Sandra helped them up, offering a few words offort.


    Meanwhile, Yvonne lifted Hans'' shirt, revealing the distinct scar on his abdomen. She gently pressed her hand against his stomach.


    It was noticeably sunken.


    Yvonne''s hand trembled uncontrobly as the image of Flora''s body after her murder shed through her mind.


    She had looked just like this-her abdomen hollowed out, empty.


    "We need to call the police," Sandra said, her voice thick with emotion.


    Yvonne nodded and took out her phone. After a long hesitation, she dialed Bruce''s number.


    The Rogers family had operated in Istra for a century; their roots ran deep.


    Yvonne didn''t know if they had connections within the police force. Right now, the only person she could trust was Bruce, the man who had once been her father.


    Bruce and his officers arrived an hourter.


    Following procedure, they collected the boy''s body to be taken for an autopsy.


    Hans'' parents, Sandra, and Yvonne were all brought to the station to give their statements.


    Soon after, the autopsy report came back. Hans had died from an infection rted to his burns, but his major internal organs were missing.


    The police immediately opened a formal investigation.


    Before dawn the next day, everyone involved the director of the Rogers Group''s private hospital, Hans'' attending physician and nurse, and the crematorium staff— had been taken into custody.


    Given the heinous nature of the case and the possibility of a vast criminal enterprise behind it, Bruce immediately reported it to his superiors.


    The higher-ups also took the case very seriously.


    At first light, just as Oscar was getting out of bed, he received a call from his assistant.


    "Have you found them yet? Offer that couple another half a million. One and a half million total shoulde be more than enough. Two country bumpkins like them have never seen that much money in their lives. Tell them to get the body cremated quickly, get rid of the badduck."


    Oscar was standing at the bathroom sink, holding a cup in one hand and his phone


    in the other as he gave the instructions.


    Just as he finished speaking, his assistant''s urgent voice came through the line. "Mr. Rogers, we


    have a problem. A little while ag


    Mr. Bishop, fans'' doctor and nurse, and the crematorium staff we contacted were all arrested. It


    seems the parents called the police."


    "What?!" The cup in Oscar''s hand ttered into the sink, sshing water everywhere.


    "Didn''t I tell you yesterday to find them and cremate the body as soon as possible? A whole group of you couldn''t even handle two peasants? What do I pay you for?!"


    Oscar, who usually maintained the image of a refined gentleman, rarely lost his temper like this.


    His assistant took the verbalshing without a word of protest.


    After venting, Oscar calmed down. He knew anger was useless now; he had to devise a strategy immediately. If the police broke this case open, the entire Rogers family empire could sink.


    "Get thepany''s legal team over there right now. Tell those people that if they want their families to be safe, they need to keep their mouths shut and think very carefully about what they should and shouldn''t say."


    "I understand. I''ll get on it right away," the assistant replied.


    After ending the call, Oscar hastily wiped the toothpaste from his lips and threw the towel onto the counter in frustration.


    The phone in his clenched fist rang again. This time, it was Ynda''s aunt, the head of the Health Bureau, Ms. Sandy Walker.


    "Ms. Walker."


    "Oscar, I assume you''ve heard that the child''s parents went to the police and are causing a scene,” Ms. Walker said gravely.