Eighty

CHAPTER 80

Amore restaurant, New York.

"I..."

The young man's dark brown eyes suddenly flashed sharply. They pierced the blue eyes of Alicia who could not move in front of him.

"What have you and Nicholas done, Alicia?" repeated Ace. He even raised his voice this time. "You met again, didn't you?"

"I--it's not what you think, Ace," Alicia denied.

The only thing on her mind now was how Ace knew everything. Could Brittany have had the heart to report him? Or Ace had just hired someone to watch her while she was traveling.

"Tell me everything, Alicia," Ace said urgently.

A sharp look came from those brown irises. Once again, Alicia was rendered helpless even by his gaze. Ace seemed even colder with the attitude he was showing now. It took Alicia's tongue just to explain everything.

There was silence again. Especially after Alicia bowed her head guiltily. Without even expecting it, trembling began to spread throughout her body. Alicia felt very guilty for Ace.

"I always trusted you, Alicia," Ace said with disappointment. Then he exhaled heavily as he turned his face away from his girlfriend. "Even when someone kept telling me that you met that detective behind my back, I still tried to believe you." Then he gave a short snort;sounding scornful. "But I didn't expect you to disappoint me now."

The two were still exchanging glances, though no sound came out of their mouths. Even when the waitress came and put down the hot rib soup, neither of them had their appetites whetted in the slightest.

"I'm helping him investigate Mrs. Portman's case," Alicia said briefly. "Nothing more."

But a short snort came from the young man. He turned his gaze to the food in front of him. Without interest, he pulled a spoon and fork across the table and nibbled on it slowly.

And as if feeling ignored, Alicia spoke up again. "We don't see each other as often as you think, Ace," she said frankly.

Until Ace's forced movements suddenly stopped. She rudely dropped the fork and spoon into the bowl, making a loud noise that screeched in Alicia's ears. She was stunned when Ace, who was usually never like that, acted one hundred and eighty degrees now.

Those dark brown eyes were again holding her with an intimidating gaze. "I've lost my appetite. I'll take you home now," he snapped in such a cold tone.

The young man, who was now busy replacing his father as an important person, immediately stood up and walked away from Alicia. Leaving the girl with a lot of questions and confusion in her mind.

***

"So you're saying that someone will come forward to testify to the truth of Natalie Heele?" asked the young detective enthusiastically.

And Noel nodded in agreement.

Nicholas then stood up. "In that case, let her in immediately," and ordered his colleague excitedly.

A middle-aged woman in a white blouse and knee-length black skirt then entered the room. Accompanied by Noel, she sat down opposite Nicholas.

"Good afternoon, Madam," Nicholas greeted her warmly. He even smiled at the end of his sentence; which was uncharacteristic. "I really appreciate you coming."

The woman smiled awkwardly. Her dusky eyes glanced at Nicholas and Noel in turn.

"Is it true, you know something about this woman named Natalie Heele?" Nicholas asked directly. He did not like small talk.

But the thin-lipped woman was momentarily taken aback as soon as she heard the question thrown directly at her. She seemed surprised, but then her original intention and purpose for coming to the police station came back to her mind. "Yes, detective," he replied cautiously.

"Can you tell me everything, ma'am?"

She nodded her head-albeit with hesitant movements. "My name is Sarah and I know Natalie very well." She began. "We met at the hospital as nurse interns. Unfortunately, we had to be separated because of a mistake she made."

"So, Natalie is really a nurse?" cut in Nicholas curiously. "Did you guys work at Golden Hospital back then?"

Coincidentally, Sarah said yes to the young detective's question. And made the fine lines on the man's forehead suddenly disappear and replaced with relief. "Natalie was a good person until we all found out that she was trying to harm a patient," she continued, but this time Sarah told it in a sad tone.

"Harm someone?" this time it was Noel who spoke up.

And the woman's face immediately turned to Noel. "Yes, detective. We caught him pulling out the IV of a patient who was in a coma," Sarah said. She then shook her head weakly. "The hospital took harsh action against him. He was expelled and his name was deemed never to have been there."

Nicholas furrowed his brow and exchanged glances with Noel before turning back to the woman named Sarah. "Is that patient related to Natalie?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't think so. Because the patient she's trying to harm is a councillor who is currently serving overseas." She then shrugged her shoulders. "There's no way a lowly person like us could have anything to do with that noblewoman."

"Wait, wait," Noel interrupted. He had been standing there, but now sat down next to Sarah. "Does Natalie use the name Rosie when she works with you?"

The woman's gaze seemed to wander for a while, until she finally looked back at Noel and Nicholas who were now waiting for her with great curiosity. "Yes. I heard she registered herself under her dead brother's name," Sarah replied. "But he definitely told me about his real name."

Nicholas spluttered in his place. "The hospital tried to cover up the defect by hiding Natalie's real identity."

Then Sarah agreed. "All the staff and doctors working there were asked to keep this incident a secret before bad rumors hurt the hospital's image," she added.

"Horrible!" said Noel.

"Now we're finding out the motive. It is possible that the perpetrator is a relative of the patient," Nicholas guessed. He then turned to Noel. "Noel, now help me check the family history of the patient who was harmed by Natalie last time and Mrs. Sarah," this time he looked at Sarah. "May I know the name of that patient?"

"Of course." The woman leaned in and whispered, "Angela Vasylchenko B." []