The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Mia's car could've cruised straight to the hospital without a hitch. If she put the pedal to the metal, she'd be there in a flash-fifteen minutes, tops. But for some insane reason, Mia took the bumper-to-bumper route, showing up at the ER almost forty minutes late. Anastasia sat shivering in her seat, her eyes glued to the security footage, her heart aching in ways words couldn't capture.

"I trusted her completely, never doubted her for a second. Why would she do this?" Anastasia's voice trembled, as much a question to Jason as a whisper to herself.

It baffled her, Mia's motives as murky as a foggy night. That day, not only had she lost her baby, but she herself had almost met her end.

Mia knew it was a life-or-death situation, yet she chose a path that was a slow crawl towards the latter.

Tears slid silently down Anastasia's cheeks. She couldn't wrap her head around it was it all because Mia had a thing for Herman? A crush so deep she'd gamble with her life?

Mia had once sworn she'd treat her like a sister.

Jason paused the grainy footage, trying to zoom in. He looked at Anastasia and said, "Just so you know, even if you take Mia to court, it's a civil case, looking for compensation. These things drag on forever-half a year if you're lucky, probably more. And Mia can easily play dumb, claim she had no idea about the traffic. Her morals suck, but for a crime, the evidence is flimsy."

Wiping her face, Anastasia turned to Jason, "Can you give me a copy of this video?"

Jason asked, "Got any plans?"

Anastasia shook her head, "My mind's a mess right now. I let the wolf in, and it cost me my child."

Jason swallowed his words of comfort, instead copying the footage to her phone. "It's late. You should head home and try to get some rest."

Insomnia was a given for Anastasia that night. "Did you find anything new about the snake scare?" she asked.

Jason had some leads, but with Anastasia in this state, now wasn't the time to dig into it.

"Get some rest first. Don't worry about the other stuff. Julie's pregnant, and honestly, even with solid evidence, the law won't touch her for now. Patience is your friend," Jason advised with the cool objectivity of an outsider. Jason wasn't the only one waiting-Herman was too.

Doubts about Granny Anita's death had started gnawing at Herman. After laying her to rest and as the dust settled, Herman revisited the mall's surveillance footage from the day she passed.

Reviewing it over and over, Herman noticed that after Anastasia dashed out of the restroom, Julie sauntered in. But when Granny Anita was in distress, Julie didn't rush to get help.

Five minutes-that's how long Julie stayed in the restroom before calling for assistance, a fact the security cameras clearly showed.

What was Julie doing during those five minutes?

If Granny Anita had already passed, Julie's first instinct should've been to call for help immediately, a delay of maybe two minutes at most.noveldrama

It was entirely possible Granny Anita was still alive when Julie went in. So what went down between them during those crucial minutes?

By the time the driver arrived, Granny Anita was already dead, and Herman was greeted by a lifeless body.

Herman hadn't considered the possibility of Julie delivering a final blow. He was simply puzzled by the missing minutes, caught in a loop of suspicion.

Just then, there was a commotion downstairs.

Herman went down, finding Flynn Salstrom bringing in a man: "Herman, the guy you wanted-I found him. This is Henry, a master at reading faces. He's a criminology psych major at the university, top of his class."