Chapter 245: First Meeting, Evelyn
A few days later, news of Francis and the Combat Arts Association members' deaths reached Felix, who was far away on an island.
He immediately called Amelia.
His intuition told him this incident had something to do with Amelia.
When Amelia answered the phone and realized why he was calling, she didn't hide anything from him.
"I did it."
She had been planning and waiting for half a month to deal with the Combat Arts Association.
The construction crew breaking the water pipe was something she had arranged in advance, but not to trap Francis upstairs.
Knee-high water couldn't trap Francis.
She just used this little "accident" to make Francis suspicious.
Once someone becomes suspicious, they start seeing ghosts everywhere.
And Francis was already a very suspicious person by nature, so he would definitely go next door to see who was making the noise.
She arranged for Frank to appear at just the right time and take Francis away with a legitimate excuse.
This way, with Francis out of the way, she had the chance to release poison gas into the room.
Going through all this trouble was just to get Francis out of the way.
But dealing with someone like Francis required using complicated methods to do simple things.
Later, when Francis returned, almost all the Combat Arts Association members had been poisoned. She deliberately left one person conscious to threaten him into killing Francis.
The Combat Arts Association members were indeed loyal to The Hays family, but they were more loyal to Caleb.
Amelia used Caleb to threaten that person into killing Francis on camera.
After that, it was simple - clean up the scene and leave no trace of themselves.
And that waiter could serve as their witness.
When he went upstairs to remind guests about the flooding downstairs, there were strange noises from Francis's room.
Frank could also testify, proving that Francis acted strangely and had dealings with Combat Arts Association members.
Because it involved the Combat Arts Association, Leonard didn't dare investigate deeply, so the matter could only be dropped.
Leonard even helped suppress the news to prevent the matter from spreading further.
Because continued investigation could lead back to Leonard himself.
A high-ranking Phoenicia official couldn't have connections with a gang like the Combat Arts Association.
After explaining what happened, she said to Felix, "The Combat Arts Association has always been a hidden danger, and Francis tried to harm me repeatedly. I couldn't let him stay in this world."
"I was worried he wouldn't go to Harmony Heights Resort, but surprisingly he did. Looks like the smokescreen I put out about Philip worked."
Liam listened with his heart in his throat.
"Amelia, you were too bold. What if you had been in danger? What would we have done?"
He added, "Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Amelia, I'm very proud of you. The things I couldn't finish for you, you accomplished yourself."
He worried about her, but also admired her ability and courage.
It wasn't like before, when he would, regardless of good intentions, only criticize her.
Amelia clearly felt Felix's change.
Going out for over a month had made him grow up a bit.
"What about you?" Amelia asked. "Is everything going smoothly?"
"It's a bit tricky. Multiple forces are circling here. To completely take it down will take at least another six months," Felix said. "But don't worry, I'll do my best not to disappoint you."
"Whether I'm disappointed or not isn't the most important thing. What's important is keeping yourself safe. Call Mom when you have time to let her know you're okay. She's been very worried about you."
"Okay."
Amelia asked about Uma's situation.
She had arranged for Uma to be with Felix, which both convinced Natalie that she was on vacation and allowed Felix to look after Uma.
The call ended quickly.
Although Amelia and Felix's relationship had eased, they weren't close enough to chat on the phone for long.
For Amelia, as time passed, her initial displeasure with Felix had completely dissipated.
But she also knew clearly that even with their relationship eased, it would be hard for them to reach the level of intimacy she had with Grant and the others when they met again.
But Amelia wouldn't force it.
That's how relationships between people are - even family members have varying degrees of closeness.
Amelia hung up and went back to busy herself at the Shadow Operations Division.
She asked Byron about the Monroe family situation.
Byron didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Mr. Monroe didn't believe it at first. Faith helped me dress up as a woman again. Although I didn't have a human skin mask and my face looked different, Mr. Monroe could tell at a glance that Faye was indeed me."
"And then?" Amelia asked.
"Mr. Monroe was shocked for a long time and called me a 'good kid,' but didn't mention our marriage. He just treats me as Faith's friend. However, Charles thinks highly of us."
Faith's relationship with her father was distant, but her bond with her teacher Charles was very deep.
With Charles approving of them being together, Faith felt much better.
Amelia patted his shoulder and comforted him, saying, "No rush. Octavius isn't bringing it up now because of your identity. Once everything settles down and our identities are recognized by the government, he'll fully accept you."
Byron nodded vigorously.
