“I’ll come up right away, I’m in the hotel lobby!”

Xia Xiaolan handed the phone to the front desk.

While the front desk phone could connect to every room, the number Harold provided was clearly a private line. Once her visitor status was confirmed, meeting Harold became quite simple.

Just as Xia Xiaolan was being directed to the elevators, the elderly butler Allen was already waiting there.

“Miss Xia.”

“Hello, Butler Allen.”

Xia Xiaolan entered the elevator, and Allen swiped his card, sending them directly to the 24th floor.

“Butler Allen, is the situation very bad?”

“It’s not good. However, before I came down, Mr. Harold had called for a stop. I think there’s still a chance to turn things around. By the way, I never agreed with Mr. Harold’s approach.”

But what could he do? He was just a butler.

His employer needed him to manage daily affairs, not to serve as a life coach.

Xia Xiaolan forced a smile without saying anything.

Harold wasn’t a fool. Anyone could guess why Tina chose to work at the club had something to do with the Wilsons.

Harold had already bankrupted the Wilsons, and there was no familial consideration between them. Given Tina’s close relationship with the Wilsons, Harold would never trust her.

Yet Tina still easily made it to the 25th floor.

And she brought Mrs. Wilson with her.

Surely Mrs. Wilson knew about Harold’s suspicions of Tina? Of course, she did.

The Wilsons had set a trap using Tina, and Harold was equally using Tina as bait – both sides waiting for the other to take it. Did anyone ask if Tina wanted to be used as bait? No one!

Whether victory or defeat, Tina would be sacrificed either way.

Could Xia Xiaolan blame Harold?

No!

Harold was simply turning their plan against them.

From his perspective, Tina was helping the Wilsons plot against him, so why should he have any reservations?

Ding.

The elevator stopped at the 24th floor. Harold entered with several bodyguards. Xia Xiaolan remained silent as they went up to the 25th floor together.

Harold spoke first:

“There’s a suite on the 25th floor where I often work and keep documents. The room has a fingerprint lock, and the safe requires both a fingerprint and a passcode. Even with my fingerprint, they absolutely won’t get the passcode.”

Because someone like him would naturally change his passwords frequently.

Only ordinary people who were too lazy to memorize new combinations would use the same password for years across multiple accounts.

Harold wasn’t that type of person. His mind was always active, and with his cautious nature, he would regularly change his passwords.

He knew what information to share with his subordinates and what to keep from even his closest butler!

So even if Tina and Mrs. Wilson could get his fingerprint and open the room, they could never open the safe?

“Then what are they doing in your office?”

Stealing important documents?

Mrs. Wilson didn’t need to risk coming with Tina – they could easily be caught red-handed. Having been Harold’s sister-in-law for so many years, she must know something about him. No, it wasn’t about stealing documents. Perhaps Mrs. Wilson used this excuse to trick the foolish Tina, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t believe it.

Harold didn’t answer Xia Xiaolan’s question, choosing instead to let her see for herself.

Tina and Mrs. Wilson had been in Harold’s office suite for a while, but Harold didn’t seem particularly rushed as he led Xia Xiaolan to the adjacent room.

Then Xia Xiaolan discovered how perverted these rich people truly were – Harold turned a statue beside the sofa, and the opposite wall slid apart to reveal a glass panel… wasn’t this the same one-way observation setup used in police interrogation rooms?

“…!”

These two adjoining rooms surely weren’t available to regular hotel guests, otherwise it would be too disturbing.

Xia Xiaolan frequently stayed in hotels for business trips.

Ever since discovering people like Du Zhaohui installing listening devices in hotel rooms, and now Harold with his see-through walls, she was developing a phobia of hotels.

The Wilson Hotel in Washington didn’t have such perverted designs!

No, architects only handle the design – they can’t predict how clients will modify things afterward.

This wasn’t the architect’s fault, but the client’s.

“Shh, look,” Harold pointed at the glass wall.

Tina was searching through the office desk drawers.

The glass wall allowed them to see but not hear – it was soundproof. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t see Mrs. Wilson.

“What are they doing exactly!”

Harold pointed to a button beside him, “If I press this, the adjacent room will lock down, trapping them until the police arrest them… I want to know Cynthia and Ivan’s thoughts even more than you do. She’s not usually this foolish. The documents in the safe are important, but a few papers alone couldn’t possibly defeat me.”

Blackmail material?

Who would be that stupid?

Real evidence would have been destroyed long ago. How foolish would someone have to be to keep evidence that could destroy them?

And how foolish to believe that stealing some document could turn the tables – well, apparently Tina believed it. Her “experience” probably came from movies.

Hollywood films were truly going to get someone killed!

Tina finally found the safe.

She looked both excited and nervous, seemingly calling for Mrs. Wilson, who finally appeared within view of the glass wall.

They examined the safe together, naturally unable to open it.

This was Tina’s first time doing something like this. Nervous and afraid, she couldn’t open the safe after several minutes of trying. She became anxious, her face full of worry, and seemed ready to leave. Suddenly, Mrs. Wilson pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered Tina’s mouth. Tina quickly lost consciousness and collapsed – the young girl’s expression was one of disbelief, as Mrs. Wilson had acted from the front, not attempting to hide that she was the one drugging Tina.

How would Tina confront her when she woke up?

No, unless Mrs. Wilson was certain she would never wake up.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Harold instantly pressed the button.

“…Forget it, bring them both out.”

Xia Xiaolan turned, “You knew everything, didn’t you? You knew what Cynthia and Ivan planned to do. You didn’t know where they would strike, but you prepared for every possible location.”

The Wilsons wanted Tina dead!

They wanted Tina to die at Harold’s hands – it would be a frame-up, but if done cleverly enough, it might work. The police would investigate the truth, and the court would allow Harold to defend himself… but would Zhang Jiandong’s people listen to Harold’s defense? No, they would kill Harold for revenge!

Zhong Yi Xu would go mad too.

His daughter, finally found after so long, without even having time to develop a father-daughter relationship, would be gone forever.

Heh.

— But this wasn’t the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing was that Harold also wanted Tina dead.