Chapter 207 – "The Deal with the Devil"
Hubert’s heart sank with dejection.
He had been idling around all his life.
He was too lazy to work hard to pay off the debt with his meager salary.
“This gambling debt is too much.” Hubert sighed.
“It will take me several years to pay it off in small installments. Since you have the ability to persuade the casino people to allow me to pay off the debt in installments, why don’t you ask them to write off the entire debt?”
Hubert’s recklessness disgusted Rachel.
“That’s impossible!” she snapped coldly, “A casino never allows anyone to pay in installments. I tried everything I could to pull a few strings to help you and they finally agreed to make an exception. How could you expect them to write off the debts completely?”
Rachel wanted to hang up the phone right away.
Sensing Hubert was a notorious man, she warned, “Look, Hubert, I have done the best I can to help you. This is it. Don’t come to me for money again. Find a serious job and repay all the debts without bothering Norma.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
Upon hearing the busy tone, Hubert muttered “bitch” under his breath.
He was referring to Rachel.
‘Just because she’s sleeping with some CEO, she now thinks that she can tell me what to do and what not? Fuck that!’ he thought.
As he held his phone, he put on his coat and slammed the door.
‘How am I supposed to pay such a big gambling debt on my own? I’ll never be able to pay that money back!’ Hubert kept mumbling swear words under his breath all the way to a bar.
He didn’t have enough money to go to regular bars, so the bar he went to was an illegal one.
People like him who lived in the bottom of society knew some illegal bars.
These types of bars usually sold cheap alcohol, and they employed teenaged girls to sell beers table-to-table.
The bar wasn’t well-ventilated, and smoking wasn’t prohibited.
Upon entering the bar, all kinds of smells wafted into his nose and there were people from all walks of life.
He spat on the ground, walked to a seat with a cigarette in his mouth, and asked a barmaid for two dozen beers.
The barmaid didn’t want to talk to him when she saw that he looked like a bum.
She just put the beers on the table and went to talk to the other guests.
Hubert gulped down the first bottle of beer, thinking of the embarrassment he faced when he tried to persuade Rachel to give him more money.
‘How could she ask me to find a job to pay off my debts?’ he complained inwardly.
The taverns at night were brighter and livelier than the streets outside.
While Hubert was drinking, he heard someone whisper to another man, “I heard that the cripple in the neighboring village got a wife. Did you help him? How much did you sell her for?”
“How much do you think a guy from a poor village can afford? A few thousand dollars. But there are a lot of men in Barnes, hoping to buy young, beautiful women. They offer really high prices, mind you,” the man replied, raising his fingers.
“One hundred thousand dollars?”
“Nope. One million!”
Hubert was almost drooling when he heard the price.
He rolled his eyes, tempted at the thought that Rachel met the standards that those were talking about.
He approached the men with a smile.
“I know a beautiful girl, I can give her for you for half the earnings. What do you think, boys?”
Not only could he pay off his gambling debts through these possible earnings, but he could also make a fortune.
He could even continue gambling using the rest of the money! One of the human traffickers had a freckled face, and the other had thick eyebrows and big eyes.
They both eyed Hubert up and down.
The freckled-face man spoke first.
“Which neighborhood do you live in? And why have I not seen you before?” he asked vigilantly. Hubert pondered for a moment and said, “I’m just another guy who’s down on his luck. I used to hang out with people from the Golden Ace Casino. Everybody there calls me Tiger.”
The freckled-face man knew Golden Ace Casino. He was also aware that all sorts of rogues owed money to the casino there. He and his companion exchanged glances before looking back at Hubert.
“Do you have any photos of the girl? We need to see what she looks like first. Call it a pre-check.”
Hubert gulped down another bottle of beer and wiped his lips.
“Alright. She works for the Porter Group. I’ll show you tomorrow.” The next morning, he took them to the road that Rachel always took to go to work. The human traffickers’ eyes widened when they saw her. She was indeed gorgeous, and she was maddeningly sexy. They could easily sell her for a hefty sum.
