After All the Hurt, She Chose Herself novel Chapter 271

After Lilith Rowan's death, Charles Brent hadn't approved of Roxanne Brent letting Gideon Evernight attend the funeral as her widower.

But Roxanne had gone on about not wanting Lilith to leave with any regrets, so Charles couldn't really argue.

Plus, he knew Gideon hadn't treated Aria Rowan well over the years, which only deepened his disdain for the man.

Charles stared at Flora Keene's car and dialed her number.

She answered almost immediately.

"Where are you? I just stopped by your place, but you weren't home."

Flora's tone was as casual as ever.

"Charles, I'm at the hospital with Lilith. She always loved having people around, and I don't want her to be alone in such a cold place."

It was a flawless lie.

If Charles hadn't known she was currently at the police station, he never would have believed she was deceiving him.

"Charles, Lilith just passed away, and I haven't had time for you... Are you mad at me?"

He gripped his phone tightly. "No. I know how close you two were."

Flora's voice took on a bright, affectionate lilt, just like when they first started dating.

"I'll come find you as soon as I'm done talking to Lilith, okay?"

Charles gave a brief nod of agreement and ended the call.

At that exact moment, Flora stepped out of her car.

Seeing her arrive, Gideon kept his predatory gaze fixed on Aria.

"Aria, if you drop this divorce right now, I can keep you safe."

Aria scoffed inwardly.

After everything, he actually thought she would compromise.

Aria's eyes landed on the flash drive in Flora's hand, and she finally let out a breath of relief.

She had taken the bait.

Her gaze unconsciously drifted to Raphael Evernight. He was already watching her, and when their eyes met, he offered a subtle smile.

Aria looked away.

The officer took the flash drive and reviewed its contents carefully.

"Lilith's cause of death was a massive injection of air. This doesn't prove Aria took the missing 5 milligrams to use on her."

"Officer, the drug Aria originally developed was highly addictive! And she knew Lilith hadn't kicked her habit. All she needed to do was offer a tiny dose to make Lilith submit or drop her guard completely. If she made her move then, of course Lilith wouldn't have fought back!"

She sounded entirely convincing.

It was as if Aria was genuinely a murderer, and Flora had just handed them the smoking gun.

"These are just speculations without any concrete proof. There are many members in the lab, and the daily synthesized amounts are often just estimates. A slight discrepancy is perfectly normal.