Third Person's POV
Wan State Army Barracks
Collins paced while Seraphina sat behind the glass trying to maintain her composure.
A soldier entered and reported that the Birch Mansion footage had arrived.
Everyone moved to a monitoring room.
The footage was played. They watched guests arriving at the engagement celebration, Hazel and Elena entering the mansion together, Hazel and Elena talking and looking around.
It finally reached the part where Hazel leaves Elena's side and after several minutes begins to climb the stairs.
Then, the screen suddenly flickers. The timestamp jumps and several minutes of footage from different parts of the house are gone.
Collins immediately freezes and lifts his head slowly to look at Elder Asher.
"Now things have become interesting", Elder Asher said, smiling.
*
Elder Asher walks away from the monitoring room and calls Alexander.
The call connects quickly.
"Alexander."
"What happened?"
"The footage from the Birch's mansion when Hazel supposedly left the mansion is missing."
Alexander goes silent.
"Missing?"
"Yes."
A short pause followed. Then Alexander let out a quiet laugh.
"What a coincidence", he finally said after laughing.
Asher's eyes narrow.
"My thoughts exactly", Elder Asher said, his eyes narrowing.
Alexander hums.
"If you still have contacts in the military, find the best cyber-forensics expert you can."
"I was already planning to."
Alexander smiles faintly.
"Then we think alike."
Asher hesitates briefly before speaking again.
"I called because of the Birch family. You have business ties with them. I don't want this investigation creating unnecessary problems for you."
Alexander laughs calmly.
"Old man, I can handle myself."
A small smile appears on Asher's face.
"Good."
The call ends.
When he returned to the monitoring room, Collins immediately stands.
"Please," Collins says. "At least let Seraphina go home while this is being investigated."
For several seconds, Asher simply looks at him.
Then his expression turns cold.
"I have buried too many people in my life because someone assumed everything would be fine."
Collins clenches his fists.
Asher adjusts his walking stick.
"Until the truth comes out, it's better to be safe than sorry."
Without another word, he turns and walks away.
Collins remains standing alone.
Behind the observation glass, Seraphina watches everything. For the first time since her arrest, she smirked, but it disappeared from her face as quickly as it came.