Half-Hearted: Mr. Sinclair, Stop the Act!-Chapter 85: He Didn’t Ask, But He Believed Her
By the time she got home, it was almost half-past nine.
She went upstairs to take a shower. When she came out of the bathroom, Caleb Sinclair had already warmed up the milk, but he stood at the door without stepping inside.
Since he was sent to the guest room, he had been quite well-behaved, always asking her permission before coming in to get something.
Sienna Monroe stepped forward to take the milk. "Thank you, it’s been a long day. Get some rest."
Having said that, she closed the door.
Caleb Sinclair looked at the closed door, the words of self-pity and plaintiveness stuck in his throat. He couldn’t say them or swallow them.
After all these years with Sienna Monroe, it was the first time he found her difficult to appease.
Previously, when she threw a tantrum, she would be appeased within two days at most.
He couldn’t quite understand it, yet he dared not say much, fearing she would get angry again.
He stood there for a few minutes before finally sighing and turning back to the guest room.
Sienna Monroe listened as the footsteps outside gradually faded away. After completing her simple skincare routine, she walked to the edge of the bed and dialed Sebastian Prescott’s number.
But the phone rang for a full half-minute without being answered. She hung up and called again. After a while, a man’s deep and somewhat hoarse voice came through the receiver.
"Mm?"
Sienna paused, feeling as if her ear was slightly singed by a small flame, and a faint tingling sensation swept over her heart.
Instinctively, she moved the phone away from her ear and politely asked, "Were you resting?"
On the other end, Sebastian Prescott had just come out of the shower and was casually toweling off his wet hair, a rare touch of laziness in his usually cool tone.
"No, what’s the matter?"
Sienna asked, "Are you in Zanford City?"
Sebastian’s brow furrowed slightly.
He had been in Zanford City for three or four days, and only Hannah Nash knew about this trip.
How did Sienna know?
Could it be that Hannah told her?
He responded lightly, "Mm. I’m in Zanford City."
Upon hearing this, Sienna did not beat around the bush and directly said, "Are you there to investigate the case of The Albatross freight ship running aground? You’re planning to go on board tomorrow."
A flicker of surprise crossed Sebastian’s usually calm and indifferent eyes.
This couldn’t have been something Hannah told her.
The decision to go on board tomorrow was a last-minute one he had made today.
After hesitating for about two or three seconds, he asked, "Why?"
"Don’t go! Tomorrow Miles Lockwood will try to find a way to push you into the sea."
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Miles Lockwood? 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Two days ago, he had indeed run into Miles Lockwood at the dock. It was Miles who recognized him first and invited him to dinner.
However, after that meal, he distinctly felt someone secretly watching him and tracking him nearby.
He also guessed it was someone Miles had sent.
But he couldn’t fathom why Miles was stalking him or what made Miles disregard the current attention and want to kill him.
"Miles Lockwood hid 10 kilograms of drugs in the fruit on that ship."
As he was pondering this, the calm and clear voice in the receiver answered his doubt.
His pupils dilated in shock, "What? 10 kilograms of drugs?"
"Yes! He’s probably afraid you’ll uncover it."
In Celestia, even a few dozen grams of drugs would lead to a death sentence.
With ten kilograms, not even ten lives would suffice.
No wonder Miles Lockwood would act so hastily.
Yet, come to think of it,
the sea was the best place to act. Just an excuse of a slip, and without witnesses, no surveillance, and no traces, it would end with no chance of verifying the circumstances.
Otherwise, once he returned to the Imperial City, it would be hard for Miles Lockwood to act.
Sebastian’s expression turned grim and heavy, his voice slightly lowered, "Understood. Thank you."
Sienna was taken aback.
Sebastian didn’t ask how she knew.
Even if he had asked, she couldn’t explain it.
It was just as well that he didn’t ask but believed her.
After hanging up, the formerly restless heart suddenly calmed down.
She slept peacefully without dreams that night.