Rachel was indeed beautiful. The human traffickers had never seen someone so beautiful. Rachel was a white collar worker in the city.
Clearly she had some social experience, so she wasn’t as gullible as those female college students they usually dealt with.
“I don’t think we can do anything to her. Besides, we don’t know who she is. It’ll be suspicious if we just walk up to her to strike up a conversation.”
The human traffickers were caught in a dilemma.
Seeing that they were about to give up, Hubert replied, “Take it easy. She’s my niece. She’s not wary of me. If I’m around, it’ll be easier to deceive her.”
Thanks to his assurance, the human traffickers became hopeful.
They exchanged glances with each other, and then one of them said, “In that case, we should do this as soon as possible. When do you think we can take action?”
Hubert walked on ahead of them, wearing a wicked smile. He had already formulated a plan.
“Let’s talk about the money first, shall we? Since she’s my niece, I want seventy percent of the profits you sell her for.”
“Considering how you’re more than willing to sell her off, I don’t think you’re that close to your niece. You don’t even flinch when you say such horrible remarks. It will take us a lot of effort and time to sell her to a willing buyer. Why should we give you that much money?” the freckled man countered with a grin.
‘This man is fucking horrible! He’s even willing to sell out his relatives just to make money. That girl is so unlucky to have an uncle like him,’ the freckled man thought.
Once they were done negotiating, they decided to give Hubert sixty percent of the earnings they’d get for selling Rachel.
Afterwards, they discussed the plan of action, and worked on their part of the plan separately.
On Saturday morning, Hubert called Rachel.
“I’m sorry about the other day, Rachel. I shouldn’t have put you in that position. Now that I’ve had time to ponder on your words, I realize that it makes a lot of sense. People shouldn’t rely on anyone but themselves.”
Glad that he figured it out himself, Rachel replied, “It’s nice to hear you say that. Find a stable job, so that you can pay off your debts one day. As long as you avoid gambling and correct your bad habits, all will be fine.”
As Hubert held the phone, he nodded repeatedly and continued, “A few days ago, I scored an interview to become a hotel security guard, but I’ve never taken part in an interview before. You work at a big company, right? Do you mind accompanying me to the interview? It’ll give me a sense of security and boost my confidence.”
“Sure. No problem. I’m free this weekend, anyway.”
Chapter 208 – "Damsel in Distress... or Not?"
Rachel was always willing to help anyone in need as long as it was something she could help with.
Aside from that, she also wanted to see what kind of job Hubert had found.
If Norma were to ask her about it, she could tell her about his job.
That very weekend, she followed the address that Hubert sent her and went to a rundown area in the city.
It was close to the suburbs, and it wasn’t completely developed yet.
Some of the houses had dilapidated tile roofs, and the alleys were narrow and worn down.
At the end of the alley, Rachel saw Hubert smoking.
She clutched her bag and asked, “Hubert, can you check the address again? Did we go to the wrong place? I don’t see any hotels around here.”
Hubert threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it underfoot. He glanced at Rachel before walking to a more remote place.
“It’s right ahead of us. Come and have a look.”
After a moment of hesitation, she decided to follow him.
The further they walked, the more she began to suspect that there was no hotel in this remote area.
And even if there were, she wondered why they would need to recruit security guards and have such formal interviews.
Soon, they walked out of the alley. On both sides of the alley were dilapidated residential buildings.
A crow flew over Rachel’s head and perched on a branch.
While staring at the crow, Hubert cursed, “What a fucking bitch.”
Rachel was taken aback, wary of any danger and shuddering all over. She wanted to say something, but a black van came barreling towards her.
Sensing the danger, Rachel turned around and attempted to run away. But then, the door of the minivan behind her was opened.
The people inside quickly grabbed hold of her.
At the same time, Hubert pushed her into the minivan.
Then, he got into the vehicle as well.
The door of the minivan closed, and it soon drove away.
