Bab 224: Chapter 224
It had been a week since the explosion. Dylan and Iris had left the day before, Iris had to get back and talk to Maggie about Pearl being absent from the company for awhile longer. Pearl had slept a lot during the first few days and when she finally started to feel a little better, Sebastian had asked her to come down and join him for dinner.
"Wow, this is amazing." Pearl said, looking at the spread.
"You haven't eaten much. I wanted to make sure you were getting the nutrition you need for you and for the baby." He said.
Pearl smiled. "It's really nice of you to do this. Thank you." She said.
"I went to the palace today. They still have no leads." Sebastian said.
"Nothing?" She asked.
"No. I think we need to look at your lead again. What you were finding out about Charles." Sebastian said.
"Bash, I found out about Charles. He is the brother of the man that killed Erik's childhood friend. Robbie's father. I think Charles has been deliberately in Erik's life all these years as a spy. I think this man wants revenge on Erik for something." Pearl said.
"Oh god. That's it!" Sebastian said. "If the crime scene looked like a robbery, the father could have gotten away with it. But Erik was there, and if he identified the father as being abusive."
"That makes him not a victim but the prime suspect." Pearl said. "Oh god. What if it was supposed to be a staged robbery and Robbie's father didn't have time to hurt himself and make himself look like a victim. What if Erik walked in when he was killing them and he doesn't remember?" Pearl asked. "And now he made Erik pay for it."
"We need to go to Edward. Now." Sebastian said.
"I'll grab a sweater." Pearl said.
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"Edward, you need to hear Pearl out. I think she may be onto something with this. Please try to listen to this." Sebastian said.
Edward didn't even try to pretend that he wasn't bothered by her and her "silly theories" but when Frances also interjected for him to hear her out, he reluctantly did.
She told him how she had tracked Charles' background, his birth certificate, his name. She explained how she found out he was the brother of the man that killed Erik's childhood friend. And then, her theory about him preventing a defense. About him being a witness to the abuse and quite possibility the crime itself.
"Pearl. Why would an almost thirty year old crime play a factor in this? Why would he wait this long?" Edward asked.
"I don't know. Maybe, maybe if Charles was an inside spy, maybe he had something on Erik that would blackmail him." Then it hit Pearl. She looked at Sebastian. "It's because of me. He has me now. And he was framing him with the women from his past." Pearl said. "And when he didn't care because Erik had already told me everything, they killed him."
"Nonsense. Erik hardly had any women in his past." Frances said.
"Uncle, Aunt Frances, we have something to tell you." Sebastian said.
They told them everything. About Sebastian's friend. About what Erik told Pearl. About what Charles told Pearl. Charles knew everything. He had access to all the paperwork, he could take photographs.
"Oh my god. You're basically saying my son was a monster." Frances said, horrified.
"No. I used to think the same thing. But Pearl helped me realize why he was like that. It had to do with that happened to him. Robbie's mother made him hate women. He blamed her for not leaving the marriage to protect Robbie. It all makes sense when you try a little empathy." Sebastian said.
"Ok. I will have a team look into this. I don't know what we will find, if anything, but I want you to know Pearl, I appreciate you. This family appreciates you. You will always be family to us." Edward said. It made Pearl feel good to hear that from him. He was harsh with her the last week, and his kindness tonight was so important to her while she was carrying all this grief.
They rode back to Sebastian's home. "What if we could forge some kind of marriage certificate. What if we told Edward that you and Erik secretly wed and you didn't tell them because he was kidnapped before you could tell anyone." Sebastian said. "I'm sure for the right price, we could make that happen."
Pearl considered it for a moment.
"No. I can't do that. I can't have another fraudulent marriage." She said.
"Another?" He asked.
She told him all about Rhys and their relationship and ultimately what he did to her.
"My god. Who would ever even conceive to do something so cruel?" Sebastian asked.
"Right. I know. And that is why I can't do that again." She said. "But I appreciate your effort and willingness to help me." She said. He nodded and looked out the window.
"Thank you for helping me to get Edward to listen to me." She said.
"Thank you for working so hard at finding out the information he needed to hear." He said.
"I wish it would have been enough to save him." Pearl said, looking down. "Goodnight Bash."
He smiled and watched her walk up the stairs.
"It might be enough to save me, though." He said under his breath.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone