Chapter 590 Cedrick Has His Suspicions

“Annie kicked over the fuel tank earlier and wanted to set it on fire to perish with me. Thankfully, I managed to stop her in time,” Gwendolyn explained before nodding toward the lighter dropped outside the cage. “There. That’s what she was about to use.”

“I can’t believe she still has the cheek to pull a stunt like this. She’s incorrigible!” Nico fumed.

Asher, too, was grim–faced as he glowered at Paul. “What are you waiting for? Open the cage now,” he ordered, his voice hoarse but authoritative.

Paul then gestured to his bodyguards, who promptly pressed a switch on the opposite wall to raise the giant cage back to the ceiling.

Without further ado, Nico and the others walked to Gwendolyn. “Has Annie told you about Mom’s cause of death?” Asher asked.

Gwendolyn nodded. “Yes. It’s all over. Haul her away, Nico, I want to look into every crime she has committed over the years.”

“Sure, Gwendolyn.”

Not wanting to stay a second longer, the woman turned around and left.

Coincidentally, Annie had regained consciousness and glared at Gwendolyn’s retreating figure.

“Gwendolyn, you may not have dared to strangle me to death, but I sure as hell have the guts to kill you…

With that, she pulled out a concealed pistol before Nico’s men could grab her, aimed it at Gwendolyn, and pulled the trigger.

Having noticed what Annie was up to, Asher shouted, “Kiddo!”

Since he was also the nearest to Gwendolyn, he instinctively hugged her and shielded her from the attack Bang!

Following the gunshot, a bullet pierced Asher’s back, causing him to wince in pain. Despite that, he continued to cling to his sister, determined to protect her.

Thankfully, Annie was apprehended by Nico’s subordinates before she could fire off a second shot.

However, the more she stared at the blood pooling on Asher’s back, the more deviously she grinned.

After checking her brother’s condition, a furious Gwendolyn turned to Nico, Take Annie Steinfeld back to the Federal Bureau of Investigation!”

In all honesty, Nico would’ve done the same even without Gwendolyn’s orders. After all, Annie had almost shot someone dead, so how could anyone overlook such a serious matter?

Even though Gwendolyn was boiling with rage, her mind remained clear and sharp. “Take Paul along.

too.”

Upon hearing that, Paul whimpered. “Ms. Harris, I wasn’t the one who fired the gun. I didn’t know Annie was going to do that, either…. I swear this has nothing to do with me.”

“How did she get her hands on a gun, then?” Gwendolyn scoffed. “Furthermore, how is her shooting so accurate? In any case, you can forget about extricating yourself from this matter, Paul. You won’t get off the hook that easily.”

Paul stared at the woman, downcast and silent, while a man from Team Four hurriedly put him in handcuffs.

Meanwhile, Sienna was so worried about Asher’s gunshot wound that she was on the verge of tears.

“Are you okay, Hubby? Should we call for an ambulance?”

Asher endured the pain and shook his head. “No. It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll live.” Besides, we’re on an island off the coast… How is the ambulance going to get here?

Gwendolyn checked Asher’s wound once more and furrowed her brows. “Come on. Let’s leave the island. There’s a first–aid kit in the car parked by the coast. We can do some basic first–aid before sending Asher to the hospital,”

Knowing that one could also die from excessive blood loss, Gwendolyn tore off a long strip of fabric from her skirt and tied it around Asher’s wound to temporarily stop the bleeding.

Once that was done, she and Sienna quickly helped Asher onto the boat and left the island.

As soon as the group was back on the mainland, they wasted no time splitting up to do what needed to be done. Nico escorted Annie and Paul back to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while Gwendolyn and- Sienna rushed Asher to the hospital to remove the bullet.

To everyone’s surprise, Asher refused to be anesthetized despite being persuaded by the doctor and Sienna to do so.

Naturally, Gwendolyn was peeved. “Are you really a masochist?”

