Connor's assistant paused for a moment before replying, "The storm last night knocked out the fiber network around the hotel area. Because of the outage, the security cameras didn't manage to record where the woman went."
A faint sense of loss flickered across Connor's expression.
He opened the compartment and took out a neatly folded shirt. "This is hers. Track her using this."
He had found it near the doorway of that room. At the time, he had intended to personally return it, apologize properly, and make things right.
But now, there was no trace of her anywhere.
Only then did it hit him that he hadn't even bothered to look at her face yesterday.
Yet her crying voice still lingered in his memory.
"I didn't drug you."
She had said it over and over again.
He hadn't believed a word. Annoyed by what he thought was deception, he had only become rougher during sex.
A dull weight settled in his chest. His fingers tightened slightly as he spoke in a rough voice. "Report to me the moment you find anything."
"Yes, sir."
After Connor left, Bethany also left the villa.
Since he refused to help her, she had no choice but to try on her own.
For several consecutive days, she went from place to place, desperately seeking assistance.
That day was no different—she was thrown out again. "Our boss has no interest in meeting you. Standing here all day won't change anything. Leave!"
Security dragged her away and shoved her to the ground outside the building. The doors closed firmly in front of her.
Recently, everyone who had once promised help over the phone had suddenly started avoiding her.
Dragging herself back up, she was about to try again when a mocking voice rang out nearby.
"Wow, look at you. Didn't expect to see you in such a pathetic state." Nicole appeared, dressed elegantly in a soft, fashionable dress, clinging to Gavin's arm with open pride.
They were no longer hiding anything.
Bethany's eyes turned cold as she looked at them. "How long has this been going on?"
Her voice was steady—no shouting, no tears. Gavin, however, looked uneasy and avoided her gaze. "Bethany, I—"
Nicole tightened her grip on his arm and interrupted with a smug smile. "Since after you cheated, of course. Gavin was heartbroken, and I was the one who comforted him."
A cold laugh escaped Bethany. "Don't twist the story. You think everyone is like you? Always tangled up in some sleazy affair? And don't forget—your own mother built her life by destroying someone else's marriage. Now you're doing the same to me."
Nicole's expression twisted instantly. Her mother's past was a sensitive wound; her mother had once been a mistress before finally securing marriage after Shirley's mental collapse. She could not tolerate anyone bringing it up.
"Shut your mouth!" Nicole snapped, lunging at her.
Before Bethany could react, Nicole grabbed her clothes and tore at them violently. The fabric ripped open in seconds, and the marks on Bethany's skin were exposed for everyone to see.
She quickly tried to cover herself, but it was already too late.
Nicole pointed at her triumphantly. "Gavin, look! I told you she was fooling around with someone else!"
Gavin's face darkened immediately. Anger replaced confusion in his eyes. "Nicole warned me you cheated. I didn't believe it at first, but now it's clear. You really did betray me. You're disgusting."
Bethany's voice rose sharply. "If you hadn't sent that message, none of this would've happened!"
Gavin frowned in confusion. "What message?"
Nicole let out a soft, mocking laugh. "Oops. That text? I sent it from his phone. Just a harmless little joke. I didn't think you'd actually go through with it. So tell me, how was it? Sleeping with some tramp?"
Bethany froze completely.
A chilling realization crashed over her. So that man... had been the tramp Nicole had set up.
A surge of rage exploded inside Bethany so suddenly that her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
She had never harmed Nicole, not once. Yet Nicole had stolen her fiancé, sabotaged her mother's treatment, and systematically destroyed every part of her life. The sheer cruelty of it left her breathless.
How could someone be this malicious?
The fury inside her kept intensifying, pushing her reason to the brink.
Nicole tilted her head with a mocking smile and added, "You came here looking for Mr. James, didn't you? Funny thing, I just walked out of his office. Care to know what I told him?"
At that moment, everything clicked in Bethany's mind.
The person who had blocked every possible route for her mother's survival was Nicole.
"Shut up!" Bethany snapped, no longer able to contain herself as she suddenly rushed forward.
Nicole let out a startled scream and staggered back, but Bethany seized her by the hair and forced her down onto the ground.
She straddled Nicole and struck her repeatedly without stopping—left, right, again and again. Nicole screamed and struggled, but she couldn't break free, crying out in pain as the blows continued.
"It hurts! Gavin, help me!" Nicole shouted.
Gavin rushed in, grabbing at Bethany in an attempt to pull her away. "Bethany, are you insane? Stop this right now!"
But Bethany was consumed by rage. Her strength had multiplied in fury; not only did Gavin fail to restrain her, but he also took several slaps across his own face while trying.
The commotion continued for more than ten minutes until two police officers on patrol arrived and intervened, forcing her down.
Disheveled and breathing hard, Bethany was pinned to the ground. Her red, furious eyes stayed fixed on Nicole like someone who had lost all restraint.
Nicole's face was already marked with handprints. Though she wanted to retaliate verbally, fear made her retreat instead.
She quickly hid behind Gavin, forcing out a few shaky sobs. "Officers, I don't even know her! She suddenly attacked me for no reason. She's dangerous. You need to question her properly!"
Bethany wasn't surprised by the lie. Nicole always twisted situations like this. But what terrified her more was being taken away.
If she ended up in custody, there would be no one left to care for Shirley.
And by the time she returned, she might only find her mother's lifeless body waiting.
"She's lying! That's not what happened!" Bethany struggled fiercely, but the officers had already seen her attack Nicole and had made up their minds.
"Enough!" one officer barked before striking the back of her knee and forcing her downward.
Pain shot through Bethany's leg, weakening her instantly.
Her resistance faded, her shoulders slumped, and she was dragged toward the police vehicle as tears slipped silently down her face.
Nicole watched her being taken away like a broken puppet and let out a satisfied laugh. "Bethany, you'd better sit in there and think carefully about what coffin you're going to choose for your mother."
She then addressed Gavin. "Baby, come with me. We'll get a medical report and make sure she gets the sentence she deserves in full."
With that, she slipped her arm through his and turned to leave, wearing a smug expression.
But at that moment, a low, icy voice sliced through the air. "Who gave you the right to touch my fiancée?"