The human traffickers were already skilled at this kind of method, so they managed to perform the whole kidnapping within just a few seconds.
Rachel didn’t even have the chance to react when they threw her into the minivan.
Hubert and the freckled human trafficker sat on both sides of Rachel.
They sealed her mouth with duct tape and tied her wrists together using a hemp rope. She didn’t even have a chance to resist. She kept shaking her head and kicking her legs, glaring at Hubert.
“Bitch, don’t you dare glare at me!” Hubert raised his hand, intending to slap Rachel.
However, the freckled man stopped him.
“Hey! Don’t damage her pretty face. It’s going to lower her value, man. Control yourself!”
Thus, Hubert dropped his hand and just glared at Rachel. He then averted his gaze from her and asked the freckled man, “Are you going to hand her over to a buyer now?”
Meanwhile, the freckled man was texting someone using his smartphone.
“That’s right. We’re going straight to the expressway to deliver the goods. We’ll arrive at Southvale tomorrow morning.”
“When are you going to pay me my share?” Hubert couldn’t wait to get paid.
“The money will be given when we’ve delivered the goods. Take it easy, bub. You’re gonna get paid.”
The freckled man locked his eyes on his phone and didn’t bother to glance at Hubert the whole time.
Based on their conversation, Rachel figured out what was going on. She understood that she had fallen into the hands of human traffickers. She never expected that Hubert would be in cahoots with human traffickers and was planning to sell her for money.
At this moment, desperation and fear overwhelmed Rachel.
Hubert had lost his humanity and had become a villain.
The three men in the minivan were thinking of how to have fun after earning from the sale.
Just then, the minivan seemed to have run over something.
A harsh sound was heard from outside, and one of the vehicle’s tires had deflated.
The minivan began to swerve along the road until it gradually stopped.
The human traffickers were quick to react.
“What happened?”
“We have a flat tire!”
The freckled man glanced at his companion, the driver, and figured that something bad had happened.
By now, the minivan was unable to move.
Rachel was inside their vehicle.
Considering the fact that they were on a highway, and there were cars and people constantly passing by on both sides, they could get caught for kidnapping and human trafficking if anyone were to pay attention to them.
“What the hell are you waiting for? Do you want to go to prison? Run, you fools!”
The freckled man opened the door and jumped out of the minivan decisively.
The driver also ran out from the driver’s seat and brushed past the bushes on the side of the highway.
Giving up on this deal was much better than going to prison.
A few seconds later, only Hubert and Rachel remained in the car.
“Hey! Why are you guys running away?”
Hubert shouted out of the window angrily.
“Damn it! She’s still here! Don’t you want her anymore?”
Unfortunately for him, nobody replied. It turned out that the human traffickers had already fled.
Frightened by what happened, Hubert pondered for a few seconds until he decided to open the door and leave as well.
Considering the fact that the human traffickers had already escaped, and he had no idea what the buyer’s phone number was, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to do anything even though Rachel was in his hands.
With that in mind, he figured it was best to escape.
But the second he got out of the minivan, he noticed a tall, strong man nearby.
Just as he looked up, he was knocked out. He didn’t even get the chance to see the man’s face clearly.
Rachel’s hands were tied, and her mouth was sealed with duct tape.
Her only way to attract passersby’s attention and let them know she was in the vehicle was to kick the door as hard as she could.
After kicking the door twice, it was opened from outside.
Rachel looked up with difficulty. A middle-aged woman had opened the car door. She was wearing a red down jacket and a white knitted scarf. She looked very… ordinary.
“Oh, you’re tied up!” The woman spoke with a strong Sunhaven accent.
As she spoke, she immediately helped Rachel up, untied the rope around her wrists, and ripped the tape off her mouth.
“Get out of the car quickly. You’ve run into some bad people.”
Rachel clambered out of the car as quickly as she could.
Her lips were chapped, and her hair was a mess.
