be noticed, she turned the corner at the end of the hallway and hid. As the footsteps approached, she grabbed a fire extinguisher, ready to confront her pursuer.
Just as she was about to swing it, a low voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Patricia, it's me!"
Was that Martin's voice?
With every ounce of strength, she held back the blow and, upon recognizing it truly was Martin, she exhaled with relief, setting the extinguisher down by her feet.
"What are you doing here? Have you been tailing me? Why not just say something?"
Wiping the sweat from her face, Martin replied, "I saw you leave this morning, and thought I'd check on you. Are you okay? What brings you here?"
Patricia didn't hide anything. Pulling out the perfume bottle shards, she handed them to Martin. "Here, take a sniff."
Martin frowned as he sniffed the air twice.
"What's that scent? It's Grace's perfume from her room. How did it get here?"
Patricia asked, "Don't you think the scent is a bit off?"
Sitting up, Martin took the fragment and sniffed it again.
"Can't tell."
Patricia looked at him seriously, "It's normal you can't distinguish women's perfume. I can't put my finger on it either, but something seems off. That's why I want to get it checked to see if something's been added."
She paused for a moment.
"Don't you find yesterday's events rather odd?"
Martin's expression darkened, he let out a derisive snort, "Odd is an understatement. Clearly, Hunter got played by Grace."
Patricia looked at him, surprised, "You figured that out?"
Martin raised an eyebrow, "Do I look stupid to you?"
"Ahem!" Patricia gave a forced laugh, planting a firm kiss on his cheek, "Not at all, my dear husband is far from stupid, really smart, super smart in fact."
Pleased, Martin nodded, his smile rippling across his face.
"If I'm not mistaking, Grace must be the mole Hunter placed within the Koch family. Just not sure why they had a fall out. Grace doesn't want to be in the same boat as Hunter anymore."
Patricia wondered aloud, "But why would Grace work with Hunter? What's in it for her?"
Martin spoke gravely, "Shane found Grace in the States, Hunter's turf! I've had my doubts that Grace is an imposter. That's why during the Koch family's routine health check-up, I managed to compare their DNA samples with Grace's. The results proved a blood relation."
"Grace has to be the genuine one!" Patricia said emphatically. "Shane has been searching for so long, and there must have been many impostors. To recognize his granddaughter, he would've definitely gotten a DNA test done himself. Hunter isn't stupid enough to bring in a fake - what if they got caught? The States is the Koch's playground, Hunter couldn't have tampered with the results."
Martin thought she made a sensible point, and affectionately tousled her hair.
"My Patricia's getting sharper!"
Patricia rolled her eyes at him, feigning annoyance she pulled down his hand, "Cut it out!"
Martin absolutely adored her like this, and without thinking, he planted a kiss on her cheek.
Patricia mused: "I'm pretty certain now that Grace was the one tipping off Hunter that day, the day you were almost killed."
Martin didn't argue with her speculation.
Something suddenly occurred to Patricia, and she grabbed Martin's hand in excitement, "Now that Hunter has burned bridges, he's lost the backing of the Koch family. Why stick around? Can't you break off the engagement with Grace?"
Martin's eyes narrowed sharply.
Leave?
How could he?
He hadn’t yet avenged the death of his kids, which Hunter was responsible for!
He still needed to figure out whether Grace was involved in the matter or not.
Seeing him silent, Patricia mistook his hesitation for unwillingness, and her expression soured, "Don't tell me you've fallen for Grace for real?"
Martin wasn't ready to let her know about how Hunter had harmed their kids, so he playfully pinched her nose, trying to keep it light, "What are you talking about? I'm just not comfortable leaving you alone with the Kochs. If I break off the engagement, I’ll surely have to leave."
Patricia responded immediately, "I'll leave with you."
Martin questioned, "You're willing to give up the jewelry design competition?"
Patricia laughed, "If we leave together, I can still compete! There's no conflict. This is Country Y, Hunter could never touch us here."
"As long as I win the contest, Riley will definitely see my worth! Then, we’ll aligned with the Koch family, even a resentful Hunter wouldn’t dare oppose both the Koch and the Randy families."
"Even though Shane has a thing for Grace, it’s Riley who’s the true heir of the Koch family, the prospective head of the family. With him on our side, Grace poses no real threat."
"From what I've seen of him, he's a reasonable man. If we present the truth, he'll surely understand our side of the story."
After a moment of contemplation, Martin finally said, "Right now we have no proof, just our word against hers. Why would he believe us over his own sister? We need to catch the thief red-handed, find undeniable evidence to corner Grace."
"But..." As Patricia continued to express, she was cut off by Martin. "No more buts! I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone at the Kochs’. Grace is cunning; she tried to drown you before, who knows what she'd do next! People who want good result need to stay cool and not rush things."
Patricia wanted to argue further but found his analysis sound.
After all, they were family by blood.
Why should they take sides with her?
Martin's expression was unreadable. Like still water, his thoughts were a mystery.
Together, they handed over the shattered perfume bottle and the fragrance-infused paper to the forensic lab.
A week went by in a flash.
Before long, it was time to get the results.
At the lab, Patricia and Martin waited together. When Patricia received the report, her face flickered with a subtle change of expression.
"Just as I thought, look..." she said, passing the paper to Martin.
Martin narrowed his eyes dangerously as he saw the results.
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