Chapter 74
"The room next door is a bit noisy. Should we switch to another private room?" Seeing that Gregory didn't seem too concerned about the phone call, I gave him a gentle reminder.
Hearing me say this, Gregory finally tilted his head to listen.
"I'm giving you five more minutes. If you're still not here, I'll expose everything about our previous deal. Ms. Brown, I don't think you'd want others to know that you're the one who harmed your own sister, would you?"
"Cut the crap. One million dollars, not a cent less."
Gregory's brow furrowed.
Ms. Brown? One million dollars?
He looked at me questioningly, and I put on a confused expression too, whispering, "Sounds like there's some illegal deal going on next door?"
This was enough to arouse Gregory's suspicion. He frowned without saying anything, just gradually tightening his fingers around his coffee cup.
There was a sound of a door opening and closing next door. The person spoke very quietly, and nothing could be heard clearly through the partition, but I figured Gregory would immediately recognize that the voice was Sophia's.
Gregory's phone buzzed. He quickly glanced at it and then turned off the screen, but I still caught a glimpse of a long string of numbers. Presumably, under Paul's pressure, Sophia had no choice but to send over his account number.
Then the phone dinged again. He opened it with the sound on, and I heard Sophia's voice: "Gregory, this is the account number. I sent you the wrong one yesterday. I'll explain later. I'm in a hurry right now. Please transfer the money quickly."
I looked at Gregory, feeling pleased inside, but still had to pretend I knew nothing: "What's wrong? Did something happen? You don't look so good."
He took a deep breath, slowly put his half-finished coffee back on the table, adjusted his expression, and smiled at me as if nothing was wrong: "You're right, it is a bit noisy here. Why don't we switch to another room?"
My eyebrow twitched slightly. At this moment, was Gregory trying to protect Sophia, or did he just not want me to know too much?
"Okay." I didn't say much more. Whatever he wanted to do was fine. I wanted to see if he'd still be this calm when he finally learned the truth.
Even after switching rooms, Gregory couldn't seem to calm down. He held his coffee but didn't take another sip for a long time, eyes downcast, lost in thought.
The phone rang abruptly, pulling him back from his thoughts. He looked at his phone with a furrowed brow, and under the persistent ringing, finally answered.
It was Sophia's voice. Sitting across from him, I could clearly hear what she said: "Gregory, did you see my message? I've resent you the account number. When can you transfer that million dollars? I'm kind of in a hurry here."
Gregory's voice was emotionless: "Is this a million dollars really for investment losses you owe?"
Sophia spoke quickly: "What else would it be? Gregory, I know our family still owes you a lot of money, but this is me personally borrowing from you. You're the person I trust most. Please, I'm begging you, help me out this once. I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
Gregory's frown deepened, and finally he sighed helplessly: "Got it."
After hanging up, he looked up at me with an unnatural smile: "Sophia just sent over the card number. I'll forward it to you now."
I looked at the account number and name he forwarded: "Paul?"
Gregory asked urgently: "You know him?"
I quickly waved my hand: "Not really. It's just that last time at Crimson Nightclub, I asked for two security guards, and one of them was named Paul. The name stuck with me. Could be someone with the same name."
Gregory became more suspicious: "Security guard?"
"Remember when your uncle got drunk? I went to find someone, and he blocked me with security guards, wouldn't let me leave. Looked like a thug. Later, I thought people like that could at least intimidate others as bodyguards, so I took him on. He's already working at our company now. He probably doesn't know anything about investments. Most likely just someone with the same name."
"Thug?" Gregory's heart seemed to sink even further.
I operated my phone, clicking my tongue: "I transferred money to two raw material suppliers today. I must have hit my limit. Can you ask Ms. Brown if tomorrow works? Tell her to talk it over with the other party. It's not like we're not paying. Delaying one day shouldn't be a problem."
Gregory hesitated, opening his mouth, but still sent my words exactly as I said them.
"Let's go. You don't seem in the mood for coffee anyway. I have some things to do. We'll meet up another time." Figuring the timing was about right, I stood up, grabbed my bag, and said to him with a smile.
Gregory was obviously distracted because Sophia hadn't replied to his message. As he got up to leave with me, we ran right into Paul storming out of a private room.
"Paul?" I immediately called his name. He was actually here.
Gregory looked at the man who had stopped in his tracks, and his gaze turned cold when he saw Sophia emerging from the same direction.
The moment Sophia saw us, her face went pale: "Gregory, you... what are you doing here? How come you're with her?"
Her eyes couldn't hide the panic in time, much less the jealousy.
Paul saw me and immediately bowed: "Ms. Wilson, didn't expect to run into you here. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
I reached out to stop him: "Actually, there might be something. Don't rush off."
Sophia looked anxious, giving Paul meaningful looks, but he didn't dare move.
She quickly came over with a smile and took my arm: "He's just a friend of mine, not close. Ms. Wilson, how come you're here with Gregory? Is there something going on? Does Mr. Oscar Lopez know?"
At this point, she was actually trying to turn the tables on me.
Gregory's face darkened, and he lowered his voice, looking at Sophia: "Come outside with me. I need to ask you something."
Sophia looked up at him with a somewhat wronged expression: "Gregory..."
Gregory was already striding toward the café entrance. She had no choice but to let go of my arm and hurry after him.
Watching their backs, I allowed myself a barely noticeable smile, then turned to Paul: "Come on, you should join us for a chat too."