After helping Rachel out, the woman hurried to pick up all the thumbtacks on the ground.
She grumbled, “How troublesome! I have to pick them all up as soon as possible, lest they puncture the tires of other cars.”
Still in a state of shock, Rachel looked around in a daze. There were many cars coming and going.
Perhaps this place was near the highway, so there weren’t that many pedestrians.
When she came back to her senses, she helped the woman pick up the remaining thumbtacks and handed them to her.
Chapter 209 – "A Hero in Disguise"
She thanked the woman and asked incredulously, “Did you break their tires to save me?”
The woman carefully tucked the thumbtacks into her pocket and said with a kind smile, “It’s not a big deal. I just happened to be in the area, buying some groceries. When I saw that you were shoved into a car by two men, I knew I had to help. My family used to run a Boxing Gym, so I know some combat skills. I hurried to buy these thumbtacks from a hardware store and planted them here to burst their tires. There are many human traffickers in the area. You should be more careful.”
Rachel smiled at her bitterly. She didn’t expect Hubert to be so cruel and lawless.
The middle-aged woman shrugged and said, “Anyway, I’ve got to go now. You’d better leave here, too. Go somewhere safe. Those human traffickers might come back soon. Maybe they’ll bring reinforcements.”
“What should I do? Hubert’s a bad guy. I can’t let him get away with this!”
Rachel glared at the man who was lying unconscious on the ground.
She wanted to stay and make sure he got what he deserved, but she was also afraid.
“Don’t worry. I’ll call the police. You’d better leave now, young girl. I know some combat skills. They can’t hurt me.”
The woman in front of Rachel was tall, strong, and powerful. She was clearly not weak and looked like she could take care of herself. So Rachel made up her mind.
“Be careful.”
After saying goodbye, she ran down the side of the road.
The second Rachel turned around and left, the kind smile on the woman’s face disappeared in the blink of an eye.
She kicked Hubert’s face hard with her foot, and then she tapped the Bluetooth earbud in her ear to call Dominic.
“Boss, Rachel’s safe now. Don’t worry.”
Nadia was still in the hospital, so Dominic had hired an older but experienced female bodyguard from Shadow Collective. She was to protect Rachel in the interim.
“Good. I’ll send someone there now. Where are the two human traffickers?” Dominic asked coldly.
“They’re running northwest. There’s nothing but orchards in that direction, and it’s snowing tonight. The temperature will drop below zero. They won’t make it very far. We can catch them before night falls.”
Hearing that, Dominic immediately sent someone to take Hubert away, while simultaneously ordering his men to chase after the two remaining human traffickers.
After running for what seemed like forever, Rachel finally arrived at a shopping mall packed with people.
By then, she was panting heavily and sweating despite the cold weather.
The woman’s tone was very calm.
She pointed down the road and said, “There’s a shopping mall up ahead. There are many people there. No matter how bold these human traffickers are, they won’t dare to strike there.”
As soon as she made it safely inside the mall, she took out her phone and called Dominic.
As soon as he got off the phone with the female bodyguard, Dominic had immediately set off for Rachel.
That was when she called him.
As soon as he got off the phone with the female bodyguard, Dominic had immediately set off for Rachel.
That was when he called him. “You’re safe now. Find a cafe and sit down. I’ll be there soon.”
Rachel was rooted to the spot for a while before finding a cafe to sit down and wait for Dominic.
The cup of coffee she was holding was hot, but her limbs tingled in coldness. She was now safe inside a cafe, but her mind still couldn’t get over what she had heard in the car a while ago.
It was hard to believe that Hubert would transact with human traffickers.
They said they were going to sell her to Southvale, an underdeveloped area where the people were poor and conservative.
It was also a place with frequent cases of abduction over the years.
Just thinking about it gave Rachel goose bumps. She rubbed her arms, scared for her life.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the bell at the entrance of the cafe.
When she looked up, Rachel saw Dominic striding in.
Some snowflakes rested on his black hair.
And his expression was colder than the winter.
