Chapter 238 Jasper's Scheme
On the surface, Eric looked composed, but inside he was screaming. This was the kind of suffocating scene you rarely even saw in TV dramas because no screenwriter would dare line up events like this.
Yesterday, Michael's shirt carried the faint trace of an unfamiliar woman's perfume.
Last night at eleven, Eric dropped Michael off with Amelia before heading home.Barely an hour later, his phone rang—Michael telling him to drive back immediately and take him to the office.
It was late, but Eric's mind was already on that lingering trace of the scent.He worried it might fade completely, so he called a well-known perfumer in River City, waking her up in the middle of the night.Within thirty minutes, he had delivered the shirt to her.
The goal was simple: to identify the brand and exact fragrance before it vanished.
Eric told her plainly: confirm the brand and model, and she would earn one hundred thousand dollars.
At first, the perfumer had been irritated, assuming it was some prank, but the moment she heard Eric's name and the price, her tone flipped to eager professionalism.
Money had a way of wiping away doubt.
By the time she received the shirt, the scent had weakened to a whisper, with only the faint tail note remaining. Still, she promised that she had memorized it and could confirm the fragrance within a day or two.
Before that mystery could be solved, tonight's disaster unfolded.
Meeting Emily was never part of the plan.
Recently, the Johnson Group was negotiating with Silvercrest Real Estate in Border Ridge City.Michael intended to establish a new branch there, targeting a prime plot near Aurora College, which was perfect for the new headquarters.
Silvercrest's representative was Emily Anderson, sister to CEO John Anderson and tasked with handling the deal. From her first trip to River City, Emily pushed to meet Michael directly.As CEO, he only handled major decisions, leaving the details to Eric, so she had been dealing with Eric all along.
Today, Emily claimed her brother was in River City and wanted to meet Michael in person, both to finalize the land purchase and to explore broader cooperation.
John was an influential figure in Border Ridge City, both respected and well-connected. Michael had heard of him and held him in high regard, so when John proposed a 9 p.m. meeting at this cafe, Michael agreed without hesitation.
When Michael arrived, it was Emily waiting for him.
His brow furrowed in an instant.
Emily explained that John had been called away on urgent business and could not make it, so she was there in his place.
Michael had been ready to walk out—until his phone rang, and it was John himself, apologizing sincerely for the last-minute change.He assured Michael that Emily had been instructed to drop the price to the lowest possible figure as a gesture of good faith and promised to apologize in person later.
John's tone left little room for offense, and walking away now would look like a deliberate snub, potentially killing the deal. That lowered price was exactly what the Johnson Group had been pushing for.
Michael stayed and sat down with Emily.
Eric knew the pattern: ever since Michael had been with Amelia, he always informed her if he had to meet another woman alone. Even if she never demanded it, Eric still felt compelled to comply, even if the woman was a fifty-year-old CEO.
Tonight had been meant for John, so there was no report, and with the sudden change, Michael had barely settled in before the situation shifted.
Eric had never expected fate to arrange things like this.
Amelia—of all times—walked into the cafe now and saw Michael seated across from Emily.
Yesterday, she had noticed the unfamiliar perfume on his shirt, and now she was watching him with a young, attractive woman alone in a public setting.It was a meeting he had not told her about.
Eric was not a woman, yet he did not need to be to connect the dots. Strange perfume and an unreported private meeting—it was the kind of thing that quickly bred suspicion.
Even if Michael explained, the seed of doubt might still take root.
In less than a minute, Eric's mind spun through half a dozen strategies to clarify the situation, as he was determined to help Michael avoid a misunderstanding.
The next moment blindsided him.
Michael was about to walk toward Amelia when a stranger appeared at her side, tall and striking, with features suggesting mixed heritage.
They had clearly arrived together. The man stood close, his voice warm and familiar as he said her name, "Amelia."
Eric's thoughts scattered in a rush.
Michael was innocent, yet Amelia had caught him with another woman, and now Amelia, also innocent, was being seen by Michael with another man.
Across the space, their eyes met, and neither spoke first.
Was this a mutual misunderstanding, with silent anger on both sides?
The air between them tightened, and Eric felt sweat bead at his hairline, unsure whether to speak or stay silent.
Only Jasper looked perfectly at ease—innocent on the surface, yet with a flicker of something sharper in his eyes, and a smile ghosted there, too faint for anyone to notice.
Everything was unfolding precisely as he had planned.
In his mind, Jasper thought Amelia would be angry, even with her soul temporarily inhabiting a human body, as she carried the same proud defiance.
She would never tolerate the possibility of betrayal.
She would cast aside Michael without a second thought—would she?