Chapter 13
The blue Bentley parked in the dilapidated old town, drawing frequent glances from people in the shops lining the street.
Eric thought Charles would at least try to conceal his identity when he arrived. Unexpectedly, he just pulled up in his nearly million- dollar luxury car, making it so conspicuous at the entrance.
Eric, who had been pretending all night, decided to drop the act, took off his extremely ugly baseball cap, and walked over to report. “This is the old town. It’s inhabited by mostly outsiders and workers, a real mix of people. I couldn’t find any specific information. The guy is in the room on the west side of the third floor. We have people guarding the entrance and downstairs.”
Charles lit a cigarette, nonchalantly facing the curious gazes of the crowd, and let Eric lead the way to catch the man.
When they reached the entrance of an old three–story building, Eric, walking ahead, quietly asked a bodyguard, “What’s the situation inside!”
“No movement. The TV has been on the whole time,” the bodygilard replied.
He probably hasn’t made a run for it yet, Eric thought to himself.
Eric was about to knock on the door when, to his surprise, Charles lit another cigarette, raised his leg, and kicked the door open. The man inside was startled out of bed with a thud, preparing to jump out the window. He stuck his head out, only to be frightened back by the sight.
Charles took a deep drag on his cigarette. Against the backdrop of the grayish–white smoke, his features were sharp and indifferent. “Why aren’t you jumping anymore!”
“Hand over the item, and I’ll let you go, Eric said.
The man, not expecting to be caught so quickly, had no choice but to pull a box out of his pocket. Is it really worth all this trouble just for such a lousy thing?”
“Did you commit murder and arson for something other than this? Charles asked.
Wonsense! What
hat evidence do you have?” the man
retorted.
į
“Why would I come here without any evidence? Charles shut him up with that single sentence.
Realizing he had no way out, the man knew the buyer had scheduled a meeting in three days. If he was handed over to the police now, he would be in jail for life.
“So what if you have evidence? Do you think I’m afraid of you?” The man leaned back, holding the box. “Back off. If you dare to come any closer, I’ll jump out with this thing!”
Normally, Charles wouldn’t be intimidated. But this time was different. He took two steps back
“It seems this item is really important to you,” the man said triumphantly. Tm just doing someone else’s bidding. Since you’ve caught me, it’s only a matter of time before you find out who’s behind me. How about this? If you let me go, I’ll leave this thing with you. Deal?”
Charles thought for a moment and said, “The car is downstairs.”
The man, clutching the box, walked cautiously to the door. Suddenly, he threw the box towards the window.
Without thinking, Clurles lunged forward, grabbing the box. The momentum sent half of his body flying out the window. He quickly grabbed the railing, leaving him hanging in mid–air on the third floor.
At the critical moment. Eric grabbed Charles’s wrist and pulled him back into the room.
The man in black was gone
“Damn it. I just let him get away like that?” Eric, feeling cheated, was full of regret.
Charles opened the box and saw the gemstone pendant inside. His expression turned somber
“Boss, should I Eric, noticing Charles’s unusual look, was curious. “Is this thing really that important?”
“Tell the people downstairs to go back,” Charles uated.
Chapter 13
“Just let that jerk go like that?” Eric looked at Charles in confusion.
in as he walked downstairs.
This is too strange! This man hurt Ms. Sampson. Boss cares so much about Ms. Sampson, so why let this guy off the hook so easily? Eric thought to himself.
On the way back, Charles kept holding the pendant. Many years ago, he had seen it in his father’s study and had asked about its origin out of curiosity. But his father never told him.
‘How did my father’s item end up with Rachel? And as part of the Sampson family’s dowry for her? With the Sampson family’s wealth, they have no shortage of gems, diamonds, and gold. Why would they use this as a dowry? There’s definitely more to this story; Charles thought
At seven–ten the next morning. Charles was sitting in the dining room eating breakfast after working out and taking a shower.
The doorbell rang. Charles opened the door and saw Rachel, holding Jenny, smiling and greeting him, “Good morning. Mr. Lopez”
“What’s up?” Charles asked.
Jenny jumped out of Rachel’s arms, using her short height to her advantage to slip into the room, leaving Rachel standing there.
Rachel held out a paper bag. “You probably haven’t had breakfast yet. I brought this to thank you for your help yesterday,” she said. walking past Charles into the room..
“You already thanked me yesterday. When is that 300,000 going to hit my account?” Charles asked.
Rachel pretended not to hear him. She walked a few steps in and saw Jenny standing on a chair, drinking juice. The table was set with steak and sandwiches. Suddenly, the Coke and doughnuts Rachel had bought seemed a bit underwhelming.
“Actually, I came here to tell you something important,” Rachel said.
“Besides paying me back, what else could be important?” Charles asked.
“Yeah, there is! Rachel went to the kitchen to grab a plate and started arranging the sandwiches she had bought on
on it
The police called me last night. They said the fire was caused by a dry–burned pot. I was using a small electric pot to cook instant noodles. Since the power went out, the pot should have shut off.
“And I clearly remember turning off the power when I went downstairs to the property management office. I wouldn’t forget something like that. So how could it have caused a dry burn? Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?” Rachel asked.
“So you think it was
was arson, Charles said.
ven the current situation, only Andrew
“I suspect Andrew, Rachel replied. She didn’t want to believe it, but she had to admit that, given would do something like this.
He had threatened her fiercely just a few days ago, saying he wouldn’t let her go. Now this had happened. How could she not suspect
him!
Tr’s obvious that this is Andrew’s way of warning me,” she said.
Charles took a sip of Coke. Hearing Rachel’s analysis, his expression barely changed, as if he had expected all of this.
Rachel didn’t want to expose the ugly side of her marriage to others, but Andrew had gone too far this time. He had burned down her house. What would he do next? Rachel couldn’t imagine it and felt a vague sense of fear,
Andrew was terrifying She had to get a divorce as soon as possible.
“What’s the story behind the gemstone pendant you asked me to find? Charles asked.
“Well. It’s just something my parents leftine. The wedding was grand, and my parents prepared a lot of dowry items, but this was the only one that was actually given to me,” Rachel said.
Not getting any useful information from Rachel, Charles wasn’t sure if she was genuinely unaware or just pretending. He didn’t press her further
After quickly finishing a Coke, Rachel didn’t want to disturb him any longer and prepared to go home to see if she could find that box again. But as she reached the entrance of the community, a group of people blocked her way.
23
Chapter 13
apartment in Building C, Unit 1, that caught fire!” someone shouted, and the crowd surrounded
There she is! She’s the owner of the apartm Rachel
“Since you’re here, pay us back!”
That’s right! Our houses were ruined by the fire. You have to compensate us!”
“The police said it was your pot that caused the fire. Are you trying to shirk your responsibility?”
The crowd, seeing that Rachel wasn’t speaking, kept pushing her, forcing her step by step into a corner.
AD
