A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 198

However, the officer's next words shattered the relief.

"You are exactly the suspect we're looking for."

What?

"A report was filed naming you as the prime suspect in a criminal case involving one fatality and one aggravated assault."

That meant Madeleine had officially made her move.

Framing her for Rochelle’s murder and Jasmine’s assault.

After a brief flash of shock, Winifred's mind went ice-cold. It was a vicious, calculated frame-up, which was entirely on-brand for Madeleine.

"We need you to come with us to the station for questioning."

Once the doctor confirmed she only fainted from a preexisting condition and was physically stable, the officers moved to take her into custody.

Winifred remained remarkably composed.

She wasn't afraid. She had hard evidence.

She wasn't going to fall for the same trap twice.

"Give me one moment," she requested.

She started looking around for her phone, checking under the pillows and scanning the blankets.

Nothing.

She turned her attention to the small bedside table.

"What are you looking for?" one of the officers asked.

"My phone." Not seeing it on top of the table, she pulled open the drawer.

"Don't bother looking. We've confiscated your personal effects as per protocol."

Winifred turned around and saw the officer holding an evidence bag containing all her belongings.

"Please, let me have my phone. I just need to make one quick call."

She knew exactly what was at stake. Walking into that precinct alone, an absolute nobody in this massive city without a single connection to her name, meant she had zero chance of getting a lawyer or ever seeing the light of day again.

Her enemy was Madeleine, the matriarch of a family that practically owned Seaport City.

Her life was entirely in Madeleine's hands right now.

If she walked out that door, she might never come back.

The audio and video recordings she took during her encounters with the Lockwoods were all on that phone. That was her absolute lifeline.

The moment she stood up straight, a pair of steel handcuffs was thrust into her line of sight.

The cold, humiliating metal snapped shut around her slender, pale wrists.

The blow hit her heart like a sledgehammer, sending it plunging into her stomach.

Her icy composure was instantly shattered, replaced by a suffocating, violent wave of panic.

Her mind buzzed uncontrollably, one desperate thought echoing in the chaos... Please don't put me in shackles too.

The hospital was crowded.

She wasn't a nobody anymore.

She was no longer the lone orphan who only had herself to answer to, where bleeding out in the streets or running for her life didn't impact a single soul.

She was a mother now. She had two beautiful children.

If someone took a picture of her like this and her kids somehow saw it, their fragile little hearts wouldn't be able to take it.

A maelstrom of unspeakable emotions swirled in her eyes as she looked at the two officers.

"I'm just a suspect. I haven't been convicted of anything. Please, just afford me a little basic dignity."