Two Hundred and fifty six

CHApter 256

"No, don't meet me!"

Anna didn't give up. She tried to push the door from the inside, and that made one of Alicia's feet even more trapped.

"My leg!"

Alicia wasn't out of ideas. She quickly found a way. She was already holding the door with one hand and one foot, but since Alicia felt that Anna couldn't be talked out of it and still had a strong desire to close the door, Alicia was forced to expend all her strength there.

It was like the two of them were in a pushing competition. Whoever succeeded in pushing the door would be the winner. But Anna didn't want to meet Alicia either. She pushed the door with all her might, not caring about Alicia's screams of pain as her foot was caught in the middle of the door.

And Alicia was trying to take a shortcut. Alicia cursed, "Damn it! Take your hand away, Anna!"

One strong push in the midst of the urgent situation finally won Alicia the game. She managed to push the door inward and send Anna tumbling backwards. Her ass landed right on the floor and it hurt.

Anna looked up, seeing Alicia who was now standing in front of her with her arms around her waist.

"Seriously, Anna? Must we hurt each other like this?"

Having no other choice, Anna let Alicia into her home. They sat at the table and faced each other. Because of the pushing and shoving they had done earlier, Anna had to sit while compressing her back and butt, while Alicia had to compress her legs. They both had swollen bodies from the action between them.

"Why do you want to close the door? You know my feet are in there," Alicia asked to the point, angry that her feet were becoming sore and sore.

Anna swallowed. She was embarrassed and felt reluctant. But beyond those two feelings, Anna felt more guilty for getting Alicia hurt. She bowed her head and apologized. "I'm sorry about what happened today. It's my fault."

"Are you trying to avoid me?"

"..."

"Did you resign from your job because you were involved with the death of my mother, Michelle Hathaway?"

Anna gasped slightly. She raised her face and looked at Alicia straight on. While observing Alicia's angry-looking face, Anna then said, "This is the first time I've seen Mrs. Michelle's daughter."

"Can you stop your lies and please answer my question."

Anna let out a long breath. "I knew that I would be accused like this. But I had no idea that Mrs. Michelle died from a suspected murder, not an explosion."

"Where did you get the information that my mother died of murder?"

"Two policemen came looking for me. They asked me a lot of questions about Mrs. Michelle. And that's when I realized that something was wrong." Anna was telling the truth. She lowered her voice, then continued her sentence. "I immediately suspected that Mrs. Michelle was murdered. It must have been an accident. And... because of my close relationship with Madame Michelle, I would probably be one of the suspects or something."

Alicia furrowed her brow. She put the ice pack Anna had given her onto the table. Her feet became wet as the ice cubes melted there, but Alicia ignored that and chose to continue her action, finding out things from Anna Parker.

"What did my mother tell you? What made you so close to her? Why... why did you run away at a time like this?"

Anna, who was bombarded with questions, could only bite her lip. She looked at Alicia unprepared. There were too many questions. Anna was at a loss to answer them one by one. But Alicia's demanding gaze made Anna unable to move. The girl in her forties looked down reluctantly, before finally muttering, "I regret everything very much, Miss Perth."

"What... did you do to my mother? Did you kill Mrs. Michelle?"

The look from Alicia made Anna tremble. She bit her lip, holding back the fear in her chest. Her eyes were glazed over, she looked sad. And that made Alicia unable to use her intuitive abilities properly. She stood between logic and feeling. Anna looked guilty, but on the other hand, Alicia realized that Anna was hiding something.

Finally, Alicia opened her voice again and asked another question. "I'll ask you again. Did you kill my mother?"

"No, Miss. I didn't kill your mother, but... information from me might have gotten your mother killed."

Deg!

The statement from Anna took Alicia by surprise. She was like being struck by lightning in broad daylight. There was a big surprise there and Alicia really wasn't expecting it.

"My boss, a professor from Japan, asked me if I had any connections, where this person had a lot of money and influence. If I can find one, my boss will give me a very, very large reward." Anna shook her head weakly. "I can't even imagine the amount of money he offered because it was so large. It feels like a dream. A beautiful dream. A dream that would come true. A dream that would make all my aspirations...into something real."

"So... what information did you give to that boss of yours?"

Although she asked in a slow tone, Anna could sense Alicia's curiosity there. Anna swallowed again. She really wasn't prepared for this kind of revelation. It was like she was being skinned to the bone. Her position cornered, Anna had no other choice.

"Please tell me, Anna. What did you do, what information did you give to your boss and what does all this have to do with my mother's death?"

"I... I told my boss that your mother held a lot of assets in New York. And she liked to organize charity events for children in hospitals. Madame Michelle's generosity... might be put to use."

Alicia's brows furrowed deeply. "I don't understand what you mean."

"I stole the data at Madame Michelle's house. It was a list of Madame Michelle's wealth and assets, but... I didn't realize that Madame Michelle had already prepared a will for you."

Alicia was silent, listening quietly to Anna's honesty.

"It's all just about money and business, Miss. And, I just walked into my own boss's trap."