Chapter 121: One Wave Has Not Settled, Another Wave Rises
The internal phone rang. I pressed the answer button. James said, "Bella, Ms. Marr is here again. She's demanding to see you."
I rolled my eyes at the air. "Tell her I'm not available."
After Lucas told Angelina to "get lost" that day, she actually checked into Platinum Haven Hotel and had been coming to see me for three days straight, trying to persuade me to make Lucas agree to the arranged marriage.
Today was the fourth day. I seemed to see Edgar's shadow in Angelina, but she was way more persistent than Edgar.
I needed to inspect the hotel in the morning. When I got to the lobby, Angelina blocked my way.
"This month's complaint rate is down from last month." The lobby manager's voice grew quieter and quieter, unable to help glancing at Angelina, whose presence was impossible to ignore.
I ignored Angelina. James urged the lobby manager, "Please focus!"
"Yes!" The lobby manager nervously continued reporting, speaking rapidly.
Then we moved on to the next location, with Angelina following us the whole time.
Even James was starting to feel the pressure, let alone the other staff.
Adrian quietly asked for my instructions, "Should we kick her out?"
I rubbed my temples, waved my hand, turned to face Angelina, and asked coldly, "What exactly do you want?"
"Please persuade Lucas to agree to the arranged marriage."
Angelina wore a crisp coat over a fitted dress, her makeup perfect. From far or near, she was a stunning beauty, but the moment she opened her mouth, she was like a broken record.
Lucas's complaint was really accurate.
"Your marriage with Lucas - please go discuss it with him directly. Don't interfere with our work here!"
My tone was stern, but Angelina remained unmoved. "I can't see him, but Lucas cares about you very much. Please believe me, even if Lucas and I have an arranged marriage, it won't damage your relationship."
She only said what she wanted to say and only did what she wanted to do, completely ignoring the other person's response.
I wanted to tell her to get lost, but I swallowed the words.
"It's just an arranged marriage. The Valeri family has plenty of men. You don't need to focus on Lucas, do you?"
"But only Lucas has the ability to inherit the Valeri family, and he has enormous wealth and a reliable future. Donald's other illegitimate sons can't compare to him." Angelina analyzed methodically.
"Bottom line, you're just after Lucas's value."
"Of course." She showed a puzzled expression and asked me back, "If there weren't enough benefits, why would I want an arranged marriage with him?"
The corner of my mouth twitched slightly. Such a beautiful woman, but there's something wrong with her head.
"When will you get Lucas to agree to the arranged marriage?" Angelina asked stubbornly.
I took a deep breath and asked, "If I help you persuade him, what's in it for me?"
Angelina frowned. "What do you want?"
"You don't even know what I want, so there's no deal to discuss." I brushed her off and returned to my office, lying down on the massage chair.
My phone rang. I opened my eyes.
"Marcus."
"Found it." Marcus said, "Besides Albino, those other killers also came from Silverpine Town. Every one of them is a desperado wandering the border, and Amelia has been secretly supporting them for many years."
I pressed the pause button on the massage chair. "You're sure?"
"Positive. Mole found Amelia's private account. The transaction records show she's been maintaining a stable of assassins." Marcus was very certain. "Since returning to the Gambino family, Amelia has been providing them with money, weapons, and women, continuously for years."
I thought for a moment and said, "Marcus, keep investigating. I want to know if the real patron is Amelia or Michelle."
Marcus replied, "No problem."
Not long after hanging up, Edgar came.
He started sighing as soon as he arrived.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Who would've thought Chaotic Zone would be so popular? A dirty, poor, chaotic place, and people from Dawnharbor are fighting over it!"
Edgar laughed twice, but there was no smile on his face. "They came all this way - what for?"
"Dawnharbor's power structure is already saturated. Every family's territory has expanded to its limit. More and more people, but resources will only get scarcer." I spread my hands and shrugged, then poured him coffee.
"Lucas built Starstream City from nothing into a prosperous place. In the future, this will become a second Dawnharbor, so of course those people are rushing to stake their claims."
I smiled and gestured for Edgar to drink his coffee.
"I'm not in the mood to leisurely drink coffee." Edgar said this, but still picked up the cup and tilted his head back, gulping it down like alcohol.
"I'm not worried, so why are you?" I said calmly.
"Why aren't you worried?" Edgar asked in confusion. "Their advance guard is already here, they've brought in tons of weapons. It's only a matter of time before they grow strong!"
"You think the local forces in Starstream City are all dead?" I shook my head. "Even if the Co-governed District and Government District are full of cowards, Lucas won't back down."
"His Northern District - he has to defend it."
"My brothers' and my hotel - I have to defend it too."
Edgar opened his mouth and closed it again.
I knew he wanted to ask "can you defend it?" I couldn't firmly answer "yes," but this tough battle was unavoidable. Sooner or later, it would come.
Edgar wasn't confident. "If I can't become the youngest police chief this year, I hope I can next year."
I was about to comfort him some more when my phone rang again.
I thought, what a busy day, and picked up my phone. It was Matteo calling.
Matteo wouldn't disturb me easily unless it was important. I immediately answered, while Edgar also received a call and stood up to walk away.
Matteo said, "Ms. Sorelli, this morning a group tried to take over territory in the north. Paxton's arm was broken, and they tied several civilians and city hall staff with ropes to cars and dragged them back and forth on the ground."
"Who are they?" I immediately asked in a serious tone.
"They claim to be from the Thornfield family." Matteo asked me, "What do we do now? They have at least fifty people and lots of weapons. Night Wolves can't handle them."
"You don't need to handle them. I'm coming now."
I hung up and grabbed my coat. Edgar followed right behind. "You're going to Chaotic Zone?"
I glanced at him. "You got the news too?"
Edgar smiled bitterly. "They made such a big scene, it'd be hard not to know!"
Just as we left the hotel, Lucas's car came toward us.
"Where are you going?" The rear window rolled down, and Lucas asked with an indifferent expression, his gaze falling on Edgar beside me and suddenly becoming sharp.
Edgar tactfully got out of the car. "There's a violent incident in Chaotic Zone. Ms. Sorelli was giving me a ride. But I suddenly remembered I need to go back to the police station. Could I trouble Mr. Valeri for a ride?"
"Of course." Lucas readily agreed, then got into my car and sat beside me.
I watched Edgar run off and asked in confusion, "What did you do to Edgar? Why is he so afraid of you?"
"I didn't do anything." Lucas firmly denied it.
I changed the subject. "The Thornfield family people are here. Did you know?"
"I know." Lucas reached out his index finger to gently smooth my furrowed brow. "Don't worry, they're just a bunch of nobodies pretending to be important."