The Perfect Wife's Perfect Revenge novel Chapter 970

“Sir, she just left the building.”

Layne’s voice was clipped. “Did she mention where she was going?”

Realizing she had failed to pry, Mrs. Shannon answered honestly, “No, Sir. She didn't say.”

“Understood,” Layne replied, immediately ending the call.

He buried himself in paperwork until around four in the afternoon, when a breaking news alert flashed across his social media feed. A massive explosion had just gutted a luxury unit in his exact residential high-rise.

Seeing the thick black smoke billowing into the sky from the exact direction of his penthouse, Layne felt the blood freeze in his veins.

He grabbed his coat and bolted out of the boardroom, frantically dialing both Maeve and Mrs. Shannon as he sprinted toward the elevators.

Mrs. Shannon’s phone went straight to voicemail. Maeve’s phone was equally dead. Consumed by dread, Layne floored his car all the way back to the complex.

The blast had just occurred. By sheer luck, a fire brigade had already been dispatched to a minor alarm in the adjacent building, allowing them to respond instantly and extinguish the blaze before it spread. Mrs. Shannon had narrowly escaped with her life.

Seeing the older woman alive and breathing, a massive weight lifted off Layne’s chest, but his panic immediately shifted. “Where’s Maeve? Is she okay?”

Mrs. Shannon was covered in soot and ash, coughing heavily from the smoke inhalation.

“Ms. Sterling is fine. She left this afternoon and never came back. She wasn't here when it blew.”

Mrs. Shannon was in her fifties. Her son had just gotten married. Trying to burn her alive was an act of unfathomable cruelty.

“We have hidden security cameras in the kitchen. If the blast didn't fry the hard drives, we’ll be able to see exactly who piled the flour next to the burner.”

He knew with absolute certainty that Mrs. Shannon wouldn't try to blow up the building she was standing in.

If they ruled her out by default, there was only one suspect left. There were only three people with access to that kitchen, and Layne had been at the office.