Chapter 105 Who Is Helping You
Early the next morning, Quinley went to see Lauren and paid back the money she owed.
Lauren sat there with a cigarette, legs crossed, and pocketed the cash. "Do you have any idea how badly you screwed over Colette?" Her gaze was unreadable as she looked at Quinley.
Colette had lost that baby, which meant she'd lost everything. And Landon was a cold-blooded bastard—he'd spent two million dollars using Quinley as bait to trap Zachary. Now that he'd succeeded, he was naturally kicking Colette to the curb.
Word was, the same day Zachary got taken to the police station, Colette had been thrown out of the hospital.
"She brought it on herself," Quinley replied coolly.
Everyone had their own fate. Thinking you could take shortcuts to the top was nothing but a pipe dream.
"I heard you're marrying into the Brown family soon? Well, congratulations on getting everything you wanted." Lauren was well-informed.
She was Harold's person, and Harold's attitude determined how Lauren treated her.
"Thanks." Quinley remained expressionless.
After repaying the debt, she left Skyline PR. But just outside the building, she unexpectedly ran into Alicia. For Quinley it was unexpected—for Alicia, it seemed intentional.
"Quinley!" Alicia called out loudly.
Quinley stopped and waited for Alicia to approach.
"Ms. Davis, what can I do for you?" Quinley maintained her polite demeanor.
Alicia's cheeks puffed out with anger. Around Quinley, she always wore that fake mask. Even after Zachary unilaterally canceled their engagement, she still acted like he'd been forced into it.
"Why would you do that? Zach treated you well, but you destroyed everything for him. Quinley, what exactly do you want?"
Alicia was half a head taller than Quinley. Her delicate face was flushed with anger, her chest heaving. She loved pinning all kinds of accusations on Quinley.
"Sorry, Ms. Davis, I don't understand what you're talking about." When Alicia came looking for a fight, Quinley played dumb.
Today, neither of them had any connection to Zachary anymore. Alicia was no longer Zachary's fiancée, and Quinley was engaged to David.
Quinley wasn't afraid of her, but she didn't want to provoke Alicia either.
"How can you not understand? If you hadn't refused to help Zach, how could he have lost Apex Global Group? This time when the police took Zach away, I found out—you conspired with Landon to frame him. Quinley, will you please go to the police and clear this up? This has nothing to do with Zach. He's innocent."
This whole performance from Alicia confused Quinley. Was she stupid, or just brainless?
Clear things up? Clear up what exactly? Go take the fall for Zachary?
Quinley suddenly laughed. "Ms. Davis, Mr. Jennings is just my former boss. No matter how nostalgic I feel, there's no reason for me to take the fall for him, right? Besides, I'm getting married soon. I just want to live happily with my fiancé."
Alicia's face turned red and green with anger. "You... how can you be so heartless?"
She was starting another round of moral blackmail. That hypocritical face made Quinley sick.
"Ms. Davis, you love Mr. Jennings so deeply. As long as you want to help him—whether by leveraging the Davis family's influence or with your genuine devotion—I'm sure Mr. Jennings will be fine. Why don't you think of something?"
Quinley looked at Alicia calmly, neither humble nor arrogant. Alicia had been dumping blame on her all this time, but now Quinley was throwing it right back.
Alicia froze, looking at Quinley like she didn't recognize her. "I do love Zach, but I..."
In her agitation, Alicia couldn't get the words out.
Quinley filled in the gap. "Ms. Davis, you should think of something. If Mr. Jennings can get out of this, he'll definitely remember your kindness. Your sincerity could move heaven and earth—it will surely touch Mr. Jennings too."
She was actually brainwashing Alicia in reverse. For a moment, Alicia seemed almost convinced.
Quinley smiled faintly. "Ms. Davis, good luck. I have a lunch date with Mr. Brown. I need to go."
Quinley flagged down a taxi at the curb, planning to return to her downtown apartment. The car had barely made it through one intersection when someone suddenly rushed out and stood in front of the vehicle with arms spread wide.
"Quinley, you bitch! Get out!" Quinley sat in the back seat, staring in shock at Colette standing in front of the car.
She'd been planning to find Colette, but here she was coming to her instead.
"Miss, should I call the police?" the driver asked, turning around.
Colette was holding a knife and looked dangerous. This intersection had no surveillance cameras, few people, but plenty of trees—perfect for doing something shady.
Colette's appearance was suspicious. She wasn't the type with much brain power, yet orchestrating all this seemed to require serious thought. Or rather, someone had done the thinking for her.
Quinley looked at Colette, her gaze sharp.
"Thanks, but no need. I'll get out here." Quinley paid and stepped out of the car alone.
Though Colette gripped a knife, she looked even more terrified than Quinley. The taxi driver turned around and drove off, leaving just the two of them at the empty intersection.
They stood some distance apart—Quinley composed, Colette trembling all over.
"Bitch, I'm going to kill you." She muttered the words, but her feet seemed glued to the ground, unable to move forward.
Quinley walked slowly toward her, step by step, radiating intimidation. Having been by Zachary's side, she'd witnessed plenty of dangerous situations—violent confrontations she'd not only seen but experienced firsthand.
Colette's little act couldn't scare Quinley one bit. She walked right up to Colette and stopped, grabbing the knife and pressing it against her own chest.
"You hate me, right? Stab here." The sharp blade cut through Quinley's clothes and broke the skin. Blood quickly seeped out.
Seeing the crimson stain spread across Quinley's cream-colored blouse, Colette's hands shook even harder. Whether hurting yourself or others took courage—clearly, she had neither.
Quinley's expression didn't change, but Colette started crying. She tried to pull the knife back, but Quinley wouldn't let go.
"That day you deliberately picked a fight with me—your goal was to use my hands to kill that baby, wasn't it?" Quinley demanded in a low voice.
Colette shook her head frantically like a bobblehead. "No, I didn't do it on purpose. It was you... you killed my baby."
Quinley laughed. She tightened her grip and yanked Colette closer, her eyes cold but radiating invisible pressure.
"Stop lying. That baby wasn't even Landon's. You were pulling off a con, afraid that one day the truth would come out and Landon wouldn't let you off. So you thought you'd use my hands to kill your own child, didn't you?"
Quinley suddenly raised her voice. Colette's face went ashen, and she collapsed to the ground.
"No, no, it's not like that." She kept denying it desperately.
Quinley pulled out her phone and showed her a photo. When Colette saw it, she froze completely.
"Want me to bring him here for a confrontation?"
"No! This has nothing to do with him, nothing!" Colette panicked and tried to grab Quinley's phone, but she stepped back, maintaining distance.
The photo showed a man with refined features. Ruby had sent it—Quinley had seen this man before. He was Mike's driver. How Colette had gotten involved with this driver, nobody knew.
But she was clearly head over heels.
A junior PR girl and a driver—both did work where they had to watch other people's faces. But that work had opened their eyes to how the rich lived. So they got greedy and hatched a crooked scheme.
"Just tell me who's been helping you behind the scenes. I won't expose you two—I'll even give you money so you can run away together. Colette, think carefully. How you choose is up to you."