She never expected that Brettley would track Irene down so late at night! Why did he care so much about everything that involved Bethan?
As soon as she thought of this, Alice narrowed her eyes and smirked. Then, she typed a reply to Irene, ( How could I possibly be Alice Peterson? I’m Bethan.]
It took a while before Irene’s message came again. ( That’s impossible!]
(What do you mean, that’s impossible? Do you think you’re the only person who’s in the company group chat? Why don’t you recall what happened last night? How did you end up at that place where you got beaten up?]
Irene, at this moment, was sitting on her sofa in her rental home. As soon as she saw this message, she felt as though a lightbulb had lit up in the back of her mind.
The reason she had gone to that place last night… was because of this woman named ‘Alice’!
She typed a furious reply. (Bethan! I thought you were a frank and honest person, but I was wrong!]
(Me? Frank and honest? Do you really expect a promiscuous woman like me to be open and honest? How nalve are you?]
Alice triumphantly sent the text as she stretched herself, yawning. Then, she switched off the backup phone, went out into the yard, and tossed it into the man-made lake behind Blue Bay Villa.
There. Evidence destroyed.
“What are you doing? “
Suddenly, a cold voice rang out behind her.
Alice froze that instant, and it was only a long while later that she turned around somewhat stiffly.
Brettley stood behind her and leaned against one of the gazebo’s pillars. He fixed his cool, impassive gaze on Alice’s face.
Alice suddenly felt grateful that she texted Irene instead of calling her.
Did he…notice anything?
Alice let out a small cough and tried to suppress the panic she was feeling. “It’s a backup phone that I used when conducting business abroad. I found it just now and discovered it had already broken, so I can’t use it anymore. I threw it into the lake out of frustration.”
She scratched her head sheepishly. “Was I too rash? Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to throw it into the lake. It might pollute the water…”
“You’re right. It might pollute the lake.”
Brettley glanced at her, then turned to look at the lake and said sternly, “Why don’t I get someone to fish it out?”
Alice bit down on her lip. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
She turned around and pretended to gaze at the lake wistfully. “This lake is so big, and it’ll probably take ages for anyone to find anything in there. It doesn’t seem worth it to spend so much time and effort just to fish out a broken backup phone. What do you think?”
Brettley shot her an impassive smile, then turned around and headed back into the house. “Since that’s what you think, I’ll do it your way.”
Alice could not help but let out a sigh of relief at his response.
However, little did she know, this sigh did not manage to escape Brettley’s sharp ears.
His footsteps did not stop, but the glint in his eyes turned cold.
8 a.m.
Morrison Group Tower.
Bethan got out of a taxi in front of the building. Just as she entered the doors, she bumped into Jason.
“Ms. Bethan.”
Jason approached her with a smile. “I’ll be working here as a security guard from now on.
It’s nice to see you.”
“That’s great. Work hard, Jason.”
Bethan had spent all night bracing herself for their inevitable meeting, so this morning, when she bumped into Jason, she did not behave as strangely as when she last saw him.
Despite that, however, terror inevitably tingled her senses.
“Can you come with me to visit Bonnie after work?” he asked, beaming at her.
Bethan gave him a gentle smile in return. “Sure.”
She continued to talk with him for a while before she finally headed toward the elevator.
This was the start of the day, so naturally, there were many people in the elevator.
Bethan stood at the front of the line and gazed up at the floor numbers in silence.
“She’s so pretty, but I never knew how promiscuous she was…”
“I didn’t believe all those rumors at first. How could she possibly want to have sexual relations with the security guards? I saw her chatting with the new security guard just now, though, and they even planned to go out this evening…”
“Tsk, tsk. How desperate is she?”
Bethan squinted when she heard the whispers behind her.
However, she did not feel like arguing with these people. Sometimes, the more a person tried to explain, the more complicated things would get, so it was best just to let it be.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind her, “Be quiet, you guys. She can hear us. Don’t you guys know what happened to that newbie Irene who talked bad about her behind her back? She’s such a cruel woman. Poor Irene… “
With a frown instantly forming on her face at the comment, Bethan turned around and said, “What happened to Irene?”
Bethan’s sudden turn-around startled the employees that stood behind her.
One of them eyed the Bluetooth earphones that Bethan was wearing and asked cautiously, “You…can hear us?”
Bethan furrowed her brows. Of course she could.
She was wearing her Bluetooth earphones because she had called Neil on her way to Morrison Group Tower and forgot to take them off when she got out of the taxi.
These people thought she could not hear her, so that was why they even dared to gossip about her right behind her.
Bethan did not want to get involved, but she could no longer tolerate their ever-growing atrocity.
She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the woman who had spoken. “You still haven’t answered my question. What happened to Irene?”
The woman hesitated for a moment before finally handing Bethan her phone. “Take a look at it yourself… We didn’t want to believe this at first, but look at this chat history…”
Bethan frowned, took the phone from her, and glanced at it.
A chuckle escaped her as she read what was on the screen. It was a screenshot of chat history.
Someone named ‘Alice’ had lured Irene to an abandoned place last night, causing her to get beaten up and tortured by some men.
This person claimed she was Bethan, so Irene had screenshotted their entire conversation and spread it around. She even threatened to lodge a police report using these screenshots as evidence.
Bethan felt amused by this. She had been with Brettley ever since she came out of the restaurant last night, and she was also with him at the time Irene was attacked. How could she be the perpetrator, then?
Bethan read the rest of the conversation with a bemused smile, then glanced at the employee who had shown it to her. “Does she think she can accuse me based on a few screenshots?”
She gave the phone back to the woman and said, “
You guys used to gossip about me all the time, right? If I’m such a resourceful person as Irene claims, then how could all of you possibly be standing here? I would’ve gotten rid of you a long time ago.”
The group of employees fell silent as soon as they heard this.
Suddenly, the elevator arrived at the design department, so Bethan gracefully strode out of the elevator without looking back.
Did Irene truly believe she could accuse Bethan of assault based on a few screenshots? How nalve was she?
First of all, chat history was not eligible to be submitted as evidence in court.
Secondly, Bethan had an alibi. She was with Brettley at the time. Not only was Brettley a witness, but Lucas, Zach, Yuri, and even Jason could vouch for her.
Last but not least…
The person in the screenshot had admitted to being Bethan almost right away. If it was her, how could she be so foolish as to admit to her crimes?
“Director Bethan.”
Shannon approached her as soon as she stepped foot in the department. “Don’t worry. I’ve already warned the rest of the employees not to spread any rumors about you anymore. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
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.