Chapter 640

Evelyn immediately asked, "Are the charges against Mr. Wright true?"

Grace's voice came through the phone, choked with suppressed sobs. "The officials said... Grandpa has confessed. But I don't believe it... I want to see him..."

The despair in her voice tightened Evelyn's heart.

She knew Grace too well.

They had been classmates for three years in middle school. What Evelyn saw most in Grace was an almost stubborn integrity. Grace always said her grandfather was the best forensic pathologist in New York, her role model. Every winter and summer break, she would go to New York to stay with him. She would return with bright eyes, talking about the principles he taught her, about duty to family and country.

For Grace, "patriotism" wasn't a slogan. It was an inheritance etched into her very bones.

A person's character couldn't be faked.

Evelyn had seen Grace argue fiercely with a teacher over an unfair math problem. She had seen her stand up for bullied classmates. She had seen her eyes redden from crying during a patriotic film. How could that Grace have a grandfather who was a spy?

Evelyn didn't believe it either.

A man who raised someone like Grace, that Mr. Wright she had never met, could never be a traitor.

And to confess personally?

Evelyn's eyes darkened. "Don't panic. I'm coming right over."

She hung up and turned to Natalie, who was still gnawing on a chicken foot.

Evelyn's voice turned cold. "Was reporting Mr. Wright your doing?"

Natalie licked her fingers and tilted her head with a smile. "Yes, and no."

Her tone was light, as if discussing the weather. "I didn't want to throw the Special Operations Division into chaos. After all, it's the only official organization in the country that can help us. That Mr. Wright was too tough, I couldn't crack him. But Deputy Director Wright and his son, Leo, have simpler minds. A little provocation was enough to drive a wedge between them and Mr. Wright. My original plan was to wait for Deputy Director Wright to take over, then slowly guide him to make the Division work for me."

She paused, looking at Evelyn, a flicker of cunning in her eyes. "But since the Special Operations Division is a target my 'Rabbit' and I want to secure, naturally it's also a target the other heirs want to destroy."

Natalie shrugged, speaking openly in front of Mr. Valentine and Alexander. "From what I know, this was done by the 'Tiger' from Aldoria. Who is Tiger? I don't know~ The nine heirs of the Sterling Family are all contacted separately by their Guardians. Identities must be kept secret. Once exposed, you become a target for the others."

She smiled and took a big gulp of her drink. "That's why I rarely went back to the Sterling Family after leaving at age five. Every return carries risk."

Changing the subject, she looked back at Evelyn. "Back to Tiger and Mr. Wright. Tiger got information from somewhere, learned that my and Rabbit's mission was to take over the Special Operations Division. She wanted to destroy it outright. The evidence for Mr. Wright's espionage charges was prepared by her. She planned to reveal it after Mr. Wright defeated Deputy Director Wright, to completely cripple the Division. Only... I discovered it early."

Natalie spread her greasy hands, looking innocent. "I didn't want a good man to end up like that either. In his whole life, Mr. Wright never did anything wrong except for this. But compared to the entire Special Operations Division, I had to remove this tumor first. At least the Division under Deputy Director Wright's control would still be usable. If I hadn't exposed it then, and let Tiger act, the Division would have been truly finished."

She blinked, smiling innocently. "I was protecting the Special Operations Division~"

Evelyn stared at her, silent for a long time.

Protecting?

Back then, using the name "Fox" to sow discord between Nathan and Jane, leading to Nathan's suicide and his mother's attempt on Jane's life. Setting the Sterling house on fire, trying to burn Mina to death... Was that also "protection"?

Evelyn didn't voice the question.

She turned and strode out.

The most important thing now was to see Grace.

She needed to know what crime Mr. Wright had actually committed!