Chapter 280 Explanation
Briar let out a breath of relief, quickly following up with a question.
"The waitress claims she hasn't had work done, but Mr. Boleyn says she did. Do you have her old photos?"
Ambrose kept his eyes locked on Scarlett, searching for even a ripple of emotion on her face. Unfortunately, her expression remained a mask of cool indifference. Admitting defeat, he turned to Chase.
"Give Ms. Reed what we found."
Chase pulled out his phone, opened a file, and handed it to Briar.
Phone in hand, Briar scooted closer to Scarlett. They sat so close that Scarlett only had to lower her eyes to see the screen. Not bothering to act coy, she leaned in to look alongside Briar.
On the screen, the first thing that popped up was Felicity's face. Her features were a bit softer, the jawline not nearly as sharp and sleek as it was now.
This had to be her pre-surgery photo. While not as strikingly polished as she was today, she still wasn't bad-looking.
"Her old face, even though it's a bit rounder, still looks a little like you. Just a little, though. After the plastic surgery, the resemblance is uncanny." Briar provided a running commentary as she scrolled.
Scarlett kept her thoughts to herself, her gaze sliding further down the screen.
Below the photo was Felicity's basic information: date of birth, hometown, and family background. Everything was clearly documented.
Scarlett didn't see her mother's name anywhere. A secret breath of relief escaped her.
Briar threw her a quick glance and whispered, "Her mom has nothing to do with yours, right?"
"The name doesn't match," Scarlett murmured back.
Having finished reading through Felicity's file, Briar handed the phone back to Chase and turned to Ambrose.
"Mr. Boleyn, when exactly did you meet her?"
Ambrose, who had been swirling the liquor in his glass, paused. His gaze involuntarily flicked to Scarlett. Seeing her reach for her drink, he spoke up to stop her.
"You shouldn't be drinking right now."
Briar, waiting for an answer, was caught off guard. Assuming it was Scarlett's time of the month, she immediately went into caring best-friend mode.
"If it's your period, definitely put the alcohol down. Should I order you a glass of milk?"
Scarlett, glass already in hand, said flatly, "It's not my period. I'm fine, just having a little."
Briar froze for two seconds. Her highly-tuned radar picked up on the weird vibe instantly, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
Suddenly, it hit her—Scarlett hadn't looked at Ambrose once. They hadn't exchanged a single word. Connecting the dots with Scarlett's unusual behavior today, she guessed they must be in the middle of a fight.
Ambrose must have done something to seriously piss Scarlett off. Otherwise, with her usual temper, she wouldn't be giving him the deep freeze like this.
Could it be because of Felicity?
"Mr. Boleyn, you still haven't told me when you met Felicity," Briar pressed.
She knew Scarlett's personality; she would never ask herself. So, it was up to Briar to get to the bottom of this.
Seeing Briar bring it up again, irritation flared in Ambrose's chest. He didn't want to talk about last night. Bringing it up would only trigger Scarlett's memories of the event.
So, when he looked at Briar, his eyes narrowed further, shooting daggers of pure ice in her direction
Briar shivered, forcing a stiff smile. Her strong survival instincts immediately made her change her tune.
"If it's some top-secret stuff I'm not supposed to know, just pretend I never asked."
The only 'secret' between a man and a woman usually meant sleeping together.
But that hadn't happened!
If Ambrose stayed quiet, he'd only look guilty. Not wanting to fuel the misunderstanding, he reluctantly spoke up.
"It's nothing you can't know. I saw her last night."
Hearing this, Briar looked at Scarlett, arched an eyebrow, and let out a sarcastic sigh. "So you saved her twice just last night?"
Ambrose had zero patience for explaining himself. He called Chase over and ordered him to recount the events of the previous evening.
Chase didn't disappoint. He downplayed Felicity's involvement as much as possible, focusing heavily on how Ambrose had dealt with Tobias for Scarlett's sake.
Finally, Chase turned directly to Scarlett.
"Ms. Mellon, Mr. Boleyn only went after Tobias because of you. Tobias is still in the hospital, and as for the Reynolds family..."
"Cut the irrelevant details," Ambrose snapped, turning his head to cut Chase off.
Chase had no choice but to shut his mouth and quietly step back.
Briar hadn't expected this plot twist at all. She had no idea Scarlett had been abducted during her time in Luminous City.
She stared at Scarlett in shock, too stunned to utter another peep.
Scarlett's face remained infuriatingly calm, but she finally lifted her eyes to look at Ambrose.
Ambrose met her gaze with dark, intense eyes. "Don't listen to him. I was going to teach Tobias a lesson for the last time anyway."
Scarlett said coolly, "From now on, keep out of my business. Whatever conflicts I have with people, I'll handle them myself."
The bar's lighting was soft and romantic, but in that moment, as it bathed Scarlett, it failed to melt the cold, rigid aura surrounding her.
Ambrose gripped his glass so tightly it threatened to shatter. He glared at her, anger simmering in his gaze, yet he didn't dare explode.
"I do things because I want to," he gritted out.
Scarlett let out a scoffing laugh. "Then stop pretending the things you do for your own amusement are favors for me. I can't afford to pay you back."
With that, she tipped her head back, downed the rest of her drink in one gulp, and slammed the glass onto the table.
"Briar, let's go!"
Snapping out of her daze, Briar saw Scarlett already grabbing her purse and standing up. She scrambled to her feet, and the two of them walked out of the booth, hand in hand.
Still seated in the booth, Ambrose watched her retreating back. His face darkened like a gathering storm until a sharp crack echoed—he had actually crushed the glass in his hand.
Chase rushed forward, grabbing napkins from the table to wipe the blood from Ambrose's hand.
Ambrose snatched the napkins, carelessly wiped his hand a couple of times, and shot up to chase after her anyway.
Before leaving, Scarlett and Briar needed to say goodbye to Quinlan.
However, Quinlan wasn't at the bar. According to the bartender, he was in the back office.
As they headed to find him, they passed the restrooms. Briar couldn't hold it in anymore and ducked inside, leaving Scarlett to go find Quinlan alone.
Scarlett wandered into the back, winding through the halls for a few turns without seeing an office. She was just about to give up and turn around when she suddenly heard an angry shout.
"You bastard, I still have customers out there!"
Scarlett stopped dead in her tracks. That was Quinlan's voice.
"I told you not to open this bar. You insisted on doing it anyway, so now you have to pay the price."
A numb sensation washed over Scarlett. That man's voice belonged to Felix.
She knew exactly what they were doing in there. She just never expected them to be an item.
While she was still reeling from the shock, a hand clamped down on her wrist. She jumped, letting out a startled shriek.
Two screams echoed at the exact same time.
It went without saying who the other scream belonged to.
Scarlett whipped her head around and saw Ambrose. She shot him an icy glare and tried to yank her hand away, but his grip held firm. Without a word, he started dragging her away.
Scarlett didn't exactly have a voyeuristic streak, so she had no choice but to keep up with his strides.
The moment they stepped out of the back hallway, Scarlett wrenched her arm and snapped, "Let go."
Ambrose held onto her, continuing to walk forward as if he hadn't heard a thing. Scarlett let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Ambrose, do you know why I accepted you in the first place?"
He stopped in his tracks. Turning around, he heard Scarlett say the next words.
"I used to think you would respect me. But now I realize, you're no different from the rest of them."