A faint light suddenly ignited in Evelyn's eyes.

It was like glimpsing a sliver of dawn in the darkness.

That thought grew wildly.

Was Mrs. Ashcroft… her real mother?

Only this could explain Leo's long-term blackmail of Isabella.

It also matched Liam's words about "stealing your life."

The seed that had lain dormant in her heart for years suddenly broke through the soil.

"Fine, if you say so."

Liam suddenly changed his tune, his expression relaxing.

Evelyn frowned.

This man was like a rat in the gutter.

He could pretend to be innocent after killing his own father, fooling both Captain Durant and Grace.

His current performance was hard to distinguish as truth or lies.

But she was not in a hurry.

"Liam, the DNA test results will be out immediately. Can you hide it?"

Evelyn straightened up, narrowing her eyes.

"You always said your father treated you poorly, that his debts forced you. But you know the truth. Isabella was forced by your father to tutor you. Your father was drowning in gambling debts, but your tuition and living expenses were never cut off. In the end, he told you the secret because he wanted you to continue blackmailing Isabella…"

"So you weren't forced at all. You are rotten to the core…"

Liam's head snapped up, his expression vicious.

Evelyn turned and walked out of the interrogation room, nodding to Grace.

Grace sent someone to escort Liam back to his cell.

"How long will his sentence be?"

"Death sentence with reprieve. Usually, the death penalty isn't carried out after the reprieve period. Most likely, life imprisonment."

"As long as he doesn't die."

Evelyn said calmly, "If my guess is wrong, I still need to extract the secret from him."

Grace looked puzzled. "Didn't he pledge his loyalty to Isabella? Would he still talk?"

Evelyn glanced at her. "You don't know Isabella well enough."

Grace turned her head away. "In middle school, I only knew you. I only knew she was your sister…"

Mentioning the past, Evelyn tentatively asked, "Back then…"

Grace's body stiffened.

Evelyn lowered her gaze. "Back then, I didn't mean to lie to you."

Grace's eyes instantly reddened. "Then why didn't you do well on the high school entrance exam? We promised to go to the best high school together! I knew your abilities!"

Evelyn gave a bitter smile. "Just assume I underperformed?"

"Impossible!" Grace said seriously. "You had already self-studied the entire high school curriculum in middle school. You could have aced it with your eyes closed. How could you underperform?"

Evelyn sighed silently.

Although she had moved out of the Ashcroft house during middle school, she still attended the same school as Isabella.

The night before the entrance exam, Linda found her and threatened her not to attend the same high school as Isabella.

Afraid it would affect Grace's performance, she had no choice but to deliberately lower her scores.

After the results came out, she tried to explain, but Grace ignored her.

Later, busy working to earn tuition, they gradually lost contact.

But Grace was her first female friend, and she had always held her in her heart.

She explained softly, "You saw it yourself. Linda is my mother. She wishes I were dead. She wouldn't let me go to the same school as Isabella."

Grace immediately said, "Then you could have told me. We could have gone to a regular high school together."

"Grace." Evelyn said her name solemnly, looking up at her. "You were born under a lucky star, but my life is rotten to the core. I couldn't bear the weight of your dreams and your brilliant future."

Grace was stunned.

She thought of those couples in high school who settled for less for love. She used to find it romantic, but now she realized it was naive.

She suddenly understood Evelyn. Her eyes reddened. "I see."

Evelyn patted her shoulder and turned to leave.

Grace asked quietly, "Was your wedding with Mr. Vance grand?"

Evelyn paused.

Grace continued, "We promised to be each other's bridesmaids. You thought I had blocked all your contact methods, so you didn't invite me…"

Evelyn's eyes grew warm. "We haven't had the wedding yet."

"Ah?" Grace looked up, her eyes lighting up. "That's good."

Then she felt awkward and looked away. "It's not that I insist on being a bridesmaid… but you should at least send me an invitation to your wedding…"

"…But I want you to be my bridesmaid." Evelyn chuckled. "Miss Lorenz, could you please take me out of your blacklist? How else can I send the invitation?"

Grace muttered, "I took you out a long time ago…"

She had been angry for the whole summer break. She had unblocked the number in her first year of high school.

But Evelyn never contacted her.

"What?" Evelyn didn't catch it.

Grace lifted her chin proudly. "I said I'll take you out. But if you want me as your bridesmaid, you need to prepare a big red envelope."

"Deal."

Evelyn's peach blossom eyes lifted teasingly. "Then don't dress too beautifully that day. Don't steal my spotlight."

Grace blushed. "What nonsense! I have work to do."

After she ran off, Evelyn stood up straight.

Turning around, she saw Alexander standing quietly not far away.

Thinking of the earlier wedding topic, Evelyn felt somewhat awkward and hurried to explain. "Mr. Vance, don't misunderstand. It's not that I don't want to divorce…"

Alexander's gaze was deep, his dark lashes lowered. "I know."

They left the police station and got into the car.

Alexander asked, "To the Ashcroft house?"

"Yes."

Evelyn couldn't wait to go and get a DNA test with Mrs. Ashcroft.