Chapter 6
"That's enough!" Harrison snapped.
Whenever there was a choice to make, Harrison never paused. He always picked Iliana without a second thought.
He stood up. "We've got a lead on your parents' bodies. I'll give them to you in three days. Don't blame Iliana anymore, okay?"
For once, his voice was gentle, but it was for another woman.
Alison clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.
"Fine," she spat the word out through gritted teeth.
She decided that once she got her parents' remains, she'd leave Harrison for good, never looking back.
Harrison let out a sigh of relief. "Get some rest."
With Iliana's hand in his, Harrison walked out of the room.
Soon, Alison got the news that her parents' bodies had been found. Though she was still sick, she forced herself out of bed and rushed to the cemetery.
The usually quiet cemetery was now crowded, with reporters swarming around her parents' gravesite.
As soon as Alison appeared, the reporters rushed at her with their cameras and mics ready.
"Ms. Bradley, did you really interfere in Captain Potter's marriage?"
"There are tons of videos online claiming you seduced Captain Potter. Are those real?"
One reporter held up his phone, showing all sorts of AI-faked videos of Alison in scandalous scenes.
Those lewd voices sounded extra harsh in the cemetery.
Alison stood frozen, her whole body trembling.
The wind in the cemetery tugged at her clothes, draining away the last bit of strength she had left.
She gave Harrison a cold stare. "Did you set all this up?"
Harrison looked away. "The reporters wanted to interview the rescue team. It's a coincidence."
But every question the reporters asked was all about Alison's private life.
Alison didn't bother exposing such an obvious lie.
Once she settled her parents' bodies today, she'd leave Riverside for good. She didn't want to cross paths with Harrison again.
Alison looked up at the reporters, her voice steady and cold. "We're in the cemetery. Please keep it quiet and let my parents leave in peace."
She stepped forward, picked up the urns, and was about to walk away when something icy suddenly snapped shut around her wrist.
She looked up in shock. Harrison had handcuffed her right before her parents' grave.
He dodged Alison's gaze. "You're not going anywhere. People online are saying Iliana is the homewrecker. She's fragile right now. Don't push her any further."
Alison finally realized that everything that happened today was orchestrated by Harrison, all to clear Iliana's name as the homewrecker.
"So, you want me to stand here, in front of my parents' grave, and admit I'm the homewrecker?" Alison held his gaze, refusing to back down.
Harrison looked away. "Help me one last time. Once Iliana recovers, I'll come back home. I'll hand over all my salary, and I'll buy your parents the best gravesite in Riverside."
He ignored Alison's refusal, completely blind to the pain in her eyes.
He stepped back, stood by Iliana's side, watching Alison struggle as the reporters closed in on her.
Someone in the crowd, burning with righteous fury, couldn't hold back anymore.
A soda can was hurled straight at Alison, and blood started streaming down her face from the impact.
"Alison!" Harrison's eyes widened in shock. When he was about to rush over, Iliana clutched her stomach and cried out in pain.
"It hurts so much. Honey, I didn't rest properly after having the baby. Am I going to end up sick because of it?" Iliana sobbed.
Harrison gritted his teeth. "Alison, hold on. Iliana is not as tough as you. I'll take her to the hospital first, and then I'll come back for you."
He scooped Iliana up into his arms. "Admit you're the homewrecker, and the reporters will leave you alone."
Then he hurried down the hill with Iliana in his arms, leaving Alison to face it all alone.
"You shameless bitch! You think your parents can rest in peace? In your dreams." A man in a baseball cap hurled a Molotov cocktail straight at Alison's parents' tombstone.
In an instant, burning liquid splattered everywhere.
Alison's eyes went wild with terror. "No!"
Her wrists were cuffed, and the flames made the metal so hot that it felt like her skin was about to burn right off.
Alison didn't feel the pain. She kept trying to put out the fire on her parents' urns.
Down at the base of the mountain, for some reason, Harrison's heart raced. He felt he was about to lose something important.
He made sure Iliana was comfortable, and then turned to go.
Iliana clung to his hand, her voice trembling with worry. "Where are you going?"
"I'm heading up. I'm the captain of the rescue team. I can't sit back and let someone get hurt," Harrison said.
Iliana clung to him, begging him not to go, but in the next instant, the whole hill trembled violently.
"It's an aftershock." Harrison's eyes went wide as he watched the cemetery get swallowed up by a torrent of debris from the landslide.
He staggered up and grabbed a disheveled reporter fleeing down the hill.
"Where are the people up there?" Harrison's voice trembled with panic. "Where is Alison?"
"I don't know. I was the last one out. She was cuffed and couldn't run. She must be dead," the reporter stammered.