Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 110: Cold-blooded murderer!

Chapter 110: Cold-blooded murderer!

Mia reached their apartment room and was surprised to find the door left slightly ajar, but then she didn’t think much of it and pushed it open thinking her mother must have left it that way. She entered the room humming a song to herself as she was in a good mood. She saw that the television in their living room was on and was left on the news channel, which meant her mother was around. She dropped her bag on the couch and headed to her mother’s room while saying,

"Mom, I’m home. I’m really sorry for not picking up your calls last night. And I can explain why I didn’t come home. You see... Mom...MOM!" Mia exclaimed as she walked into the room and found her mother laying on the ground. And when she rushed closer, she was gripped by a chilling horror that froze her in place. Her mother wasn’t just laying on the floor, she was lying in a pool of crimson liquid, her seemingly lifeless eyes staring into nothingness, with a gaping wound on her chest!

Mia’s stomach lurched violently, bile rising in her throat as she gagged, unable to understand the nightmare unfolding before her. She stumbled backward, her hands trembling uncontrollably, as her body convulsed with each retch. Tears blurred her vision, mixing with the nausea as she crawled toward her mother’s motionless form, her mind refusing to accept the gruesome reality in front of her.

She had seen her mother just yesterday afternoon but now she was laying in a pool of blood...

"No, no, this can’t be happening," Mia choked out between sobs, her voice a desperate plea for the nightmare to end. "Mom, please, wake up. This isn’t funny. Please, don’t leave me alone."

But her words echoed in the empty room, met only by silence as the truth settled like a heavy shroud around her. With shaking hands, she reached out to touch her mother’s cold skin, willing warmth and life to return, but finding only icy stillness.

"Mama, please, don’t do this to me. I will travel with you..." Mia whimpered, her voice breaking as she clung to the faint hope of a miracle. "Don’t leave me like this. Please, I need you."

But there was no response, only the haunting silence of loss echoing in the air. A cry of anguish escaped from her lips as she collapsed and began to scream, prompting the neighbors to hurry out of their apartments and knock on their front door. When Mia searched for help, her gaze landed on the wall where something had been written in blood.

In bold capital letters, it said "NEIL WAYNER!" What could that possibly mean? She stared at the wall, tears of anguish streaming down her face. Just then, she heard something on the television in the living room, where the news channel was playing.

"This morning, Neil Wayner has been held into custody for the alleged murder of two students from Ivy Grove Institute, Alaric Blackwood and Diane Foster. The victims were brutally killed in a manner that made them unrecognizable. Miss Diane Foster was found dead in her home’s pool, with the words NEIL WAYNER written on the wall. Meanwhile, Alaric was discovered in his car with the same words etched on the window. The military decided to reveal Neil Wayner’s identity this morning during the investigation, and..."

In a dazed state, Mia made her way to the living room, her eyes fixated on the television screen where a young woman was delivering the news. However, when an image of Neil Wayner appeared on the screen, Mia’s blood turned to ice as she realized who the infamous Neil Wayner truly was.

***

Neil was taken to the military courtroom accompanied by some higher-ranking soldiers who had arrived to collect him earlier that morning from his uncle’s house. He had been summoned while sleeping next to Mia yesterday. The soldiers did not inform him of the situation until they were in the car on their way to the court.

Neil was accused not only of murdering three individuals but also of a case that had been concealed two years ago. Despite receiving scornful glances from his subordinates, he remained composed throughout the journey to the court. He knew that if his lawyers could prove his innocence, it would not be a significant problem. His uncle had warned him days ago, so he had prepared his legal team. However, he had not anticipated being called to the military court for a different case rather than the one he had been readying himself for.

Outside the courtroom, the halls were packed with reporters from all over the world who were waiting to discover the latest titillating developments in the trial of Neil Wayner. Once, the media had fawned over him to the extent they would do anything to know his identity and get to interview him.

However, they now disregarded his presence and instead focused on tearing him down, relishing in reporting every aspect of his tarnished reputation, delighting the public with juicy updates on his case.

Of course, no sane person would side with someone accused of murdering hundreds of people and three innocent souls. No matter his good deed in the past, it would be overlooked until justice was served. And the reporter made sure to serve all the news about his case to the world.

Meanwhile, someone at home watched the news with red, swollen eyes from days of crying. In this moment, she felt like an empty shell, devoid of emotions, desperate to know who had killed her poor mother in such a gruesome way. She had watched the only person she cared the most about in this world get buried this morning. No words could describe how much pain she felt, no words could describe how much she wished to turn back time and help her mother...

However, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that the man she had grown fond of was responsible, yet a part of her couldn’t dismiss the possibility. But then, what motive could he have for killing her mother when he didn’t even know her...

