Chapter 454 - 457: Ironclad Evidence, Launching an Investigation

The sealed interrogation room blocked out all external sound. A cold, white spotlight shone directly down from the ceiling.

The air was stuffy and stagnant, thick with a lingering, cold, oppressive feeling. Even breathing produced a faint echo.

Adrian Lancaster sat ramrod straight, his upper body leaning slightly forward. His fingertips rested casually on the ice-cold tabletop, his knuckles well-defined.

His face was hidden in the interplay of light and shadow. His eyes were cold, somber, and sharp, betraying no excess emotion—as still as a bottomless pool of ice.

Laura Lawson’s shoulders were rigid, her back board-straight yet trembling uncontrollably. Her fingertips dug deep into the flesh of her palms.

She kept her head bowed, her messy bangs obscuring her eyes. Her lips were deathly pale, and her jaw was clenched. She didn’t dare meet his gaze, her entire being radiating extreme terror, tension, and torment.

After a long, dead silence, Adrian Lancaster was the first to speak.

His voice was extremely low and steady, devoid of any discernible emotion, yet it carried an absolute, heart-piercing pressure that struck Laura Lawson’s taut nerves with precision.

"The car crash on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival was not a traffic accident. From start to finish, it was deliberately planned and executed."

That single sentence, like a cold, sharp blade, instantly pierced the crumbling facade Laura Lawson had been struggling to maintain.

Her entire body jolted. Her shoulders trembled violently, and her tightly pressed lips began to quiver.

The silence stretched for more than ten seconds before her long-suppressed emotions finally collapsed.

Sobbing, she raised her bloodshot eyes, which were filled with ultimate despair, remorse, and devastation.

Her voice was hoarse and broken, thick with tears, and every word was heavy. "...Yes. It was all my fault. I planned it. I’m the one who harmed your family and hurt innocent people..."

Adrian Lancaster’s gaze darkened, the chill in his eyes deepening. His tone remained steady as he pressed on, giving her no room to escape.

"Your husband was a chronic alcoholic, but he rarely drove alone late at night. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he left the house drunk, and his route completely deviated from his usual path."

"You couldn’t have orchestrated such a meticulous plan on your own. Who taught you? Who was pulling the strings?"

This question struck at the heart of the matter, and Laura Lawson’s crying abruptly stopped.

She bit down hard on her trembling lower lip as tears fell even faster, streaming freely down her cheeks and landing on the back of her hands, chilling her to the bone.

Years of pent-up grievances and despair intertwined, completely shattering her psychological defenses.

"I... I truly had nowhere else to turn."

Her shoulders slumped as if they’d collapsed. Her breathing was erratic, and her sobs came in ragged bursts, each word laced with endless torment.

"I’ve been married to him for so many years and haven’t had a single good day. Constant domestic violence, endless beatings and verbal abuse... The moment he was unhappy, he’d throw things and hit people. The children would often get caught in the middle."

"My body is covered in injuries; there’s hardly a patch of unbroken skin. I was just enduring one day after another. I couldn’t take it anymore."

As Laura Lawson spoke, she clumsily wiped the tears from her face. Her fingertips trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes were filled with helplessness and humility.

"I’m not afraid of dying. I’ve had enough of living. But I’m afraid for my children. My only weakness is my children."

"I was afraid they would be trapped their whole lives in this rotten, violent home, dragged down by their father’s brutality. I was afraid their lives would be ruined by this toxic family, that they’d never be able to hold their heads high, with no future and no way out."

Adrian Lancaster listened patiently as she revealed the truth, a knowing and icy calm ever-present in his eyes.

"Just when I was about to be driven mad, when I couldn’t go on and was even thinking of ending it all with my children, Claire Bennett found me."

The moment she said that name, Laura Lawson’s tone changed abruptly, laced with a bone-deep hatred, resentment, and gnawing regret. Her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"She’s too good at faking it."

Her eyes were red, her voice harsh and raspy, every word an accusation. "At first, she didn’t make any unreasonable demands. She just deliberately got close to me, comforting me. She patiently listened to me pour out all my troubles, pretending to genuinely pity my suffering and sympathize with my situation."

"Bit by bit, she figured out all my weaknesses. She saw the despair from years of domestic abuse, and more importantly, she saw that my only support, my only hope in this life, was my children."

Adrian Lancaster’s gaze grew profound. He locked his eyes on her, his tone cold and precise. "She didn’t coerce you directly. She precisely exploited your maternal love to brainwash you over a long period."

"Yes! That’s exactly it!"

Laura Lawson nodded vigorously, her emotions spiraling out of control as tears streamed down her face, on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"Claire Bennett never forced me to do anything outright. She was a master at boiling the frog slowly, gradually eating away at my spirit."

