?Chapter 1525:


    The moment the figure left his mouth, the fury on Leo’s face faded. He broke into a wide grin and burst outughing. “Perfect. He died at just the right time. Debts don’t disappear just because someone’s gone—the family left behind can pay them.” He cut the air with a sharp wave of his hand, eyes shing. “Get moving. Bring me every loan contract and mortgage Axell signed, and call all our members. We’re heading to Wront. We’re taking over the Nelson family’s assets. Since he died without settling up, everything they have belongs to me now.”


    Downstairs at the Marclif Hotel, inside the ck sedan that had been tailing Rosanna’s car, a young officer turned to the older man beside him. “Sir, can we really catch the real culprit this way?”


    The older officer lit a cigarette and took an unhurried drag. “Why do you think I let her walk? Axell’s death is unusual. The coroner’s preliminary report points to poisoning, but the exact substance still needs further analysis.”


    The younger officer nodded slowly. “But I still don’t fully understand your thinking. Jarrod Morgan has already been listed as the main suspect in Axell’s murder, hasn’t he?”


    The older officer exhaled a slow curl of smoke. “You’ve got a lot to learn, kid. For one thing, the motive isn’t strong enough. And if Jarrod wanted revenge for Rosanna, why was Axell the only one who ended up poisoned?”


    The younger officer hesitated, then voiced his thoughts. “I did hear that Axell assaulted Rosanna at her birthday party. Witnesses said Jarrod nearly killed him on the spot and even struck him with an ashtray. Jarrod only avoided charges after Axell issued a letter of forgiveness.” His eyes widened. “I think I understand now. Rosanna was forced to marry Axell, so there were actually two possible killers. Rosanna and Jarrod could have worked together—which would exin why Rosanna herself wasn’t poisoned.”


    The older officer nced at him but said nothing, smoke continuing to curl upward from his cigarette in the silence.


    The young officer paused, brows knitting together. “But if that were true, why did Jarrod panic and run back then? He could have simply stayed hidden—or never appeared at all.”


    “Let’s move,” the senior officer replied, crushing his cigarette underfoot. “Check with the front desk for Rosanna’s room number and book the one next to hers. A theory that sounds reasonable doesn’t automatically make it true. What we need is evidence, not guesswork.”


    Elsewhere, Chris jolted awake, his body soaked in cold sweat.


    ??ow?????????? ??DF?? ??????е ???? ??????n??????l??.с??m


    For reasons he couldn’t exin, he had been dreaming of Maia—scenes so vivid they felt like memories borrowed from another lifetime. In that dream, they shared meals, walked shoulder to shoulder, even argued over who deserved thest rib. The happiness was ordinary, almost trivial, yet it clung to him, making waking up feel like a loss.


    The headache that had gued him earlier had faded, but the emptiness inside only deepened, spreading through him like a slow ache. More often than not, he found himself staring at his phone, thumb hovering just above Maia’s contact. He wanted to call her, to see her, to talk to her face to face.


    There was no point pretending otherwise. Her face and silhouette surfaced constantly—haunting his thoughts not just in sleep, but even during quiet pauses at work.


    .


    .


    .