Putting up with the dryness in his throat. Asher croaked out, “I’ve let you down in the past and almost gat you killed by Evelyn on several occasions. I still feel guilty about it, but nothing I do feels enough to make up for my mistakes. Now that I finally have the honor to take a bullet for you, I say we skip the anesthesia, The more pain I feel, the more I can absolve myself of guilt.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Gwendolyn snapped. “Do you know how worried Sienna must be to see you in this much pain? Why are you so selfish? Why can’t you spare a thought for her?”

Having been scolded by his sister, Asher fell silent and begrudgingly accepted the anesthetic, Before long, he completed his treatment and was transferred to an observation ward to rest.

Eagle–eyed as always, Sienna volunteered to buy food and excused herself from the room, thus giving the siblings an opportunity for a private, heart–to–heart talk.

Once she left, however, neither Gwendolyn nor Asher took the initiative to speak up.

Just like that, an awkward silence hung in the air for the longest time until the latter mustered enough courage to start a conversation.

“Gwendolyn, what exactly did Annie tell you when you two were in the villa? I saw strangulation marks on her neck, so you guys must’ve fought quite a bit. Was it about the truth behind our mother’s death?”

After much contemplation, Gwendolyn replied, “Everything I’ve heard is just Annie’s one–sided claims.

There’s no evidence to prove that what she said was true. I’d need to continue investigating.”

However, if what she said is true, it’d mean she had kept Asher in the dark and used him as a pawn…

She made Asher believe he was the reason her mother died so she could guilt–trip him into doing her bidding. Alas, who knew this was only because she killed Mom by removing her ventilator? Annie had known this all along, yet she still intentionally preyed on Asher’s guilt to get what she wanted! This woman’s the epitome of evil!

With that thought in mind, Gwendolyn let out a deep sigh.

What if Asher learned about this? What would happen to him? Then again, I hope Annie wasn’t telling the truth… I hope there’s a reason she’s being forced to admit to the crimes and shoulder the blame…

Otherwise, it’d only mean that she’s been a devil in disguise since she was a kid, and that’s even more terrifying.

Realizing how distracted and unforthcoming Gwendolyn was, Asher decided to change the subject.

“By the way, should I continue with the daily punishment of twenty whips and scripture studies once we return?”

“No,” Gwendolyn answered as she recomposed herself. “I implemented that initially to try to find out Annie’s identity, but now that the matter’s more or less settled, we can scrape it.”

Unable to lie in bed because of the gunshot wound in his back, Asher sat up and carefully scrutinized his sister’s face. “Gwendolyn, what happened earlier was done out of reflex. It was a crucial moment, and I genuinely wanted to protect you. Do you…” he added before letting his voice trail off. Do you think you can forgive me?

Gwendolyn seemingly knew what her brother wanted to ask, so when she spoke again, her tone was a lot gentler. “Don’t think about anything else for now. Just concentrate on resting and recuperating. We can have another talk once you’re feeling better.”

Despite the twinge of bitterness in his heart, the man nodded and said nothing else.

After a two–hour observation period, the doctor saw no problems with Asher’s condition and cleared him for discharge. With that, Gwendolyn and Sienna helped him back to Mount Tranquil.

As soon as Gwendolyn had settled everything at the Harris residence, she hurriedly left for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile, Cedrick had investigated several crime scenes for the serial murder case, only to realize there were far too many aspects that didn’t make logical sense.

To make matters worse, the news that had caused an uproar in Salinsburgh was also determined to be a deliberate act of connivance.

Needless to say, Cedrick was furious and immediately ordered a thorough investigation to track the culprit down.

Upon learning that Gwendolyn had arrived at the bureau, Cedrick quickly greeted her at the entrance, still dressed smartly in his military uniform.

“Darling, I heard that Asher took a bullet for you. How’s he doing now?”

“He’s fine. It wasn’t a serious injury, so I’ve sent him back to Mount Tranquil to recuperate.”

“I think there’s something fishy about this,” Cedrick said after much consideration. “Annie has been uncharacteristically sloppy with how she tried to set you up this time. I heard she didn’t hesitate to fire the bullet, which means it couldn’t have been her first time handling a gun. If she had meant to kill you, why didn’t her shot hurt Asher in any important areas?”