chapter332

Grace shot a look at the bodyguard walking ahead and let out a small huff. "Relax, I've got this."

Honestly, if she didn't have to keep her identity secret, she never would have asked for their help.

Down at the police station, Aiden was still on orders from Connor. He'd been told not to come back to the Capital without answers.

That two hundred and fifty thousand Ms. Santoro had taken was all cash, and most of the bills were in order, like someone had just pulled them from the bank. They were chasing leads in two directions. One group was digging into the dead man's background, the other was following the money.

"How did you get the cash?" someone asked.

Ms. Santoro sat there in a prison uniform, hands cuffed, looking like she couldn't believe any of this was real. Just this morning, everything was fine. She was still the glamorous Ms. Santoro, living the good life. Then one phone call, one bag of money, and suddenly her world flipped upside down. Now she was disgraced, locked up, her reputation ruined in just a few hours.

"If you don't help us find who's really behind this, you're only making things worse for yourself, the investigator warned.

She snapped out of it, tears running down her face as she shook her head. Her voice came out rough. "I don't know. I really don't. The person left the money in the school's abandoned junkyard. I was told to pick it up there. They said I'd get the other half once it was done. That's all I know."

Aiden thought for a moment. "We can try tracing the serial numbers on the bills."

Chief Jameson frowned, glancing at Aiden. "That won't be easy. It could take a long time."

Tracking cash was so much harder than following digital transfers. No records. And if the money had already changed hands a few times, it would be even more difficult.

Aiden just nodded. "We'll handle it."

Jameson had no idea who Aiden really was, but he'd noticed how respectful Director Grayson from the Ministry of Education was to Aiden and Andrew. Clearly, these two from the Capital were way more than just bodyguards.

Ms. Santoro fianlly started to believe Aiden and Andrew were not just hired muscle Lydia paid for.

"So... who are you to Lydia?" Ms. Santoro asked. She'd agreed to report Lydia because she thought Lydia was powerless, kicked out of the Smith family, her real parents nobodies from some poor village She'd figured tydia would be easy to take down.

Clearly, she'd been wrong.

Aiden scoffed. "Someone like you isn't even good enough to mention Lydia's name."

Ms. Santoro wasn't giving up. She had to know what kind of people Lydia knew. She needed to understand how her own life had fallen apart.

"Lydia? What's so special about her? What kind of family does she really come from?" she pressed. Milana had told her herself that Lydia's birth parents were dirt poor So why did these guys keep calling her Miss like she was royalty?

Andrew just shook his head. He honestly thought Ms. Santoro might have lost her mind.

"It doesn't matter who our Miss Lydia is. You're a teacher. What you did is shameful," Andrew said.

Ms. Santoro was barely holding it together. She snapped, "She got kicked out of the Smith family. If she still had them behind her, who would ever mess with her?"

All because of Lydia, her entire life was ruined. None of it made sense. Why did this happen?

It was all Lydia's fault. If she'd really won so many awards, why keep it a secret? Why never speak up? If she could ace every test, why not do it all the time?

In her mind, everything was Lydia's fault.

Andrew let out a cold laugh. "The

Smiths are nothing. Lydia's real

parents are the

richest people in the

country. She's a genius, too. You jus?

never bothered to see it."

Honestly, Andrew had never met anyone as dumb as Ms. Santoro. Well, except

maybe the Smiths. They were just as blind.