Chapter 94 Start Investigating from Alice's Past
To make the car ride more comfortable for the kids, Sophia switched to an Alphard.
Everything was top-of-the-line.
The only downside was that it had more seats than before.
So when James and Michael enthusiastically pulled William into the car, she could only press her lips together tightly and swallow back her refusal.
Seeing James and Michael already in the car, Emily got a bit anxious.
She reached out toward William, "William, carry me."
The heavy mood from chatting with Sophia was broken by Emily's soft call of his name.
William gently picked her up.
Emily's little legs kicked in the air out of habit as William placed her in the seat near the door.
She waved to Sophia outside the car, "Mommy, come quick!"
On the ride back, Sophia kept feeling someone's gaze on her. She knew who it was, but didn't give him any response, keeping her head down, playing with Emily in her arms.
William thought that thanks to James and Michael, he'd finally get into the Johnson Villa.
He was planning to have a good talk with Sophia after dinner, but she caught him off guard first.
"James, Michael, your dad has to work late tonight. Say goodbye to him."
"Emily, say bye-bye to William."
The three kids were really well-behaved. Hearing that William had to work, they immediately waved goodbye.
James already had the look and manner of a little adult.
He patted his chest seriously, "Dad, you focus on work. I'll take good care of Michael."
Michael, hearing this, quickly promised too, "Dad, I'll be good."
Emily naturally didn't have the same deep feelings for William as the other two.
She hugged Sophia's leg and gave him a routine wave, "Bye-bye, William."
William met Sophia's half-smiling eyes and felt something stuck in his throat.
The Smith family's car had been following behind them the whole time.
Tony saw William coming and immediately got out to open the back door. He thought William would at least get a dinner invitation tonight, but it failed again...
Before getting in the car, William looked back at Sophia and the three kids.
Emily was bouncing along, holding James and Michael's hands as they walked home, with Sophia following behind them. Sunlight fell on their backs, creating a warm picture.
William laughed at himself. The next morning, he showed up on time to pick up the kids for school.
On the way to school, seeing the toy in Michael's hand, he casually asked, "Did Mom buy you a new toy?"
Michael looked up and shook his head, "No, it's from Raymond."
William's heart sank. He pulled Michael into his lap and asked patiently, "Does he come to the house often?"
"Not often, but he sends gifts a lot. James, Emily, and I all get them."
Michael didn't pick up on anything odd in William's voice and continued sharing enthusiastically, "Raymond also sends Mom roses, just as pretty as the ones you used to send, Dad."
The little kid had no idea about the complicated stuff between adults. Thinking about how Raymond always sent him toys he liked, Michael genuinely liked him.
James, however, noticed William's expression wasn't right and tugged at Michael's sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.
Though Michael didn't understand, he listened and went back to playing with his toy.
Just as the two kids were about to get out of the car, William looked down at Michael and asked, "Those roses, did your mom keep them?"
James was about to answer, but innocent Michael beat him to it.
"Yes, Mom even put them in a new vase she bought. They look really pretty."
The flowers he sent, she wouldn't accept!
Raymond's flowers, she not only accepted but also put them in a new vase!
James's eyes darted around. He quickly put on his backpack and pulled Michael toward the school gate.
"Dad, we're going to school now. Have a good day at work."
"Dad... James, slow down."
"If I slow down, you're going to make Dad so mad he'll end up in the hospital."
"What? I didn't do anything wrong."
The children's voices grew fainter as they got further away.
The bodyguards escorted them all the way into the kindergarten, only leaving for a discreet spot outside after confirming the teachers had received them.
Ever since the car attack, whenever James and Michael went out, bodyguards would watch over them from hidden spots, afraid of any more accidents.
Of course, the same went for Sophia and Emily.
On the way to the office, Tony carefully asked, "Mr. Smith, Alice is still in the Smith family's holding room. If her face doesn't get treated on time, it probably really won't be fixable."
At the mention of Alice, William's expression got even worse.
In the past, under the shadow of being "cuckolded," he'd overlooked many details. With that anger in his heart, he hadn't wanted to pay much attention to Sophia. Now, stepping out of that mindset, some things immediately seemed off.
He closed his eyes and asked, "How's the investigation I asked you to do?"
Getting to business, Tony immediately sat up straight. "The things about the Rivera family are all true. Besides human trafficking, they're also involved in organ trafficking..."
He got more serious as he spoke, laying out everything the Rivera family had done. These scumbags deserved to be locked up, and he'd also confirmed that Alice was involved in these matters, even participating in human trafficking.
This was criminal! Absolutely unforgivable!
With "Alice" as a clear direction for investigation, many things became easier to track down.
He continued reporting recent findings, "About James and Michael being poisoned, besides the phone recordings Mrs. Smith has, all other evidence has been wiped out."
Tony knew Sophia's recordings weren't obtained through proper channels, but he'd managed to find some hidden information through them.
The people behind this thought that wiping everything clean would be fine.
Little did they know, it was precisely because things were wiped too clean that it raised suspicion.
"The person who wiped the traces for the Rivera family is the new leader in Shadow City next door. His wife's brother is in Empire City..."
"When Alice left the hotel last time, she went to that person's villa in the south of the city."
"The baby in her belly is his, too."
William's expression turned cold, his voice dripping with frost, "If he's newly in power, then pull him down!"
Tony had already packaged all the evidence properly. In just moments, this evidence appeared in the mailboxes of various investigation departments, and people who'd been paid off in advance immediately began following up.
He hesitated, "What about Alice..."
After all, he was the one who bailed her out. Now thinking about Alice's plastic surgery, it probably wasn't just about wanting to compete with Sophia's looks—she probably wanted to change her appearance to escape punishment.
Just thinking about how Alice had fed him all that stuff, how he'd been manipulated by a woman, made William increasingly uncomfortable.
People don't suddenly turn bad.
Either they experience something major that changes them drastically.
Or... they were bad all along!
William's face darkened, his expression cold and distant, his deep eyes showing bone-chilling coldness.
"Investigate again the incident two years ago when Michael was almost kidnapped by human traffickers."
"...Start with Alice!"