Winning Her Heart Back

 A Grand Dream Turned to Dust

Since Charles' case had not yet gone to trial, he was still being held in the detention center.

When the guard brought him to the visitor's room, he saw Emelie on the other side of the bars and smiled. "I didn't think I'd see you again before my release, Ms. Hoven."

Emelie wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "I have questions for you.'

"What about?" Charles sat down on the iron chair, and the guard cuffed his hands to the small table in front of him.

Emelie got straight to the point. 'How much do you know about William and my mother?"

Charles burst into laughter. "Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Hoven? What kind of twisted pairing is that?"

Emelie's eyes instantly turned cold.

Suddenly, the guard behind Charles used his handcuffs to choke him.

"Ugh!" Charles immediately felt an intense pain. His hands were cuffed, so he was unable to struggle.

Emelie crossed her legs and coldly watched as Charles' face turned red, then blue, and finally black. She asked, "Are you ready to talk properly?"

Charles was on the verge of passing out. He writhed in agony and gasped. "Yes... Yes...

Only then did Emelie signal the guard to release him.

Charles collapsed onto the table and coughed violently. Between coughs, he laughed and said, 'Ms. Hoven, you've become even more ruthless.'

Ordinarily, Emelie wouldn't resort to such straightforward violence. However, she had to admit that sometimes, pure violence was the quickest way to get what she wanted.

It took Charles a while to recover. He lifted his head to look at her and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Emelie didn't beat around the bush. "I have two questions. First, was my mother truly in a coma back then, or was she faking it?"

Charles swallowed and exhaled slowly. "I'm not entirely sure if it was real or fake. It was likely fake because I had someone planted in the hospital, and they told me Mrs. Hoven woke up. But when I asked William, he insisted she hadn't."

After a moment of thought, Charles added a possibility as he said, "But it's also possible that Mrs. Hoven was initially in a real coma but later woke up, and William hid that fact."

Emelie listened quietly.

So, it was true. What Bryan said was true.

Emelie clenched her teeth.

Charles observed her expression.

Her face showed neither the confusion of her beliefs being overturned nor the shock of something beyond her imagination. It wasn't a look of relief, nor was it a wry smile of realization on her face.

Instead, her expression was one of bitter irony. After that brief laugh, her face returned to a cold, blank expression as she leaned back in her chair.

Charles squinted and asked, "Ms. Hoven, why are you suddenly asking me about this? What's happening out there? Tell me. I'm really curious. Maybe if you tell me, I might be able to give you some additional information.

Emelie responded numbly, "Bryan told me that when William interrogated my mother about the account book's location in the hospital, it was all just an act for you and your people who were eavesdropping." Charles froze. Then, he lowered his head in thought. After a long pause, he suddenly understood everything."

Now, I get it! I got it!"

He felt an overwhelming sense of revelation as if he had finally solved a puzzle that had haunted him for half his life. He burst out laughing, laughing at the absurdity of it all.

He leaned forward as much as he could, making the iron chair creak with his movements.

"Here's what must have been going through his mind. Emelie, I've figured it out. Listen to me."

Emelie remained silent as she watched him.

Charles, who was inexplicably excited, continued, "By interrogating Mrs. Hoven, William wanted to prove to us that you had no knowledge of the account book's location so that he could protect you. Then, by pretending that Mrs. Hoven was gravely ill and unconscious, he aimed to eliminate any thoughts we had of silencing her "That's why he added a password lock to the ICU. He wasn't trying to prevent you from taking Mrs. Hoven away. He was trying to stop us from killing her!

"If everything had gone according to his plan, Mrs. Hoven would have eventually been declared dead after a period of futile resuscitation, but in reality, he would have secretly transferred her to a safe place.

"Hah! So, that's it. What a brilliant ruse to deceive everyone! How fascinating! Truly fascinating!"NôvelDrama.Org © content.

It wasn't clear whether Charles was laughing at William's meticulous planning, which ultimately came to nothing, or at the fact that they had all almost been taken for a ride by William.

"Ms. Hoven, wasn't I right? William loved you. Whether it was pretending to be a loving couple with you or faking your mother's coma, he had done everything he could to protect you both."

What a pity, though. Despite all his efforts, everything had gone wrong in the end. Both of them had 'died'. It was no wonder that he was so angry that he had ended up with a tumor in his lungs.

Traditional medicine practitioners believed that joy could injure the heart, anger could harm the liver, worry could damage the spleen, fear could affect the kidneys, shock could weaken the heart and gallbladder, and sorrow could hurt the lungs.

William's dream had turned to dust, leaving him consumed with grief and anger.