Chapter 1271: Chapter 1246: Hope Shattered

"Why is it you?" Zhang Rumei saw the middle-aged man walking in from outside the door, looking panicked.

"Miss Zhang, I finally found you. You still owe me money," the middle-aged man said, reaching out his hand.

"What money? I don’t understand what you mean. I don’t even know you," Zhang Rumei said with a grim expression.

Her demeanor couldn’t hide the panic in her heart at all, and now Zhang Rumei was pretending not to know the middle-aged man—her reactions before and after were obviously inconsistent.

"Miss Zhang, what you’re doing isn’t right. Do I have to spell it out for you?" the middle-aged man said impatiently.

Before Zhang Rumei could speak, Ye Chen deliberately asked with a smile, "Uncle Qiang, do you know this Miss Zhang?"

"Mr. Ye, of course, we know each other," the middle-aged man nodded and said.

Although the middle-aged man said this, Zhang Rumei was confident he wouldn’t dare tell the truth, as doing so would mean neither of them would escape.

It was, after all, an illegal matter, one that could land them in prison.

But Zhang Rumei was mistaken; the middle-aged man’s next words made her face turn as pale as paper.

"Mr. Ye, it was this Miss Zhang who hired me to kill her sister’s family. I felt too sorry for that little girl, so I really couldn’t do it," the middle-aged man said, pointing at Zhang Rumei.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Rumei quickly retorted, "You’re talking nonsense. I don’t even know you, and how could I possibly hire you to kill my own sister? Stop framing me."

The middle-aged man had long anticipated Zhang Rumei’s denial, but fortunately, he had recorded everything beforehand, leaving Zhang Rumei with no room to deny it.

Listening to the recording of Zhang Rumei and the middle-aged man’s conversation, Ye Chen and Zhou Susu felt that this woman was truly vicious, completely unlike what she appeared to be on the surface.

Zhang Rumei didn’t expect the middle-aged man to have a trump card, leaving her somewhat dumbfounded.

She had been so arrogant just moments before, now slumped like a deflated balloon on the couch, unable to argue against the evidence.

In fact, this time she had returned to find the middle-aged man to give him the money so he could quickly leave for a place where the police couldn’t find him, but unexpectedly, Ye Chen found him first.

Without the middle-aged man’s identification, the police would have had no way of uncovering her criminal evidence.

Of course, this was all in Zhang Rumei’s mind. In addition to the middle-aged man’s testimony, there was also the recording in the teddy bear.

Zhang Rumei knew she was truly finished, everything she had painstakingly built was lost at this moment, what awaited her was the legal sanctions and endless prison sentences.

She initially thought her life was finally bright, living in a villa, driving luxury cars, enjoying the fortune that her sister and brother-in-law had built, but hadn’t imagined her life would be the opposite of what she envisioned, sinking to the bottom.

What Zhang Rumei didn’t anticipate was the middle-aged man daring to tell the truth, which meant the middle-aged man was admitting to being her accomplice, facing prison, or even a potential death sentence.

She couldn’t fathom why the middle-aged man would do this, letting her go would mean safety for both, and the middle-aged man could get a large reward and enjoy life thereafter.

Now, both of them had to pay for their actions.

A woman like Zhang Rumei would never suspect that the middle-aged man did it purely to repay Ye Chen’s kindness.

Ye Chen had once saved his mother’s life, making the middle-aged man willing to exchange his own life for it if necessary.

"How could you betray me like this?" Zhang Rumei shouted loudly, completely disregarding her image.

"Miss Zhang, even if I didn’t expose you, would your conscience be at ease? Wouldn’t you have nightmares?" the middle-aged man asked as he looked at Zhang Rumei.

As the middle-aged man said, since her sister and brother-in-law were murdered, Zhang Rumei had been having nightmares every day, unable to sleep at night.

Upon hearing that Little Jing narrowly escaped death, she thought that if she could raise her sister’s child, perhaps it would be a form of redemption. That way, her sister might not haunt her, and she could sleep in peace.

But she hadn’t anticipated that this return to the country would be her last, resulting not only in her losing freedom.

"Miss Zhang, do you have anything left to say?" Zhou Susu, who had been silent, suddenly asked.

She finally understood Ye Chen’s intention was to have the hired assassin confront Zhang Rumei face-to-face, leaving her unable to deny it further.

But how did Ye Chen manage, considering the middle-aged man had committed murder and was facing serious charges—even if no one would admit it without police evidence?

Though questioning it, Zhou Susu knew this wasn’t the right time to ask.

Zhang Rumei’s face grew increasingly grim, losing all color, her eyes wide with disbelief.

She hadn’t expected such a perfect plan to be destroyed this way. Without the middle-aged man, no one could have suspected her.

After all, she had spent years abroad, maintaining a very good relationship with her sister.

The saying "The sky net is wide, and none can escape" truly applies.

Having come to this point, Zhang Rumei knew she had no other way out.

Appearing again, Zhang Rumei sat on the interrogation chair. Her face looked haggard, and her previously proud and arrogant demeanor was gone completely.

Opposite her sat Zhou Susu and another male officer.

After going over Zhang Rumei’s basic information, Zhou Susu looked at the woman opposite her and asked, "Zhang Rumei, tell us why you wanted to kill your sister and brother-in-law?"

"I hate her, but I don’t hate my brother-in-law. I loved him very much, but since he always sided with my sister, they both had to die, along with their brat. Who would’ve thought that little girl would be so lucky and survive? But even if she lives, she’ll lead a miserable life, unable to speak. It’s a painful existence," Zhang Rumei sneered coldly.

Zhou Susu could see from her expression the intense hatred she harbored.

She couldn’t believe how well Little Jing’s mother treated Zhang Rumei, yet this woman hated her own sister so deeply.

"Just because of hate, you murder? Don’t you have any regard for the law?" Zhou Susu continued to question.

"Why did she have such a good family, and I ended up with a husband who not only had someone else outside but often hit me, leaving me unable to have children? Could I not hate?" Zhang Rumei responded again.

"You can’t do this because your life isn’t going well. No one forced you to marry him," Zhou Susu couldn’t tolerate Zhang Rumei’s faults any longer.

"Officer Zhou, don’t you know my sister owed me this life? That life was supposed to be mine," Zhang Rumei snarled with a twisted face.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Susu knew there was definitely more to the sisters’ story.