Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Hidden Evidence
Victoria read the agreement until her right hand trembled, as the terms were extremely detrimental to Lucretia. Essentially, if she and Matthias were to actually marry, Lucretia would have to pay a fine determined by Gianna to cover the D&C Group’s current losses.
Furthermore, the second condition was that Matthias had to regularly provide funds from the T&H Group to the D&C Group due to their family ties. This was why Lucretia had been so opposed to their marriage. This was due to the unreasonable terms of this agreement.
"Now I understand how cruel your mother has been to me all this time. Because if you break this agreement, it will be detrimental to you both."
Matthias rested his chin on his hand. "But why is Gianna so against our marriage? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial if I joined your family?"
Victoria snapped her fingers. "In fact, I suspect she was actually targeting me."
"So if I marry you, she thinks I’ll share my shares with you?"
"Because you’d give up everything for me. She’s also gotten to know you better, even though your interactions have only been business-related."
"I’ve known the plan from the start. Now it’s time for me to tell you everything."
"What else are you hiding from me?"
"I’ll tell you everything at home. One thing’s for sure, we have to get out of here."
*****
Matthias invited his wife to discuss the matter at their luxurious residence. He also invited Ansel, who had been watching them when they were doing a secret mission. Victoria was still annoyed with Ansel for not keeping a secret. She suspected that Ansel would also report this important matter to Matthias.
Upon arriving at the luxurious residence, Victoria and Ansel exchanged awkward glances. Victoria grinned at her friend as she arranged the documents she had found on the table. Meanwhile, Matthias, acting like a third-person, remained silent as he helped organize the documents.
"Ansel, were you the one who deliberately reported this to Matthias?"
Ansel swallowed nervously. "Sorry, but I can’t really hide this from Matthias either."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "I knew you couldn’t be trusted with this!"
"Don’t blame Ansel anymore. I really pushed him too hard," Matthias said, looking at his friend casually.
"It’s rare for you to defend your friend more than your own wife!" Victoria protested, pursing her lips.
"Because this time he wasn’t wrong. If I hadn’t saved you earlier, you would have been caught red-handed! Did you want your secret mission to fail?"
Victoria shook her head slowly. "No."
"That’s why you shouldn’t scold him anymore."
"By the way, thank you for saving me today, Matthias. If you hadn’t saved me earlier, I would have been scared of the dark all the time."
"Actually, I was planning to sneak in today. I’ve known from the start that those two were the masterminds behind your father’s death. I have the proof."
Matthias took out his recording device and put it on the table.
Victoria’s eyes widened as she stared at the recording device. "Wait a minute! Why didn’t I know this?"
"Actually, I suspected from the start that Gianna would do something cruel to your father." Matthias exhaled sharply. "Your father told me this too. I was asked to keep this a secret from you, but I had to tell you. Your father asked me to record the conversation between Gianna and her lawyer."
Victoria turned on the recording to hear the conversation between Gianna and the lawyer moments before her father died. Hearing Gianna openly say she wanted to end everything right now, her eyes grew even more teary and her breath hitched. She continued to blame herself. If she had been with her father all day, he wouldn’t have left her so soon. How cruel Gianna was to order the lawyer to change the will and also call an emergency meeting immediately to remove her father and install Fransisca as head of the company.
As the recording ended, Matthias suspected his wife’s mental state was unstable. He held her trembling body, which was weeping heavily, and patted her back rhythmically. This was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her his secret. He couldn’t bear to see her mentally unstable every time.
"Tory, I’m sorry I hid this important secret from you. But I did it for your own good."
Victoria shook her head weakly. "This isn’t your fault. I understand why you were so desperate to hide this secret from me. Because you were so worried about me." She slowly lifted her head. "Thank you for telling me this important information. This way, we can catch Gianna and that lawyer more easily."
"But it’s not that easy to catch Gianna. I’ve already submitted this evidence to the police, but they can’t consider it as proof of murder based solely on the recording, even though I’ve submitted the authenticity test results for the audio recording."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Ansel asked urgently.
Victoria rested her head on her husband’s shoulder, gazing at all the evidence she had. "Maybe we should get Mr. Robert to open his mouth. Because Mr. Robert isn’t the murderer in this case. But he’s also a witness."
"So, how are you going to force him to open his mouth?" Matthias asked, confused.
"Actually, I know his background. We can use his background as a weakness."
Matthias laughed softly, slowly stroking his wife’s head. "You’re so cunning now. Who taught you that, anyway?"
"Of course you taught me. Thanks to you, I became your wife."
Ansel clapped his hands briefly. "Okay, now we’re getting closer to solving all your problems. How can I help you?"
Matthias looked at his friend with a mischievous smile. "You haven’t really helped us much. But if you want to contribute, we won’t stop you."
Victoria nodded. "The more people do it, the easier it will be to solve this case." She stared at the cruel agreement document with a furious look. "I don’t want our relationship to be controlled by her anymore."