Chapter 39

Even so, he still found something didn’t add up. “Ethan, how do you explain my employee’s phone and

their voices if she isn’t with them?”

Before Irvin could get an answer from the other man, his phone rang all of sudden, interrupting the

conversation. Casting a glance at the caller ID, his face contorted a little. “It’s from Justin.”

The caller’s reminder suddenly came into his mind—keep the words to himself. However, he messed

up and caused a huge problem for his helper.

Feeling guilty, Irvin quickly accepted the call.

Ethan’s gaze landed on him with interest as he thought, Justin must know something about her if he

sent her to help Irvin in the first place.

“Irvin, how’s it going?” The man who called spoke with a slow tone and a deep voice.

“I guess it went smoothly?” Irvin was still having questions in his mind, so he hesitated to answer.

The caller paused for a moment to process Irvin’s words before answering in a deeper voice, although

his reply sounded unrelated to their previous topic. “Remember to buy the team leader a new phone.”

At that, the man ended the call without another word.

“What? All right.” Irvin was taken aback by the abrupt reply for a moment before an idea occurred in his

mind. The woman took the phone.

This means that Ethan is right. She isn’t upstairs.

However, Irvin was feeling guilty as she was merely here to help him out, but he exposed her

information to the others without her permission. It ended up attracting Ethan’s attention and caused

her a lot of trouble.

Besides, she was a great help. He wouldn’t mind paying for more new phones if those were the cost of

her aid.

As Irvin’s mind was previously occupied by the thoughts of helping Ethan to stop her, the idea to

reward her never came to him. Come to think of it, I didn’t even thank her.

I failed at being a good host, and I deserve every accusation of me.

Justin might not have said much, but Irvin was truly feeling sorry for Alice.

“Ethan, Justin suggested I buy my employee a new phone…” Irvin struggled to mutter as he made eye

contact with Ethan, but eventually got his meaning conveyed to the other man.

They both understood the true meaning behind Justin’s words.

Ethan couldn’t help but smile. Justin has a way with his words, just like always.

He wasn’t calling to remind Irvin about the team leader’s lost phone.

He was speaking in a calm tone and never made accusations the whole time, but the effect of his

words was no different from a bombshell.

On usual days, Justin seldom used this kind of tone to talk to others, unless he was standing up for the

people he cared about.

So, Justin is defending her! Ethan concluded, but a new question troubled him. What is the relationship

between the two of them?

Ethan was planning to ask Justin about Alice’s story after this, but now he had a feeling that Justin

wouldn’t answer at all even if Ethan made the call.

Thus, he decided to erase the task from his to-do list. He didn’t want to pressure Justin, so he would

count on himself instead.

“Mr. Knight, do we need to pull the prints off the high heels and the purse?” Caleb was still holding the

high heels and the purse in each hand as he considered them as important material evidence.

Irvin had lost his enthusiasm from before as he allowed the guilt to flood his mind after Justin’s words

blew his mind. However, he couldn’t help but chime in after a few seconds of hesitation, “They

belonged to her. I saw it with my eyes, so you no doubt can find her fingerprints on them. However, she

has already run away. What’s the point of getting the prints if we can’t find her?”

Ethan didn’t bother to answer as his attention shifted to the items Caleb was holding. He remembered

that they also attempted to take her fingerprints from the handcuffs before. And an odd feeling was

probing his mind.

Narrowing his eyes as he pondered, he ordered in a stern voice, “Do it now.”

After that, Ethan got in the car with a swift move and gave Bradley the second order. “Take me back to

the Imperial Hotel as soon as possible.”

Bradley was an unmatched driver. Even though Alice had left for a while, Ethan was confident that

Bradley was capable of sending him back to the hotel before her.

If she did visit the service building, he would wait for her to return to the hotel, where she booked a

room.

After seeing Ethan off, Irvin rushed upstairs without a second thought. After all, he needed to see it with

his own eyes before he could relax.

The project was not only worth five hundred million, it was also an indicator of his capability compared

to his blood brother’s and even more a stepping stone for his future standing and prestige in the family.

The team leader was making a speech with the aid of Alice’s plan when Irvin arrived on the sixth floor.

As it was finished a while right before his speech began, the team leader needed to refer to the

information from time to time during his speech.

The audience stayed silent when he spoke. All of them were concentrated on his sharing. Irvin was

used to this kind of occasion, but never for once was the audience as attentive as today.

As the team leader ended his speech, the person in charge of the project had already made up his

mind. “I’ve decided. We’ll go with this plan.”

Usually, the person in charge would go through a discussion with his group members before making a

rational decision instead of deciding on the spot, since it was a big project. However, the person in

charge of the project was an emotional man. As the amazing plan captivated him, he couldn’t wait any

longer to approve it.

Even though the project head had decided without a discussion, the rest of the team saw no point in

arguing with him in public. Moreover, the plan was a good one and it amazed them, so they didn’t

object.

Instead, they couldn’t hold back and shared their opinions.

“Right, this is good. It’s also the last one. I don’t think anyone’s plan is better than that.”

“Yeah, it’s incredible.”

Irvin found it hard to believe, but he somehow agreed with them. The plan was pretty impressive, and

only an idiot would let it slip through their fingers.

He searched for Jordan among the crowd and gave the other man the finger, not bothering to hide his

attempt to provoke the other man.

Jordan was already in a bad mood after he heard the last plan got chosen. He was even angrier when

he noticed Irvin’s provocation.

Jordan’s mind was a mess as he tried to figure out the situation. How did Irvin, that moron, come up

with a better plan in such a short time?

It doesn’t matter whether he thought of it himself or someone helped him. Luck counts as a strength

too.

It seems like I’ll return with empty hands today. Mr. Thorne won’t like to hear that.

Ethan returned to the hotel within less than ten minutes with Bradley’s help.

As he got down from the car, he ordered Caleb, “Check the surveillance cameras.”

It was only a few words, but Caleb immediately understood Ethan’s purpose. Ethan wanted him to

check on Alice’s whereabouts from the cameras.

“Yes, Mr. Knight.” Caleb nodded and tended to Ethan’s order.

Once he left, Ethan was in the lobby alone. He wanted to wait for her to show up.

He was the hunter and she was the prey, and he would wait here until she fell right into his trap.