Chapter 166


    Chapter 166


    After the middle-aged woman spoke her piece, all eyes in the room swiveled back to


    1.me.


    Shirley let out a snort of derision and red at me, “Ms. March, with the eyewitness right here, what''s your story now?”


    | nced at the middle-aged woman, stepped forward, and asked, “Do you even know who | am?”


    She looked taken aback and said, “aren’t you Xaviera?”


    “When exactly did | supposedly send you to deliver a message to President Stapleton?” | pressed on, unwilling to let any detail


    slip by.


    The woman gave me a quick look and said earnestly, “How could you forget? It wasst night, down by our hotel lobby, around 8


    PM or so, that''s when you told me about it.”


    8 PM, hotel lobby—my mind raced through these details, and a knot of panic settled in my chest.


    At that time, | was alone in my hotel room, with no one to vouch for my innocence.Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    It seemed that whoever was setting me up had thought of everything.


    They banked on me not having an alibi.


    “A hotel?” The confusion in the voices around me grew, and | heard Sean ask, “Which hotel?”


    The woman named the hotel, which, by sheer coincidence, was the same one | was staying at, and with her being a


    housekeeper there, she’d have easy ess to me.


    Things were getting hairy.


    Then | heard Sean ask, “Xaviera, so what were you doing during that time?”


    His tone was polite enough, but the look in his eyes had changed.


    Timothy caught on to this shift and blurted out indignantly, “What''s the big idea? Xaviera is my guest. You doubting her is like


    questioning my integrity, you get me?”


    He was clearly agitated, his gaze sharp and fiery.


    Seeing Timothy''s reaction, the yboy of the group quickly tried to smooth things over, “No way. Timothy. We don’t mean


    anything by it. If Ms. March is your friend,


    11:01


    Chapter 166


    she’s our friend too. Sean’s just trying to get to the bottom of it, no offense.”


    Everyone else chimed in, but when they turned to me, they probed, “So, Ms. March, can you tell us what you were up tost


    night at 8?”


    They asked nicely enough, but they hit me right where it hurt.


    | knew that if | couldn’t clear my name, Timothy might get dragged down with me.


    And the truth was, | had no way to clear my name.


    People believe evidence. With so many voices against you, who would believe —- someone who spent the whole night alone in a


    hotel?


    The trap was set with care, and it looked like | was going to be left holding the bag.


    As | clenched my fists, getting ready to speak, a familiar deep voice cut through, “It wasn’t her.”


    The voice was low and husky, not loud but enough tomand the room.


    Sure enough, it was Hogan who spoke.


    Those simple three words instantly drew everyone’s attention.


    | was just as stunned.


    That certainty, thatposure-it was totally unexpected.


    What was Hogan ying at?


    “Mr. Zade, what do you mean by that?” Shirley''s face was as full of surprise as mine. even her voice shook as she asked, “Why


    are you so sure Xaviera wasn’t the one delivering the message?”


    Following this, Cecilia, who was standing next to Hogan, had a kaleidoscope of emotions on her face. She cautiously tugged at


    Hogan’s arm and asked, “Hogan, what are you talking about?”