The Contract Bride of Mr. Reid-Chapter 245: The witness

Hearing the commotion, Keith rushed in and saw Claudia lying on the floor. "Claudia!" He rushed over to her and squatted down beside her. He panicked when he noticed the blood trickling down from her head. "What did you do to her?" he growled and looked up at Gina, who stood there numbly.

Keith pulled Claudia into his chest, wrapping his arms around her protectively. "Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you." He glared up at Gina. "She is your mother. How could you hurt her?"

"It wasn’t intentional," Gina said, her voice trembling.

"Enough!" Keith roared, silencing her. "I am taking her to the hospital. Stay here. You are not allowed to set your foot outside the house." With that warning, he carried Claudia out of the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theodore finally pulled the car over on the side of the road in a dingy area. His luxurious car seemed oversized in that narrow lane. "The car can’t go further," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt. "We will walk."

Steward scanned the area carefully as he stepped out of the car. This area was infamous because a notorious gang was active there. "Why did you bring me here?" he asked, feeling uneasy. "Do you know how dangerous this place is?"

"I know," Theodore replied casually. "But this is the only place where you will get the answer." He walked forward with confident strides.

Steward had no choice but to follow him.

Theodore paused in front of a small house on the corner of the street and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door pulled open, revealing a young man. His eyes widened and his face turned pale as soon as he saw the police officer. He hurriedly tried to close her door, but Theodore put his hand firmly against the door frame and stopped it from closing.

"Relax," he said calmly. "He is not here to arrest you."

The man’s eyes darted between Theodore and Steward, his hesitation and fear palpable. "Why did you bring him here?" he asked frantically. "You promised you wouldn’t hand me to the cops."

"He won’t do anything as long as you tell him everything you saw that night," Theodore said calmly. "Try to trick us, and you will pay the price."

The man nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, I’ll tell you everything as long as you don’t give me to the cops." He was grateful to Theodore for saving him those gangsters by repaying his debts. He would do anything to help him.

"Who is he?" Steward asked. "And how could you promise to save a criminal? Are you insane?"

"If you want to resolve the case, listen to him," Theodore asserted. "Or else, you can leave."

"Fine!" Steward grumbled. He turned his attention to the man. "What do you know about O’Neil?"

"I-I am just a small photographer, working for a paparazzi," the man started. "Someone gave me money to follow Mr. Reid and take pictures of him if I found something odd. That night, I followed him to the abandoned factory and saw him torturing O’Neil. I filmed everything with my camera. I was terrified and I couldn’t call the cops."

He swallowed nervously, his gaze meeting Theodore’s. "It was raining heavily. I thought I would stay hidden there until the rain stopped. But I saw something more terrifying."

"What did you see?" Steward asked. "Did you see him killing O’Neil?" He pointed at Theodore.

The man trembled as he took a glance at Theodore. He shook his head. "It wasn’t him," he said. "He left after beating O’Neil. His bodyguard dragged O’Neil out of the factory and started digging." He recounted everything he had seen that night.

"But O’Neil wasn’t dead yet. Soon after the bodyguard left, he managed to come out of the grave. He was struggling to get up and run. I thought I would help him and rushed to him. But then..." He trailed off. "Someone came."

"Who?" Steward asked, his curiosity piquing.

"I don’t know who it was," the man replied, shaking his head. "He was wearing a mask. I couldn’t see his face." He felt a shiver run down his spine when he recalled that man’s deadly glare. "He strangled O’Neil to death and buried him back in the same grave. He snatched the camera from me and threatened me not to open my mouth. I needed money... So I didn’t dare say anything about it."

Theodore clenched his fists. All those days, he had thought he had killed O’Neil. But he had never known such a deep conspiracy behind him. If Skyler and Hugo hadn’t continued looking into it, this mystery wouldn’t have come to light.

Unfortunately, they still didn’t know who that mysterious masked man was, but they knew it was someone Claudia had hired.

"Who is it?" Steward growled, frustration bubbling inside him.

"It’s my stepmother," Theodore replied. "She has been blackmailing me with that footage for all those days. She indeed sent that man after him. When he found out that O’Neil wasn’t dead yet, he killed him to put the blame entirely on me."

His jaw clenched in frustration at Claudia’s cunningness. But he was grateful to Skyler and Hugo, who had been constantly working on exposing Claudia’s scheme.

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" Steward barked.

"Who tipped you about Franklin?" Theodore countered. "It was me. I thought you would investigate properly and find the truth, but you failed. Instead, you came to arrest me."

"You!" Steward grimaced, pointing a finger at him. He wouldn’t believe in this story until he found proper proof. He looked back at the man, rolling his fist. "Can you show me where O’Neil was buried?"

"Yes." The man nodded.

"Take us there," Steward commanded.

On the way to the abandoned factory, Steward phoned the station. "Send a team to the abandoned factory," he commanded as the call connected. "We have to dig out a corps."

By the time they reached the abandoned factory, the police team was already there. The man showed the place where O’Neil’s corps had been buried and soon, the digging work started.

Skyler also arrived there as soon as he received the news. He hurriedly approached Theodore. "Are you okay?" he asked in a hushed tone, a flicker of worry crossing his composed face.

However, Theodore was calm. Everything was going smoothly, just as they had planned. He gave a curt nod. "Did you bring the file I asked?"

"Yes." Skyler held out the file in his hand.

"Good." Theodore’s eyes were on the men digging the grave.