Chapter 299: Chapter 299: She Was the One Who Pushed Her Daughter into the Pit of Fire

In the lobby of the police station, a woman in her fifties or sixties was slumped on the floor, clutching the fabric over her heart and sobbing her lungs out.

"My Una... her death was so tragic..."

"Who could be so cruel? Why would they do this to Una?"

"She was always so afraid of pain..."

"Una, what am I going to do now that you’re gone? How are your father and I supposed to live..."

Levi Hollis crouched beside the woman, his face filled with sorrow. "Ms. Kent," he said softly, "please accept my deepest condolences."

"I don’t believe it’s Una." Ms. Kent suddenly grabbed Levi Hollis’s clothes, her expression contorted with grief. "You must have made a mistake, right? That can’t be my daughter!"

"Ms. Kent, we are also very sorry..." Levi Hollis pressed his lips together, his tone full of apology. "The DNA database comparison confirms that it is indeed Ms. Moira Ford."

"How could this happen?" Ms. Kent released Levi Hollis’s shirt and sat back on the floor, wailing. "Una was such a good girl. Who on earth killed her?"

Levi Hollis sighed. "The killer hasn’t been caught yet, but the police have identified a suspect and are conducting a full investigation. Ms. Kent, please try to calm down. We’ll need you to give a statement in a little while."

"You already have a suspect?" Ms. Kent demanded sharply. "Who is it?"

Levi Hollis said, "Linus Hollis."

"Linus Hollis?" Ms. Kent’s pupils contracted and her face paled. She murmured, "How could it be him?"

Seeing her reaction, Levi Hollis immediately asked, "Ms. Kent, do you know Linus Hollis?"

"Are you saying he killed Una?" Ms. Kent’s face was filled with unease.

"We’re still investigating who the killer is," Levi Hollis said. "Ms. Kent, please get up first. Let’s go to the interrogation room to talk."

Only then did Ms. Kent take his hand and pull herself up from the floor. She asked urgently, "What does Linus Hollis have to do with this?"

Levi Hollis led her to an interrogation room, called a colleague over to assist, and then sat down beside Ms. Kent to explain. "We received a public tip that Linus Hollis was disposing of a body by the lake. The body recovered by the police has been identified as Moira Ford."

Ms. Kent’s face grew several shades paler. "How could it be him..."

"Ms. Kent." Levi Hollis found her reaction odd. He frowned and asked, "Are you familiar with Linus Hollis?"

A look of deep anguish appeared on Ms. Kent’s face. She choked out, "Linus Hollis... He’s the son of one of my oldest friends."

The door to the interrogation room opened. Sawyer walked in carrying a laptop, with Renee Jennings following unhurriedly behind her.

"Ms. Kent, are you ready to give your statement now?" Levi Hollis poured a glass of warm water and placed it in front of her. "Or do you need more time?"

"I’ll never recover from this." Ms. Kent shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "Just ask your questions now."

"Alright." Levi Hollis looked at Sawyer, who gave him a slight nod.

Levi Hollis’s gaze returned to Ms. Kent. He asked in a gentle voice, "What is your name?"

"Chloe Kent."

"Chloe Kent, what is your relationship to the deceased, Moira Ford?"

Hearing this, Chloe Kent covered her face and began to sob again. "Just a few days ago, Una said she’d take me on a trip once her unemployment check came in. I never thought that the next time I saw her, I wouldn’t even be able to recognize her..."

Renee Jennings watched her, her eyes burning. A sheen of tears welled up as her nails dug tightly into her own flesh.

The atmosphere was truly suffocating.

Levi Hollis didn’t press her, simply offering her a tissue and waiting patiently.

Chloe Kent cried for a while before asking through her sobs, "Officer, what did you just say?"

Levi Hollis repeated, "What is your relationship to Moira Ford?"

Chloe Kent: "She’s my daughter."

"When was the last time you were in contact with Moira Ford?"

"Last weekend." Chloe Kent was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. "She went shopping and said she was going to buy me some clothes, and that she wanted to take me on a trip."

She wiped haphazardly at the tears on her face and continued, "I tried to video call her last night, but she didn’t answer. I thought she was just busy... I never imagined she was already gone..."

Levi Hollis: "Do you know what Moira Ford’s relationship with Linus Hollis was?"

"I do." Chloe Kent nodded, her eyes filled with tears. "Linus Hollis was her boyfriend. I... I was the one who set them up."

As she said this, the heartache was so intense she could hardly breathe.

’If her daughter really was killed by Linus Hollis, she would live with the pain and regret for the rest of her life.’

’Because she would have been the one who pushed her daughter into the abyss.’

"Linus Hollis’s mother, Susanna Hollis, is a dear friend I’ve known since middle school." Chloe Kent rested her hand on her forehead, her gaze lowered as tears fell one by one, splashing onto the table.

"Linus is a year older than Una. When he was born, we joked that if I had a daughter, we’d arrange for them to be engaged as children."

"I gave birth to Una a year later, but we never took the childhood engagement seriously."

"Susanna adored Una. Later, when the kids were grown, Susanna suggested that Una and Linus should give it a try."

Chloe Kent’s voice broke, and she covered her face again, wailing loudly.

Renee Jennings and the other two officers exchanged a glance, pressing their lips together, unsure how to comfort her.

Chloe Kent’s pain at that moment was something they could scarcely imagine, let alone truly empathize with.

Another five minutes passed before Chloe Kent said between sobs, "At the time, I thought that since we knew their family so well, it would be more reliable than Una meeting some other boy on her own, so I agreed."

"Una was reluctant at first, but I kept praising Linus to her..." As Chloe Kent spoke, she suddenly felt nauseous and covered her mouth, dry heaving.

"Are you alright?" Renee Jennings asked with concern.

"It’s probably from the overwhelming grief," Sawyer said in a low voice.

’She had seen this sort of thing many times.’

"I’m fine." Chloe Kent’s face was ashen. She waved a hand. "I can keep talking."

She continued, "Una couldn’t win against me, so she agreed to give things a try with Linus."

"Did you know that Moira Ford and Linus Hollis had broken up?" Levi Hollis asked.

"They broke up?" Chloe Kent looked shocked. "No, Una never mentioned it to me."

"Linus Hollis said he and Moira Ford broke up two months ago."

"I didn’t know." Chloe Kent shook her head. "I really had no idea. Why did they break up?"

Sawyer said, "Linus Hollis said they had a falling out."

"Did you just say they broke up two months ago?" Chloe Kent frowned. "That’s not right. I remember Linus sent me a picture of Una just last month."

Levi Hollis: "Is that so? Would you mind showing us the chat history?"

"Of course." Chloe Kent fumbled in her bag, pulled out her phone, found the chat history, and handed it over. "He even said he was cooking for Una."

Levi Hollis took the phone and saw that the chat log was dated May 15th.

Linus Hollis had sent a photo of Moira Ford in her pajamas, sitting on the sofa and playing on her phone, as well as a picture of him cooking.

Sawyer glanced at the screen and frowned. "So did they break up or not?"

Renee Jennings said gravely, "It’s possible they broke up, but Linus Hollis was still harassing Moira Ford."

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