"For more than half a month, she sought me out to chat every single day, feeding me those extreme ideas day after day."

"She told me again and again that if I stayed with my abusive husband, my children’s lives would be completely ruined. They would forever live in the shadow of violence, never get into a good school, and have no future, no way out."

"She accused me over and over, calling me the most incompetent mother. She said my cowardice and tolerance were personally holding my children back and destroying their future."

"She constantly amplified my fear and guilt, making me tear myself down and second-guess myself every day until my mind was consumed by a single thought: I had to save my children. I had to get my children out of that hell!"

Adrian Lancaster’s fingertips gently traced the surface of the table, his expression still somber and cold. He added quietly, "And then, she made you an offer."

That sentence ripped away all pretense, exposing the dark transaction lurking beneath.

Laura Lawson’s breathing instantly grew ragged. She was sobbing so hard she could barely speak coherently, and every word was heavy with the weight of her sin.

"She... she made me an incredibly tempting offer. She said that as long as I did one small thing for her, she would give me a huge sum of money afterward—enough for my children and me to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."

"She promised me that once I got the money, I could immediately take my children and run far away, completely escaping the nightmare of domestic abuse and this suffocating home."

"I wouldn’t have to endure beatings and abuse anymore. My children could get a good education, live with dignity, and have a bright, stable future. They wouldn’t have to suffer with me and live in darkness any longer."

At this point, Laura Lawson raised her hands to cover her face. Muffled sobs escaped through her fingers, her pain reaching its peak.

"I was truly out of my mind then, driven mad by despair. I hadn’t seen any light for so long. The little bit of hope Claire Bennett offered was my only lifeline at the time."

"I knew something was wrong, I knew there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but I just wanted my children to live well and grow up properly so badly."

"For my children, I was willing to risk everything—I would have even gone to hell! I was possessed, completely brainwashed and controlled by her!"

A chilling glint flashed in Adrian Lancaster’s eyes. His voice was ice-cold and devoid of warmth, laced with absolute certainty. "So, you agreed to her request without a moment’s hesitation."

"I was stupid, I was selfish, and my sins are grave!"

Laura Lawson’s eyes were filled with self-loathing and overwhelming regret. Her voice was shrill and hoarse. "Claire Bennett understands people in desperate situations too well. She understands a mother’s obsession. She had me by the throat. From start to finish, I was just a pawn she could manipulate at will!"

"Explain clearly. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, how exactly did you follow Claire Bennett’s instructions to orchestrate the entire car crash?" Adrian Lancaster’s tone was flat, his cold voice possessing a piercing quality that left no room for evasion, forcing Laura Lawson to confront all her sins.

Recalling the scene from that night, Laura Lawson’s body trembled violently and uncontrollably. A chill shot up from the soles of her feet and spread through her entire body, and her teeth began to chatter softly.

She took a deep breath of the cold air, as if she were personally dissecting her own filthy, unbearable, sinful past.

"On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household was celebrating a happy reunion."

She spoke slowly, each word heavy, as every sentence retraced the entire crime.

"As Claire Bennett had instructed, I prepared a high-proof liquor in advance. After dinner, abandoning my usual silence and tolerance, I took the initiative to drink with my husband."

"He was already an alcoholic with a violent temper, and he became completely irrational when drunk."

"I played along with his temper, flattering and coaxing him, deliberately plying him with drink after drink until he was dead drunk, incoherent, and his thoughts were a mess."

"Once he was completely drunk and his consciousness was hazy, I deliberately whispered in his ear, coaxing him to go out for a drive."

"I guided him into the car and, following the route Claire Bennett had planned for me, repeatedly reminded him which way to go..."

When she got to the most crucial part, Laura Lawson’s voice suddenly dropped, filled with fear and guilt. She didn’t dare to look directly into Adrian Lancaster’s eyes.

"I didn’t know at the time that Claire Bennett had set a trap for me. I was naive and foolish enough to think she was helping me escape my miserable life."

"I had no idea that road was the one you had to take to get home, and I certainly didn’t know who was in the car."

"Claire Bennett’s scheme was too vicious, too well-hidden."

"I never thought someone would die..."

Laura Lawson choked on a sob, her chest heaving violently. Her suppressed cries were broken and desperate, each word like weeping blood.

"It was my selfishness, my lack of conscience. For the sake of my own obsession, I killed innocent people. I deserve to die, I really deserve to die..."

The interrogation room fell into a brief, dead silence. The cold, white light illuminated the woman’s sobbing, broken form, as well as the bone-deep chill in Adrian Lancaster’s eyes.

Two seconds later, Adrian Lancaster spoke slowly, his voice as cold as ice, shattering all illusions with a single sentence and tearing apart her final self-deception.

"From start to finish, you were merely a scapegoat pawn, carefully selected and ruthlessly exploited by Claire Bennett."

