Stacey hummed in affirmation. “My thoughts as well, so I continued looking into the exchange between Hector and Savini. I found out that Hector’s wife owns a livestock company. It’s quite a large-scale production and has been operating for nearly a few decades.”
“So, you’re saying that Hector collects money through his wife?”
She nodded and went on, “Also, I found someone to look into Hector’s wife. She’s been a housewife in the past few years, so she basically won’t have the time nor energy to run such a large-scale livestock farm. In fact, Hector spent a few hundred thousand to buy a piece of land in a remote village for the livestock farm. He simply threw in some chickens and hired a local villager to keep an eye on the place, so it’s basically been left unattended to all these years.”
I could somewhat catch her drift. This livestock production company, to put it bluntly, was nothing but a front for money laundering. In fact, it probably didn’t even bring in any profits. The accounts registered by this company were used to facilitate money transactions between Hector and other businessmen.
It was no wonder that Louis couldn’t find anything even after investigating for such a long time. Hector was too cunning for his own good.
After a short pause, I looked at Stacey and asked, “Are there any transfers from Cameron in the livestock company’s account records?”
She shook her head. “No, Cameron has been very cautious. The companies under her have no reason to collaborate with the livestock company, so her transactions are all done through Savini.”
“Then, what about Savini? On what basis can he transfer money to Hector?” Savini was from an audit company. Even though audit companies often conducted business with all types of companies, money should be credited, not debited, from their accounts. Hence, an audit company wiring money to a livestock company wouldn’t make sense at all.
She smiled and explained, “I wondered about that as well. It wasn’t until later on that I found out that Savini owns a frozen meat market. This way, no matter how large their transactions are, it would still be considered reasonable and legitimate as it’s completely normal based on market demand standards.”
They’re good, I’ll give them that!
Without obtaining the inside story, it was impossible to find out the truth. Even after knowing the inside story, it was difficult to convict Hector. After all, all of this looked to be reasonable transactions.
My head spun slightly. Even if I relayed this information to Louis, there was no way to directly identify Cameron’s involvement in this.
Seeing the conflict lining my features, Stacey suggested after some hesitation, “You can try starting with Savini. He’s not as loyal to Cameron as he seems. Besides, there seems to be a third-party intervention in this matter. If I’m not wrong, someone wants to take Cameron down.”
“A third party?” My curiosity was piqued. “Who else did Cameron offend?”
She shrugged and replied, “I’m not too sure, but I recently discovered that someone dug up videos of Cameron rising to her position when she was young. In fact, there were quite a number of people involved. By the way, Hector’s wife should be a good approach in this matter. Even though we can’t trace any money transactions, you may be able to discover sexual transactions.”
I nodded and kept all the documents she handed to me. “Thank you for doing this,” I expressed my gratitude.
She smiled and took a sip of her coffee. “Don’t mention it. You helped me deal with Felix, so this is the least I could do.”
Since she put it that way, there was no reason for me to contradict. After exchanging some simple pleasantries, she excused herself.
It was quite late by the time I returned to the villa. Hence, I was surprised to see an unwanted guest.
Rylee and Sally were seated in the living room, engaged in a friendly conversation.
Upon spotting me, Sally smiled and waved to me. “Letty, you’re back. Ms. Lorraine and I were just talking about you!”
I frowned. Her words sounded so pretentious they raked on my insides.
Rylee was in a white cotton dress with her hair pulled up into a ponytail, looking every bit like a youthful and sultry woman.
Catching sight of me, she smirked lightly. “Sienna, you’re back. It’s cold outside. Come on over and have some tea with us.”
I remained expressionless with only my slightly pursed lips as an indication of my displeasure. “No, thanks. You two don’t mind me. I’m going up to rest now.”
“Letty, don’t go just yet. Come here and sit with us for a while. I’ve been so busy with the White family matters all these years that I didn’t have the time to sit down and have a nice chat with anyone. Since everyone’s here today, you should join in too!” Sometimes, I really envied Sally’s ability to put up such a flawless and natural act.
Unable to refute her indisputable reasoning, I went to the living room and took a seat.
Sally brew some tea while Rylee had a faint smile on her face. At a glance, we portrayed an uncannily harmonious scene.
The three of us looked like we had always been close friends, but of course, we knew better.
After Sally was done brewing the tea, she said gently, “The most classic step in tea brewing is to get a whiff of its fragrance, but people often skip this step. Since we’re not in a hurry today, let’s enjoy the fragrance of this tea.”
I wasn’t a tea lover, but I raised the cup and took a whiff of it anyway. Indeed, the smell was very fragrant, but I found it inappropriate to be drinking tea so late at night.
Rylee lifted the teacup to her nose in an elegant manner before breaking into a smile. “This tea is of excellent quality. I’m already intoxicated with its fragrance. I’m starting to look forward to tasting it.”
Sally returned her smile, then poured the brewed tea into separate teacups and gracefully said, “Try it.”
I only took a sip, whereas Rylee smiled and remarked enthusiastically, “This is really good tea!”
The two of them earned my utmost admiration for being able to act so relaxed and poised while drinking tea in the middle of the night.
Noticing that I only had a small sip, Sally queried, “Is the tea not to your liking, Letty?”
I shook my head and simply replied, “No. I just don’t have the habit of drinking tea at night. I’m prone to insomnia, so drinking too much isn’t good for me.”
She nodded with a smile. “Then, why don’t you drink something else?”
I shook my head and declined, “There’s no need for that. It’s getting late now. Both of you enjoy the tea. I’m going to head upstairs and call it a night.”
Just then, the sound of a car engine came from outside. Sally smiled when the noise ceased abruptly. “It sounds like Anthony’s back.”
Soon, Anthony came in. He placed the car keys on the shoe cabinet, then looked over at us.
Upon seeing Rylee, his brows drew together, but he turned his gaze to me and asked, “Have you had your dinner?”
I nodded and was about to go upstairs.
He took long strides and I had barely made it a few steps when he caught up to me and wrap an arm around my waist. “What did you do today? Did anything interesting happen that you wanna share with me?”
I shook my head, having the blues.
“Anth!” Rylee’s gentle voice rang just then.
Anthony glanced at her with an impassive expression. “It’s late. Aren’t you going home yet, Ms. Lorraine?”
Evidently, he was telling her that it was time for her to leave.
Rylee turned ashen-faced and she parted her lips to say in a meek voice, “I didn’t bring…”
She sounded like she was too embarrassed to continue, so Sally spoke for her, “Rylee didn’t bring her driver along. She came here with me. It’s already very late now and it’s not safe for a girl to go home alone at this hour. The villa’s big, so let her stay here for the night.”
Sally’s words were meant for Anthony.
The latter narrowed his eyes and looked to me instead. “What do you think about having a guest over for the night?”
I frowned, feeling slightly peeved. “What does it have to do with me?”
With that, I moved to head upstairs, but he grabbed my arm and ordered in a deep voice, “I’ll get a driver to send Ms. Lorraine home.”
Unhappy with her nephew’s command, Sally’s expression hardened. “Is this how you treat your guests? Since when have you become so inhospitable? Don’t you know how cold it is outside? It’s not appropriate to allow a girl to go home on her own. The house is so big and isn’t lacking in rooms. Besides, my place is so empty, so I’d like her to keep me company. I don’t like being alone at night.”
Noticing Anthony’s darkening expression, Rylee timidly chipped in, “Anth, your aunt has gone through a lot lately. I was also thinking of staying back to keep her company. Don’t worry, I won’t disturb you and Sienna. I only want to accompany your aunt, so that she won’t feel so lonely.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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