"Dawn O'Connell!" Phoebe Faulkner never imagined Dawn O'Connell would do something so insane. Seeing Dawn was really about to throw herself down the stairs, she rushed forward to grab her hand, but she was a step too late.
On the staircase, Phoebe Faulkner saw a triumphant smirk on Dawn O'Connell's face.
"THUD! THUD! THUD!"
"Oh my god! Someone fell from the second floor!"
The sound of the body hitting the stairs startled the customers in the café on the first floor, and screams erupted all at once.
"Dawn!"
Just then, a man's desperate, hoarse roar came from the café's entrance.
From her spot on the stairs, Phoebe Faulkner followed the familiar voice with her gaze. She saw a man at the entrance, his eyes wide, shouting in a panic as he rushed toward Dawn O'Connell.
The once-quiet café erupted into chaos due to the sudden "accident."
"It was her!" Amid the uproar, a girl suddenly raised her hand, pointed at Phoebe Faulkner on the staircase, and made a righteous-sounding accusation. "I saw it! She's the one who pushed this girl down the stairs!"
The man, who had just rushed to the "unconscious" Dawn O'Connell, heard this and glared at Phoebe Faulkner with bloodshot eyes. "Phoebe Faulkner," he roared, his voice hoarse with fury, "even if I've wronged you, you had no right to lay a hand on Dawn!"
"And what if I told you I didn't do it? That she threw herself down the stairs?" Amid the uproar, Phoebe Faulkner's voice was eerily calm. She stared at the man below—her fiancé, in name only—waiting for his answer.
However, the man below merely scooped up the fallen Dawn O'Connell. "How could Dawn have possibly thrown herself down the stairs? If you hadn't told her to meet you here, why would she have come? Phoebe Faulkner, I'm telling you, if anything happens to Dawn, I won't let you get away with it!"
"Heh..." Upon hearing his words, Phoebe Faulkner gave a cold smirk. Her voice was sharp as she retorted, "That's right. So what if I did do it? If you have the balls, then call the police. Have me arrested!"
"Phoebe Faulkner!"
"Oh my god, she's bleeding!" Just as the two were facing off, the girl who had first accused Phoebe Faulkner shrieked again. Only then did everyone notice blood trickling from the inside of Dawn O'Connell's thigh.
"Dawn, hang in there! I'm taking you to the hospital right now!"
After a final flurry of commotion, Howard Lynch ran out of the café carrying Dawn O'Connell. Seeing that the show was over, the crowd dispersed under the guidance of the staff. Only Phoebe Faulkner remained, still standing at the top of the staircase.
"Hey, Jace? I've spotted something interesting. I'm sure you'll want to see it." Ten minutes after the incident, a man chewing gum watched the surveillance footage the café manager had sent him and made a call.
Twenty minutes later, a man appeared in the café.
The familiar scent of tobacco permeated the air, compelling Phoebe Faulkner, who had wanted neither to speak nor move, to raise her head.
"The auction... she's the one who planned it?"
Phoebe Faulkner didn't know when Jace Lennox had arrived or how much he'd seen. In response to his question, she just shook her head.
Jace Lennox frowned, looking at the lifeless woman before him. He reached out, grabbed Phoebe's hand, and started pulling her outside. But just as he got her into the car, her phone rang.
Phoebe Faulkner stared at the caller ID on her phone. The name displayed was—Howard Lynch.