Chapter 128
After all these days, Benjamin finally reached out to me on his own initiative.
He came with Vivian to visit me personally, bringing gifts. As soon as he saw me, he hurried over and asked, "Ms. Wilson, I've been so busy lately. I just heard about what happened to you and came right away to visit. How are you now? Have you fully recovered?"
Looking at the half-genuine concern on his face, I smiled faintly, "Isn't Mr. White's information a bit outdated?"
Benjamin responded with a smile, "Isn't it though? If Vivian hadn't mentioned it to me, I'd still be completely in the dark."
He sighed, "I heard it was one of my people who hit you? I need to explain this properly. I did have my own reasons for bringing him back, but I had no idea he had a personal grudge against you, and I certainly didn't expect him to attack you because of it. No matter what, this whole thing started because of me, so I'll do my best to compensate you."
Vivian also smiled at me, "It's okay, we're all friends. Just speak up if there's anything."
I raised an eyebrow at them, "How is it okay? This isn't that simple, is it? I remember he was originally sentenced to ten years, but he was released after only three years in prison. Don't tell me you have connections in Solstice's police department too."
Benjamin's eyelid twitched, and he said with a puzzled expression, "I'm not clear about that. Ms. Wilson, here's a bank card with five million dollars in it. Consider it a small token of my goodwill. Please accept it."
I picked up the bank card he handed over with my fingers, glanced at it casually, and placed it on the table, "Is this hush money, Mr. White? My life is only worth five million dollars?"
"What hush money?" Benjamin asked with a smile, "This is just a bit of compensation I'm personally offering you out of humanitarian concern. If you think it's too little, we can negotiate."
Vivian quickly smoothed things over, "Right, everything can be negotiated. Emily, after I told Mr. White about this, he felt terrible and insisted on apologizing and explaining to you in person."
I smiled at Vivian, then turned to Benjamin, "Didn't Mr. White give anyone a heads-up before coming this time? Jeffrey said everything he did was under your orders."
From the corner of my eye, I glanced at Vivian, but didn't see any unusual expression on her face. Benjamin, on the other hand, looked angry, "He's slandering me. He just took my money to watch over the place. I don't do murder. Ms. Wilson, don't believe him."
I smiled and said, "Mr. White must have misunderstood. I'm talking about someone else. Jeffrey is just a pawn."
Benjamin smiled at me, "I don't understand what you're saying. You should think carefully about how credible Jeffrey's words are. I can guarantee you right here that no one will dare touch you again. If anyone tries to cause you trouble, I'll be the first to object."
Benjamin pushed away all responsibility and now acted completely unconcerned. Without solid evidence, I didn't want to continue arguing with him endlessly.
"With Mr. White's guarantee, I'm truly honored." I smiled slightly and said politely, "I do trust Mr. White's capabilities."
Benjamin smiled, "I want to internationalize some of my businesses, and I'll need to rely on Ms. Wilson. How about we find another chance to continue discussing what we didn't finalize last time?"
Vivian chimed in with a smile, "Mr. White has always been capable in business. I completely trust that. Emily, why not grab the opportunity to make money? Who would complain about having too much money, right?"
I leaned back casually in my chair and said with some regret, "Who doesn't want to make money? I'd love to seize this opportunity too, but I know my limits. Like I said, in Solstice, I'm just an ordinary person. I really don't have Mr. White's amazing abilities. What if one day I accidentally say the wrong thing and get killed too?"
Benjamin looked at Vivian with an innocent expression, "See, I told you she must have misunderstood me, right? So this is the real issue? You don't think Jeremy's suicide was my doing, do you?"
"Ms. Wilson, even the police need solid evidence to solve cases. You can't just accuse me without proof."
He leaned closer to me and lowered his voice, "If you really like that type, our company has plenty of good-looking male artists. I'll organize a party some other day, and you can pick whoever you want - wild ones, gentle ones, all types of men available."
I sneered, "That's an interesting thing to say, Mr. White. Why suddenly bring up Jeremy? I didn't mention him. Could it be... you really did do something?"
Benjamin actually sighed with what seemed like genuine emotion, "It really is a shame. Jeremy was our company's best-developing artist. So many companies wanted to poach him, but I never agreed. If I had known earlier that he had depression, I definitely would have paid attention, and maybe what happened later wouldn't have happened."
Vivian also said regretfully, "I knew Jeremy quite well too. He was always such a hardworking boy. Who knew he'd suddenly think so negatively and commit suicide."
Their seemingly genuine emotions made me feel like my own memories had been altered. A human life, and in his mouth, the word "depression" was meant to cover up all the truth.
I laughed helplessly. When I saw him at the club that day, I didn't notice he had depression. Not wanting to hear more of their nonsense, I said, "If it's about cooperation, Mr. White, I could introduce you to my boss. He's the real tycoon in Solstice. I'm sure you'd be interested in meeting him."
As soon as I said this, Benjamin and Vivian exchanged glances, the ambition in their eyes almost impossible to hide. "If that's the case, that would be even better. Of course, if we can't cooperate in Solstice's market, we can definitely have an in-depth discussion about Lumaria's market."
I nodded with a smile, "That's true. These past few days have really shown me your capabilities."
"No, no, no, Ms. Wilson's capabilities are beyond comparison. I hope we'll have a pleasant cooperation." Benjamin smiled with satisfaction and extended his hand to me.
"Am I back too late?" Oscar's voice suddenly came from outside.