Chapter 155: Five Years Ago Was Murder, Ms. Lowell, What Is Your Explanation

Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Five Years Ago Was Murder, Ms. Lowell, What Is Your Explanation

"AHHH!! Shut up, shut up!!" Rose Lowell’s heart leaped into her throat. She knew exactly what this man was going to say next. Dashing forward like a madwoman, she shrieked in panic, "Shut up! I’m telling you to shut up!"

Luke White quickly stepped in to block Rose. Trembling uncontrollably, Owen Underwood continued, "On the night of the fire, Ms. Lowell gave me five hundred thousand to buy my silence. She told me that if anyone asked who started the fire, I should give them Estelle Lockwood’s name...

"I... I just had a moment of weakness. I didn’t do it on purpose! I didn’t know anything had happened to Estelle at the time!"

Next, a woman in her fifties spoke up. "I’m the head nurse of the obstetrics department in Crestfall. Ms. Lowell said she was doing it for Estelle’s own good. I... I figured a biological mother would never harm her own daughter, so I took Estelle’s belongings and diary and burned them...

"I didn’t know Estelle didn’t want to die. I thought she had actually committed suicide. I really had no idea!

"Rose Lowell made me do it! It was Rose!"

After that, more people stepped forward one after another, their voices quivering as they recounted the events of the night the fire broke out five years ago.

"That day, Rose furiously confronted Estelle and pressured her to induce labor and get rid of the child. When Estelle refused, Rose slapped her twice. Then the fire started that night..."

"Rose claimed Estelle committed suicide. How were we outsiders supposed to suspect her own mother?"

"I’m not an accomplice. I didn’t commit a crime. How was I supposed to know Estelle didn’t start the fire? I didn’t commit perjury, you can’t blame me..."

Estelle’s gaze swept across their faces one by one. She remembered them. Five years ago, after her "death," these were the very people who had self-righteously declared, "Estelle started the fire! We absolutely cannot tolerate this!" It was precisely because of their testimonies that the case was closed so quickly and public opinion became so extreme.

Now, they were all weeping bitterly, claiming they hadn’t done it on purpose and that they, too, had been deceived by Rose. The very nails they had driven into Estelle had ultimately boomeranged back to strike them and Rose.

The doctors, nurses, lawyers, and others from back then all stepped forward to testify against Rose, instantly causing a massive uproar.

On the internet, Noelle’s fans had completely lost control of the comments section.

[So what exactly happened with that fire? Did Estelle set it or not?]

[I’m guessing Estelle is the victim! If she really started the fire, why would Rose bribe so many people to frame her? Why forge a suicide note?]

[But Rose is Estelle’s biological mother! Her daughter died in a fire, and instead of investigating the truth, she pinned the arson on her own child. What did she stand to gain?]

[Biological mother? Would a real biological mother turn a blind eye to her own daughter, force her to induce labor, and slap her? Would she pour all her love exclusively into Noelle, an adopted daughter?]

[My family has some status in Crestfall. For the longest time, we didn’t even know Estelle was the Lockwood family’s biological daughter. Rose always despised her, constantly beating and scolding her in public. When asked, she’d just brush her off as an ignorant "child from a poor relative’s family." But when she talked about Noelle, she looked incredibly proud.]

[I bet Rose despised her biological daughter for growing up in the countryside and hated her for coming back to steal Noelle’s place as the wealthy heiress. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to kill off her pesky biological daughter, drag her name through the mud, and then legitimately hand the Lockwood family over to Noelle?]

[Right, right! I heard the Lockwoods were planning to officially pass the inheritance rights to Noelle today.]

[Think about it! On the anniversary of their biological daughter’s death, these parents only had eyes for their adopted daughter. I think it’s highly likely they murdered their own flesh and blood!]

[Noelle really is something else. An adopted daughter who stole the real heiress’s parents, stole her son, led the whole family in ostracizing her, and still wouldn’t let her go even after she died.]

Noelle’s fans were going crazy, acting incredibly defensive and making utter fools of themselves.

[What does this have to do with Noelle?! Noelle doesn’t know anything!]

[Noelle is innocent and kind! How would she know about the twisted schemes of wealthy families? If the real heiress hadn’t been so gloomy and antisocial, why would everyone have disliked her?!]

But these voices were quickly drowned out.

Noelle’s phone rang incessantly. Her new agent, her assistant, and the higher-ups at her entertainment company were all calling her frantically.

The public opinion online was spiraling out of control!

No matter how much her fans tried to argue that "Noelle is innocent," it couldn’t change the fact that Rose had framed her own biological daughter—nor the fact that Noelle was the ultimate beneficiary of it all!

At the scene, Rose looked utterly panicked. She felt incredibly dizzy as waves of terror flooded her brain. "No, that’s not it. Nathaniel, listen to me..."

Her voice was hoarse. "At the time... At the time, I truly believed Estelle had committed suicide! I only resorted to such measures to stop the matter from blowing up! Even... even if I forged the suicide note, I was doing it for Estelle’s own good!

"I thought Estelle had committed murder and arson. As her mother, didn’t I have to minimize the fallout? So... so..."

Nathaniel Sloan raised his eyelids, his face entirely expressionless. "So, what you mean, Ms. Lowell, is that this was all just a misunderstanding on your part? You mistakenly believed Estelle committed suicide by arson, and you did all this because you couldn’t bear to see the situation blow out of proportion and have her face further criticism?"

Rose’s eyes lit up. Completely oblivious to the trap in Nathaniel’s words, she jumped right in.

"Yes, yes! That’s exactly it!"

"Then, Ms. Lowell." Nathaniel’s gaze didn’t waver in the slightest. "Why did you destroy the evidence of the highly flammable chemicals found in the delivery room before I arrived?"

His words struck Rose like a thunderbolt, hitting her heavily over the head.

"Good question! Where did the flammable chemicals in the delivery room come from? Estelle was about to go into labor at the time. She had absolutely no time or energy to set all that up!" A woman’s voice rang out abruptly.

Mrs. Kendrick, Eleanor Vance, looked absolutely glacial. Her sharp gaze swept over the doctors who had committed perjury for Rose, her words carrying immense weight. "Therefore, this was a murder! A murder targeting Estelle and her child!

"And you, Rose Lowell and Austin Lockwood! You knew your biological daughter was being murdered, yet you helped the killer dispose of all suspicious physical evidence, forged a suicide note to make it look like suicide, and gave her child to Noelle! You are unfit to be parents!"

Followed closely by police officers, Eleanor sneered. "Perhaps you are all wondering why Rose, Estelle’s biological mother, would help an outsider murder her! This point might be answered for everyone by some new evidence!"

She took out a USB flash drive. "This is recently recovered security footage. It shows that before the fire started five years ago, a certain person entered and exited the delivery room and sent the doctors and nurses away. In other words, the person who entered the delivery room had the means to commit the crime!"

Hearing this, Rose let out a piercing shriek, stumbled, and collapsed to the floor.