The Barlows were still recovering from their shock when the nurses entered the room with a stretcher.
After they had attended to Mr. Barlow and rolled him out of the room with Madam Rosey following them, Catherine's mother finally found the courage to ask, "My daughter wasn't involved in an accident?"
"No, she got to the conference safely," Rome replied, coldly eyeing Jeff.
"But then the call from the hospital, and how devastated you looked when you were leaving the house..." Edward mumbled in confusion.
Focusing his gaze on his father-in-law, Rome said in annoyance, "Catherine wasn't involved in an accident. But that doesn't mean an accident didn't happen."
Then he threw Jeff a dirty look and said, "Romney was in the SUV when the truck hit. Luckily the driver ran into the car from the back door side, and Romney only sustained a few head bruises."
Puzzled by Rome's remark, Jeff frowned and mumbled beneath his breath, "But didn't Catherine leave with this Romney guy?"
With anger in his eyes, Mr. Ford sent his text to Mr. Brown before calmly walking up to Jeff.
Then he met his eyes and aggressively patted his jaw continuously as he coldly uttered, "Stay out of this conversation, boy, or else you would need critical medical attention before the police take you from here. Got it?"
When Mr. Ford gave Jeff the last hard pat on his red cheek, he immediately nodded with fear glowing in his eyes.
'Like father like son. I now see where Rome gets his hot temper from.' Anthony thought without looking at Mr. Ford.
For a moment, Rome stared Jeff dead in his eyes and then he said, "Do you take me as a fool?"
Swallowing hard, Jeff shook his head and obediently mumbled, "No,"
"Well, it's only now that you don't because if you didn't take me to be stupid before you wouldn't have attempted to hurt my wife right after your brother's attempt." Rome coldly uttered, feeling a sense of rage resurfacing again.
"But how did Catherine get to the conference if the accident happened?" Elijah mumbled out loud in confusion.
Swaying his gaze to Elijah, Rome scowled and said, "Five identical SUVs were detailing the vehicle Catherine was in, and Jeff's stupid farewell greeting to her before she left, alert me."
Striving not to fold his fingers into a fist, Rome angrily continued, "I made a call to Romney right after he and Catherine left the mansion and asked him to allow her to ride with Ted."
Not shocked about what Rome said, Dash eyed Jeff and thought, 'Your first mistake was underestimating Rome.'
Noticing the confused look in Jeff's eyes, Rome coldly uttered, "Then I informed Ted to take another road while the other four SUVs continued on the same route."
Silence took over the room as Rome strived to suppress the rage he felt just by thinking about what would have happened if he didn't make those changes.
Then he paused for a moment before saying, "I knew that something was going to happen, but I didn't know what it was until I got a call from my father that Romney was involved in an accident. That's when I realized what your plans were for my wife."
With anger in her eyes, Catherine's mother glared at Jeff and said, "You really tried to hurt my daughter!"
"He didn't try to hurt my daughter-in-law, he wanted her dead!" Mr. Ford firmly uttered.
Feeling desperate and afraid, Jeff mumbled, "None of this is my doing! I swear, I would never try to kill Catherine. We are blood after all!"
Pulling his brows together, Mr. Ford looked at Jeff and coldly asked, "What did I tell you?"
"To keep quiet," Jeff mumbled, feeling weak in his knees.
"Right! And even if you do waste your energy on talking, you are not getting out of this one on your lies since the truck driver is in the custody of the police."
Staring dumbfoundedly at Mr. Ford, Jeff mumbled beneath his breath, "What!"
"Why do you think five cars were detailing Catherine's car? My men were able to catch him after he caused the accident." Mr. Ford said, narrowing his eyes at him.
A look of pure frustration crossed Jeff's face, realizing that there was no window of escape for him.
Hardening his face, Mr. Ford looked at his knuckles and mumbled, "I made him talk before sending him to the police."
Then he locked eyes with Jeff and said, "So spare us the rubbish you are planning on saying."
Suddenly, Rome's phone buzzed, so he pulled it from his pocket, stared at the screen, and smiled.
Then he turned his back to the Barlows, answered the call, and said, "Hey, wife. How's the conference going?"
Pouting, Chloe felt her heart skip a beat, hearing Rome talk so gently to Catherine, and she felt envious, knowing that the man that she had always wanted has been in front of her all along.
"In the beginning, it was a little weird because I had to swap cars and Mr. Ford left a few minutes after I got here. But It's going well now." Catherine's voice echoed into Rome's ear.
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