The next afternoon, while she was discussing the joint exhibition plan with Audrey and Faye Irving, she received a message from Sebastian: "Back in the Imperial City."
Sienna just glanced at it, turned off the screen, and continued discussing the core theme design concept of this joint exhibition with them.
*
The snow in the Imperial City lasted for two days before stopping, but the skies remained overcast and gloomy.
Around half-past nine on the 23rd, just after arriving at the art gallery, Sienna received a notification on her phone about the backup recording from the listening device being uploaded to the app—six recordings in the span of an hour.
Each recording lasted ten minutes.
She opened them one by one. Besides June Ewing’s voice, there were also two unfamiliar middle-aged women’s voices.
But from their pleasantries, it could be discerned that these two were the shareholders of the underground industry, Mrs. Vaughn and Mrs. Landor.
Afterward, they talked about profits and dividends.
Each amount was enough to startle Sienna.
The socialite training class had a slightly longer cycle, involving training, and then getting close to targets, all requiring a substantial amount of time.
Take Cecilia York’s strategy with Harrison Hayes, for example. After half a month, she had only added him on WeChat and exchanged a few words, with Harrison not fully taking the bait.
The underground industry’s main source of income over the past half year was the male model industry.
More than a dozen male models were divided into two tiers, each with different rates, but the lowest was five figures per night.
For those wealthy women, this was just pocket change.
Sienna listened to every word, her expression far from pleasant. After saving all the recordings, she deleted the backups from the app.
Ding!
A text message popped up at the top of her phone.
[After 3 PM, a cleaner will be arranged to clean June Ewing’s office. June Ewing has taken out that evaluation document from the cabinet and placed it in the first drawer on the right side of the desk.]
Sienna frowned as she read the message content.
Cleaning?
June Ewing’s office is usually cleaned twice a week by designated cleaning personnel.
She used to think it was because June Ewing was cautious, after all, there are quite a few important internal documents related to Radiance Beauty Spa in the office.
Thinking about it now, she wasn’t wrong.
Considering that underground operation, June Ewing had no choice but to be cautious.
If the room is to be cleaned, the flower stand where the potted plants are might be moved. Even though it’s not easily noticeable, what if the cleaners lift the stand?
The recording has already been obtained; it’s better to remove that bug.
After thinking it over, she picked up her phone and bag and walked to the door. Just as she opened the door, she saw Vivian Nash about to knock.
Vivian was holding two insulated delivery bags and two drinks.
Vivian’s hand, suspended in mid-air, froze. "Sienna, are you heading out?"
Sienna Monroe gave her a sidelong glance, "What’s this?"
Vivian Nash smiled, "Isn’t it already 11:30? I ordered takeout and some dumplings from the back street that I found quite nice before. See if you can get used to it, give it a taste."
Sienna eyed the items in her hand, pursed her lips slightly.
Since that fruit tea incident, Vivian had intermittently delivered food to her numerous times, but she never ate it. Most of it was rejected, and the ones that weren’t were thrown away.
She let out a light chuckle, "Sorry, I have an appointment for lunch."
With that, she closed the office door, bypassed her, and headed straight for the elevator.
Vivian opened her mouth, looking at her back, a trace of malice and unwillingness flitted across her eyes, and her hand clenching the bag grew tighter.
Sienna didn’t want her things, so she couldn’t even lay the groundwork for her plan. How was she going to administer the rest of the drug?
She gritted her teeth, angry enough to want to throw the food in her hand. At that moment, the assistant’s door opened, and Nora Joyce came out. Vivian quickly masked her hatred and ferocity.
She forced a smile, "Nora, want to have lunch together?"
Nora gave her a glance and said coolly, "No, thank you."
When Sienna arrived at the beauty salon, she happened to encounter June Ewing coming out of the elevator with two other wealthy women.
June was momentarily surprised to see her.
Sienna had been frequenting Radiance Beauty Spa a bit too often these days.
