Chapter 7
“Wait! What are you doing?” Violet shouted in shock.
Hansel immediately tugged her away and easily grabbed Jayson’s wrist before the latter could strike. Then, he shoved Jayson aside like a rag.
It was obvious that Hansel was trained in combat. Jayson was no match for him and stumbled on his footing.
I instinctively tried to grab hold of him, but my hands just went right through his body.
After Jayson found his balance again, he yelled, “Hansel Frost! If something happened to Lara, I will never let you off the hook!”
Hansel just scoffed coldly and looked at him with disdain. “Don’t worry. Shameless bitches live long lives. She’s alive and kicking somewhere!”
What a fucking pompous bastard!
I couldn’t hold back the anger and disappointment in me any longer. I rushed over to Hansel’s body and kept hammering against his chest. But it was all in vain.
My tears kept streaming down my face as I eventually fell to the ground in defeat.
Hansel Frost! Just how cruel and heartless could he be?
“Calm down, both of you,” the officer said, hurrying over to stop the fight. “Let’s take a closer look at the new lead first.”
…
They went into an office next, where my white lace dress was laid out on the table.
“Mr. Frost, Mr. Summerton, we found this in the woods near Lake Clearwater. We’ve checked surveillance footage to see that Ms. Fairlight wore this same dress on the day she went missing.”
While speaking, the officer looked at Hansel. Then, he continued, “She boarded a yacht registered under your name, Mr. Frost, to attend your engagement party with Ms. Lovelace here. Do you have any recollection of that, Mr. Frost?”
Hansel was momentarily speechless. His expression remained frosty nonetheless.
Violet pretended to be shocked. She gripped Hansel’s arm harder and exclaimed, “Oh, my god! Why is it so ruined?”
I felt my heart ache again, this time with a sharp pain.
The dress had been slashed to ribbons, with a huge chunk missing from the lower half of the dress. The lacework around the bodice had also been completely destroyed. The perpetrator had made sure to drive the knife through the pattern multiple times.
There was also dried blood caked on the dress, turning a pure white gown into a creepy, ominous shade of red.
I had bought this dress on the day I met my demise. After buying Hansel’s pills, I used the remaining money to purchase this dress.
It cost me 99 dollars.
I thought that it was a reasonable price, and I wanted to be with Hansel for 99 years and more. So, I bought it without giving it another thought and put it on. Who would have thought that it would end up being such a cruel reminder of my stupidity?
I didn’t get to spend 99 years or more with Hansel. Our relationship had been nothing but a farce all along. He had been playing me like a toy, taking me for granted and trampling on me just because he wanted to.
After staring at the dress for a long time, Hansel finally spoke. “So what are you trying to tell me?”
The officer explained, “The dress had been slashed to ribbons. We have a hunch that it was made by the perpetrator’s weapon—”
“Are you sure that the perpetrator did this?” Hansel interrupted the officer coldly.
The officer was shocked, as if he wasn’t prepared for Hansel’s sudden question.
I felt my heart sink even further.
Why did Hansel ask a question like that? Could it be that…
Just as I had managed to piece my thoughts together, Jayson had already rushed over to Hansel in a rage. “Hansel Frost! What do you mean by that question? Are you trying to insinuate that Lara did this to herself?”
Hansel looked at Jayson coldly and chuckled scornfully at him. “It’s not impossible.”
I widened my eyes and stared in disbelief at the man I used to love.
Even though I was just a floating ghost now, I found breathing growing increasingly more difficult.
Was he really that heartless?
How could he still act so coldly when presented with the dress I’d been murdered in? It was slashed to ribbons and dyed red with my blood! How could he still say such cold and heartless things about me?
He thought I slashed it myself?
Ha!
Just how lowly did he think of me?
I had never once let him down or made him disappointed in me. I had given him my all in our relationship, but all I got in return was his scorn and disdain.
Why in the world did I even fall for a man like him? He was literally the Devil incarnate himself!
Jayson was shaking with anger. I could tell that he was on the edge of exploding. However, he took a deep breath and forced his anger back down. He then turned to the officer and asked, “Officer, when can we get the results?”
He must be referring to the blood on my dress being used for a DNA test.
The officer looked at his watch briefly and said, “It should be very soon.”
Jayson kept his temper in check. “If the blood is found to belong to Elara, does that mean that we can finally open an investigation on this?”
“Of course.”
Jayson looked at Hansel and smiled coldly. “Just you wait, Hansel Frost.”
Hansel didn’t say anything more and continued with his cold, frosty demeanor. His eyes were deep and dark like a blackhole, cruel and merciless.
Less than a minute later, another officer came along to deliver the DNA test results.
