Right now, the most critical link was this girl; she might be the only one who knew who was behind all of this.
But without concrete evidence, there wasn't much they could do to her.
The banquet hall manager, trembling with fear, was sweating profusely.
"Mr. Skyler, Mr. Tudor, | swear | know nothing about this! With such an important event, how could | possibly be
reckless enough to allow something like this to happen?" Selena let out a cold laugh. "And yet it did happen.
Saying that, doesn't it make you feel the least bit ashamed?"
The manager nodded repeatedly. "It's my fault, my incompetence. I'm willing to take responsibility, but |
genuinely have no idea what happened. I'm innocent!"
Selena crossed her arms, glancing between the girl and the manager. "You both claim you have nothing to do
with it. Then how did it happen? Did it just cout of thin air?"
The girl gave a sidelong look at Russell and said, "Maybe Mrs. Tudor and Mr. Skyler had something going on. Last
night, with so many people around, it would have been the perfect cover. After all, being locked in a room
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇttogether for so long... who knows what might have happened?"
"I think you have a death wish, talking like that!" Selena snapped, stepping forward and slapping the girl hard
across the face.
"Did you see it with your own eyes? Did you witness the whole thing? Or maybe you knew what would happen,
which is why you dare to speak so recklessly?"
The girl's face turned red with anger after being slapped. "Do | need to see it with my own eyes? Everyone knows
Russell and Aveline have a complicated history!"
Selena, fuming, raised her hand to slap her again, but Aveline stepped in and held her back.
"Letdeal with her, Ave! I'll smack her so hard she'll regret every word!" Selena said, her fury barely
contained.
Aveline replied, "Even if you beat her to a pulp, it won't solve anything."
Selena was still seething but reluctantly took a step back, refraining from further action. Aveline walked over to
the girl, meeting her furious gaze with calm composure.
"I don't know who you're working for," she said coolly, "but it seems you're targeting me. If that's the case, why
not just cout and facedirectly? Playing these dirty tricksOnly makes you seem like rats hiding in the
gutter. No matter how polished your appearance may be, deep down, you're still nothing but low and
disgraceful."
"You...!" The girl's face twisted in anger at Aveline's words. She looked like she wanted to snap back, but a
glance at Russell and Lucas seemed to make her think twice, and she held her tongue. The atmosphere in the
room grew tense and heavy.
"Is everyone finished?"
Lucas' deep, magnetic voice broke the silence.
Aveline turned to him. "Do you have something to add?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
He shifted his gaze to the girl and spoke evenly, "Your family, the Slater family, runs a food company. But with
increased competition in recent years, your business has been struggling.
A faint smile curved Lucas’ lips. "Of course."
"In the past six months, you've been
facing a cash flow crisis, and the
company is on the brink of bankruptcy. Your father suffered a stroke and is hospitalized, your mother lacks any
business acumen, and your brother is in prison for assault..."
He let out a mocking laugh. "And then someone offered you money to save your family's business,
promised to bring in the best doctors in the world for your father and hire top-notch lawyers to defend your
brother.
"With such tempting terms, it's hard not to waver, isn't it? Once you took the bait, you couldn't easily betray
them-after all, your entire family's lives are now in their hands."