Tabitha's POV
It was late at night.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, my phone buzzed with a notification.
After clicking on it, I was shocked to see Lisa's death photo with mosaic applied.
In the photo, she was lying in the snow, her face blurred.
She was still wearing that dress, which she used as an excuse to make a scene earlier. But the hem of her dress was stained with snowflakes.
Earlier tonight, she seemed all cocky; but now, she was a corpse.
My sleepiness vanished in an instant. After reading the news, I found that Rolf was reported as the prime suspect.
Suddenly, I remembered that before leaving the banquet, Derek seemed to have given Rolf some instructions. And now, Lisa was dead, and Rolf was right there at the scene.
My heart started racing as panic set in. So I jumped out of bed, running towards the door.
When I swung it open, I practically crashed into Derek's arms.
I looked up, and his eyes found mine. "Why aren't you wearing shoes? It's cold on the floor. By the way, where are you rushing off to this late?" he said with a look of concern.
I didn't answer him but piped up in a panic, "Derek, I saw the news. Is Rolf okay?"
He calmly replied, "He was spotted at the crime scene, so things are a bit tricky. I've already sent someone to dig up evidence."
I tugged lightly on his shirt collar, my voice barely above a whisper. "Um... What did you instruct him to do before we left?"
After uttering my question, I averted my gaze somewhat awkwardly from Derek's, but he lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes again.
"Tabitha, tell me, what kind of person do you think I am?" he asked in a deep voice.
I thought for a moment before answering honestly, "You're sweet and caring. And you treat me well. So you're a good guy."
Derek's thumb slowly brushed against my lips, sending an odd shiver through me that made me uncomfortable.
His eyes darkened, and he murmured, "Tabitha, you are wrong. I'm nice to you because I love you, and everything I do revolves around this premise. Indeed, I'm not a bad guy, but I'm not exactly a saint either."
My heart raced even faster at his words. "Then did you kill Lisa..."
He shook his head. "No. I'm not about to take someone's life over something so trivial. I was just telling Rolf to follow that cleaner because I found something off. Unfortunately, we were too late. And Rolf just happened to walk right into a crime scene."
Derek's POV
I said all this just to remind Tabitha not to think so highly of me. If anyone dared to hurt her, what I'd do might be way worse than this conversation.
Hearing my words, she breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "Do you know that cleaner?"
I nodded. "He looks like a fugitive murderer. People like him are skilled at disguises, so keep your eyes peeled if you ever see him again."
She nodded seriously but then hesitated before saying, "Oh, there's one more thing..."
Then, she turned and took out the business card she had kept in her bag, explaining, "A guy named Dwayne gave it to me. He said something about me saving his sister in the past. But I don't remember anything about it."
I snatched the card from her hand and ruffled her hair playfully. "It's fine. He's not some important person anyway. You just did him a small favor, and that's all."
I didn't want Tabitha digging too deep into our past, as it might trigger memories best left buried for now.
We were leaving Seattle soon anyway, and I'd lined up several years' worth of medical internships for her. So, she wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.
What awaited her would be a brand new life.
But there was one more thing I needed to do before leaving: clear any obstacles standing in her way completely.
This time, I decided to switch to the offensive mode.
After I soothed her for a while, she finally went to bed. However, maybe because she had experienced a lot tonight, every time she closed her eyes, she'd snap them back open again almost immediately.
"Can't sleep?" I asked gently.
"Yeah, I just feel it's unreal," she whispered.
I gently stroked her back, reassuring her, "Sometimes, people just bring trouble upon themselves. She got killed by a professional hitman, which means someone has put a price on her head, and it has nothing to do with you. The cleaner told you not to get involved, didn't he? He must've planned everything ahead just to kill her, and he didn't want you to ruin it."
Tabitha murmured thoughtfully, "What kind of person would do something like that?"
Looking at her delicate face, I uttered, "Tabitha, you must remember, the world is full of villains. You must not trust anybody easily."