Chapter 274 Who Is That Extra Person?
"I... I should go!" Amara was scared. If she offended William, her whole life would be miserable.
"Don't go! It's so late..." Thalia wanted to say more.
"Had enough?" Thalia blinked her pitiful eyes at William. Before she could speak, the man's cold voice cut in.
Stopping their conversation.
"Sit!" Inside the room, William took the hot towel Fallon handed him and wiped his hands.
Thalia obediently sat down.
William glanced at Fallon, who wisely left with his people.
William snapped, "Give it to me."
"Give you what?" Thalia asked.
"The invitation."
Thalia pulled out her phone, opened the poster, and handed it to William. "My mom said this is only the fifth event, but each one has a different theme. So I'm thinking, has Zephyrine already made her money?"
"What's Kurt been up to lately? A company that's barely staying afloat needs money pumped into it, or it'll either die or barely survive. If Kurt has let his guard down around you recently, doesn't that mean they've already got funds coming in?"
William glanced at the poster, listened to Thalia's analysis, and nodded. "Maybe."
"So what do we do?" Thalia blinked at William. He looked at her sideways, raised his hand, and curled his finger, signaling her to come closer.
Meanwhile, at the villa in the development zone, Layla felt something was wrong when Thalia hadn't come back in after so long. She took out her phone and sent her a message.
Soon, Thalia replied: [Stay alert. If something's off, get out fast.]
Layla: [What do you mean?]
Thalia: [If I'm not wrong, this place is a harvesting operation.]
Harvesting operation—basically a scam. But if it was run by someone who was popular right now, everyone let their guard down. By the time they realize what was happening, their money was already gone.
Emerald City's upper circle wasn't that big. For Zephyrine to pull something like this, she must not be worried about getting exposed. If people got scammed but didn't make a fuss about it, there was only one possibility—someone was got dirt on them.
This setup was really interesting.
"Ms. Scott, it's your turn to choose."
Layla was lost in thought when someone interrupted her. She glanced sideways at the person who broke her train of thought—a male escort in a suit, quite tempting actually.
Layla looked around, her eyes landing on the stage, then shook her head. "Nothing I like."
The man froze. Nothing she liked?
They'd done so much preparation for today's event and had figured out the customers' preferences long ago. For Layla to say she didn't like any of them? Had she figured something out?
The man's expression stiffened for a moment, but soon he smiled and nodded. "That's fine. Let's just consider today as watching a show and having coffee. I'll arrange for someone to see you out shortly."
"If I don't like anyone, I have to leave?" Layla asked.
"Yes! The rooms upstairs are limited and only open to special guests. Please understand."
Layla thought to herself, 'Understand? Of course I understand. Thalia already said there's something wrong here. Would I be stupid enough to stick around and wait to die?'
She'd always known that many activities in their circle were pretty wild. Some rich middle-aged women, to keep life interesting and maintain their youthful spirit, would do just about anything.
When Layla got in the car, the first thing she did was call Thalia.
On the other end, Thalia had just finished showering and was about to get into bed.
When Layla's call came through, William's glance was like he was catching her cheating.
"Layla, Layla, don't look at me like that."
She answered the phone, and a questioning voice came through. "What did you mean by those things you said to me?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Is someone really up to something behind the scenes?" Layla broke out in a cold sweat.
"Pretty much. Did you leave?"
"I left. Was I supposed to stay and wait to die?"
"Think about how many people you knew at the scene today and write down their names for me."
Layla didn't understand. The people there today were all either rich or powerful, or wealthy wives. What did Thalia want the names for?
"What do you want the names for? Want to investigate?"
"Just give them to me." Thalia exchanged a few pleasantries, said something about talking later, and hung up. Before she could put her phone down, William's iPad appeared in front of her, showing the Lowe Group's stock.
The stock that had been sliding downward had been surging for several days, with hundreds of millions in capital flowing in.
Where would a company that was barely hanging on and needed help from others get the money to throw into the stock market? Obviously, Zephyrine had gotten her hands on some money.
And not a small amount either. This couple was quite capable.
"There's something I need your help with," William said.
Thalia leaned over to William, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Oh! Just wanted to kill me, and now you're asking for my help?"
Her slender fingers played with the man's chiseled chin, looking quite playful.
"Name your terms," William added.
"Any terms?" Thalia grabbed his collar and sat up, staring at William.
"Yeah, anything." The man's slender fingers landed on Thalia's waist, stroking absently.
Not long after the event ended, the staff at the villa were wrapping things up. Someone brought tonight's list to the top floor of the villa. In the glass house, there was a tea table with boiling water, steam rising gently.
A servant in a suit brought over tonight's sign-in sheet. "Ms. Carter, here's tonight's list."
"Twenty people expected, twenty-one actually showed up."
"Twenty-one?" Zephyrine frowned. "Who's the extra person?"
"A friend Layla brought."
"Grace Hernandez."
"Grace?"
"Yes."
"Pull up tonight's surveillance footage for me." She organized these events with strict screening. No mistakes were allowed. If an outsider snuck in, it could be fatal for them.
Soon, the surveillance was brought to Zephyrine. She looked at the iPad, focusing on the entrance footage.
She felt this person looked somewhat familiar.
But couldn't place her for the moment.
"Where's Layla?" Zephyrine asked.
"She said she didn't find anyone she liked. Following the rules, we saw her out."
Zephyrine was stunned, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart. She hoped her hunch wasn't right. "Go keep a close eye on the people upstairs. We can't have any more mistakes."