Chapter 801: Getting Carried Away

“It’s done. We dumped Rosalind Green at the village entrance at the crack of dawn. Everyone coming and going saw her. That little bastard got pushed into the river, too. They haven’t fished him out yet. Rosalind probably ain’t gonna make it either—she’s practically kicking and screaming for death.”

Vernon Spann spoke with a trembling voice. With every sentence, he cast a fearful glance at Adrian Hawthorne beside him, terrified of catching a beating if he slipped up.

“An excellent job. You weren’t seen, were you?”

Bernice made no effort to hide her glee. That stupid, useless placeholder of a woman, Rosalind, was finally going to die. And her son, too. Let the mother and son reunite in the afterlife. From now on, she alone would be Mrs. Hawthorne.

“Nah, everyone was dead asleep. Nobody saw a thing. They just figured some drifters from a neighboring village did it.”

“You’ve worked hard on this trip. Hurry back.”

Bernice breathed a sigh of relief, her tone softening. Her brother might have been a spineless coward, but he was still family. When it truly mattered, only your own flesh and blood could be trusted.

Vernon was caught off guard by the uncharacteristic warmth. Ever since they were kids, his sister had never looked him straight in the eye or spared him a kind word. This was the gentlest she had sounded in decades. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to rejoice. He only feared what she would do once she found out he was lying. Would she kill him?

He also worried about how Adrian planned to deal with Bernice. The boy was young, but he possessed a brooding depth that surpassed most adults. It was impossible to read his mind.

After hanging up the phone, Vernon looked at Adrian in sheer terror. “I… I said everything exactly like you told me to,” he stammered cautiously.

Adrian gave a soft chuckle. That faint, shallow smile sent a chill up Vernon’s spine. Mustering what little courage he had left, he asked, “What… what are you gonna do to Bonnie and Jacqueline?”

He couldn’t care less whether Bernice lived or died, but Jacqueline Spann was his own flesh and blood. He couldn’t bear to see her harmed.

Adrian cast him a sidelong glance. “Naturally,” he said coldly, “I will give them a taste of their own medicine.”

Vernon shuddered, the cold seeping deeper into his bones. A taste of their own medicine? Could it mean…?

“Jacqueline is still young,” Vernon pleaded. “Could you… could you spare her? I swear I’ll take her far away. We’ll never show our faces in front of you again.”

Adrian let out a cold laugh. He shot Vernon a mocking look but said nothing.

Vernon sighed in disappointment and fell silent. He could barely save his own skin now, let alone anyone else’s. He could only hope that Adrian would show some mercy when the time came. Ideally, the boy would vent all his fury on Bernice alone and spare Jacqueline.

Tristone.

Bernice was in exceptionally high spirits. The biggest stumbling block in her path had finally been cleared. From now on, she would no longer be held back. But first, she needed to let Ethan Hawthorne know what had happened. Ethan would certainly never accept a woman who had been defiled by street thugs.

With his son dead, Ethan would have no choice but to have children with her. In the past, he had always forced her to take precautions, refusing to let her get pregnant. Now, she could conceive without a care in the world.

“I’m heading out for a bit.”

Bernice grabbed her bankbook and headed for the door. Shelling out four thousand yuan stung, but it was worth the price. Even if Ethan was strapped for cash right now, he owned countless properties, not to mention the gold bars and jewelry left behind by the Hawthorne family. Even if Ethan never worked another day in his life, they had enough wealth to live in luxury for ten lifetimes. She wasn’t the least bit worried about suffering hardships with him.

“Be careful out there, Aunt Bernice.”

For some reason, Jacqueline felt a vague sense of unease. Yet everything was clearly progressing in the best possible direction. She was probably just overthinking things. Her father would never lie to them. Adrian was already dead. What was there left to worry about?

Bernice smiled and stepped out the door, brimming with smug satisfaction. Because she was in such a good mood, she had taken special care to dress up. She didn’t forget to tie a silk scarf around her neck and slip on a pair of sunglasses before heading toward the thugs’ hideout.