"Mia, you have to eat something before you get sick. Watching the news all day won’t help you..." Rayne commented, having come to console her friend upon hearing about her loss. She had snuck away from home just to be by Mia’s side in the burial ceremony this morning, and it broke her heart to see how much Mia had changed in just two days. Her once lively brown eyes now appeared lifeless and empty, and she spoke only a few words.

"I know it’s difficult for you to process all this information about Mr. Bennett being the infamous soldier you’ve dreamt of interviewing, as well as a potential suspect in your mother’s death. You..." Rayne trailed off as Mia raised her hand, signaling for her to be quiet so she could listen to the live coverage of the military court.

"You’ve got all the proof against Mr. Wayner," said one of the lawyer who had come to fight for the victims."First we’d like to address the incident two years ago. We have evidence to present to the military court that would prove that Neil Wayner had purposely let the biggest bomb that was planted in the mall two years ago explode when he could defuse it and save thousands of lives. He had let the bomb explode due to an argument he had with his subordinates, Jason Wallace.

"We have been wondering for two years how did that bomb explode when Mr. Wayner had assured the people in the mall through the speaker that it has been defused and they could continue their activities. And we have been deceived by the investigators that there was another bomb that exploded afterwards, when in truth it was still the same one after all and our hero, Mr. Wayner had purposely left it to explode to teach Mr. Wallace a lesson for daring to order him around!"

Murmuring voices broke out through the courtroom at those words. The lawyer handed over the evidence of the real investigation to the military tribunal, who took it and called Jason to the stand.

Jason eagerly walked into the witness stand. He had looked forward to this day for years, and today he was finally going to bring Neil Wayner to justice for being a temperamental psychopath. He could feel Neil’s glares on him but ignored him and began to speak.

"Mr. Wallace, can you tell us what really went wrong on that day and how your words had made Mr. Wayner let the bomb explode?" Said the military tribunal.

Jason nodded his head and began, "Everyone in the camp knows the bad blood between Neil and I, so I will cut to the chase of what happened that day. On that day, I got the news about the bomb planted in that mall and since the only person who could defuse bombs was Neil, I quickly approached him and told him he needed to head to the mall. I urged him and also told him my cousin was among the people shopping in the mall, but Neil, as a typhoon he was with a huge ego, had taken my words like an order, he had looked at me with a dark glare and said I had no right to tell him what to do. And he would only do things at his own pace." Jason gritted his teeth as if remembering the day made him angry.

"Neil Wayner is known among the soldiers for his temper. He is a man with a big pride and ego, he hated to be told what to do. And on that day, before he walked away from me to head to the mall, he had told me that he didn’t give a fuck if the building exploded and my cousin burned to the ground along with the others!"

Hearing that, a loud and shocking gasp broke from the elite crowd present in the courtroom. Even the reporters looked towards Neil with a surprised expression. The incident two years ago had been a big thing where even the president’s relative had died from the explosion.

"Thank you, Mr. Wallace for your testimony. We will now proceed to the case of the recent muder." Said the attorney, "We’ve learned from the students of Ivy Grove that Mr. Wayner, who posed as a professor under the military order, was in some kind of a relationship with one of the female students in the University. And that student had some issues with the deceased. From all the investigation that took place yesterday, we realized that he had killed Miss Foster and Mr. Blackwood for this female student. We also realized he killed them along with an innocent woman in Whispering way!"

Neil, who had been sitting in the defendant’s table with a passive expression the entire time, finally wavered slightly upon hearing the man’s words. But then he didn’t say a word and only gripped the arm of his chair with so much force it made a cracking sound.

The attorney resumed to speak,"He killed them in cold blood. You know he did it and I know he did it. But the way he did it makes this crime even more revolting, more heinous, because it shows the kind of cold-blooded monster Neil Wayner is. We have a footage that shows him in the parking lot where Alaric Blackwood had been murdered."

All of the evidence presented at the court proved Neil Wayner as the culprit of the murder.

Twisting around, the attorney pointed a finger at Neil, his voice ringing with loathing as one of those people who had died in the bomb was his wife. And he was willing to do everything to bring Neil down. "Neil Wayner is a man who is so corrupted by wealth and fame that he actually believed himself above and beyond all the laws that apply to you and to me. He believed you’d let him get away with it! Look at him," Compelled by the attorney’s booming voice, every single face in the crowded courtroom turned in unison toward Neil, who was seated at the defendant’s table. Beside him, his chief defense attorney hissed without actually moving his lips, "Neil, look up at the camera!"

Neil raised his head and complied automatically, but he doubted that anything he did was going to make a difference in the military tribunal collective minds. If someone had set out to frame him for this murder, they could never have done a better job at making the "evidence" point to him than he had done on his own. He could have easily found a way out if he was accused of one crime, but they were multiple and the military would surely not over look his crime.

"Look at him," the attorney commanded with renewed fervor and fury, "and you’ll see what he is__he is a monster, a cold heartless devil!"