Chapter 185: Have you truly let go of Nora?
Nathaniel perked up at the weight in Liam’s voice. "Let’s not talk here. We’ll go somewhere else." He slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Liam joined him on the passenger side, and soon the car eased out of the lot.
The journey was silent. Neither of them spoke.
Liam’s thoughts kept circling back to the surveillance footage he had seen. Why would Riya drug her own sister-in-law? What grudge did she hold against Zara?
None of it made sense.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel’s mind was on something else. The growing silence only made him more restless. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Liam still believed something inappropriate was going on between him and Eugen. The tension gnawed at him until he finally broke it.
"There is nothing between Eugen and me," he said firmly. "I came to confront him as I thought he had said something to Zara that upset her. That’s all."
"I already told you," Liam cut him off coolly. "I don’t care about your private affairs. But let me say this—if you are not serious about your marriage, if you don’t truly want Zara, let her go. She deserves better."
"What rubbish?" Nathaniel snapped, irritation flashing in his voice. "You think I don’t make her happy? That’s what you believe?"
"Then answer me this," Liam shot back, his eyes sharp as they locked onto him. "Have you truly let go of Nora?"
Nathaniel didn’t answer right away. The silence between them grew heavy.
How could he put it into words?
Nora was etched into his soul—her death hadn’t erased her presence. She lived on in his heart, in his memories, and in Zane. Forgetting her was impossible, even if he had chosen to build something new with Zara.
Liam read everything he needed from that silence. His jaw tightened.
"Just as I thought," he muttered bitterly. "You have never let her go. And that’s not fair to Zara. She deserves someone who loves her wholeheartedly. Why trap her in a marriage that lacks love?"
Nathaniel bristled at his concern for Zara. A cold sneer tugged at his lips. "You seem awfully invested in my wife’s happiness. What exactly are your intentions?" His gaze slid toward Liam. "Are you trying to compete with me for her?"
Liam scoffed. "Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need to. But I can see what’s happening. You are keeping her bound to you out of duty, out of obligation. That’s not a marriage. Zara deserves more than that. She deserves love of her own. If you can’t give her that, then stop chaining her to a burden that was never hers to carry."
Nathaniel’s temper flared. "She is my family. Mine. And I know damn well how to treat my wife. I don’t need an outsider telling me what my duty is."
Liam’s jaw tightened, his expression dark. "Alright then. I’ll trust that you won’t let her down."
He took out a pen drive from his pocket and held it out. "Here. Take a good look at what’s on this. You’ll see exactly who slipped Zara that drug at the party last night. I expect you to punish the one responsible and get her the justice she deserves."
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the pen drive onto the dashboard. "But if you don’t... I’ll step in. And when I do, you won’t be able to stop me. Now pull over."
Nathaniel hit the brakes, and the car rolled to a stop. Liam pushed the door open and stepped out without another word. But before leaving, he bent down, his eyes locking with Nathaniel’s through the window.
"Oh, and one more thing—the waitress who handed Zara that spiked drink is dead. She was found in her house with her throat slit."
Leaving that chilling revelation hanging in the air, Liam walked off, while Nathaniel sat frozen in stunned silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathaniel headed straight to his office. The moment he dropped into his chair, he plugged in the pen drive and opened the video file. His brows furrowed as the footage began to play.
It was surveillance from the banquet hall, guests moving about, laughter and chatter filling the hall. Nathaniel leaned closer, eyes sharp, determined to uncover what Liam wanted him to see.
’The waitress... Zara was served by a waitress,’ he reminded himself, scanning the crowd carefully.
Then, in a dim corner of the hall, a subtle movement caught his attention. He focused on it, narrowing his gaze. And then he saw it: someone slipping a bundle of cash to a waitress.
Nathaniel’s jaw clenched as the footage showed the waitress pouring something into a champagne glass. A heartbeat later, she carried that very glass over to Zara and Bree. What made his eyes widen was the clear sight of her handing the spiked drink directly to Zara.
"That woman..." he muttered, fury building, his fist tightening against the desk. "She spiked Zara’s drink. But who is the one behind that pillar?" His mind raced. "Could it be... Jaxon?"
It was unthinkable that Jaxon had mingled with the guests. No one could enter that hall without an invitation. Then another possibility struck Nathaniel. Had Jaxon disguised himself as part of the catering staff?
"Yes," he muttered grimly. "He could have dressed as a waiter and slipped in. He must have been the one who paid that woman."
But as soon as the thought settled, another doubt crept in. Where would Jaxon get that kind of money?
All his bank accounts were frozen. He was banned from setting foot on Moore’s property. Every asset tied to the Moores was out of reach. Moreover, the police were already searching for him everywhere. Since the kidnapping incident, Jaxon had been on the run—penniless, homeless, barely able to survive.
How could a man in that state afford to bribe anyone?
"There has to be a third party involved," Nathaniel reasoned. "Without someone’s support, Jaxon wouldn’t have dared to show up."
He turned back to the video, replaying the same moment again and again, desperate to see who the shadowy figure behind the pillar was. But the camera angle betrayed nothing more than an arm extending with cash.
"Damn it," he cursed, slamming his fist against the desk. Frustration twisted in his chest. But he didn’t lose hope. "There must be some clue – something that can be useful to identify the person."
He zoomed in, scrutinizing every pixel. And then he saw something that made his blood run cold.
His eyes were fixed on the hand that gave the waitress the money—around the wrist, a diamond bracelet glittered. Nathaniel’s heart sank. He recognized that bracelet.
It was the very one he had gifted Riya for her birthday last year. She loved it so much that she never took it off.
"Impossible," he mumbled, chills pricking his nape. "This can’t be true. Riya can’t do something like this. It can’t be her..."