Her throat felt blocked. Feeling the gazes of everyone around her settle on her, Song Nan knew she couldn't hide it anymore.
Should she admit it and be ostracized by the others, or deny it and gamble that the chef wasn't sure she was the killer?
Song Nan weighed her options, but quickly abandoned the latter idea.
The chef was no simple man. Since he had asked the question to her face, he must already know she was the killer. Even if she denied it, he would expose her in front of everyone.
She might as well admit it herself, then get the key and escape.
She took a deep breath, unclenched her fists, and placed her hands on the table.
"I killed him."
Saul and Bailey stared at her in shock, unable to believe she could have done such a thing.
"Why did you kill him? We were all on the same side!"
Bailey stood up angrily, as if he wanted to come over and take a bite out of Song Nan.
Looking at Stock's so-called lawyer, Song Nan's expression changed. Her former composure vanished, and she stared at him mockingly.
"On the same side? I've never thought I was on the same side as scum like you."
Before Bailey could get angry, Song Nan continued, "What, does someone as important as you have such a poor memory? Don't you remember getting that piece of trash's case overturned in court and pleading not guilty for him?"
When she brought it up, memories of the past came flooding back.
Bailey froze where he stood, the arms supporting his body trembling slightly.
"You... what was that girl to you?"
"Haha, you really are arrogant. You didn't even bother to investigate her family. Maybe you've done this kind of thing so often that you just don't care anymore?"
"Of course, how could someone who doesn't even care about his own wife and daughter spare a thought for a girl of Chinese descent?"
Song Nan seemed to have completely let herself go. Gone was her earlier caution; she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed, a sharp glint in her eyes.
Bailey recalled how Stock had once drugged and raped a girl, only to accidentally kill her when she fought back fiercely.
As Stock's longtime lawyer, he had handled this sort of thing many times before and hadn't paid it much mind.
But now, the female captain in front of him was saying she was related to that girl?
That wasn't right. The girls Stock had sought out in the past were all from poor families, with few relatives. That way, even if something happened afterward, no one would come looking into it.
So where had this woman come from?
Seemingly sensing Bailey's confusion, Song Nan also wanted to expose his true colors in front of everyone, so she recounted her experiences one by one.
Her family had originally all been from Z Country. Things had been bad back home at the time, so her parents had taken her younger sister to M Country for work, leaving her alone in their home country.
After the national college entrance exam was reinstated, she had studied hard and been accepted into Capital University. She had then gone to M Country as an exchange student to further her studies, and after much effort, finally found news of her parents.
But by then, her parents had died, and her only sister had disappeared.
She had worked to build up her own resources while searching for her sister.
She had thought that once she found her sister, she could give her a better life and raise her properly in their parents' place.
But the last time she learned anything about her, her sister was already lying in a morgue.
The forensic pathologists who examined the body had all agreed that her sister had overdosed on drugs and died of heart failure, but the many wounds and bruises on her body proved that her death was not so simple.
The court proceedings that followed were a game of money and power. She sat in the gallery and watched as everyone, from the judge to the lawyers, seemed to be acting out a script, trading lines back and forth and settling her sister's fate just like that.
What had she been thinking then?
She had wondered why her sister had suffered all this.
Why had she been unable to stop this play and get justice for her sister?
Was it because the other party was a real estate tycoon with connections among all kinds of powerful people?
She couldn't accept it. She was furious, yet utterly powerless!
What could she do? How could she take revenge on the man who had killed her sister yet continued to live a carefree life?
She didn't want to think back on what happened afterward. Those were dark days.
She worked as though there were no tomorrow. Even when people discriminated against her and mocked her, she never backed down. Whatever methods it took, she would climb, all the way to a position where she could look that man in the eye.
The days passed like that, and an opportunity arrived when she least expected it.
When she saw Stock's name on the cruise ship's guest list, she knew the day of her revenge had come.
She had originally planned everything out, waiting only for the cruise ship to reach a predetermined spot at sea, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The moment she threw the body overboard, the waves would sweep it away.
Unfortunately, they had been shipwrecked, and perhaps heaven had taken pity on her, allowing her and that man to end up in the same lifeboat.
Seeing him at such close range, Song Nan had trembled all over with excitement.
To make absolutely sure nothing went wrong and to keep herself clear of suspicion, she had endured the whole way. To stay alive, she had even eaten mutton, all so she could kill that beast with her own hands.
Even now, Song Nan still savored the feeling of killing her enemy that night.
Though killing for the first time had made her retch uncontrollably, the excitement in her heart had been enough to suppress every negative emotion.
At that thought, Song Nan raised her head and met Bailey's eyes.
A cold scarlet still lingered in her eyes, making Bailey feel as though he were in hell, his whole body bound and unable to move.
He understood that, given the chance, Song Nan would kill him, just as she had killed Stock.
After hearing Song Nan's story, the others all wore complicated expressions.
The villains in the story were clearly Stock and Bailey. As the victim's family, Song Nan had gone to extremes, but what she had done was still understandable.
But they were still in danger, and infighting at a time like this was no good.
Phil broke the tense atmosphere between them. "All right, Song Nan, you can take your revenge later. For now, let's finish the game first."
He casually discarded Bailey's life, drawing a hateful look from him.
Seeing that Phil had no intention of getting involved in their affairs, Song Nan looked away as well, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
Now Phil was the only one who hadn't asked a question.
Xie Qi looked at him with a smile and gestured for him to ask.
Phil swept back his white hair, revealing his handsome, arrogant face. "What I want to ask is, does Mrs. Caster approve of what you're doing?"
His words brought the atmosphere back to what it had been before.
Everyone had already regarded Xie Qi as an enemy. Now, the question was whether he alone was their enemy, or everyone in the villa.