“After comparing samples, we can attest that the blood on the dress does indeed belong to Elara Fairlight.”
Hansel casually lifted his gaze, a glint appearing in them for a split second. He didn’t show a crack in his calm expression, not even when faced with evidence that my blood had been found on the dress I’d been wearing.
Meanwhile, Violet, the Roscar Award for Best Actress winner, immediately looked shocked and upset at the “revelation”. She exclaimed, “No, Lara!”
Jayson was getting emotional. He urged, “We can set up a formal investigation now, can’t we? The blood belongs to Lara. She’s gotten into some serious trouble. And it’s already been five days!
“Please, please open a case for this. Don’t waste any more time! Lara has always been a headstrong person. She might still be alive—no, she has still got to be alive!”
Jayson was starting to get choked up at the end of his sentence. Nevertheless, he sounded determined, as if I was still alive.
Unfortunately, I was already dead.
We’d never be able to meet again, Jayjay.
The officer reviewed the DNA report and told Jayson, “Mr. Summerton, please come with us to give us your statement.”
“Okay—”
“You can’t open a case on this!”
Before Jayson could even agree, Violet interrupted him at once.
Jayson turned to look at her in anger. “Violet Lovelace, you damn ingrate! You robbed Lara of everything she had! And now, you’re still stopping us from opening a case on her? What, does her disappearance have something to do with you?”
Violet was shocked. She quickly shook her head in denial. “That’s not it, Jayjay! How would I—”
“Don’t call me that. It disgusts me,” he interrupted her back.
“But Jayjay…” Violet said, still calling him that nickname. Her voice was softer and more beseeching this time. It looked like she didn’t care that Jayson was being rude or crass with her. “I understand how you’re feeling now, but since this involves Hansel, we can’t simply open up an investigation just because. It’s going to affect him badly.
“The police can continue searching for her as a missing person. But we just can’t simply open up a case for her!”
Jayson smiled coldly. “This is not up to you to decide.”
“Violet has a point,” Hansel said casually, finally breaking his silence. “Since there are no witnesses and no proof of Ms. Fairlight getting hurt, there’s no need for a formal investigation just because of some bloodstains on a dress she’d been wearing. That would be too rash and slapdash of the police.”
Ah, here they went again, finishing each other’s thoughts.
“Bullshit!” Jayson was truly enraged now. He reached for Hansel’s collar, his handsome face twisted into an angry sneer. “Hansel Frost, I’ve had it up to her with both you and that fucking bitch toying with Lara’s feelings! But how dare you stop us from opening up a formal investigation?”
Jayson had only just grazed Hansel’s collar before his hand was dragged away by the police. Hansel still stood there, unmoving, looking unbothered and making Jayson even angrier than ever.
Meanwhile, Violet exclaimed, “Jayjay! You can’t hit Hansel like that! You’re going to land in jail if you do! Hurry up and apologize to him now! He won’t make things hard for you—”
“Fuck off!” Jayson roared, looking at her in disgust. “I don’t hit women, but don’t you dare shove your fucking nonsense down my throat because I won’t buy it!”
Violet looked at him with a pitiful look on her face.
Hansel spoke again. “Mr. Summerton, since you’re truly upset about Ms. Fairlight, I’ll forgive you this time. However, you cannot open up a formal investigation for Ms. Fairlight’s disappearance.”
While speaking, he turned to the officer and said, “Since Ms. Fairlight appeared on my yacht before going missing, I guess I can’t help getting dragged into this drama. However, I do not wish for my reputation to be affected before the truth is out. I hope that the police will proceed with caution moving forward. Capisce?”
Reputation?
All he cared about was his fucking reputation?
Ha!
Hansel was the most influential man in Allerton, after all.
His last sentence held a powerful weight to it, and the two police officers immediately nodded in compliance. “Yes, Mr. Frost. We will continue treating this case as a missing persons case and continue searching for Ms. Fairlight.”
“In that case, I won’t hold you back from your jobs any longer,” Hansel said, nodding slightly at them. “Please contact me if you have any news about this case.”
I chuckled drily again.
Now that it involved his reputation, he finally told the police to contact him about any new updates.
He was such a selfish person, and yet, I had been blindly in love with him for years.
“Alright, Mr. Frost. Let me see you off,” one of the officers said.
“Why won’t you open a formal investigation? Why not? The blood belongs to Lara! Why won’t you open it?” Jayson yelled helplessly at Hansel’s disappearing figure as his eyes turned red with anger.
“Hansel Frost! Must you see Lara’s dead body before believing that she’s dead? Is that when you’ll finally open a formal investigation?”
