Chapter 413: Kai Thorne’s Act

Chapter 413: Chapter 413: Kai Thorne’s Act

A look of delight appeared on Zoe Sawyer’s face as she pushed the door open. Before she could get a clear look inside, someone took hold of her left hand.

Surprised, she looked up to find Heath Hale standing beside her with a serious expression. Noticing her gaze, he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "If we watch together, we can spot anything unusual faster, remember more clues, and solve the case sooner.

Now, focus on the scene. Don’t miss a single potential clue."

Hearing this, Zoe Sawyer instinctively looked away from him and focused on the scene before her.

When she saw Kai Thorne and Marcus Thompson come in through the door, she pushed aside the flicker of confusion that had just surfaced.

’He’s right. Solving the case is what’s most important right now.’

"All that effort for nothing. Coach Hale’s move was completely wasted. Zoe Sawyer isn’t paying attention to him at all, and she has no idea what he just meant." Vivian Dunn, who had witnessed Heath Hale’s subtle maneuver from a distance, clicked her tongue and then whispered to the colleague next to her.

He went to all that trouble, but Zoe Sawyer was completely oblivious. Having watched the whole exchange, Vivian Dunn was starting to feel sorry for Heath Hale.

The few colleagues nearby who overheard Vivian Dunn chuckled quietly. They weren’t about to be the ones to clue Zoe Sawyer in.

A good show like this was meant to be savored!

While Vivian Dunn and her group were gossiping animatedly, Zoe Sawyer was staring intently at the argument unfolding before her.

Marcus Thompson kicked the door open and stormed in, his face contorted with rage.

Kai Thorne sauntered in after him, casually closing the door and ignoring his brother, who looked ready to explode with anger.

"I’m your brother, and you conspired with that casino crowd to set me up!" The more Marcus Thompson thought about it, the angrier he became. He lunged at Kai Thorne, grabbing the front of his shirt and glaring furiously.

Kai Thorne leaned back with a look of utter disgust, yanking his shirt free from Marcus Thompson’s grasp. "What do you mean, I set you up?" he said coolly. "You walked right into it. If you didn’t have a gambling problem, how could you have been tempted?

To put it bluntly, you’re just weak-willed and incompetent. You gambled away the family fortune, so you have no one to blame but yourself."

At Kai Thorne’s words, Marcus Thompson’s eyes blazed red with fury. "Was it all because I had that moment of weakness and swapped our children? But you swapped them back in time, didn’t you?

We’re brothers! The damage was contained, but you still came after me so viciously!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated Marcus Thompson became, advancing on Kai Thorne one step at a time.

He grew so agitated that he started shouting, spraying spittle onto Kai Thorne’s face.

As Marcus Thompson closed in, Kai Thorne felt like he was going to pass out from the stench of stale smoke wafting off him.

When he felt the spittle on his cheek, Kai Thorne’s expression darkened instantly.

’Damn pauper! How dare he spit on my face!’

Since Marcus Thompson had laid it all out, Kai Thorne dropped the pretense. He crossed his arms and sneered at the furious man before him. "That’s right. My daughter is the apple of my and Eliza Lynch’s eye. If a pauper like you had sent her off to a life of hardship, do you think I wouldn’t be heartbroken?

It wasn’t you who ’contained the damage.’ I was the one smart enough to realize something was wrong. Otherwise, do you think you ever would have switched them back?"

Kai Thorne recalled how a drunk Marcus Thompson had let it slip that he was planning to send his own two daughters away to pay off his debts. "It’s a good thing I got her back," Kai added. "Otherwise, you would have sent my daughter off to some filthy place."

As for his two nieces, Kai Thorne couldn’t have cared less. He had only met them once and felt no attachment.

If it wasn’t for his quest to get revenge for his daughter, he would have wanted to avoid any contact with Marcus Thompson for the rest of his life.

’Little paupers born from a big pauper. They can die for all I care. It’ll serve as an apology to my precious daughter.’

At this, the previously furious Marcus Thompson suddenly grew calm. He stared at Kai Thorne and let out a laugh. "You talk as if you’re such a loving husband and father. But we’re brothers, born from the same womb.

Whatever kind of trash I am, you are too. You knew your wife couldn’t tell us apart, yet you sent me to her. What, were you hoping I’d cuckold you?

Tsk, tsk, tsk. I may be ruthless, but at least I’m open about it. Not like you, who’s full of vile schemes but pretends to be so pure and kind. You’re the absolute pinnacle of hypocrisy."

The two quickly descended into a brawl.

Marcus Thompson had done physical labor for years and was much stronger than the pampered Kai Thorne. After a brief struggle, he quickly gained the upper hand.

Both men seemed to have a tacit understanding, avoiding any blows that might leave a visible mark.

"Once I kill you, I’ll take your place and become Kai Thorne!" Marcus Thompson snarled, revealing his plan. With a great heave, he pinned Kai Thorne to the floor, his face a mask of savagery. "All your money will be mine! Even your wife and child will be mine!"

’What did Marcus Thompson’s gambling debts have to do with him, Kai Thorne!’

’As for Catherine Miller and their two daughters, once I get my hands on the Thorne family’s money, I’ll secretly give them a little something. Consider it a token for all our years of marriage.’

As Marcus Thompson fantasized about the wonderful life ahead of him, his hand felt for a fruit knife on the coffee table. But just as he was about to grab it to stab him, Kai Thorne launched a counterattack.

In the split second that Marcus Thompson reached for the fruit knife, Kai Thorne turned the tables. He seized the knife and plunged it deep.

Marcus Thompson’s eyes bulged, as if he couldn’t believe this was how it all ended.

After several minutes, Marcus Thompson, who had been struggling, went still. All life had drained from him.

Kai Thorne watched with cold eyes. Once he was certain Marcus Thompson was dead, he raised the fruit knife again, closed his eyes, and stabbed wildly at his chest several more times.

Next, he glanced at a wound on Marcus Thompson’s arm, then, matching its approximate location and size, made a backhanded slash on his own arm.

Once he had done all this, Kai Thorne clutched his injured arm and rose from the floor.

He scanned the living room, wiped a few suspicious surfaces clean, and messed up the fight scene a little more. Once he was sure there were no obvious holes in his story, he stood to the side, looking down on Marcus Thompson. "What a coincidence," he sneered, "a fruit knife just happened to be on the edge of the coffee table, right where you could grab it.

An idiot will always be an idiot. Completely incapable of thinking."

After speaking, Kai Thorne raised his foot to kick Marcus Thompson’s corpse but stopped himself, worried his action might leave a trace on the body.

Kai Thorne mussed up his hair, slapped his own cheeks, and then, right before heading out, plastered an expression of terror and panic on his face. Only then did he open the door and leave.

And with Kai Thorne’s departure, the scene inside the door went dark.

Seeing that the scene was over, Zoe Sawyer closed the door, turned to Heath Hale, and voiced her question.

"Those random stabs at the end... was he staging something?"