He believed that day wasn't far off.
The Hays family, having lost Francis, had lost a sharp blade.
Leonard wasn't as clever as Francis. Without Francis by his side to strategize, the loss was even more severe than losing Billy and Marlon's help.
But Leonard himself hadn't figured this out yet.
He didn't value Francis much, so he underestimated Francis's importance.
But soon, Leonard's shortcomings would be exposed.
The Porter family members weren't easy to deal with. While Amelia was doing all this, they had been making their own moves.
What Amelia could access was only The Hays family faction in Goldenvale.
Where she couldn't reach, The Porter family was also gradually eroding their power.
Now, the situation clearly favored The Porter family.
The Hays family was at the end of their rope.
But there was still one final crisis that hadn't been resolved - that tech building.
Louis found out for her that the building was still being run by Francis's subordinates.
"They haven't given up," Louis said. "You need to be careful and stay alert."
Amelia nodded and said, "Don't worry, I've been keeping it in mind. And I've already gotten out of Francis what exactly he wanted to do."
Louis was delighted.
"Does that mean you can avoid the danger?"
Amelia shook her head.
"I won't avoid it. Why should I? We know what their plan is now, so we have the advantage. If anyone should avoid anything, it should be them."
"What do you want to do?"
"Let them die in their own trap."
Francis's death couldn't hurt Leonard because he didn't care about Francis at all - he even felt a bit disgusted by this eldest son who looked so much like his ex-wife.
What he truly cared about and loved was Leo.
"If Leo hasn't left, that means he's also involved in the tech building plan. This is our chance to catch them all in one net."
Leo was a devil.
He had killed Mason's girlfriend.
Now, it was time to make him pay.
"But," Amelia said with a somewhat helpless smile, "with so much blood on my hands, I'll probably go to hell."
"So what?" Louis said. "Even if you go to hell, we'll be there with you."
Amelia's eyes suddenly became a bit moist.
Because she was kidnapped as a child, she had suffered a lot.
But it was also because of this experience that she gained things and friends she might not have otherwise had.
That evening when Amelia got home, she ran into Grant coming back from his evening shift.
After these months of work, Grant had matured quite a bit.
Perhaps it was the stubble on his chin that gave him a touch of mature masculine charm.
"Why do you look so haggard? Having trouble with the design?"
"No," Grant answered. "The car is about to launch. This is the last week, so we don't dare relax."
Grant had not only participated in the car design but also in the interior design.
This time, he mainly catered to women's aesthetic preferences for cars.
This met with opposition from many people internally.
It was Samuel who strongly supported him, allowing his design proposal to be implemented.
"Launching next week?"
"Yes, the new product launch is next week." He said, somewhat nervously, "My design has mixed reviews internally. I really don't know if it will attract people."
"Don't worry, it'll be a big hit," Amelia comforted him. "Times are different now. In many families, the financial power is in the wife's hands. It doesn't count if the man says he wants to buy something - the woman controls the purse strings."
"The female market is indeed a huge market."
Amelia nodded and said, "So you'll definitely succeed. If you get rich, don't forget me."
Grant laughed.
"Of course! I could forget anyone but you."
Back then, if it hadn't been for that competition at Luminance Art Gallery, he'd probably still be unknown.
He couldn't possibly have gone to the Crawford Group to shine.
How could he forget Amelia?
Amelia and Grant chatted for over an hour. Grant's pressure suddenly disappeared, and the next day he went back to work full of energy.
Soon, the day of the new car launch arrived.
Amelia was also invited to attend.
As the presenter for the launch, Samuel had been busy backstage before the official start.
Not wanting to disturb him, Amelia stayed in the audience, talking with Grant.
"Show me the final product."
She had only seen the initial design draft before.
But Grant kept the suspense.
"It's starting in just a few minutes. You'll see it very soon."
"You're even keeping it from me?"
"Isn't this to give you a surprise?"
While Amelia and Grant were joking around, a cool voice suddenly rang out—
"You're Amelia, right?"
Amelia looked toward the voice and saw a beautiful woman with ear-length short hair, wearing a white dress, looking her up and down.
Amelia had already recognized who she was, but still asked calmly, "I'm Amelia. And you are?"
"I'm Evelyn. I'm Samuel's good friend. Nice to meet you."
Evelyn extended her hand.
That hand was smooth and delicate, with skin like cream, painted with very bright red nail polish. The nails were filed sharp and thin, making the look somewhat uncomfortable.