Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

The jaws of all three dropped in astonishment.
"Jasper, it was 20 years ago. Where did you get the physical evidence from?" Alyssa grabbed Jasper's hand.
Jasper turned his hand around and laced his fingers with hers. His voice was low and hoarse. "Do you remember when I
mentioned I was investigating the maid who used to serve my mother?"
Alyssa nodded.
"She might have had a premonition before disaster struck. Before something happened to Sophia, she had intentions to escape.
Xavier sent men over and managed to capture her. That's when I employed some of my tricks."
Jasper took a deep breath and continued, "Out of massive fear and to protect her son, she said some things that Sophia had
never mentioned in the recording—the truth."
Jasper was a kind person. Given a choice, he wouldn't use someone's child to threaten or force his way. He wouldn't become a
monster who would use malicious ways to get what he wanted.
Alyssa believed that even if the maid's lips were sealed, Jasper wouldn't have done anything to her son.
He couldn't go through with it. If he did, he would be no different from Jameson.
"Sophia killed my mother. Sophia poisoned her with her own hands," Jasper declared, his eyes reddening. He struggled to
suppress the hatred within him. His hand that held onto Alyssa turned as cold as an iceberg.
"She poisoned her with her own hands?" Silas and Cyrus' faces stiffened.

Xavier's body swayed as if he had been struck hard by someone.
Alyssa's nose stung. She felt the air around her thinning. Her heart felt as if a huge rock was on top of it.
If it were someone else, they would have gone ballistic. However, Jasper kept his cool. The calmer he was, the more her heart
ached.
"Jasper, what's going on?" Cyrus anxiously asked.
"The maid mentioned that she followed Sophia's orders to swap my mother's medication for depression. However, she swapped
the medication with supplements, so it wasn't lethal.
"During that time, Sophia probably realized my mother's relationship with Javier had improved and was losing sleep over it. So,
she swapped the normal supplement for a poison that was taken in small amounts daily but can cause heart paralysis and death
over time."
Tears welled up in Alyssa's eyes as her hand caressed his back lightly.
"How did the maid know everything in such great detail?" Out of occupational habit, Silas, the prosecutor, was eager to know
more.
"She saw it with her own eyes."
Jasper held Alyssa's hand securely. It was as if her touch was the only thing calming him down. "She said she noticed something
two days before my mother jumped off the building. After she swapped my mother's medication, Sophia would slip in and change
the medication again—unnoticed. The maid had never brought it up or dared ask a word about it."

"This was because if your mother died of heart paralysis, then the maid who handled her medication would be brought away for
questioning." Alyssa's heart was pounding as she analyzed the situation calmly.
She continued, "Then, it didn't matter how the maid tried to explain. She was the one responsible for keeping the medication. It
was her who swapped it, and she had to take the fall for the crime."
"Though she mulled it over at that moment, being caught up in it left her with no option to turn away. She could only tread this
shady path." Jasper stopped briefly. His face was getting paler. "However, something happened on the day of the incident.
"My mother wanted to take a walk in the garden. However, she realized she didn't have her camera with her, so she returned to
her room. Then, she ran into Sophia, who was swapping the medication."
Alyssa's heart sank.
Jasper looked down and nodded. "Yes. That maid hid outside the room and eavesdropped everything that happened inside.
"However, her hands were not entirely clean from this. So, she was overly anxious during that time and kept everyone at arm's
length. She hadn't had a good night's sleep the entire time."
"Hmph! She can make up for her lost sleep in prison, then!" Cyrus gnashed his teeth.
"That maid said she couldn't see what happened inside. But she vaguely heard that my mother and Sophia were in a heated
argument.
"Since my mother joined the Beckett family, she had become an emotionally numb person. That was the first time she expressed
outrage. So, the maid was shocked to hear that."
"Then?" Alyssa stared at him, barely blinking.