Chapter 413: Chapter 413: To Think She Was Already Dead

If Jaden Forrest could acquire the company Diana Jennings worked for, he could just as easily acquire the next one.

Diana Jennings bit her lip, her expression filled with panic. "Then what do I do now..."

"Has he said anything to you?" Renee Jennings asked.

Diana Jennings shook her head, her voice trembling. "He didn’t speak to me. He just gave me a look from a distance. After that, my manager came to me and said the new boss wants me to be his assistant."

"Sis, don’t be nervous," Renee Jennings said softly, taking her sister’s cold hand to comfort her. "You haven’t done anything wrong. You don’t have to be afraid of him."

"But I’m worried he’ll try to take Zane and Jasmine from me."

"I doubt it. If he wanted to take Zane and Jasmine, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of buying your company just to make you his assistant."

"Really?" Diana Jennings’s brow was still furrowed with anxiety. "Then what on earth is he trying to do?"

"It’s hard to say." Renee Jennings thought of the outcome between Diana and Jaden Forrest in her dream.

’Jaden Forrest must be doing this because he wants to pursue Diana.’

But Renee Jennings didn’t tell Diana, afraid it would only add to her stress.

’Some things are better left to run their course. I shouldn’t interfere too much.’

She looked at Diana’s gentle face and said softly, "Sis, don’t be scared. I’m here. I’ll help you. If he dares to bully you or try to take Zane and Jasmine, I’ll send all sorts of ferocious beasts to assassinate him!"

Diana Jennings couldn’t help but let out a laugh. "Sounds like a plan!"

Her anxious heart suddenly felt much lighter.

**

「Meanwhile.」

Stella sat at her desk and sent a WeChat message to her roommate, Rui Tucker: [Rui, are you coming back to the dorm tonight?]

The message was sent, but she never got a reply.

At eleven o’clock that night, Stella lay in her top bunk, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

She picked up her phone again, stared at her chat window with Rui Tucker, and after a moment’s hesitation, started a video call.

She tried three times in a row, but no one answered.

After a moment, she tried calling her phone directly, but that also went unanswered.

The more Stella thought about it, the more uneasy she became. She sat up in bed. "Something feels wrong."

"What’s wrong?" another roommate asked, hearing her voice.

Stella pulled back her bed curtain, her voice grave. "Rui didn’t reply to my message, and she isn’t answering video calls or phone calls. Do you think she could be in danger?"

Her roommate pulled back her own curtain and frowned at her. "She went to meet that person she met online, right?"

"Yeah." Stella nodded. "I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s not like her to ignore messages and calls."

"You’re right," the roommate said. "I sent her a message too, and she hasn’t replied. This is really not right."

Stella bit her lip and hesitated. "Should we call the police?"

The roommate thought for a few seconds, then nodded. "Yes."

The two of them immediately climbed out of bed, changed their clothes, and hurried out.

At the same time, Inky found Renee Jennings.

"Inky, you’re here!" Renee Jennings saw Inky on the windowsill, pushed open the glass window, and said with a smile, "Are you staying here tonight?"

Inky chirped immediately, "Renee, I found a female human tied to a tree."

"A human tied to a tree?" Renee Jennings’s brows knitted together, her expression turning serious. "Where did you find her?"

"I’ll take you there!"

"Okay, wait for me."

Renee Jennings quickly changed her clothes and went downstairs.

Everyone at home was already asleep. She sent a quick message to the family group chat and then drove off.

In the car, she called Henry Stark, who answered quickly.

Renee Jennings explained the situation to him. "Inky is leading me there now."

"Share your location. I’ll come find you," Henry Stark said, his tone grave. "Be careful."

"Okay." Renee Jennings hung up and shared her real-time location in the chat.

The place Inky mentioned was a small forest on the outskirts of the city. Renee Jennings didn’t see a single car on the way, only dim yellow streetlights and a hazy fog.

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. "This place is a little creepy."

Hearing this, Inky quickly said, "Don’t be scared, Renee! It’s not scary. The bad guy is already gone. The forest is full of my friends now."

"Okay." A faint smile touched Renee Jennings’s lips. "Then I’m not scared anymore."

"Good!"

"Did you guys see the bad guy?"

"I didn’t. I only saw the female human tied to the tree."

"Okay." Renee Jennings nodded, planning to ask the other small animals once they were inside the forest.

"Renee, the road ends here," Inky reminded her. "We have to get out and walk."

"I know." Renee Jennings picked up her phone. Henry Stark was almost there. "Let’s wait for my police colleagues."

Five minutes later, a black SUV pulled up behind Renee Jennings’s car.

Henry Stark, Kyle Morgan, and Levi Hollis got out of the vehicle.

Renee Jennings also got out of the driver’s seat and asked softly, "Should we go in now?"

"Yes," Henry Stark replied in a low voice.

The four of them followed Inky into the forest.

Levi Hollis and Kyle Morgan led the way with flashlights. As they walked, Kyle said, "What a coincidence. Just a little while ago, two college students came in to report their roommate missing after meeting up with someone she met online. Then Renee gets a tip from a bird about a woman tied up in the forest. You don’t think it’s the missing person, do? Like in the Sherry Zane case?"

Levi Hollis raised an eyebrow. "It’s not impossible."

Animal calls echoed around them from time to time. After about five minutes of walking, Renee Jennings asked softly, "Are we almost there?"

"Just ahead." Inky glanced back at her, flapping its wings. "We’re almost there."

Kyle Morgan’s flashlight beam swept across the surroundings before landing on a tree not far away. A woman was tied to its massive trunk, her red dress strikingly conspicuous.

Inky immediately cried out, "Yes! That’s the female!"

The four of them immediately quickened their pace. The flashlight beams landed on the woman’s deathly pale face.

Renee Jennings frowned and asked in a low voice, "Is she still breathing?"

Henry Stark stepped closer and reached out to check the woman’s carotid artery. His eyes sharpened, and his expression grew heavy. In a deep voice, he said, "She’s gone."

Hearing this, Levi Hollis immediately took out his phone to photograph the scene, while Kyle Morgan notified the bureau to dispatch reinforcements and arrange for a medical examiner.

No one had expected the person to be dead.

Renee Jennings turned her head to look at Inky on her shoulder. "How long has she been tied here?"

Inky answered, "My friends told me a person in black carried her here in the middle of the night last night."

"When the person in black brought her here, was she moving?"

Inky wasn’t sure about that. "I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my friends."

"Can you bring the friends who know about it over here?"

"I can!" Inky spread its wings and gave them a shake. "I’ll go get my friends now."

As Renee Jennings watched it disappear into the gloom and fog, she suddenly remembered the new mission the system had issued during the day.

’The real culprit... Is it the real culprit who killed this woman?’

She gazed at the woman’s ashen face, the feeling growing that she had seen this face somewhere before.

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