Chapter 185 Jumping into the Trap
What Piper was thinking about was her and Isaac's safety.
"That bitch might not have time to deal with us now, but once she remembers us, she'll definitely kill us!"
Isaac clenched his fists tightly and said, "We have to get her to come home as soon as possible!"
Piper looked surprised. "We can't do that."
"Her status is different now," Piper continued. "Didn't you see it? When she went to the company, dozens of bodyguards surrounded her."
"Our previous plan to trick her into coming here won't work anymore."
"Isaac, we can't confront her directly anymore."
Compared to Isaac, Piper was thinking more long-term this time.
Isaac asked with dejected anger, "If we don't confront her directly, then what do we do? Should I go beg her? Even if I swallow my pride, will she let us go? Don't forget, you sold her for thirty thousand dollars."
Piper's face turned livid.
But being older, she wasn't as impulsive as Isaac.
"The way I see it," Piper said after a moment, "if we don't want her to take revenge on us, the only option is for you to hurry up and marry Maeve. With the Sullivan family backing us, I don't believe that Samuel can just let her do whatever she wants to us."
Isaac's face immediately fell.
"Easy for you to say," he snapped. "Why don't you look at what I look like now? She was with me because of my looks in the first place. Looking as ugly as I do now, can I even go outside?"
"Then fix your face first, then—" Piper began.
"I know," Isaac cut her off.
Did Piper really need to say that?
Isaac regretted bringing Piper over.
His mom probably brought bad luck from the countryside. As soon as she came back, his face got ruined.
Piper didn't notice the disgust in Isaac's eyes and said seriously, "I won't go spy on her these next few days. We've already found out about her situation anyway. I'll help you ask around to see which hospital is good at treating skin conditions."
"No need to ask," Isaac replied. "I've asked everywhere already, and none of them can treat it."
Isaac hadn't been hiding at home every day during this time. Whenever he heard about a hospital that specialized in skin conditions, he went out wearing a mask to see a doctor.
But he came up empty.
Just then, Isaac's phone rang.
It was a video call from Maeve.
Isaac hadn't dared to see Maeve lately and kept making up excuses.
He declined the video call and switched to texting instead.
[Maeve, what's up? I'm busy right now, so a video call isn't convenient.]
Maeve quickly replied: [What have you been so busy with lately? Can't see you anywhere.]
Isaac: [It's a very important project... a confidential project.]
Maeve: [Alright then. I was going to ask you to come with me to Spring Renewal Clinic.]
Isaac: [Spring Renewal Clinic? What's that place?]
Maeve: [It's a very famous clinic in Goldenvale. You don't know about it?]
Isaac: [Are you sick?]
Maeve: [No, it's just that I went to a beauty salon a while ago and they gave me the wrong injection, which messed up my face a bit. I heard the doctor at Spring Renewal Clinic is really good, so I'm planning to check it out.]
Isaac immediately thought of himself.
Before his face got ruined, he had also been to a beauty salon.
Looks like it really was the beauty salon's fault!
He quickly replied: [Then you should go quickly. Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll come find you.]
Maeve: [Okay then.]
Isaac put down his phone, silently repeating the name Spring Renewal Clinic in his mind.
He had heard of Spring Renewal Clinic, too. The doctor there seemed to be named Charles, and he was supposed to be very skilled.
He just didn't expect that he would also treat skin conditions.
Thinking of this, Isaac picked up his phone again and asked Maeve when she was going.
Maeve replied: [Already getting ready to leave. What's wrong, do you want to come with me?]
Isaac: [I'll go with you next time, I really don't have time today. Send me a message after you're done so I can relax.]
Maeve: [Alright!]
Isaac put down his phone again and waited for an hour. Maeve said she was done and getting ready to go home, and praised the doctor at Spring Renewal Clinic for being skilled.
After Isaac sent a few perfunctory messages in response, he immediately covered himself up completely and headed to Spring Renewal Clinic.
If Maeve said it was good, it must be true.
He placed all his hopes on Spring Renewal Clinic.
However, when he met Charles, Charles shook his head just looking at his face. "Yours is too severe. It can't be treated."
Isaac was very disappointed.
"However—"
Charles changed his tone and said, "I've recently developed something new and need to do human trials. Are you interested?"
Half an hour later, Isaac came out of Spring Renewal Clinic.
Although he was wearing a mask, his eyes were bright and spirited, and his whole demeanor confident and high-spirited.
Meanwhile, at the Crawford Group's Goldenvale branch, Marlon came to the company with several subordinates and reporters from the local TV station.
Samuel personally came out to receive them.
The Goldenvale branch mainly handled real estate projects, so there were no factories, only several large office buildings.
Samuel led them on a tour of the second floor of the main building.
The second floor was an exhibition hall, just one large open space with walls designed as culture walls.
