Chapter 592 The Dust Settled

Even long after Gwendolyn had left, Asher remained sitting on the bed, dumbfounded. His mind was still frenziedly analyzing the matter.

Evelyn’s statement mentioned that Mom grew sick due to her fury from discovering Dad’s infidelity.

However, that’s incorrect. I was already old enough back then, and I recall clearly that Mom was ill because of cancer, not her anger. Moreover, Mom had already learned about the existence of Evelyn and her mother the year Evelyn was born. She understood Dad and how abundant his love was; there was no stopping him. In addition, Mom was a career–minded woman. Divorcing Dad would only lead to a mountain of issues, so she disregarded his matters and feigned ignorance, treating him courteously.

Evelyn was so young back then. How could she possibly be capable of doing something that cruelt Eventually, a conclusion came to his mind.

She said it on purpose. Using Mom’s death as an excuse, she tricked Gwendolyn into the villa, wanting to perish along with Gwendolyn. Even though she knew there was no way she could eliminate Gwendolyn after the failure and would expose her intentions, she still pulled the trigger. Was she trying to return my favor by resolving the animosity between Gwendolyn and me? Did she feel guilty because she knew how horribly Gwendolyn treated me previously? Perhaps the only way I can obtain an accurate answer is by visiting her personally. However, there’s no way Gwendolyn will allow me to visit Evelyn privately. If Gwendolyn learns of this, our rocky relationship will only grow more turbulent. Ugh, I’m so conflicted. Should I tell Gwendolyn the truth that I know?

Just as he was feeling vexed, Sienna entered the room and sat beside him.

“Gwen seemed unhappy when she was leaving earlier. What did you say to upset her again?” she queried.

Shaking his head, Asher endured the discomfort of his dry throat and spoke effortfully. “I was going to ask her what Evelyn told her on the island and share with her some of the possessions Mom left behind. But she thought I was going to plead mercy for Evelyn and left in anger.”

“Huh?” She was dumbstruck. “Then, why didn’t you explain? Gwen’s already exceptionally bothered by the fact that you aided Evelyn in the past. This is only worsening the misunderstanding between the two of you.”

He coughed violently until he paled.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to explain anything to Gwendolyn; she had simply caught him off guard with Evelyn’s statement before he could even speak his mind, thus diverting his train of thought.

Sighing, Sienna lamented, “Your relationship with Gwen was finally mended significantly when you took a bullet for her that day. Her attitude toward you already suggested that she was ready to forgive you, yet this just had to happen. Now, there’s no telling when that reconciliation will happen.”

Asher handed Evelyn’s statement to his wife silently.

“Evelyn said she was the one who killed Mom to enrage Kiddo, but I know she never had the chance to do so. The last shot she fired on the island was done for my sake.”

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Having spoken too urgently, he covered his mouth and broke out in another coughing fit. “Darling, should I reveal the truth to Kiddo?”

Earnestly, Sienna analyzed, “There’s already an unbridgeable gap between you and Gwen. If you defend Evelyn, she won’t believe you’re telling her the truth. On the contrary, she’ll think you’re saying that intentionally to aid Evelyn and even suspect what transpired on the island was something you planned with Evelyn, that you took a bullet for her to garner her sympathy.”

Asher lowered his head quietly. He was only conflicted precisely because he feared that scenario would play out.

At this moment, Gwendolyn doesn’t believe me at all. As long as anything that concerns Evelyn is brought up, she’ll treat me with hostility.

After spending years together with the man, Sienna naturally understood him the most. Hence, she advised, “Let’s assume that Gwen believes you after you tell her the truth, and she asks Cedrick to remove this charge from Evelyn’s list of crimes. Even in that scenario, Evelyn won’t escape punishment because she has committed far too many offenses and will still easily receive a life sentence. The truth of this matter won’t affect the verdict at all.

“Listen to me, Hubby. Stop caring about Evelyn. She knew the consequences of her actions and chose to do this to repent in prison. Besides, this is purely your speculation. None of us know what Evelyn’s thinking. If you bring this up to Gwen, you’ll only do more harm than good.”

Every word Sienna uttered was valid.

It doesn’t matter if Evelyn was the one who killed Mom. From the moment she was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, her fate had already been decided. There’s nothing I can do to help her, nor will I help her again. This is the result of her misdeeds over the years, so she has to take responsibility for it.

For the next few days, Asher recuperated at home compliantly. Though Gwendolyn was furious, her fury subsided significantly when she noticed that he didn’t secretly plan to visit Evelyn or plead mercy for the latter.

Two days later, Evelyn was given the sentence of life imprisonment and was sent to prison in an armored vehicle.

After spending nearly a week in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, she appeared fairly haggard, especially since she was already thin, to begin with.

When her frail wrists were cuffed with heavy handcuffs, she looked exceptionally pitiful.

However, as pitiful as she might look, she did commit many heinous crimes.

Knowing that she would never leave prison for the rest of her life, the woman lowered her lifeless gaze.

There was no expression to be found on her countenance.

When she arrived at the prison entrance, she saw a few people waiting for her–Gwendolyn, Cedrick, Asher, Sienna, Treyton, and Kieran.

Evelyn swept her gaze past everyone before her line of sight landed on Gwendolyn’s face. Beaming, she uttered, “How nice of you to ask our family to see me off, Gwendolyn. I’m so happy.”

Gwendolyn stated in a deadpan manner, “This is the last day you’ll be known as Evelyn Harris and the last day we’re your family. After today, your name will be stripped from the Harrises‘ genealogy.”

Evelyn’s smile stiffened slightly before she replied peacefully, “I understand. The Harrises are the richest family in the country, after all. Having a daughter who’s sent to prison will only tarnish the family name.”

Her gaze was affixed on Gwendolyn as she grinned menacingly. “Take good care of yourself, Gwendolyn. Even though I won’t be able to obstruct your life any longer, I’ll pray for you in prison every day, hoping that everything in your life will proceed smoothly.”

Gwendolyn simply eyed Evelyn coldly and grimly, not saying a word.

The latter shifted her attention to her brothers, her sight lingering on Asher a minute longer as though she was vaguely glad.

Moments later, she was escorted toward the prison gates.

Before she went in, she raised her head and stared at the bright sun, enjoying the warmth of its ray.

“I’m afraid this will be the last time I’ll witness such wonderful weather. It’s nice that I can bid farewell to the first half of my life with my siblings.”

Wordlessly and calmly, the Harris family watched her amble into prison.

Soon, the heavy metal gates slammed shut, forever trapping Evelyn in there to atone for her past sins.