Chapter 451 - 454: Make Her Rot in Prison

Claire Bennett leaned against the wall, her frantic panting slowly subsiding, but the bloodshot fury in her eyes hadn’t faded at all.

She knew all too well what Laura Lawson’s existence meant.

Once Adrian Lancaster tracked down Laura Lawson, with his meticulous mind and ruthless methods, he would definitely be able to pry the secret of the car accident from her.

When that happened, Adrian Lancaster would never forgive her. He might even take her to court and make her face the judgment of the law.

’I don’t have much time left. I absolutely cannot let Laura Lawson fall into Adrian Lancaster’s hands.’

At this thought, Claire Bennett ignored her trembling legs and the dull, tearing pain at the joint of her prosthesis, stumbling through the scattered mess on the floor and lunging toward the bed.

She grabbed her phone from the cluttered nightstand.

In that moment, extreme panic overwhelmed all reason.

Claire Bennett’s mind went blank, left with only a single thought: destroy all the evidence, eliminate all potential threats.

Normally, when contacting her underground connections, she used a burner phone with an anonymous SIM card to eliminate any possibility of exposure.

But tonight, Adrian Lancaster had thrown her into complete disarray.

In her haste, Claire Bennett completely forgot to switch phones and anxiously unlocked her personal, everyday phone.

The faint light of the screen illuminated her pale, twisted face, her eyes glinting with the madness of someone with nothing left to lose.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she opened her encrypted overseas contacts and quickly hit the dial button.

The beeping of the dialing tone echoed, sounding especially eerie and piercing in the deathly silent, trashed suite.

The brief two-second wait felt like a century to her.

The call connected quickly. A low, cautious male voice came through, tinged with the faint static characteristic of an overseas call.

"Ms. Marshall, what are your orders?"

"Get rid of Laura Lawson. Immediately." Claire Bennett’s throat was tight. Her voice was hoarse and dry, still ragged from her earlier screaming, but her tone was ruthlessly decisive, leaving no room for argument.

The person on the other end of the line paused, clearly taken aback.

"Now? Things are tense lately. Mr. Marshall specifically instructed us not to act rashly, to avoid arousing the Lancaster family’s suspicion."

"I don’t care!" Claire Bennett snapped, her face flushing as she lost control of her emotions again.

"Take care of Laura Lawson. Right now. Immediately."

"Keeping Laura Lawson alive is a liability. Adrian Lancaster is already suspicious of me. As long as she’s alive, it’s only a matter of time before he finds me out."

"That’s when the Marshall Family will truly be destroyed."

"Once Adrian Lancaster discovers the truth, the Marshall Family and I are done for. And of course, that includes you!"

"..." The man was intimidated.

"Do it cleanly. Leave no trace." Claire Bennett ground out the words through clenched teeth, each one cold and venomous. "You know what I mean. I want Laura Lawson to disappear from this world."

The other end of the line went silent for a moment.

"Ms. Marshall, does it really have to come to this?"

"Yes. This is not up for discussion. Do as I say."

The man sighed heavily before finally complying. "Understood. I’ll carry it out immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, the call was abruptly disconnected.

The screen went dark, reflecting Claire Bennett’s pale, savage face.

The room was still a disaster zone—shattered glass, sticky essential oils, and scattered feathers mixed together in a pathetic mess.

After the brief tension, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over her.

Claire Bennett slid slowly down the cold wall to the floor. Her prosthesis hit the ground, and a slight bump sent a dull ache through her.

Having done all this, her taut nerves relaxed slightly. The terror in her eyes faded, replaced by a cold certainty.

’As long as Laura Lawson disappears, the chain of evidence for the car accident will be completely broken.’

’No witness, no leads, no trace.’

’No matter how clever Adrian Lancaster is, no matter how long he investigates, he’ll never find any dirt on me. He’ll never be able to convict me.’

Claire Bennett was completely unaware of the fatal mistake she had just made in her panic.

The call she had just made was caught in a surveillance and tracking network set up in the room across the hall.

Just a short distance away, in the shadows of the hallway outside her suite, a miniature listening device was silently operating.

It clearly recorded and transmitted all of her dialogue, all of her sinister plotting, in real time.

Claire Bennett thought she had eliminated her only liability, little knowing she had personally handed over the most damning evidence herself.

「...」

In the dead of night, the Sutton residence was silent.

Wren Sutton rested quietly in Adrian Lancaster’s arms, fast asleep. Her brow was smooth, her breathing even and deep, and her soft hair was spread across the pillow.

The heavy curtains enveloped the room in a gentle warmth. The duvet was soft and fluffy, carrying a faint, pleasant scent.

Adrian Lancaster lay on his side, holding Wren Sutton tightly, not daring to move for fear of disturbing her sweet dreams.

Just then, the phone tucked under his pillow buzzed.

Adrian Lancaster slowly released Wren Sutton, took his phone, and quietly stepped out of the bedroom to answer the call.

For the first few seconds, there was only the quiet background noise from the earpiece—the subtle static characteristic of a covert recording.

The next second, Claire Bennett’s voice came through.

"Get rid of Laura Lawson."

"Adrian Lancaster is already suspicious of me."

The recording was over a minute long—irrefutable, iron-clad evidence.

Adrian Lancaster heard every word clearly. A monstrous rage spread wildly through his entire body, freezing the air around him.

The cool moonlight in the living room cast his profile in sharp, hard lines. The last trace of gentleness vanished from his dark pupils, replaced by a surging, profound hostility and extreme coldness.

He stood motionless, his back ramrod straight, his entire aura suddenly turning frigid and murderous.

His fingers gripped the phone so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

Countless broken leads, all the inexplicable suspicions, all the impenetrable dead ends—at this moment, the loop finally closed.

Without a doubt, that car accident was a premeditated murder orchestrated by Claire Bennett.

Adrian Lancaster lowered his gaze, his eyes bone-chillingly cold, as his fingers quickly dialed an encrypted line.

"Find the identity of the man who was on the phone with Claire Bennett. Fast. Keep a close watch on him. Before he can kill Laura Lawson, bring her back to Aston. Bring her to me. Make sure nothing happens to her. I want to interrogate her myself."

"Keep the entire operation confidential. Lock down all information."

The person on the other end of the line responded in a low voice, "Understood. Executing immediately."

Adrian Lancaster hung up the phone.

The moonlight was cold. He stood by the window, the surging fury in his eyes slowly settling into a bottomless, icy calm.

This time, he would not let Claire Bennett off easy. He was going to make her rot in prison.