“Dominic!”
Without thinking twice, Rachel ran to him and threw herself into his arms.
For a split second, Dominic was stunned.
But then he hugged Rachel back before making her face him.
“You should have told me that you were going out. How are you? Did you get hurt?”
“I’m fine. But I… I didn’t know Hubert would be such a scum.”
Ashamed by her poor judgment, Rachel lowered her eyes.
Dominic was enraged, but he didn’t show it to Rachel. God knew what would have happened to her if he was a little too late.
Fortunately, he had hired another bodyguard to secretly follow her.
“Let’s go to the police station first. We can’t let him get away from this.” As he spoke, he took a look at his wife, who lowered her head again.
Dominic ran his fingers through Rachel’s hair, comforting her.
“I didn’t know you could be so bold.”
“I thought he had really changed. I have never imagined that he would try to sell me to human traffickers…” Anger and sadness laced in Rachel’s voice.
“How could Norma have a son like him? She is so unfortunate.”
Dominic clenched his jaw but continued to comfort her.
“We have to get rid of him once and for all so he won’t get the chance to hurt anyone again.”
After convincing Rachel, they both went to the police station. The police made a move as soon as Rachel gave her statement.
“What? You haven’t caught him?”
To say that Rachel was shocked was an understatement.
“Yes. Hubert was no longer there when we arrived at the scene. The witness had left too after calling us. Only his car was found there. We are still searching for him.”
The policewoman who took Rachel’s statement sighed.
“There have been six abductions in Sunhaven in the past few months and we haven’t been able to catch the people behind them.”
What she said made Rachel feel sick.
She thought people like Hubert deserved to be in jail.
“Rachel, let’s go home for now. I’m sure they’ll update us once they get a lead.”
With his arm around Rachel’s shoulder, Dominic said expressionlessly, “They will catch those bad guys, don’t worry.”
Thinking that he was just trying to comfort her, Rachel nodded and followed him. Soon, they arrived home.
Rachel received a call from Norma.
“Rachel, how are you? Where’s Hubert? Did anything happen?”
Afraid that Norma wouldn’t be able to handle the truth, Rachel decided to hide it from her.
“I don’t know. He told me he’d work somewhere else and left.”
“That brat is really a troublemaker! Well, forget it. This isn’t the first time he left without saying a word. Just let him be.”
Chapter 210 – "Desperate Measures"
Perhaps it was because Hubert often left without telling Norma, she was no longer surprised to hear the news. However, disappointment was still evident in her voice.
“He must be gambling somewhere again. I honestly thought he had changed for real.”
On the other end of the line, Rachel was completely quiet.
Now that she had realized how terrible Hubert was as a person, there was no point in putting in a good word for him anymore.
Somewhere in the city, inside a dark interrogation room, Dominic sat on a chair and looked down at Hubert whose blood was dripping all over his body.
“Sir, let me go. I, I have told you everything I know. What else do you want?”
Sweat mixed with tears fell down Hubert’s face.
He wasn’t a tough man at all.
After being whipped several times, he immediately confessed.
“Pour some saline water on his wounds.” Dominic’s eyes flared up with rage and hatred.
With eyes wide open, Hubert stared at the man standing in the darkness.
All he could see was the man’s tall silhouette.
Despite the fact that Dominic rarely spoke, Hubert was intimidated by him.
“I’ve already told you everything. Please let me go! Please…”
Before Hubert could even finish his sentence, a bowl of saline water was poured over his wounds, causing him to scream in agony.
After screaming at the top of his lungs for a long time, he could hardly breathe.
“I’ve told you everything I know! I won’t do it again, I promise. Please! Please, let me go!”
Dominic didn’t believe a word that came out of Hubert’s mouth.
The way he stared at the latter was truly frightening.
“Human traffickers, the casino, and a mysterious acquaintance. It’s all too much of a ‘coincidence’. It might seem as simple as Hubert just intended to abduct Rachel and sell her off to pay for his gambling debts. But there’s definitely more to the story.”
