waking up married

Chapter 8 Eric's Explanation

Noticing the stormy look on Caroline's face, Eric quickly explained, "At first, I suspected my father, but recent findings suggest he never got what he wanted from your mother, which somewhat absolves him of suspicion for now..."

Caroline was speechless, caught off guard by his revelation.

"Why would you suspect your father?" she inquired.

"My father had an affair with your mother. A man like him values his reputation highly, and it wouldn't be out of the question for him to harm his mistress to protect his own name," Eric replied, and his gaze softly locked on her face. "Isn't that why you wanted a contractual marriage with me in the first place? You wanted to use me to meet my father to your advantage, to get to the bottom of this."

He watched Caroline in silence. Even in the past, when they had joined forces to uncover the truth about her mother's murder, she had remained cautious and resistant towards him.

Noticing her amnesia, he had done everything in his power to keep her by his side.

He had finally seen a glimmer of hope for reconciliation, but now distrust had once again sprouted in her heart.

Eric sighed inwardly. Caroline might have come across people she shouldn't have and heard things she wasn't meant to hear.

"What exactly did your father want to get from my mother? Tell me everything you've found out in your investigation," Caroline demanded. She had to get more information from Eric to fill in the gaps in her memory.

Eric nodded, "After your mother passed away, someone had searched her home. Nothing valuables seemed to be missing, but all of the USB drives were gone. My father also probed you several times, trying to find out if your mother had given you an important USB drive. I suspect your mother came across a secret, stored it on a USB drive, and then... she was silenced for it."

Caroline's expression grew grave. "My mother was just an ordinary insurance salesperson. What kind of secret could she have known that would bring such a fatal disaster upon her?"

"The largest insurance policies wouldn't catch the attention of a businessman like my father," Eric said, his eyes narrowing, "It must have been a secret tied to massive interests, significant enough for people to take action, even to the point of hiring a professional assassin to kill your mother."

A chill crept up from Caroline's feet.

A professional hit? No wonder Eric hadn't found out anything.

"Could it be that your father was the one who hired someone to do it?"

"I probed him subtly, but he didn't seem to know what happened. He just kept asking where your USB drive was." A sense of unwavering conviction was evident in his demeanor. "In truth, your mother's death doesn't serve his interests in the least. After spending such a great deal of time winning your mother's heart, why would he murder her before he could lay his hands on what he was after? It simply doesn't add up."

Caroline nodded in agreement.

His analysis was entirely based on logical deduction, without a hint of bias in favor of his own father.

If Eric were truly the perpetrator behind his own mother's death, he would unquestionably be trying to shift the blame onto someone else as swiftly as possible, not calmly dissecting the situation with her in such an organized manner.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Sarah was her best friend, and she should have trusted her. But, as she recalled today's encounter with Sarah, she noticed that something was off about Sarah. She couldn't just take Sarah's word for it and risk jumping to conclusions about Eric.

Seeing Caroline's look of immense relief, Eric guessed that he might have been cleared of some suspicion and, feigning nonchalance, cast a covert glance at her phone lying on the table.

Caroline checked the time, suddenly realizing it was almost dinnertime. She'd been so caught up in questioning him that she'd forgotten Eric was still recovering and needed to eat. She quickly grabbed her wallet. "Shoot, I'm so sorry. I'll go grab you some dinner. You get some more rest, okay?"

Then, Caroline bolted from the hospital room, even forgetting her phone on the table. Eric watched her leave in haste and couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly, the phone on the table buzzed, and the screen lit up. Eric glanced at it casually and saw Sarah's name on the caller ID. His eyes narrowed, a sharp glint flickering across them.

So, they had run into each other and exchanged numbers! No wonder Caroline was suddenly doubting him. Sarah must have said something she shouldn't.

That woman had betrayed Caroline multiple time, and he had warned her to steer clear of his Caroline.

It seemed time to teach her a lesson. He would never allow anyone to hurt Caroline again.