Chapter 196: She is the last person I will bow down to

"What do you mean you can’t do anything?" Dorothy snapped, glaring at the lawyer sitting across from her.

After being refused permission to meet Vincent, Dorothy had immediately contacted her lawyer and explained everything that had happened. She had expected him to come up with a way to get Vincent released.

Instead, the man had spent the last few minutes carefully going over the situation, looking increasingly troubled.

"It would have been much easier to get Mr. Vincent out on bail if this were a minor case," the lawyer finally said, clearing his throat. "But unfortunately, that isn’t the situation we’re dealing with."

Dorothy frowned.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

The lawyer shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"The case involves Mr. Adrian Graham. More importantly, the evidence currently presented points directly toward Mr. Hayes. That makes things considerably more complicated."

"So find a way around it," Dorothy demanded.

"Madam, it isn’t that simple."

"Everything has a solution."

"Not when two influential families are involved," the lawyer replied cautiously. "No lawyer in his right mind would risk bribing an official under these circumstances. It could turn a difficult case into something far worse."

Dorothy’s expression darkened.

The situation was already more serious than she had initially thought.

Adrian Graham had personally taken charge of the matter, and Dominic Sterling was backing him because Clara’s reputation had been dragged into the case.

With both families involved, there was hardly anyone willing to take the risk of helping Vincent.

"I’m sorry, Madam, but there isn’t much I can do right now," the lawyer said.

Dorothy stared at him in disbelief.

"You’re telling me you can’t even get my husband out on bail?"

"I’m saying that, given the current evidence, I can’t guarantee that he’ll be granted bail."

"I’m paying you twice what your services are worth, and you’re still telling me you can’t help?" Dorothy snapped, her voice rising.

The lawyer lowered his gaze.

"I understand your frustration, Madam. But money can’t solve every problem."

Dorothy’s hands clenched tightly against her sides.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she demanded. "Just sit here and watch them keep my husband behind bars?"

The lawyer sighed. "I’m not saying you should do nothing. But you need to be careful about what you do next."

Dorothy narrowed her eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you shouldn’t try to interfere with the investigation," he explained. "If the authorities discover that you attempted to influence anyone involved in the case, it could make things much worse for Mr. Hayes."

Dorothy’s expression turned cold.

"So you’re telling me to wait?"

"For now, yes."

"I didn’t hire you to tell me to wait." Dorothy despised being told to wait, but seeing the lawyer offer her no hope only fueled her frustration even further.

"Actually, there is one thing I would suggest, Madam," the lawyer said cautiously.

Dorothy immediately looked at him, waiting for his suggestion.

"Perhaps you could seek Miss Clara’s help."

The moment Clara’s name left his mouth, Dorothy’s anger flared.

"Get out!"

The lawyer froze, startled by her sudden outburst.

"Madam, I only meant—"

"I said get out!" Dorothy snapped, her eyes blazing with fury.

The lawyer quickly gathered his things, clearly realizing there was no point arguing with her.

Without wasting another second, he hurried out of the house, leaving Dorothy standing there, seething.

The moment the door closed behind him, her expression darkened.

"Clara..." she muttered bitterly. "She is the last person I would ever bow down to."

***

[Mark’s apartment]

"Ow... ouch! Hannah, please be gentle!"

Mark’s voice echoed through the living room as pain shot through his lip.

The moment Hannah pressed the wound again, he flinched so violently that he nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Stay still!" Hannah scolded. "Even children are more obedient than you."

Mark immediately pursed his lips, deciding it was probably safer to keep his mouth shut.

Hannah had told Clara she was heading home, but Clara knew better. Hannah might complain about being bored whenever she was dragged into these situations, but the moment it involved Mark, all her laziness mysteriously disappeared.

"You’re being dramatic," Hannah muttered as she carefully cleaned the cut on his lip.

"I’m not being dramatic," Mark protested. "You just have no idea how much that hurts."

"Really?" Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Because you’re behaving like I just stabbed you."

Mark glared at her.

"Maybe because you’re pressing directly on the wound!"

"I’m trying to clean it."

"You’re trying to kill me."

Hannah rolled her eyes and dabbed the ointment onto his lip.

"Done."

Mark cautiously touched his lip before giving her an accusing look.

"You could’ve been a little gentler."

"I could’ve," Hannah agreed calmly. "But then you would’ve kept whining for another twenty minutes."

"I don’t whine."

Hannah stared at him, and Mark immediately looked away.

"Fine," he muttered. "Maybe a little."

Hannah let out a sigh of disbelief, ignoring Mark’s complaints as she returned to the matter at hand.

"Now tell me, how exactly did you get hurt?" she asked.

Mark immediately pouted.

"I fought Thomas to get the poison bottle away from him. That way, when the person who hired him tried to use it, nothing would happen."

Hannah’s brows furrowed as she listened.

She had already figured out a few things after Adrian told Clara that they should seek Dominic’s help in uncovering the truth. Still, one question continued to bother her.

How had Vincent ended up being labeled as the culprit?

"Brother can be really mysterious sometimes," Hannah muttered. "But if you already knew what was going on, why did you let this drag on for so long?"

She suddenly felt exhausted just thinking about it.

Tracking down Thomas, dealing with everything that had happened, and then dragging him into their mess had taken a toll on her. If her brother had simply told them everything from the beginning, perhaps things would have been much easier.

Mark gave her a strange look.

"Who said we knew everything?"

Hannah’s eyes widened.

"What?"