Imprisoned While Pregnant, She's Back for Payback novel Chapter 394

Chapter 394 The Covered Body

Of course.

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She knew it. How could those people have gotten their hands on ten–year–old security footage so easily?

But…

Tess’s eyes moved across the dim, grainy video on the screen.

Surveillance and recording tech a decade ago wasn’t what it is now. The picture wasn’t sharp. Even zooming in only showed blurry faces and the outline of the hospital’s interior.

“I don’t see any signs this part was edited.”

Raven paused the video on the scene Henry claimed showed Shannon’s body in the morgue.

The glowing sign that read “Morgue” flickered eerily above the door.

“Patient from Krigan, name’s Shannon Bolton,” a doctor told the nurse in charge.

The nurse nodded and wheeled the body, draped in a white sheet, into a cold storage chamber.

Tess narrowed her eyes at the shape on the stretcher.

The more she stared, the more wrong it felt.

From start to finish, not once did anyone lift that sheet.

She leaned closer, her voice low as she tapped Raven’s shoulder. “Speed it up. Play the whole clip.”

Although she was confused, Raven obeyed and fast–forwarded the footage,

Tess followed every frame, her gaze never leaving the stretcher that appeared again and again.

The same white sheet lay firmly in place, stretched over the shape of a human body, but it

never once shifted.

“Raven,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “You said the morgue footage wasn’t tampered with.

You’re sure?”

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16:44 Fri, Oct 24 …

Chapter 394 The Covered Body

Tess narrowed her eyes.

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“Of course.” Raven barely hesitated. “Spotting edits can be tricky, but at my level it’s fairly simple. There’s nothing altered here.”

Tess pressed her lips together, eyes locked on the screen, deep in thought.

Maybe she had been looking at it all wrong.

Henry wouldn’t dare hold such a public funeral, showing this footage, unless he had something he trusted completely.

She asked Raven to freeze the video again at the morgue.

“Tell me,” Tess said suddenly, “what if that body under the sheet was never Shannon at all?”

The words dropped like ice in the room.

Lyra frowned and met Raven’s stiff gaze.

A chill crept up both their spines.

Abel, however, only curved his lips into a faint smile.

“From the day Nadine walked out of prison to Henry staging this grand funeral today, only three days have passed.”

The man’s deep, sly voice cut through the tension in the room. Unlike everyone else, he seemed relaxed, almost amused.

The words hooked everyone’s thoughts at once.

Lyra’s face turned serious as she sank into deep thought. She rubbed her arm, already covered in goosebumps.

“Tess believes they couldn’t have gotten ten–year–old security footage in just a few days. But most of this video doesn’t look edited at all. Which means…

“This footage was probably prepared over ten years ago,” Tess finished.

In that moment, all her thoughts came full circle.

Raven shrank back, a chill crawling down his spine.

The incident wasn’t some accident. It was a trap planned for over a decade.

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Chapter 394 The Covered Body

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Henry looked like a polished, respectable businessman on the surface. But who would have thought he carried such dark, frightening intentions all along?

“But this is still only our guess,” Connor said softly.

His calm voice washed over the group like cool water, steadying their shaken nerves.

He looked at Tess. “You promised the media you’d give an answer in the next few days. We’ll need real evidence.”

Tess nodded.

He was right.

All they had now were scattered leads.

But evidence? That was the hardest part.

They suspected the body wasn’t Shannon’s. Yet that corpse had been cremated more than ten years ago. Even if they found her ashes, it wouldn’t prove anything.

“Evidence? That’s easy,” Abel said with a sudden laugh, breaking the heavy silence.

Tess turned her head. Abel’s eyes were locked on her, sharp and knowing, as if he had read her worries from the look on her face.

He brushed her nose lightly, teasing. “Silly. The body’s gone, but Shannon’s still alive.”

The words lit a spark in Tess’s mind.

She had been so buried in dark thoughts she had almost forgotten that.

But as quickly as hope came, doubt crept back in. Her shoulders slumped. “Even if she’s alive, I’m sure Henry’s already hidden her somewhere. The fact he dared to stand in public and ‘clear things up‘ proves he’s got Shannon under control.”