"She precisely selected you—a person in a desperate situation, with a fatal weakness, who was easily susceptible to psychological manipulation."

"She used the pain of your years of domestic abuse, exploited a mother’s desperate obsession with protecting her children, and dangled a nonexistent future as bait. Step by step, she psychologically conditioned and completely brainwashed you, meticulously planning the entire Mid-Autumn Festival car crash as her revenge."

"The one who truly hated me and sought revenge was never your husband. From the very beginning, it was always Claire Bennett, hiding behind the scenes, pulling the strings, and reaping all the benefits."

Tears streamed down Laura Lawson’s face as she trembled violently and nodded hard, her eyes filled with nothing but a bone-deep chill and endless regret.

Only at this moment did she finally, clearly see her situation for what it was—the pathetic reality that she had been reduced to a weapon for someone else’s revenge.

"I understand now. I was a tool for Claire Bennett’s revenge. I destroyed another family’s reunion, and I also destroyed my own life and my children’s future with my own hands. I regret it more than words can say."

...

Laura Lawson’s entire tear-filled testimony, her complete confession, and the full truth about Claire Bennett’s manipulation, inducement to commit a crime, and subsequent threats to silence her were all clearly and completely captured on the digital recorder.

With this, Adrian Lancaster now possessed a complete, airtight set of evidence.

This recording connected all the scattered points of suspicion and filled the evidentiary gaps in the car crash case.

It was no longer mere speculation, no longer inference without solid proof, no longer a stalemate with broken leads and no way to investigate.

This authentic and complete audio confession, combined with the previously collected tracking data and suspicious behaviors, formed a complete chain of evidence pointing directly to Claire Bennett.

The evidence was ironclad and irrefutable.

Without a shred of hesitation, Adrian Lancaster’s expression was glacial. Not a ripple of emotion showed in his eyes, only the grim determination to eradicate this evil.

He took out his phone and, with steady, efficient movements of his fingers, dialed the police.

The moment the call connected, his voice was low and calm. With meticulous logic and perfect clarity, he reported the entire case to the police.

He clearly stated that the suspect, Claire Bennett, whose real name was Maya Marshall, was suspected of masterminding an intentional assault, inducing others to commit a criminal offense, attempting to murder a witness to silence them, and intimidating and threatening said witness—laying out all her criminal activities.

He listed the key physical evidence in his possession: the untampered, original interrogation recording and all supporting ancillary clues, guaranteeing that all evidence was legal, authentic, valid, and held full legal weight.

After hanging up, Adrian Lancaster quickly created a double-encrypted backup of the evidence.

One copy was saved to his private, encrypted cloud storage to prevent it from being destroyed or tampered with.

The other was compiled into a standardized evidence file, ready for police verification and handover upon their arrival.

Soon, the police arrived, verified all the evidence, and confirmed that the chain of evidence was complete and unbroken. Given the malicious nature of the case and the clarity of the criminal acts, they officially opened an investigation on the spot.

The official investigation into Claire Bennett’s long-term, premeditated criminal activities and her suspected involvement in multiple felonies was now fully underway.

All the conspiracies that had lain dormant in the shadows for years, all the monstrous malice and bloody schemes hidden beneath a gentle facade, were now utterly exposed to the light of day by that single phone call and that ironclad recording.

Claire Bennett’s judgment had officially begun.

...

When Claire Bennett learned that Laura Lawson had been taken away by a mysterious figure, countless clues instantly intertwined in her mind at lightning speed.

Only the Lancaster family possessed such incredible means and absolute power. There was no one else.

No one else had such deep resources or such a meticulous ability to plan. More importantly, no one else would go to such great lengths to find an insignificant woman guilty of causing an accident. Only Adrian Lancaster would.

Claire Bennett’s hands, hanging at her sides, suddenly clenched into tight fists. Her knuckles turned white, her fingertips digging into her flesh as a bone-deep chill spread from her heart to her very bones.

’I thought I was the one playing the game, that I could manipulate people’s hearts, control the whole board, and have everyone in the palm of my hand.’

’I thought Laura Lawson was a dead pawn who would never dare to speak. I thought the car crash would forever remain an accident that could never be overturned. I thought my disguise was flawless.’

’How ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.’

’So all my schemes, all my disguises, all my probing steps—Adrian Lancaster had seen through them all from the very beginning.’

’He remained impassive, letting me wallow in the delusion that victory was in my grasp. He let me secretly plot, secretly try to silence witnesses, and secretly gloat time and time again.’

In an instant, extreme unwillingness to concede, the humiliation of being played for a fool, and the madness of impending exposure seared through her entire being.

From start to finish, the one person who had seen through all her conspiracies, grasped all her flaws, lured her into his trap step by step, and personally pushed her into the abyss was Adrian Lancaster.