Dominic walked out of the room with a recorder pen in hand and said, “Take good care of him, but I want him alive.”
Having said that, he went back to the room next to the interrogation room, pressed the recorder pen’s play button, and carefully analyzed Hubert’s confession.
“There’s an acquaintance I knew, someone from my village and I met him in Ravenwood a while ago.
He told me that my mom had been supporting a girl named Rachel Daley. She works at a big company, and they say she hooked up with the Porter Group’s CEO. So, I figured I’d come here and ask her for money and mooch off her.
Later on, I met two human traffickers at a tavern and decided to join hands with them to abduct Rachel.”
In the recording, Hubert sounded fired up. He kept on repeating the same sentences, and he didn’t seem to be lying.
However, there were two things that Dominic just couldn’t figure out.
Firstly, Hubert had been in Ravenwood.
It was miles away from this place, so the chances of him hearing about Rachel when he was in badly need of money to pay off his gambling debts was astronomically low.
Aside from that, Dominic had asked his men in Ravenwood to conduct a thorough investigation.
The “acquaintance” that Hubert knew in Ravenwood had been living there for years and never met Norma, nor Rachel.
It couldn’t have been possible for that person to know what was happening in Sunhaven.
Secondly, human traffickers were usually very vigilant.
It was highly unlikely for someone like them to cooperate with a random stranger who they met at a tavern.
“Hubert’s offer to join them that night was a spur in the moment decision. Why would they agree to his request so readily?” Dominic turned off the recorder pen, interlocked his fingers, and continued contemplating.
“Maybe Hubert is telling the truth. Maybe he really isn’t aware that someone has been using him as a pawn. Someone else is probably behind all this; someone who’s using Hubert to hurt Rachel.”
At first, Dominic thought that someone from the Peterson family must be the mastermind, but then he cast the idea aside.
“Even if the Peterson family does want to hurt Rachel, they’re not going to use such underhanded tactics. They prefer to attack head on. And even if their plans get exposed, they could easily deal with it.
They don’t have any reason to do something like this and make things difficult for themselves.” Therefore, Dominic told his man to call the police over, and Hubert was put behind bars. However, he had no intention of letting this go. He just didn’t want to alert the enemy that he was onto them.
His intention was to continue to look into this matter further.
It was late winter now and snow was frequent.
Sunhaven, the concrete jungle, was covered in a layer of snow and frost.
Melanie Palmer was calmly making tea in her residence.
After decades of experiencing the world, she had assumed a noble, elegant demeanor, “My dear daughter, you’ve been looking sullen these days. What’s the matter?”
After pondering for a moment, she smiled at Charlene sympathetically and asked, “Is it about a boy?”
Feeling agitated, Charlene stared at the tea in her cup with her chin propped on one hand.
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
Melanie could sense that something was wrong.
She eyed her daughter warily, wondering what had happened.
Although Dominic had warned Charlene several times, she couldn’t stop herself from hiring a private detective to investigate Rachel!
She had thought that she could use the Daley family to hurt Rachel, but she found out that Rachel had cut all ties with the Daley family.
The only family she had now was Norma Bailey, who used to serve the Daley family.
But it was clear that Norma loved Rachel and would never do anything to hurt her.
Charlene couldn’t use her at all.
Fortunately, Charlene also found out about Hubert, Norma’s son who hadn’t been in contact with her for years.
Hubert was a scumbag and gambling addict.
He was deep in debt and was at the end of his rope, so Charlene thought that he was the perfect guy to start with.
Charlene spent some money and asked someone in Ravenwood who knew Hubert to “casually” tell him that Rachel worked in the Porter Group.
Two days later, as expected, Hubert came running back to Sunhaven and went straight to Rachel.
Charlene had thought that she had everything under control.
But what she hadn’t foreseen was that Rachel would ask Dominic for help the second she found out about Hubert’s gambling debts.
