Chapter 73
Cassandra put away her phone. “I’m heading down. I need some answers.”
Westwood Hotel’s restaurant was on the ground floor. As soon as she walked through the entrance, she spotted Lilian waiting inside.
“Ms. Blake.” Lilian greeted her with a cheerful smile. “Mr. Scott has been waiting for you a
little while now.”
“He needs a word with me?”
“You’ll see,” Lilian replied, then led her into one of the private dining rooms.
The table inside was a full set, with a lavish spread of dishes. Clearly, no one had taken a bite.
Ryan sat at the head of the table, fingers tapping away at his phone. But before she could speak, his so–called “sons” noticed her first.
The large dogs lounging at his feet leapt up one by one and bounded toward her with wagging tails, each vying for attention.
Although they looked intimidating, they’d spent enough time around her these past few days to know that she was one of their owner’s close acquaintances. They greeted her with a friendly enthusiasm that made her smile. She gave each massive head a good scratch.
Then, she cleared her throat. “Mr. Scott.”
He looked up, then nodded toward the seat beside him. “Sit.”
“I’m fine over here. There’s plenty of space.” She pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the
room.
Just as she was about to sit down, she heard him say casually, “The eldest peed on that chair earlier.”
She froze. “What?”
“What about that one?” she asked, gesturing to another chair.
“My second–oldest licked it.”
She eyed the farthest chair in the corner. “What about that-”
“Ms. Blake,” he said, feigning a wounded tone, “do I have some contagious disease you’re trying to avoid? Why are you avoiding me like I’m radioactive?”
He had helped her out of a major mess. And with the divorce still pending, she supposed she owed him some patience.
She replied calmly, “I just think that, you know, this room is huge, and so are the chairs.
Sitting next to each other seems a bit…. cramped.
“Believe me, we’ll be just fine.”
Cassandra sighed in defeat and walked over to the seat beside him.
Ryan stood and pulled it out for her like a gentleman, though the mischievous smirk on his face made it feel less like courtesy and more like bait.
“Perfect timing. I have something to show you.”
“What is it?”
He slid his phone in front of her.
A police notice. She picked it up, zoomed in, and read every word carefully.
“After investigation, the accusation made by Mr. Dorsey against Ms. Blake for extortion of 100 million dollars has been determined to be a malicious act of retaliation and is not supported by
evidence.
“In response to Ms. Blake’s counter–claim, Mr. Dorsey has been fined two thousand dollars and sentenced to seven days of administrative detention for the act of placing hazardous
substances.”
Cassandra stared at the screen in disbelief. It had only been three or four days since they’d returned to Stokelle. Everything was now handled.
“That’s the maximum penalty I could get them to impose. The law is still kind of lacking.
There’s a long way to go,” Ryan said.
But to her, this was already more than enough.
“I even bought him a spot on the trending list.” He tapped his phone again and switched to
Twitter.
Right at the top was the hashtag of Dorsey Group accusing an innocent woman.
Cassandra clicked into it. There were thousands of comments. Netizens were debating whether killing or abusing pets should be punishable under criminal law.
She scrolled through silently, then looked up at Ryan with genuine emotion. “Mr. Scott… Thank you. On Snowball’s behalf.”
Ryan arched a brow, his tone vaguely suggestive. “Not on Snowball’s behalf. You have to do it yourself.”
Chapter 74