THE shadow's figure was slowly revealed. The moment light filled the room, a shocked gasped was heard.
"H-how… why… what are you doing, mum?" Cian said in a shocked voice. His expression full of disbelief.
Mrs. Gilmore slowly turned to the door of the room and seeing the people standing there, the pillow she was holding fell. "Cian—"
"As expected, Mrs. Gilmore truly didn't disappoint me," Luo Yan said, cutting off whatever the older woman was about to say.
Mrs. Gilmore glanced at Luo Yan. Apart from him and Cian, Daphne and 'Sofia' were also there. Their presence here, added to the fact that there was no one on the bed aside from a lump of pillows covered by a blanket. It's not hard to understand what exactly was happening.
Mrs. Gilmore's stunned and anxious expression turned to that of anger. "You manipulated me?"
"Well, I wouldn't say manipulated exactly," Luo Yan said with a shrug. "I simply believed in the fact that you will do anything to make sure this plan won't go awry. For that, it's important that the identity of your accomplice should never be revealed. Even a hint of it is not allowed. So, you see, instigating you could hardly be called manipulation. Because even without me, you would still do the same thing. You would still end up here, in this room, trying to kill George."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtMrs. Gilmore didn't respond and just looked at Luo Yan with no emotion. But her clenched fists showed what she's really feeling right now.
"Why do you want to kill my father, Mrs. Gilmore?" Daphne asked, looking all confused and angry at the same time.
Mrs. Gilmore remained silent.
"Mum, please, just say something. Explain yourself, please!" Cian said, his voice full of anguish. "Just- just tell them it's all a big misunderstanding!"
The older woman clenched her teeth and avoided her son's gaze. This made Cian despair even more.
"It doesn't matter even if you don't say anything. Mrs. Green and Mary had seen you going up here from the room directly below this," referring to the head maid and the maid.
It was one of the things he told 'Sofia' to do earlier – to let the head maid and the maid to hide at the room below this after dinner. So, they could witness whoever would enter that room and do anything suspicious.
"Your actions already spoke of premeditation. Even if you try to reason out what you're doing here, it will just seem like a lousy excuse," he added. "Now then, since we already establish that, why don't we move to another room so everyone can hear what I'm about to say? After all the things that happened within a day, everyone here is entitled to the truth."
After saying that, he smiled at Mrs. Gilmore and gestured for her to leave the room. "Please, after you."
He wasn't worried that the other would run. Because where else could she go? Weren't they the ones who made this situation so all of them would be isolated in this place? He also wasn't afraid that Mrs. Gilmore would hide in one of those passageways in this manor. Why would he when he had the biggest collateral here?
Luo Yan glanced at Cian. As long as they this kid with them, Mrs. Gilmore and her accomplice wouldn't dare to leave. Although there was a bit of worry that the two would actually go to the extreme after this and just decided to kill all of them, he just had to thread carefully so as to not let that happen. And by that, he meant using Cian to guilt-trip the other two.
Mrs. Gilmore gave him a faint glance and refused to move.
Luo Yan only smiled at this before turning to the young butler. "Cian, can you please escort your mother to the room below this one?"
Cian, who was still wallowing in his own sadness, was startled when he was suddenly named. He turned to Luo Yan in a dazed manner. "I— I don't—"
Luo Yan slightly bent down towards Cian and whispered to the other, "Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to your mother. Trust me."
He looked directly at the other, his eyes were silently saying, 'as long as you cooperate with me, I won't let anything happen to your mother'.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmCian seemed to understand that. His green eyes that were already filled with bleakness started to have a small shine of hope. He didn't respond to Luo Yan but answered with his actions.
The other walked to his mother's side and said, "Let's go, mum."
Mrs. Gilmore looked at her son and then sighed. She then glared at Luo Yan as if that could relieve her of the anger she's feeling. Luo Yan only smiled at the other as a respond. At the end, the other had no choice but to let her son guide her out of the room.
"Will this be alright?" Daphne asked in a worried tone while staring at the backs of the mother-son pair.
"Don't worry, I'm sure James have this under control," 'Sofia' said before turning to Luo Yan with a charming smile. "Right, James?"
He smiled back. "Of course."
Daphne looked back and forth between the two. Her expression was saying 'what's wrong with these two people?'.
The three followed the mother and son duo towards the floor below. Luo Yan then took the lead and walked to the room he told Cian to go. He opened the door and entered. Inside, Mrs. Green and Mary were already there waiting. Together with them, Charles, Harry, and Arthur were also there.
"Can I ask what exactly are we doing here?" asked the young Harry, looking as impatient as ever.
This was another thing that Luo Yan told 'Sofia' to do. To let everyone gather here at this time. By everyone, he didn't include George. If the other was also present during Luo Yan's deduction performance later, then it would be just full chaos. So, he locked the other in a room. Letting the footman guard outside.
"Let's wait for the others."
After Luo Yan said that, the door of the room opened. He glanced back and smiled when he saw the people who walked inside.