And Dominic had dealt with it easily.
Now, Hubert had no choice but to pay off his debts by himself.
Seeing that her plan was going to fail again, Charlene felt frustrated and unwilling to let Hubert start over again like that.
So that night, she used the Palmer family’s connections to hire human traffickers to set a trap for Hubert to abduct Rachel for money.
But just before her plan could succeed, someone meddled and ruined things for her.
Little did she know that Dominic had sent someone to replace Nadia while she was out of commission.
The new bodyguard was good and she saved Rachel right after she was abducted.
Originally, Charlene wasn’t that invested.
If her plan succeeded, then that would be good for her.
If it didn’t, then she wouldn’t lose anything.
After all, because Hubert was the one doing all the bad things, he would be the one to go to prison.
She could always back away.
But Dominic didn’t seem to intend to let things go so easily even after Hubert was put in jail.
Now, Charlene was distraught.
Dominic had begun to investigate the matter thoroughly.
He’d find out that she was behind everything sooner or later.
“Mom, I need to go back to work. I’ll visit you another time.”
Lost in thought, Charlene looked flustered.
She suddenly stood up from her seat, grabbed her bag, and hurried out of the room.
“But you just arrived!”
Melanie sighed regretfully.
She hadn’t spent much time with her daughter ever since she lived separately with Shane.
On her way back to the office, Charlene worried nonstop. She couldn’t give Dominic a bad impression; she just couldn’t. In a panic, she called the private detective she had hired.
“Get me information on all of Rachel’s enemies by the end of today. Got it?”
“Miss Palmer, how detailed are we talking about?”
“I want to know every single enemy Rachel has made ever since she was a child!”
Without waiting for a response, Charlene hung up the phone angrily. She didn’t expect that Dominic would pursue this matter so thoroughly.
Given the connections the Porter Group had, it’d only be a matter of time before he found out that she was the one behind all this.
Of course, Charlene didn’t want Dominic to know about the horrible things she had done. She wanted to stay perfect in his heart.
Fortunately for her, the private detective she had hired was really good. He got Charlene the information she wanted within the day.
There was a woman in particular who stood out to Charlene.
Her name was Bridget Mooney.
Charlene had seen this name in the personnel files before.
Bridget was fired because of Rachel.
Later, she was even sent to jail because of Rachel again. She must’ve hated Rachel to the core.
Upon reading through the file the private detective had sent her, Charlene sneered and went to see Bridget.
Bridget had graduated from a famous university in Sunhaven, but now, she worked as a receptionist in a motel.
Bridget looked up in surprise when she saw Charlene in high heels and sunglasses here.
“Miss Palmer, what brings you here?”
When Bridget was working in the Porter Group, she had seen photos of Charlene and thought that she was a really intelligent and beautiful woman.
But before she ever got to meet Charlene in person, she was fired because of Rachel.
Charlene delicately removed her sunglasses and glanced around the shabby motel in disdain.
“Miss Mooney, allow me to be straightforward with you. I’m here to ask a favor of you. Should you agree to help me, you will be rewarded generously.”
Because Bridget now had a criminal record, she could no longer find a decent job. Her current job was just enough to keep her fed.
“What do you mean?”
Bridget clenched her fists secretly.
She had to admit that Charlene gave out an intimidating aura.
Charlene leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “I want a scapegoat.”
Bridget shook her head immediately.
“No, I’ve already been in jail once. I can’t go there a second time.”
Her days in prison were so horrible that she shuddered at the thought of it.
If she became Charlene’s scapegoat, she would inevitably be sent to jail again.
“Hear me out first before you make your decision,” Charlene said calmly.
“The charge won’t be serious. Even if you are put in jail, it’ll only be for a few years. You’ve already been there once, it’s no big deal if you go back. But the money I’ll give you in exchange for this will be more than enough for you to live the rest of your life in luxury. What will you choose? To live like this forever? Or to spend a few years in jail in return for a lifetime of luxury?”
