Chapter 465 Grace's Voluntary Confession
Patricia trembled with fury, her gaze fixed on Grace, who stood at the study door, loudly accusing her, "Patricia is a murderer!"
In a rush of emotion, Patricia moved to confront her, only to pass through Grace's apparition.
Just then, a voice pierced the tension, "Enough, come back now!"
With those words, Patricia was jolted to awareness, sitting upright in the therapy chair. "I remember now, I remember it all..." she whispered, as the memories flooded back.
Jackson, ever composed, proceeded to extinguish the incense burner on the desk, stowing it away neatly, before knocking on the door to signal the session's end.
As the door swung open, Sebastian and Martin entered with eagerness, their concern for Patricia palpable. Martin, particularly, reached for Patricia's hand, checking on her state. The truth was vital, but Patricia's health was paramount.
Sebastian asked Jackson, "How did it go? Was it successful?"
Jackson arched an eyebrow. "Doubting my abilities?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes at him.
Jackson just chuckled and glanced at Patricia. "Ask her yourself."
Martin gently wiped the beads of sweat from Patricia's face and asked softly, "So? Did you remember?"
Patricia nodded, her breath slightly quickening as she recalled the dream-like visions. "It was Grace... she had someone steal the birthday gift I got for Grandpa, lured me to the garden, and then hypnotized me. Now I know why I had those fragments about her in my mind. I did meet her."
While Martin remained composed, not the least bit surprised, Sebastian was the polar opposite. His eyebrows were so tightly furrowed, they could have trapped a fly.
"Are you sure it was Grace? No mistake?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes, I'm sure it was her," Patricia said, nodding emphatically. "Dr. Jackson is truly amazing; I remember everything that happened that day."
She then recounted every detail she could remember, all in one go. This included being hypnotized by Grace and then being manipulated by the man.
"A man?" Sebastian asked, puzzled.
After the incident, he and his older brother had checked all the surveillance and hadn't caught any sign of the man Patricia described. Aside from some house staff, only she and Grace had been down that corridor.
Anticipating his skepticism, Patricia hurriedly explained, "That man must have come in through the window. In fact, I saw him jump out. Grandpa's study is on the second floor; it wouldn't be hard to get in that way."
Sebastian furrowed his brow, recalling the details. The study had been in disarray at the time, and everyone was focused on Grandpa, not the window. But now that he thought about it, the study did seem inexplicably cold that day. The heating was cranked up throughout the house, so every other room was toasty warm. Yet, the study had been oddly chilly. Could the window have been wide open?
Suddenly, Jackson chimed in, "Grace could only perform superficial hypnosis. It must have been that other guy who was the real deal. He didn't just hypnotize her; he wiped her memory, too."
Sebastian was at a loss. "Why? Why would she do this?"
There were no defenses, no justifications—only questions.
This reaction surprised Patricia a bit. "Do you believe what I'm saying?"
Sebastian said, "Why wouldn't I?" He paused, then added insistently, "But this is of grave importance. We have to tell my brother."
That was what Patricia was thinking too. In the past, she might have feared that they would protect Grace, making excuses for her or defend her just because they were family. But after everything that had happened, she trusted that Jeremy would be impartial and vindicate her innocence.
After saying their goodbyes, Sebastian made his way to the parking lot and called Riley. Learning he was at the hospital, Sebastian didn't hesitate to drive Patricia and Martin there directly.
Jeremy and Ariel headed off to rest, as it was Riley's turn to take the night shift.
Running on almost two days with little rest, he finally gave in to his exhaustion. His head hung to the side as he slumped in his chair, and his appearance seemed even more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.
Getting the rough details from Ariel, Riley wasn't visibly shocked to see them all arrive together. "How's it going?"
Patricia didn't hold back, recounting the whole story to Riley from start to finish.
It was well past midnight, and only the four of them were present in the ICU's long corridor, where every word spoken seemed to echo more pronouncedly against the emptiness.
Riley was silent for a long time after Patricia finished, his deep gaze fixed on the tiles, shiny enough to reflect like mirrors.
Afraid he didn't believe her, Patricia's heart began to race, and she was just about to explain further when Riley said, "Evidence is key..."
Those words made Patricia's heart sink with disappointment. Was Riley going to be biased to cover for Grace? Then, she scoffed at herself. Well, of course. They were siblings after all. Why wouldn't he trust his own sister over her?
In just a few seconds, Patricia went through a whirlwind of emotions. Just as she was about to surrender to despair, Riley's following words pulled her back from the brink.
"Without concrete evidence, even if Grace denies everything, she can't be legally prosecuted. What's more, we can't use hypnosis in court, nor as evidence."
In the past, he would have found it ludicrous, unable to fathom the idea that Grace could be capable of such actions. However, after everything that had happened, he readily believed Patricia's account without any mental struggle, bypassing the need for sorrow or self-consolation.
Patricia nodded affirmatively. "Grace has been very secretive about her moves, clearly planning it all along. She knows exactly which areas of the Koch estate are under surveillance and which aren't. She made sure to avoid them all."
Relying solely on hypnosis was obviously not going to be enough to catch Grace. Unless… they could trick her into confess willingly.
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