The culture walls displayed the company's story and the many charitable projects it had undertaken over the years.
Marlon was very satisfied with what he saw.
"Truly worthy of the Crawford Group—such a rich corporate culture and history. You deserve this year's Goldenvale Model Enterprise Award. The rest of you should learn from Mr. Crawford."
Marlon had brought not only TV reporters but also several other company executives.
Among them was Floyd, the father of the deceased Niamh.
Floyd was still immersed in the grief of losing his daughter and hadn't wanted to come. But Marlon said he had a surprise for him, so he reluctantly agreed.
But the tour was almost over. Where was the surprise?
They had tricked him into coming for ratings!
Aside from Floyd, who was in a bad mood, everyone else chimed in, praising Samuel as young and promising, saying the Crawford Group would continue to improve.
Samuel raised his hand slightly.
"You're all too kind. I'm young and inexperienced; I still need to learn from you seniors."
The others quickly said they wouldn't dare.
In public, they were all big bosses, but in front of Samuel, none of them dared to act proud.
Even though these were just polite words from him.
Marlon spoke up at this moment. "Got enough footage?"
He was talking to the reporter.
The reporter smiled and said, "We've filmed enough, but we need to add an interview with Mr. Crawford."
Marlon said, "Then let's go to Samuel's office. Samuel, how about it?"
Samuel gave Marlon a meaningful look.
That single look made Marlon's back turn cold.
Had he noticed something?
That shouldn't be possible.
Marlon wanted to continue observing Samuel's expression, but couldn't read anything from it.
"Then let's go to my office. My office is quite large - if you don't mind, everyone can come up together? After I finish the interview, I'll treat everyone to dinner."
Before anyone else could speak, Marlon agreed first.
"You got the award, so of course you should treat us today! Let's go!"
Since Marlon had spoken and Samuel was treating, even if the others had other plans, they had to agree and follow Samuel upstairs to the office.
Soon, the group took the elevator to Samuel's office floor.
This floor housed all the branch's senior management.
They all spoke very professionally.
Marlon greeted them but seemed distracted while talking to the executives.
Samuel could tell Marlon was absent-minded.
He slightly curled his lips, his eyes full of mockery.
But he hid it well. No one noticed. They simply assumed he was in a good mood.
Jeremy, who had been watching the whole time from the side, knew better.
When Samuel was truly in a good mood, he didn't smile like this.
You could tell from the way Samuel smiled every time he saw Amelia.
They soon arrived at the office.
Jeremy pushed open the frosted glass door for everyone.
The scene inside was clear at a glance.
Huge floor-to-ceiling windows, a stylishly designed desk, soft leather sofas, a clean and tidy coffee table...
Besides that, there was a room full of plants.
Marlon glanced inside once. He didn't even look closely at the plants, yet his brow furrowed.
"Samuel, what are you doing?!"
The suddenly raised voice made everyone look at Marlon.
"Marlon, is there a problem?" Samuel asked, looking confused.
He was always so confident that people often forgot how young he was.
Now that he showed a hint of confusion, Marlon felt that no matter how capable Samuel was, he was still just a man in his twenties.
Marlon became less cautious. He pointed at the plants without examining them closely and said, "It's fine if you like growing flowers and plants, but do you know that privately collecting so many rare orchids is illegal!"
As his words fell, the whole room went silent.
Everyone showed shocked expressions.
Including Floyd, who had been distracted earlier.
Marlon caught everyone's expressions and felt puzzled.
Why was everyone looking at him like that?
Were they shocked that he dared to point out Samuel's mistake?
Thinking this, Marlon calmed himself and continued accusing Samuel, "It's one thing for you to be high-profile normally, but you should be high-profile about the right things. Look at you—how can you do something illegal like this? These orchids are all wild, right? Don't you have anyone around you who knows the law? Private individuals are prohibited from possessing large quantities of wild, rare orchids."
Samuel looked at Marlon with a calm expression.
His gaze was cold, yet like an invisible blade that could strip away all of Marlon's pretense.
Marlon suddenly felt a chill run through him. It was as if a dangerous animal had locked onto him. He'd been locked onto by some dangerous animal.
"Why... why are you looking at me like that?"
Samuel suddenly smiled. "Marlon, if your eyesight is poor, you can apply for early retirement yourself. Not being able to see things clearly while sitting in such an important position isn't good for you or anyone else."
"What do you mean?" Marlon asked, confused.
Floyd walked forward to remind him.
"Marlon, you've made a mistake. Where are there any orchids here?"
"There are no orchids here, Marlon."
The others also chimed in.
Unlike Marlon, who had rushed in, the others had calmly examined the plants.
So except for Marlon, everyone could clearly see that not a single pot in the room was an orchid.
They were all ordinary plants you could buy at any market.