Chapter 111
The fitting room door rattled violently under pounding fists.
Lily Savigny's voice slithered through the crack. "Joy Fairsprene! Have you lost your mind? Open this door!"
Leaning casually against the wall, Joy aimed her phone camera at the fitting room, lips curling into a icy smile. "Oh? In such a hurry now? Weren't you enjoying yourself earlier?"
"Stop spouting nonsense!" Lily's voice cracked with panic. "We were just trying on clothes!"
"Trying on clothes?" Joy's mocking laughter echoed. "Together? Should I call the press for an exclusive interview?"
Silence swallowed the fitting room.
Adrian Roland stood motionless against the wall, his glacial gaze pinning Lily in place. "Talk."
Her lips trembled as fingernails dug crescent moons into her palms.
"Adrian, let me explain—"
"Explain what?" His voice could freeze hell. "How you used my parents' death to manipulate me?"
Outside, Joy regaled the gathering crowd with theatrical gestures. "Everyone! Come see the scandal! CEO Roland and his mistress getting cozy in a fitting room—"
Stella Valentine grasped her friend's arm. "Joy. Enough."
"It's not enough!" Joy shook her off. "Have you forgotten what she did to you, Stella?"
Stella's gaze drifted toward the fitting room, shadows flickering in her eyes. "I don't want the children witnessing this."
Inside the cramped space, Lily suddenly laughed.
"You really want the truth, Adrian?"
His eyes turned blade-sharp. "Speak."
"Fine." She inhaled sharply. "That car crash wasn't an accident."
"Continue."
"Someone tampered with the vehicle." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The brake system..."
Adrian's hand shot out, vise-like around her wrist. "Who?"
"Let go! You're hurting me!"
"Names."
"It was..." Her pupils dilated with venom. "Shi Feng."
Adrian's grip slackened.
"Impossible."
"Open your eyes!" Lily massaged her reddened wrist. "He'd been plotting to take over the Roland empire for years."
"Stella wouldn't lie to me."
A humorless chuckle escaped Lily's lips. "Still defending her? Then tell me—how did her father really die?"
Commotion erupted outside.
"Press is here!" Joy's triumphant announcement sliced through the noise.
Lily's face drained of color.
Adrian remained eerily calm. "Finish."
"Shi Feng..." Her voice quivered. "He meant to kill your parents, but the plan backfired when—"
"Evidence."
Her eyelashes fluttered. "I saw it myself..."
Adrian's sudden laughter held no mirth.
"Do I look like a fool to you, Lily?"
"It's the truth!"
"Then why did the police find nothing?" He advanced, forcing her against the wall. "Why are you the only witness?"
Her back pressed into cold mirrors.
"Because... because..."
"Because it was you."
The accusation hit like a sledgehammer. Lily's entire body convulsed.
"Lies!"
"Only you had access to that car."
Her scream tore through the air. "Why would I kill them?"
"To drive Stella and me apart." His quiet tone carried lethal precision. "To break me. To create an opening for yourself."
Lily's complexion turned ashen.
Camera flashes strobed beyond the door.
"Mr. Roland! What's your relationship with this woman?"
"Sources say you were intimate in the fitting room—"
Joy jutted her chin. "This is what happens to homewreckers!"
Stella melted into the crowd's periphery.
Her phone vibrated.
An unknown number flashed onscreen:
"Want the truth about your father's death?"