Chapter 119
Adrian walked out of the house openly. Oscar gave a bitter smile, spread his hands toward me, and let out a deep sigh: "When it comes to arguing with him, I don't think I've ever won."
I asked: "I wasn't very familiar with Adrian before, but just now hepushed the door open and came in. Don't you think he looks a lot like someone?"
Oscar looked at me, puzzled: "Like who?"
I bit my lip and thought back again, then dismissed the thought that had flashed through my mind: "I must have been mistaken, or maybe too much time has passed, and I can't remember clearly."
Oscar was even more confused: "What?"
I shook my head with a slight laugh and said, "You should know that Gregory had a brother, I think his name was Alan Lopez. He died in a fire ten years ago, so I'm saying I must have been mistaken. Plus I don't remember much about him - only saw him twice."
Oscar frowned, thinking seriously.
I reminded him: "But Alan really is dead. The funeral was a bit rushed back then, but I did attend. And I heard Charles and the others talking - apparently the body was burned beyond recognition."
Oscar nodded: "Yeah, I just think it's quite a coincidence. Anyway, don't worry about Adrian. Before he leaves, I'll get the answers I want."
I sighed and nodded at Oscar. As Oscar said, he really couldn't out-argue Adrian, so whether we could get anything out of him didn't matter anymore. We each knew what we needed to know.
My phone buzzed. I opened it to see that Nina had sent a photo.
The people in the photo were Michael and Jasper.
The background was a private room in a hotel. A server was just walking out of the room - Nina must have taken the photo during that moment.
Soon Nina sent a voice message: "Look at this! Why is this Jasper with your old boss? They both look like bad news. You don't think they're teaming up against you, do you?"
The corners of my mouth turned up slightly. It would make sense if Jasper wanted to go after me, but Michael definitely wouldn't.
I quickly typed back: [Maybe they have other business.]
Nina's voice message came through in a lowered voice: "I'm going to sneak over and see if I can hear what they're saying. I'll tell you later."
I didn't dare send a voice message and quickly typed instead: [You don't need to. Michael has a bad temper.]
After a few seconds with no response, I hurriedly sent another message: [I'll go ask him myself later. That room looks soundproof anyway. Don't go.]
Still no reply.
I could only put my phone down. Knowing Nina's personality, her ear was probably already pressed against the door of that private room by now.
"What's wrong?" Oscar saw my helpless expression and came over to ask.
I showed him my phone: "Nina ran into Michael meeting with Jasper. She's gone to eavesdrop now. I'm afraid she'll get into trouble."
Oscar looked and frowned: "How would those two be connected?"
I said calmly: "Nina's worried they're plotting something, but I'd rather believe Michael is planning something and Jasper has already fallen into his trap without knowing it."
Oscar thought seriously for a moment: "That makes sense. Don't worry too much. Nina might seem reckless, but she's not stupid enough to get caught eavesdropping."
As it turned out, she wasn't quite as smart as we thought.
Two hours later, I got a call from Michael. I'd just answered and hadn't even asked what was going on when I heard Nina shouting in the background: "Emily, Michael is a bad guy. Don't believe anything he says."
"Shut up." Michael's cold voice came through.
"Why should I shut up? Are you doing something shady that can't be talked about? Don't tell me you two were discussing work - I heard you mention Emily."
Then came the sound of arguing, and before I could get a word in, the call was disconnected.
Staring at my phone, I was completely confused. Oscar was also speechless: "She really did get caught by Michael?"
I quickly redialed: "You don't think Michael would do anything to Nina, do you?"
"Probably not. It would be pretty petty of him to argue with a woman." Oscar seemed to be enjoying the drama.
No one answered the call. I tried again - still nothing.
"This is bad. Nina's too reckless. I hope she didn't make Michael really angry." I switched to calling Nina's phone. As expected, no one answered hers either.
I was getting anxious and could only hope he wouldn't actually hurt her.
Oscar laughed and pressed me down to sit on the sofa: "Stop pacing. He can't really do anything to Nina."
"You don't know Nina," I said with a sigh.
"You should know Michael," Oscar said with a smile.
He had a point. Michael could be ruthless, but in three years of working together, I'd never seen him lay a hand on a woman.
Thinking of this, I managed to calm myself down a bit. They probably weren't answering because it wasn't convenient. When it was convenient, they'd naturally call me back. All I could do was send Michael a message:
[Nina is my friend. If she did anything inappropriate, please don't hold it against her. Please.]
Of course, I still got no reply.
While I was waiting for answers about Michael and Nina, my people sent me another message: [Adrian entered Harborview Club.]
"Your company doesn't have any partnership with Harborview Club, right?" I turned to ask Oscar. I didn't want to investigate only to find out his behavior was perfectly normal.
Oscar shook his head: "No, why are you asking?"
I smiled at Oscar: "If not, I think we can investigate in this direction. According to the records, he's been there twice. I didn't pay much attention before, but going to the same club multiple times - there must be something there, right?"
Oscar leaned over, his face close to mine as he looked at the computer screen: "What's special about this Harborview Club? Adrian is smarter than we thought. Would he really leave such an obvious trail?"
I typed quickly on the computer. Finding information about the club was easy - there were all kinds of reports online. Compared to Benjamin and Zach's club, this one was obviously much more low-key.
I quickly scanned through the information, saying in a low voice: "On the surface, Harborview Club seems very low-key, but you never know - this could be deliberate cover."
Soon an inconspicuous name appeared in one of the reports: Project Founder - Vivian.
I understood. Given our relationship, she had no reason to make a special visit to see me. But if she had another purpose, that would make sense.
So, Vivian - what role exactly is she playing?