Chapter 190: What happened to your face?

The officer nodded and stepped forward to take the phone from Thomas.

Thomas let out a quiet sigh before slowly shifting his gaze toward Julianna.

The moment their eyes met, a faint smirk appeared on Thomas’s lips before he casually looked away.

Julianna, however, was anything but calm.

She clutched her phone tightly in her hand, her fingers tightening around it as the officer approached her.

"Miss Julianna, I’ll need your phone," the officer said, holding out his hand.

Julianna stared at him for a moment, clearly hesitating.

From the side, Clara watched her closely, her expression serious.

She was certain that once the officer checked the call logs between Thomas and Julianna, the truth would finally come to light.

All the pieces would fall into place.

Julianna swallowed hard.

She glanced around the room, searching for a way out of the situation. But then her eyes met Dominic’s.

His sharp, unreadable gaze was fixed on her.

The pressure in his eyes made her hesitate no longer.

With a reluctant sigh, Julianna slowly handed over her phone.

"Just what is she doing?" Vincent muttered, watching her with a frown.

Dorothy stood beside him, her expression growing increasingly worried.

She had tried to defend Julianna until now, but even she could see that things had gone too far. If the officer found something in the call history, there would be no way to explain it away.

Dorothy and Vincent exchanged a concerned glance before turning their attention back to the officer.

The officer took Julianna’s phone and began examining it.

"Is this your personal phone, Miss Julianna?"

"Yes," she replied quietly.

"And you haven’t deleted or altered anything on it?"

Julianna’s face stiffened.

"No. Of course not."

The officer gave her a brief look before unlocking the phone.

"Then there shouldn’t be any problem."

Clara’s lips curled into a faint smile.

She folded her arms and waited. This time, she was certain Julianna wouldn’t be able to escape the truth.

Silence settled over the venue as everyone waited for the officer to confirm what he had found on Julianna’s phone.

Just as the tension reached its peak, Hannah noticed Mark hurrying into the venue.

Her brows immediately drew together.

Where had he been?

She had been wondering where her boyfriend had disappeared to, especially since he had completely ignored her messages.

The moment Mark approached, Hannah’s eyes fell on his face.

Then she froze.

"What happened to your face?"

Mark instinctively touched his lower lip, only to wince when his fingers brushed against the cut.

"It’s nothing."

"Nothing?" Hannah stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. "You have blood on your lip."

Mark glanced at her before quickly looking away.

"It was an accident."

Hannah stared at him suspiciously.

"An accident involving someone’s fist?"

Mark went silent.

That silence was enough of an answer.

Hannah’s eyes narrowed further as she leaned closer to inspect the injury.

Mark immediately noticed how close she was getting.

He stiffened.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Grace, who had been watching from nearby, exchanged a surprised glance.

Their daughter was standing awfully close to Mark.

Hannah raised her hand as if she was about to touch his face.

Mark’s eyes widened slightly.

Before she could reach him, he quickly took a step back.

Hannah blinked.

Mark cleared his throat.

"I’m fine."

Jonathan and Grace exchanged another look before quietly sighing in relief.

They both knew their daughter well.

They didn’t want poor Mark becoming the next victim of Hannah’s infamous anger-management issues.

"What happened?" Hannah asked again.

"Work," Mark replied, avoiding her eyes.

"Work?" Hannah repeated skeptically.

"Yes."

"Your work involves getting punched in the mouth now?"

Mark’s lips twitched.

"Apparently."

Hannah stared at him for a few seconds.

Something was clearly wrong.

And judging by the way Mark was avoiding her gaze, she had a feeling he wasn’t planning on telling her anytime soon.

She folded her arms.

"Fine. I’ll ask again later."

Mark’s expression immediately changed.

Somehow, that sounded much more threatening than an interrogation.

"Okay," Mark replied before quickly walking over to join his boss.

Dominic glanced at him from head to toe, his eyes briefly stopping when he noticed the cut on Mark’s lower lip.

Mark gave him a weak smile, hoping his boss wouldn’t ask any questions.

Dominic stared at him for another second but said nothing.

Instead, he simply looked away and continued observing the situation unfolding before them.

Meanwhile, the officer continued scrolling through Julianna’s phone, carefully checking her call history and messages.

A few seconds later, his expression changed.

"There is nothing here that proves Miss Julianna hired him."

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone went still.

Thomas’s brows furrowed in disbelief.

"What?"

Before anyone could stop him, he rushed toward the officer and looked at the phone in his hand.

"How is that possible? She called me just before coming here!"

The officer calmly held the phone up.

"I’ve checked her recent calls and messages. There’s no record of any communication between the two of you."

Thomas stared at the screen, his face turning pale.

It didn’t make sense.

He had spoken to Julianna only minutes ago. He clearly remembered the conversation. Yet there was not a single trace of it on her phone.

"She must have deleted it!" Thomas suddenly shouted. "I’m sure of it!"

The officer looked at him calmly.

"That’s possible, but we can’t accuse someone based solely on that assumption."

"But she called me!" Thomas insisted. "Just before we came here. She told me exactly what to do."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

Clara exchanged a stunned glance with Hannah.

They had both clearly seen Julianna take the bottle from Thomas. Thomas himself had admitted that he had handed it to her.

So how could there suddenly be no evidence of their communication?

Clara stepped forward.

"Officer, are you absolutely certain there is no record of any interaction between Julianna and Thomas?"

The officer nodded.

"I’ve checked her recent calls, messages, and other available communication records. Nothing connects the two of them."

Clara’s expression tightened.

"That’s strange."

"It is," Hannah agreed quietly.

Clara glanced toward Julianna.

The woman stood there silently, but unlike before, there was no panic on her face.

Instead, she looked almost relieved.

And somehow, that made Clara even more suspicious.

If Julianna had nothing to hide, why did it feel as though someone had gone to great lengths to erase every trace of the truth?