Chapter 78 Suspicion
After leaving the tea house, a flash of suspicion crossed Aria's eyes. Vincent's behavior made her feel something was off.
He was the one who wanted to meet one-on-one, but while discussing design, he seemed so distracted.
And he chose such a place to meet her. Although he used the excuse of not wanting Arthur to misunderstand, he arranged for those people to approach her, appearing at just the right moment.
Not to mention that scarf, which was clearly prepared in advance.
To say this wasn't deliberately staged, with him playing the hero at just the right time - Aria didn't believe it one bit.
In short, this Vincent was definitely suspicious.
"Lucy, you handle things with Mr. Sterling from now on. As for the contract, review it carefully one more time. Don't sign it unless everything checks out."
After arriving at the studio, Aria gave Lucy instructions, then went into her office.
Vincent - she needed to look into his background carefully.
But who should she ask?
Arthur?
Thinking about Arthur's recent behavior, if she asked him to investigate, who knows what trouble might come of it.
So she definitely couldn't ask him to look into this. Then who else could help with this...
Aria sat in her seat, her pale fingers tapping the desk. Suddenly her movement paused, and a name flashed through her mind - Charles!
Without further thought, Aria called Charles. The call connected quickly.
"Ms. Hall?"
The man's deep, magnetic voice came through the phone line.
Aria's words carried a hint of apology, "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mr. White."
"Not at all. Is there something you need, Ms. Hall?"
"It's like this, Mr. White. I'd like to ask you to help me investigate someone..."
Aria took a deep breath and explained her purpose to Charles.
After a moment of silence, Charles readily agreed, "Alright, I'll look into it for you."
Aria was pleased, "Thank you so much, Mr. White."
"No need to be polite. I'll notify you as soon as I have results."
"Okay."
After ending the call, Aria quietly breathed a sigh of relief. With Charles's help, this matter should come to light soon.
That evening, Charles called her, suggesting they meet that night.
Aria immediately understood - there must be results. So she happily agreed to meet.
They arranged to meet at a restaurant. When Aria arrived, Charles was already there waiting.
Aria looked at Charles apologetically, "Sorry, Mr. White, for keeping you waiting."
Charles smiled lightly, gesturing for Aria to sit, "Not at all, I just got here myself."
After Aria sat down, Charles took out an envelope and handed it to her, "Here's the information you wanted."
Aria took the envelope, pulled out the documents, and looked at the contents, her brow furrowing.
This Vincent really did have problems, but they were even more serious than she'd thought.
She had only suspected Vincent wasn't simple, but she never imagined that he was actually a gigolo! A high-class one at that!
No wonder his every move made her feel something was off, yet she couldn't put her finger on what. So this was it.
Charles watched the changes in Aria's expression, the corner of his mouth curving up. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, and spoke slowly.
"This Vincent does have some money, but it all came from wealthy women. He switches to a new target every so often."
Charles paused, looking at Aria with a hint of teasing, "It seems Ms. Hall has now become a wealthy woman being targeted."
Aria smiled somewhat helplessly, putting away the documents, "Mr. White, please don't tease me. I'm hardly that."
She didn't have enough money to be targeted by Vincent, but regardless of Vincent's purpose in approaching her, his motives were clearly impure. Someone like that wasn't worth working with.
Aria immediately sent Lucy a message, telling her not to sign Vincent's contract. Fortunately, she had been cautious - it wasn't too late.
After giving those instructions, Aria opened her contacts and blocked Vincent as well.
Having done all this, Aria looked at Charles again, expressing her gratitude, "Mr. White, I really can't thank you enough for this."
Without Charles's information, she might have suffered a loss, so she had to thank him for this.
Charles smiled lightly, raising his glass, "It was nothing, really."
Charles was good at conversation, and the two communicated very pleasantly.
When Arthur arrived, what he saw was the two of them chatting happily. His expression darkened instantly, "Having quite the good time, aren't you."
The deep, magnetic voice came from behind. Aria's body stiffened involuntarily. She instinctively turned around to see Arthur already standing beside her, staring at them with an unfriendly expression.
Alarm bells went off in Aria's mind. She quickly stood up, positioning herself in front of Charles, "What are you doing here? Are you following me again?"
Seeing Aria looking so nervous, Arthur's expression darkened further, his tone sarcastic: "I was just making conversation. Why are you so guilty?"
"What do I have to feel guilty about? This is ridiculous. I asked Mr. White to help me with something."
Arthur looked at her, stepping closer: "What kind of thing could he do that I couldn't?"
Aria was stumped. She couldn't very well tell him about Vincent - that would make it seem like she didn't trust Arthur.
"That's none of your business, is it? I haven't even asked you yet - don't you have anything better to do than follow me around?"
"Ahem." Charles cleared his throat, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Sorry, Ms. Hall, actually... I'm the one who asked Mr. Grant to come. I have some business to discuss with him."
Aria froze, her face quickly flushing red.
Damn it, how could she forget - Charles and Arthur were business partners now. It was perfectly normal for them to meet and discuss business.
She felt a bit awkward, but then glared at Arthur.
This guy knew she had misunderstood but didn't say a word to explain. He deserved to be called out.
Seeing Aria look his way, Arthur gave a light snort, his tone rising at the end, as he sat down in the seat she had just vacated.
"Now that Mr. White and I have business to discuss, perhaps Ms. Hall can go attend to her own matters?"
This guy!
Aria gritted her teeth and left without looking back.
She didn't see Arthur's gaze following her until she disappeared from view.
After Aria left, Charles looked at Arthur, his face wearing a gentle smile, "Don't misunderstand, Mr. Grant. Ms. Hall really did just ask me to help with a small matter."
After all, Charles was now Arthur's biggest partner on the project, so Arthur didn't say much more. He just discussed business matters with Charles. As for Aria, he'd deal with that when he got back.
...
When Vincent received Lucy's message saying the contract was being put on hold, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He tried calling Aria, but couldn't get through at all.