Chapter 241 There is Something Fishy
Caroline didn't expect to see Yvonne there. Yvonne tossed her hair back. "Is Caroline keeping your mom company while shopping?"
Caroline smiled, "Yes, is Mrs. Voss out shopping too?"
"I'm here with my husband," Yvonne looked around as if searching for someone, "Where did he go in just a second?"
Caroline went with the flow, "There are lots of people shopping tonight. You should go find Mr. Voss."
Yvonne said, "Okay, I'll go look for him. Elysia, let's get together when we have time."
Elysia smiled gracefully, "Sure, when we're free."
Adult courtesy meant leaving room for dignity. The fact that Elysia didn't embarrass Yvonne on the spot was already quite gracious of her.
Once Yvonne had walked away, Elysia said, "Scheming to get to my daughter? What a beautiful thought."
Caroline got it right away and understood why she was upset. "Mom, coffee, your favorite."
Elysia took the coffee Caroline handed her and took a sip. "You think I'm angry?"
"Aren't you?"
Elysia shook her head with a faint smile. "There's no point getting angry with someone like that. People have different ways of thinking, different perspectives, and different values. In her world, everything she does is right, but it doesn't match our way of thinking. You can't force everyone to be like you, understand?"
Caroline nodded. It was really lucky to have a mother who was reasonable, good at listening, and could give guidance in life.
"Is there less sugar in the coffee?"
Caroline said, "Less sugar intake is better for your skin."
"But sugar makes you happy."
"Too much sugar speeds up skin aging and makes you age faster."
"Alright, you're right." Elysia stopped arguing.
See, having a mom who was like a best friend wasn't bad either!
To prepare for the award ceremony, Elysia picked out another bright light blue suit for Caroline. When they got home, she hung the suit in the closet, and on her way out, noticed the corner of a brown paper bag sticking out from a corner cabinet.
She crouched down, opened the cabinet door, and pulled out a file folder. Leopold had kept it in his suitcase during a previous business trip, it should all be work documents. Just as she was about to put it back, the bottom of the paper bag came unglued, and the documents scattered all over the floor.
She picked them up one by one to put them away. On one page, she saw "Golden Ember Hotel Development Project Proposal."
As far as Caroline knew, there was no hotel called Golden Ember in Seaside City or even nationwide. Then again, maybe it was an overseas one.
To prevent the documents from spilling out again, she sealed the bottom with glue and found another bag to put them in.
At the agreed time, Leopold arrived at the detention facility holding Dash, accompanied by his lawyer, Jack. Dash was brought out by two burly police officers. He looked to be in decent spirits, with no visible injuries on his face, he probably hadn't had a hard time inside.
As soon as Dash entered the room, he saw Leopold sitting in a chair with his back to him. At this moment, Leopold was the last person he wanted to see come to his rescue.
He was only here to laugh at him!
Dash sat down reluctantly across from Leopold. "Why are you here?"
Leopold didn't miss the hostility in Dash's eyes, his disgusted expression as if someone owed him millions.
He said matter-of-factly, "If you weren't locked up here, why would I come?"
That one sentence nearly choked Dash to death.
"Where's Xavier?" Dash asked again.
Leopold said, "In Seaside City."
"Of course, I know he's in Seaside City. Why didn't he come?" Dash was getting anxious.
"Good question. If he could solve the problem, I wouldn't be the one sitting here now." Leopold didn't give him a chance to continue talking and asked back, "Right now, I just want to know, were you involved in drug trafficking?"
Dash's expression instantly became resistant. Having been caught by Leopold several times and then sent abroad because of him, Leopold was the person he hated most.
"Dash, I only have twenty minutes for this visit. There are fifteen minutes left. Are you sure you want to keep silent? Or do you not want to get out?"
"Of course I want to get out." Dash's eyes burned with the desire to survive.
Leopold said, "If you want to get out, tell me the truth."
Dash fell silent again, lowering his eyes as if considering something. Jack, watching anxiously from the side, said, "Mr. Anderson, don't be foolish. Right now, the only people who can save you and are willing to help you are the two of us. If anyone else has promised to save you, don't believe them. If they could really save you, you wouldn't still be stuck in here."
Dash's eyes shifted, his face clearly panicking.
To give Dash another push and help him make up his mind, Leopold said, "You've been comfortable in here, you don't really think it's just good luck, do you?"
Dash looked up at Leopold blankly. Leopold said, "You should thank Mr. Thorne. Without him getting you a relatively safe environment, you think you'd be this comfortable now?"
Jack said, "It's what I should do, but it was all at Mr. Wipere's request. You should really thank him."
Dash's brow relaxed, as if he'd figured something out. He said to Leopold, "You're not here to laugh at me?"
Leopold said, "Dash, let me remind you one more time, I have ten minutes left."
Dash panicked and reached out to stop Leopold, but the officer behind him misunderstood, thinking he was trying to grab Jack's pen to hurt himself. If someone died here, both of them would be implicated in a crime.
The officer behind quickly stepped forward, pressed Dash's head onto the table, and loudly ordered Dash not to move.
The restrained Dash instinctively resisted. The other officer immediately pulled out a defensive weapon and pointed it at Dash's head, shouting, "Don't move, don't move—"
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
Leopold cursed Dash internally for being an idiot. He slowly stood up, his eyes sharp, and explained in Italian, stopping the two officers from using force on Dash.
The officer put away his weapon, and the one controlling Dash also let go, emphasizing no physical contact before stepping back to the wall again.
Leopold asked with a dark expression, angry at Dash's foolishness, "Will you talk now?"
Dash finally understood that Leopold wasn't here to laugh at him but genuinely wanted to help. Only then did he tell him everything.
It turned out Mario was a hotel guest who claimed to be in the wine business. Seeing that Dash had a lot of influence at the hotel, and learning that he managed the entire hotel, Mario proposed selling his wine in the hotel restaurant. Of course, he would not only pay him a fee but also give him a cut of each bottle sold.
Dash had done this kind of thing back home. He didn't expect that abroad, good opportunities would come knocking on their own.
Dash agreed. They brought in a batch of wine first, and Mario was generous, he gave Dash a large sum right away.
Having tasted the benefits, Dash's ambition grew, and Mario gradually became a regular at the hotel. However, every time he checked in, his friends would come to visit him. To thank Mario and also to make it convenient for him to receive guests, Dash specially provided Mario with a luxury room.
Those girls who were tricked, it was in the room Dash specially arranged that they were filmed in completely naked videos and photos, with the entire process recorded.
Of course, Dash didn't know about this at first. Not until the day he was arrested, when Mario left a suitcase in his room for safekeeping.
The more Leopold listened, the tighter his brow furrowed. "Dash, calm down and think, if this was really a good opportunity, why would it fall into your lap? Are other people all idiots? The payment he gave you obviously doesn't match the value of that wine - nobody does business at a loss. There's definitely a trap here, you..."
Leopold was so angry that his teeth were grinding.