In the end, Callum suddenly frowned with a look of hurt in his eyes. “Honey, he bullied me first.”
Elspeth was deeply shocked. Is Callum playing coy with me?
Even Frank and Spencer standing nearby never expected Callum’s reaction. Instead, they were so shocked that their jaws were agape.
A 1.9-meter-tall stern-looking man acting spoiled certainly looks pretty ridiculous. Wait a minute… ‘Honey’?
Elspeth curled her finger and unceremoniously flicked him on the forehead. “We’re not married. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“It’s only a matter of time.”
The corner of Callum’s mouth quirked into a triumphant grin. He had plenty of techniques to deal with her.
Spencer couldn’t stand the sight of them being so intimate with each other. A look of inexplicable sadness entered his eyes as he stood up. “I’m afraid something came up. I’ll be leaving first.”
After he said that, he left without another word.
Similarly, Callum and Elspeth had other matters that needed their attention and left quickly so that they did not disturb Frank’s rest.
Frank watched them leave with a smile on his face. However, the moment they left, the smile slid off his face, and he made a phone call. “Come back. I know you’re still here.”
After some time, Spencer entered the hospital ward with the smell of cigarettes lingering wafting from his body. There was a slight red tinge at the corner of his eyes. “How did you know I was still here?”
“Pfft.” Frank snorted and pointed out in amusement. “Do you think I don’t know you well? When you looked at Elspeth, your eyes were practically falling out of their sockets. If I couldn’t figure out what you were thinking, then all the years we’ve been best friends would have been a waste.”
“But Elspeth has a boyfriend now. They also looked well-matched together. My feelings for her are nothing when they’re happy together.”
Spencer laughed bitterly and sighed in dejection. He never once thought of fighting Callum for Elspeth. Yet, the sight of them standing in front of him as a couple was agonizing to him.
Rather than saying that it was a painful sight, he might as well admit that he was jealous.
“I should be supporting you in your pursuit for happiness, but Elspeth… She is somebody who will stick to something forever once she decides on it. Nobody can change her mind.” Frank regarded Spencer carefully and continued, “Besides, Grandpa has already chosen the most suitable candidate to introduce to her. I’m afraid Callum will encounter many hardships in the future.”
Spencer shook his head. “Don’t worry. I know it’s impossible. I will slowly let go of my feelings.”
Frank bumped Spencer in the arm. “Do you want a drink?”
Spencer burst into laughter and agreed. He knew that Frank only suggested this to cheer him up. “Yes!”
Meanwhile, Callum followed Elspeth out of the hospital ward. As soon as he got into the car, his expression became stony. He was not willing to say another word to her.
“Why are you mad?”
Elspeth could not understand the reason for his sudden tantrum. He had been acting weird ever since they entered into a relationship together. His moods would always fluctuate greatly, constantly leaving her in confusion.
“He likes you.”
The expression on her face seemed to say, ‘You have to be kidding me’, and the corners of her lips twitched in amusement. “Callum, have you been bewitched? He is my brother, who is related to me by blood.”
Callum pursed his lips. “I was talking about the other one.”
“In that case, it’s even more impossible. He has a childhood sweetheart. He will never have feelings for me.”
He studied her indifferent attitude and scowled angrily. “My intuition is never wrong.”
His eyes had practically turned bloodshot when we were together. Not even a ghost would believe that if he claimed he did not have feelings for her.
“Okay. Fine. Even if he does have feelings for me… Of course, that situation will never happen. In any case, the two of us can’t be in a relationship.” She really wanted to pry open his head to see what was rolling around in his brain. “We’ve been together for a year now, Callum. You should believe in my feelings for you.”
Finally, she inhaled deeply before she continued seriously, “Also, please believe that I love you.”
They were standing very close to each other. Callum stared at Elspeth’s face and pondered for a long time before he finally spoke up slowly, “Your concealer is too thick.”
A long silence stretched out between them.
She was so furious that she huffed, “Don’t make me slap you when I’m trying to flirt with you.”
He nodded and stopped teasing her. “Then, shall we head out to investigate Alphascape’s tax evasion issue?”
“Of course. I’ve already asked Harper to contact his friend in the tax bureau to check Alphascape’s financial accounts. As long as we can find Alphascape’s real financial statements, then we will have enough evidence to prove that Alphascape has been evading their taxes.”
The plan was simplistic in nature, but it was challenging for them to actually get their hands on Alphascape’s financial statements.
“Alphascape is an old stick-in-the-mud. There are ninety-nine protection barriers around their financial information. I can’t even break into their internal system.”
There were too many layers of firewalls around their system. Even if she were an excellent hacker, it would take a long time for her to break those codes.
He rubbed his chin and mused, “That leaves only one solution.”
The two exchanged a look and instantly understood each other’s intentions.
Several minutes later, Callum’s car parked under the building of the Alphascape Group.
“We have two choices. Our first choice is to sneak into Alphascape’s financial department and search for their accounts. But that is too risky.” Elspeth considered their options and suggested, “The other choice is to meet with Alphascape’s financial director. I’m certain he is involved in the fraudulent accounting.”
Callum turned on his laptop and pulled up the personal information on Alphascape’s financial director.
“Zain Black. A thirty-eight-year-old man with two children, a boy and a girl. He likes gambling and drinking. His wife is domineering, so he keeps two mistresses on the side.”
After she heard the brief introduction, she blinked her eyes in shock. “Two mistresses? That’s too…”
“These are just the official data statistics. He likely has even messier relations other than these two.”
She breathed a curse under her breath that sounded something like ‘Scumbag’ and began looking into his personal information. When she saw his bald head, she couldn’t hold back a sense of disgust. “Such a man would never even find himself a wife if he didn’t have some money.”
He couldn’t help laughing when he saw the expression of righteous indignation. “What are you planning to do? Do you have a plan?”
She smiled. “I’ll prepare for… a seduction plan.”
As soon as he heard that she planned to use herself as bait, his expression immediately turned frigid. “No. There’s no way I will allow it.”
If that sleazy old man tried to do something to Elspeth, then I won’t be able to stop myself from chopping off his arms.
“Then, tell me. Do you have any better ideas?”
“Find his weakness, threaten him, and force him to hand over the financial statements.”
That was indeed his usual method.
Nevertheless, she noticed something deeper happening beneath the surface. “First of all, everything he has done so far is still within the confines of the law. There is nothing we can use to blackmail him. As long as he refuses to admit his wrongdoings, you will never find anything to threaten him.”
He coldly said, “If he doesn’t admit his wrongdoings, then he can die.”
“We won’t be able to find the evidence once he’s dead. Callum, I know you mean well. But we need to find the evidence on the Alphascape Group, or we will never be able to defeat them.”
Her words were full of sincerity and reason. Hence, he had no choice but to nod in reluctant agreement.
“Don’t let him touch you, or I will kill him.”
“Got it.”
Their next step was to wait for Zain to come out of his office.
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