chapter1536

Haynes looked at Stella and continued, "She had been tortured, beaten beyond recognition, and was in a very unstable mental state. After treatment from doctors, Rachel recovered. She said that she had been captured and tortured by Simone this whole time."

Stella asked, "You don't think I'm the one who handed her over to Simone, do you?"

Haynes was quiet for a moment. "Star, that's not what I meant. Why do you always assume the worst of me?"

"My apologies," Stella said flatly. "It's a conditioned response after all the times you've stormed in here to blame me for something involving Rachel."

Haynes, knowing he was in the wrong, was rendered speechless.

Stella had no intention of digging up the past. She changed the subject. "If Simone captured and tortured her, how did she escape?"

"She said she was rescued," Haynes replied, "but she doesn't know who rescued her."

Stella nodded. "Then how did she find you?"

Haynes hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully. "Foreman brought her to me."

Stella didn't show any surprise at this.

Haynes saw her calm expression, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes. It had been such a short time, but Stella seemed to have changed again. He could feel her drifting further and further away from him.

As Haynes's thoughts wandered, Stella's voice brought him back.

"Go on."

"After what she went through with Simone, Rachel was afraid I would abandon her," Haynes said. "So, she confessed everything."

As he said this, his voice and eyes grew noticeably colder.

"She said that the entire plan to fake her illness was Joshua's idea. Not only that,

but Joshua also helped her forge medical records, bribe doctors..."

Before Haynes could finish, Stella interrupted with a light laugh.

"Faking an illness was Joshua's idea? Haynes, Rachel can't even lie convincingly. If she knew Joshua at all, she'd know that someone with his intellect would never come up with a plan that could be so easily debunked. Even if someone helped her forge records and bribe a doctor, the chances of being exposed were still incredibly high. There are countless doctors in this world; she couldn't possibly bribe all of them."

Stella looked at Haynes. "Even Mr. Burton saw right through her act. Haynes, if you were the one helping Rachel, would you have suggested such a flimsy idea? Only people with your and Jasper Wilkinson's devel of intelligence would be fooled by Rachel. Joshua isn't as stupid as you two."

While her words were clearly biased, it was hard to deny the logic in what Stella said. The plan was too easily exposed.

Haynes paused to think. "According to Rachel, the main reason she got Joshua's help was by pretending to be the woman he could never forget. But what if Joshua was never genuinely helping her to begin with?"

He locked eyes with Stella. "As you said, Joshua is very smart. So, isn't it possible that he knew all along Rachel was an imposter and was just playing along to set a trap for her?"

Stella fell silent.

The idea of Joshua setting a trap for Rachel was entirely plausible. It was something he would do. And she did remember Joshua mentioning he was looking for someone important to him. But he had also said that this person could be very important, or they could be completely worthless. His phrasing was odd, but Stella had understood his meaning.