?Chapter 993:


    An involuntary shudder rippled through Jack’s frame at Noah’s piercing inquiry, prompting him to hastily drop his gaze to the imported marble floor, his survival instincts screaming against meeting those lethal eyes directly.


    Jack’s mind shed back to the terrifying transformation that had overtaken Noah’s features earlier that day when the news first reached him that Sadie might have perished in a fiery vehicr inferno, her body reduced to unrecognizable ash.


    Jack harbored not the slightest doubt that, had Sadie suffered even the most minor injury, both the Johnson family and Briley would have been systematically erased from existence with such devastating thoroughness that even their memories would vanish from public consciousness.


    Jack hastily retrieved theprehensive investigation report he had meticulouslypiled, extending it toward his employer with both hands in a gesture that acknowledged the power disparity between them.


    “Boss, our investigation confirms that a third party orchestrated events from the shadows. However, this person operated with exceptional caution, leaving behind only a handful of indirect call records. Concrete evidence continues to elude our grasp for the moment.”


    Noah epted the folder, his prating gaze darkening to the color of a midnight ocean during a tempest. “Who is it?” he asked.


    Jack’s throat constricted, words momentarily trapped behind the knot of apprehension that threatened to choke him. He understood with crystal rity precisely how volcanic his boss’s reaction would be to the name he must now divulge.


    Noah lowered his piercing gaze to the folder, his aristocratic fingers methodically navigating through the pages with deceptive casualness that belied the deadly focus of his attention.


    The moment his gaze alighted upon the familiar sequence of digits inscribed on the page, his expression crystallized into something beyond mere coldness—a cial mask of controlled fury that made the room temperature seem to plummet several degrees. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.


    It was Hailey—the very name conjured venom in his veins. The investigation revealed multiple lengthy telephone exchanges between her and Briley during the twenty-four hours preceding the orchestrated “ident,” creating a damning pattern impossible to dismiss as coincidental.


    Jack, witnessing the transformation rippling across Noah’s countenance, paradoxically discovered some courage and said, “Boss, perhaps… perhaps we should consider the possibility of mere coincidence… or some fundamental misunderstanding of the evidence…”


    Jack had barely finished speaking when Noah suddenly turned his cold, sharp gaze on him.


    Jack immediately fell silent, a part of him regretting he had said anything. What had gotten into him, anyway?


    Noah closed the file, his face nk. Without saying a word, he turned and walked out of the study.


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