Chapter 1097 - 1105: Sinister Villain

James Black felt his alcohol breath finally dissipate after taking a shower, and as he lifted the quilt and lay down in bed, an unbidden thought crossed his mind.

If Jane Sampson were by his side, smelling the alcohol on him, she would probably scorn him for stinking.

She always claimed she wasn’t squeamish, but sometimes, she was still his delicate little wife.

James checked the time on his mobile phone and, seeing it was very late, abandoned the idea of calling Jane Sampson.

After lying down, he didn’t rush to sleep but instead leaned on the head of the bed, flipping through the photos in his phone album.

Sometime had started when his erstwhile perpetually empty phone album had begun to fill up entirely with her photos.

Sometimes Jane Sampson had that sort of wicked fun, taking selfies with her phone, capturing bizarre expressions, and secretly setting them as his phone background.

There were also some that he had saved one by one while browsing the internet realm for information about Jane Sampson.

The earliest photo in the album was from when he went to the Northland to pick her up, bringing her, just recovered from illness, to play in the desert.

The most recent ones were photos of her as a child participating in various competitions.

Recently, every evening before sleep, James had been searching for news of Jane Sampson’s childhood piano recitals and her participation in all kinds of competitions. If there were photos or videos, he would instinctively save them.

He could only find bits and pieces of the time he’d missed and start to reacquaint himself with her past.

Without exception.

In videos and news of Jane Sampson’s various competitions and performances from childhood to adulthood, besides witnessing her excellence, James saw, even more distinctly, her loneliness.

In many group photos with other children, other children would always have one or two parents or at least one family member in the background—daddy and mommy, or maybe a grandparent.

Only Jane Sampson, from beginning to end, was always alone—either standing by herself or with a teacher too busy to pay her much attention.

James thought, as a child, when Jane saw her peers surrounded by applause from their parents, she must have also awaited applause from her own.

The phone suddenly rang, jolting James back to the present.

Glancing at the incoming number, James recognized it even though it wasn’t saved in his contacts; his memory for numbers he’d seen was impeccable.

The phone number belonged to Julie Sampton.

The call had been forwarded from Jane Sampson’s phone.

Which meant, this call was initially meant for Jane Sampson.

Considering what Peter Gingery had mentioned that evening about seeing Julie added, James pressed the answer key and picked up the call.

"Jane Sampson, I didn’t expect you to be such a treacherous little villain! You knew how much I despised Andrew Chip and his family, and yet you told them my work location! Jane Sampson, are you jealous of me, Julie Sampton, being happy?"

The moment the call connected, Julie Sampton’s voice came shrieking through with a vehemence that could split ears.

"I’m telling you, if you don’t let me live peacefully, you won’t find peace either!" Julie Sampton declared, "Jane Sampson, just you wait and see!"

"Julie Sampton." James’s voice was clear and cold on this cool evening, startling the person on the other end of the line into a sudden pause.