June masked her thoughts, smiled, and waved, "Sienna, you came at the right time. We were just about to head to lunch."
Saying that, she introduced the two wealthy women beside her to Sienna.
Sienna was then able to match faces to Mrs. Vaughn and Mrs. Landor.
Both were well-maintained, with faces showing little trace of the ravages of time.
Clearly, they were top beauties in their younger years.
After all, if they weren’t that beautiful, they wouldn’t have risen so easily.
After exchanging greetings, Sienna joined June and the others for a meal at a restaurant.
While conversing, she gained a superficial impression of these two women.
Their temperament was somewhat similar to June’s—soft-spoken, with gentle eyes, gracious and dignified in demeanor.
The conversation was enjoyable, and after lunch, Sienna returned to the beauty salon with June.
Back in the office, Sienna instinctively glanced at the flower stand, and seeing no sign of it being moved, she naturally looked away.
June handed her a cup of juice and smiled, asking, "What brings you here today?"
"I was hoping to have lunch with you."
"Oh?" June looked at her askance, "Lunch with me, specifically?"
Sienna knew she wasn’t so easy to deceive. She thought for a moment and lowered her gaze, "I... I just feel like Caleb’s been acting a bit off lately."
June was taken aback, somewhat surprised, "Off? In what way?"
"I can’t pinpoint it, it’s just an intuition, I feel uneasy..."
"Afraid Caleb has someone else outside?"
Sienna pursed her lips and said nothing.
June chuckled, confidently declaring, "Impossible! Caleb is utterly devoted to you; why would he have someone else? Maybe it’s just the pregnancy making you overthink?"
"If you’re really worried, I’ll test him a bit later."
Utterly devoted, huh?
Sienna internally smirked sarcastically, but outwardly, she obediently nodded.
They hadn’t talked long before Clara Shaw came over to say that the few ladies they had appointments with had arrived.
These ladies had originally planned to cancel their memberships but were retained by her efforts.
June put down her teacup, stood up, and said, "I’ll head over now. Sienna, you sit here for a bit..."
"Mom, go ahead with your work, don’t mind me. Your words just now made me feel better, and after finishing this juice, I’ll head back to the art gallery."
June smiled, "Whenever you feel uneasy, just come over to me."
With that, she left the office.
The large office suddenly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Sienna slowly sipped her juice. A few minutes later, she put down the cup, stood up, and quickly took down the bug from under the shelf. She then walked to the desk and opened the top right drawer.
She immediately saw the folder labeled "Employee Regulations."
The first page she turned to was Harrison Hayes’s profile and assessment form, two sheets stapled together.
The profile detailed his height, birthday, interests, family situation, and past girlfriends’ characteristics.
It was incredibly detailed.
As for the assessment form, there were 16 criteria relating to his economic capacity, personality, and so on. Achieving 12 points made one a viable Three Stars target, with 12 to 15 being Four Stars, and 16 being Five Stars.
Just so happens Harrison was a Five Stars.
The person tasked with targeting him was named Cecilia York.
She flipped through a few more pages, recognizing several familiar names, with identical assessments but varying criteria achieved by each person.
The profiles mostly belonged to gentlemen from Imperial City and Meridia.
There were as many as 47 targeting profiles.
At the bottom were profiles on wealthy women within high society, totaling 24, which also detailed their interests, preferred type of men, and family situations.
After a rough scan, Sienna felt her heart pounding.
June Ewing had astonishingly thorough insights into the elite circles.
Without mulling over it, she quickly snapped photos as evidence and, before closing the folder, deliberately recorded a video flipping through the pages.
In about half a minute, she ensured the video captured the text clearly.
After putting it back, she downed the remaining juice in one go and left without lingering, exiting the office and smoothly leaving the beauty salon via the elevator.
Once in the car, her phone suddenly chimed with a notification.
Ding!
[Cecilia York will discover Vivian Nash and Caleb Sinclair’s affair tomorrow.]
