Back then, Nicole’s mother, Rosalie Wells, had grabbed his hands as she made a suggestion out of desperation.
After that, they purposely tampered with the crime scene. Now, the question was whether the photos showed me at the driver’s seat or Rosalie?
Taking in how pale her father had turned, Nicole understood that her family was definitely involved in the accident.
“Still not admitting to it?”
“Nicole, I wasn’t the one behind the wheel back then! I-it was your mother! Your mother killed that old woman, not me! I had nothing to do with it!”
Nicole’s heart clenched in her chest as she stared at him in disbelief. “It was Mom? Really?”
Putting on a heartbroken expression, Zane added, “I was in the passenger seat while your mother was driving. After she hit that old woman, she was afraid of the consequences of killing someone. That’s why we fled out of there!”
She found that even harder to believe.
Her mother had always taught her to be brave and to admit to her mistakes. She had lectured her on the importance of taking responsibility for her actions. It doesn’t make sense that she would run away back then!
“Is that really what happened?”
Zane could not meet her eyes. Turning his head away, he walked toward the chair beside his desk and sat down.
“Yes!”
She still did not trust his words. Gathering her thoughts, she pressed, “Then why did you let Mom drive?”
He tensed slightly as his mind whirred, seeming as though he was trying to come up with an excuse. Finally, he let out a regretful sigh and answered, “Your mother insisted on it! She was in a hurry to visit your grandfather. This is all my fault! I should have stopped her!”
Is that so?
Noting how she seemed to be thinking over his words, Zane plastered on a grieving expression on his face and uttered, “Nicole, you’ve always asked me how your mother died. I didn’t dare to tell you the truth last time. Your mother’s guilty conscience ate at her, causing her a lot of psychological stress. She continued to blame herself for what had happened and would even wake up screaming from all the nightmares that she had! She suffered from severe depression and her disease didn’t help matters… In the end, the pressure finally got to her. That was the reason that she had died so young!”
Zane’s words reminded her of something incredibly important.
Back then when she had been making a deal with Sylphiette at Rose Garden, Sylphiette had told her the reason for her mother’s death.
She had said something that was akin to what Zane had said, that her mother had died due to being unable to withstand the pressure of killing someone.
Nonetheless, there was one very notable difference. Sylphiette had also informed her that Zane was involved in the murder case as well.
By “involved”, did she mean that he was in the car with Mom at the time? No, her expression back then was practically screaming that things were not as simple as that. It’s obvious that she knows something about this accident!
She also remembered how Sylphiette had uttered, “Nobody knows the reason for your mother’s death better than Sylvia.”
This meant that Nicole had someone else she could ask, regarding the matter that happened all those years ago.
Coming to such a conclusion, she soon decided that there was no point in wasting any more time here. She left the villa and sped back home to Summervale.
The house was quiet since the four kids were already in bed.
She could faintly hear the low timbre of Evan’s voice drifting over from the balcony.
Surprised, she tiptoed over to the balcony and spotted him on the phone.
She held her breath as she eavesdropped, watching as he massaged his temples before replying, “Mom, I’ll handle this.”
He was talking to Sophia.
“I understand, Mom. Let’s leave it at that for now, okay?”
Evan ended the call and turned around, jumping a little in shock when he saw Nicole standing there. The woman had her arms crossed before her chest as she stared at him.
“When did you get back?”
“A short while ago.”
Evan’s face fell. Did she hear my conversation with Mom?
Sophia had been telling him about how Jonathan had reacted to the truth regarding the car accident.
Jonathan had absolutely refused to allow his son to be with the daughter of his mother’s murderer!
He demanded for Evan to cut off all ties with Nicole. Otherwise, he would disown Evan!
