?Chapter 62:


    Since the police needed a full ount of the incident, they began by interviewing everyone separately before moving on to a joint session. Frightened by the thought of prison, Jazlyn broke down and confessed everything.


    “Officer, I swear I didn’t know Haley had arranged for anyone to hurt Ste. She told me it was just about staging some fake photos. I wasn’t thinking straight, I just wanted to push Ste into leaving my son. I never intended for anyone to get hurt!”


    Her face was earnest as she spoke, and in an attempt to prove her innocence, she even handed over her message history with Haley as evidence.


    The messages did, in fact, mention nothing beyond staging a few photos to smear Ste’s image.


    One of the officers nced at Jazlyn with clear disapproval. “Even if you wanted to break them up, there are legal ways to go about it. She’s your daughter-inw, and you still agreed to this? What you’ve done is criminal.”


    Now consumed by regret, Jazlyn couldn’t believe she had trusted someone like Haley. She had hoped Marc would move on to someone more suitable, but instead, he had be entangled with someone far worse.


    “Officer, I see now how wrong I was. It was that woman—she kept filling my head with lies, telling me Ste wasn’t good enough. I was foolish to believe her. I swear, I’ll never let something like this happen again!”


    Once the officers saw she had nothing more to add, they had her escorted out and brought Haley and Marc in for questioning, one at a time.


    After the initial interviews, the three of them were ced together in a single room.


    “I’ve gone over each of your statements,” the officer announced. “I’ll read them aloud now. If everything is correct, you’ll each sign.”


    As the officer began reading, Marc’s face grew darker with every word. He shot a furious look at Haley, who sat beside him in silence.


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    “It really was you,” he snapped. “What gave you the right to drag Ste into something like this?”


    Marc had already made his stance clear. His involvement with Haley was nothing serious. He might entertain himself outside, but Ste would always be his wife.


    As long as Haley didn’t interfere with Ste, Marc was content to let her remain by his side. But she had crossed the line.


    Haley, meanwhile, was far too preupied with the fear of jail time to pay attention to Marc’s fury.


    Marc’s anger built steadily, not just toward Haley for disregarding his warning, but also toward Ste. She had handed her patent to the Briggs Group, knowing full well hispany was struggling to renew its contracts. Now, she was showing up at formal events with William by her side.


    What exactly was going on between them?


    “I need to leave,” Marc muttered. “I had no involvement in this at any point. I wasn’t part of any of it! I need to get out now!”


    What he really wanted was to find Ste, to confront her, to understand why she had suddenly shut him out sopletely, and to uncover what kind of connection she had with William.


    “Once everything is on record and fully admitted,” the officer said, “you’ll be free to go.”


    The officer continued reading aloud.


    Once he finished, he looked up. “Any objections to the statement?”


    Haley was quick to react, lifting her hand. “Yes, Officer. I already said earlier, this whole scheme was Jazlyn’s idea. She was the one calling the shots. I just followed her instructions. I had nothing to do with nning any of it!”


    She had lied earlier during her individual questioning, and now she stuck to the same false story.


    “So you’re saying Jazlyn directed you. Do you have anything to prove that?” The officer asked, his tone t.


    Haley hesitated for a moment beforeunching into her response. “How would I have proof? She told me face to face that she didn’t want her daughter-inw around anymore. She said to find some men to assault her—I remember her saying that exactly!”


    The officer gave her a t look, clearly unconvinced, and let out a quiet, humorlessugh.


    “You’re offering no evidence to support your im, while Jazlyn’s chat history only mentions a staged photo shoot. There’s nothing else suggested.”


    “She must’ve deleted the rest, I swear she did!” Haley doubled down without a second thought.


    But her ount was riddled with contradictions. First, she insisted the conversation happened in person, leaving no evidence, then suddenly imed Jazlyn had deleted messages. The inconsistency made it clear she was lying.


    “You’re making things up! I didn’t delete a single thing. We came to the station without warning. How would I even have time to erase chat logs?” Jazlyn snapped, her voice sharp with frustration.


    She was beginning to see Haley for who she truly was—calcting and willing to throw anyone under the bus to save herself. All those moments of feigned affection, the promises to be like family—they had all been empty words.


    “What exactly did I lie about? Are you seriously going to im you’ve never had a problem with Ste? Weren’t you the one who told me to put her in her ce?” Haley shot back, not flinching.


    Overwhelmed by the situation, Jazlyn broke down in tears right there at the police station, shouting that Haley was a heartless and cruel woman.


    “Marc, please, you have to believe me. I would never tell her to do something like that to Ste. I swear I didn’t!” Through her sobs, Jazlyn begged Marc to believe she was telling the truth.


    She wiped at her face, her eyes scanning the room in desperation.


    While Haley was the one who escted the situation and turned a staged setup into something real, it had been Jazlyn who initially floated the idea of punishing Ste. She had nted the seed from the beginning.


    As the investigation progressed, it became increasingly clear that the truth wasn’t going to favor her. Both women had yed roles in the scheme, and now each was scrambling to shift the me and protect herself.


    Meanwhile, Marc’s thoughts kept returning to Ste—where she might have gone after everything that had happened, and whether she had left with William.


    He made up his mind in that moment. He had to go after her immediately.


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