Chapter 216: Absolutely Not a Three-Person Activity!
After the secret warehouse matter was settled, Brenda lost all her value to us.
Her husband became a discarded pawn. Gale sent Brenda out of the country but deliberately leaked to the other side evidence of Brenda's betrayal of her husband, along with her whereabouts. Brenda's husband didn't disappoint us - he pursued Brenda relentlessly, desperate for revenge.
These two were typical villains torturing each other. I paid attention for a while, then stopped wasting energy on them.
Upon further investigations, both Riven, who caused the hidden camera incident earlier, and Maximus, who tried so hard to kill me, turned out to be connected to Michelle after investigation.
She was like a venomous snake, hiding in the shadows, instigating and scheming, waiting for opportunities to strike.
But one person's abilities are limited.
These tactics of hers were like a lizard cutting off its tail to survive. How many cards did she have left to play now?
I searched extensively for Michelle's whereabouts, willing to pay high rewards to anyone who provided useful leads.
This approach did help me discover Michelle's traces several times, but she was cunning, escaping again and again, hiding deeper and deeper.
I wasn't in a hurry to dig her out.
I wanted her to taste what it's like to hide here and there, anxious during the day, afraid to sleep at night.
Amelia seemed to have returned to Michelle's side, while Byron and Thomas, in fights with other Gambino family members, ended up with one accidentally killed and the other crippled.
Wendy divorced Colin and returned to the Marr family. Angelina, who had been giving us such headaches, seemed to have taken Lucas's joke seriously and launched an intense pursuit of Alfred, which was quite shocking.
In April, the weather had become quite warm.
Jonas was the first to switch to summer clothes, making a special trip to show me the runway pieces he bought from fashion week.
"Does it look good?" Jonas couldn't help but sneeze, demonstrating what it means to "look cool for only three seconds."
I held back my laugh for a few seconds but couldn't contain it. "Very handsome, looks great, but you should still put on a jacket."
I had Adrian turn on the office heating and poured Jonas a cup of hot coffee.
"The season's changing, be careful not to catch a cold."
Jonas held the cup, thanking me somewhat dejectedly.
"How's Silas doing lately?" I asked.
"Much better. Although he can only rest quietly, he goes out for walks in his wheelchair every morning and afternoon. His mom wants to take him to beautiful places around the world to recuperate. I'm a bit jealous!" Jonas said wistfully.
Whether he was jealous of Silas being able to travel the world, or jealous of the love Silas's parents showed him, I could tell but didn't point it out.
"Seeing how big the world is can broaden one's mind, which is also good for recovery," I said.
The reason Silas was so thin, besides the poisoning, was that his lover's betrayal had hit him the hardest.
Although he appeared calm and accepting, his body honestly reflected his inner pain.
Jonas gently poked the back of my hand. "Bella, do you remember you owe me a date?"
"I haven't forgotten." I came back to my senses and flipped through the schedule on my desk. "I only have half a day free on weekends during this period. After the election ends, I'll have more time. How about we schedule the date for after the election?"
"Sure, I'm looking forward to it, but why don't I feel excited at all? Something as romantic as a date coming from your mouth has zero sweetness - it's like we're just going out to hang out normally." Jonas suddenly asked nervously, "It won't be a three-person activity again, will it?"
"No." I answered with certainty.
If Jonas and I went on a date, how could Lucas just sit back and watch?
But once it became a three-person activity, these two would start bickering endlessly. How could my ears get any peace then?
So, let's just turn it into a group outing!
Call Gale and Julie, Brian, Marcus and Jacqueline, plus Karen and Jonathan. That way I wouldn't be deceiving Jonas - a group activity definitely isn't a three-person activity!
Someone knocked on the door.
Jonas asked expressionlessly, "It's not Lucas again, is it?"
I shook my head and called out, "Come in!"
Lucas wasn't any less busy than me. He'd gone to Serendia these past few days, so the visitor definitely wasn't Lucas.
Karen pushed the door open with Jonathan following behind her.
"What brings you here?" I stood up with a smile and walked over to hug Karen.
"Jonathan and I have set our wedding date. We came to give you the invitation." Karen said with a smile. Though her personality was still carefree, her eyes showed the glow of a happy woman.
"That's wonderful, congratulations!" I happily accepted the invitation.
But Karen wasn't just here to share good news.
Jonas tactfully got up to leave. As he passed Jonathan, he hooked his arm around his neck. "Come on, keep me company for drinks!"
Jonathan looked confused.
Jonas said, "I have a feeling I'm about to get my heart broken!"
"What?" Jonathan looked at Karen. "Babe, I..."
Karen waved dismissively. "Go on, go on."
So Jonathan was dragged away by Jonas.
After the door closed again, Karen said, "I came for two things. First, Stephen sent me several VIP cards for a chain of beauty centers. What do you think he means by that?"
"That guy, can't he ever be straightforward?" I put my hand to my forehead. "Always hiding meanings in his words, making people guess."
Theron, the godfather of the Thornfield family, was still staying in the care facility. Every day he suspected someone was trying to assassinate him, wearing out the doctors, nurses, and caregivers looking after him.
Now Roger had stopped complaining about others and complained about Theron every day. His relationship with Cressida had even grown closer because they both disliked Theron.
Theron's children still came by from time to time to flatter him, but these pampered people only paid lip service to caring for Theron, constantly ordering around the facility staff. I was fed up with them too, but Theron had gotten comfortable and didn't want to leave!
During this time, Stephen had only visited Theron once.
We didn't meet. On the surface, he and I seemed barely acquainted.
"Dealing with him is too exhausting. We'd better keep our distance from him and the Thornfield family." Karen said seriously.
I smiled and nodded in agreement.
When Stephen contacted Karen privately before, he probably wanted to win her over, but Karen was straightforward - she never hid from me what Stephen said to her or gave her.
I thought for a moment, randomly picked one of the four VIP cards, and handed it to Adrian. "Send this card to Edgar and see how he reacts."
I had suspected Edgar before, and after Adrian's investigation during this time, we could basically confirm he had close ties with Stephen.
Adrian responded, "Yes!"
Karen continued, "As for the second thing, I've discovered that recently someone else has been looking into Michelle's whereabouts."
"Who?" I figured this person must have something special about them, otherwise it wouldn't be worth Karen making a special trip to tell me.
"Heather." Karen said, puzzled. "She's different from those people who want to please you or make deals with you. Her investigation doesn't focus on Michelle's whereabouts, but on what happened to Michelle over the past ten years or so."
"I also heard something," Karen said mysteriously. "The day after your return banquet, Heather happened to see a photo of Michelle while talking with someone, and immediately showed an extremely shocked expression."