Chapter 117 Can Money Resolve Everything?
The 1.83-meter young man walked toward them from the other end of the hallway; his young immature face adopted an inexplicably steady aura of a middle-aged man, causing the crowd to automatically give way to him.
Courtney was momentarily stunned before returning to her senses. She then stopped him and asked in a small voice, “Why are you here?”
Oliver cast a glance to comfort her before patting the back of her hand. “I’m here to watch the show of a culprit accusing the innocent of a sin that was committed by herself—I wonder why you insisted on accusing a young lady of stealing. Miss Clark, if this incident is exposed to the media, I think the entertainment industry will no longer welcome you in the future.”
Brenda’s face paled. “What nonsense are you spewing? Where do you come from? Don’t you guys have anyone else in the Sunhill Hotel?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that Miss Clark, you claimed that Penelope stole your necklace, but what is your basis for making such an adamant accusation?”
“The security footage showed that she was the only person who entered my room at 10.00PM last night.”
“Weren’t you there when Penelope entered your room?”
Upon hearing that, everyone looked at one another in shock. Ever since the filming crew checked in, it was widely known that the actors had a habit of having a meeting to discuss the script at around 10.00PM. The actors’ rooms were mostly empty at that time, so when the security cameras caught Penelope entering the room and exiting it in panic, it aroused their suspicion.
“What do you mean? I returned to my room at 11.00PM.” Brenda’s expression suddenly changed and she scolded, “You should come up with a smarter excuse if you wish to protect her.”
“A better excuse?” Oliver scoffed as his handsome face filled with disdain. “Miss Clark, this is exactly what I want to tell you—if you want to hook up with a man, you should have found a smarter way. Don’t think that you can hide it from everyone by taking advantage of the shared balcony that connects both rooms and taking a preemptive move to stop the witness of your deeds from exposing your doings.”
Upon hearing his words, everyone at the scene was stunned. Brenda and a man?
As if something dawned on Courtney, she instantly came to her senses and made a sudden realization. Britney and Brenda had argued with each other before the alleged theft, which Courtney had overheard when she passed by the room. Britney seemed to be reprimanding Brenda for not being professional as the latter disappeared when they all had a meeting to discuss the script.
Upon hearing Oliver’s words, she suddenly understood the situation. Brenda’s disappearance was merely because she took advantage of the fact that some of the rooms in the floor occupied by the filming crew had balconies that connected the neighboring rooms. She then sneaked out when the others were discussing the script. As for the reason why she did so, it was pretty obvious by now.
Her face paled as she nervously refuted, “What nonsense did you just say? You have to take responsibility for saying this kind of thing. Be careful because I may sue you for defamation.”
“Suing me for defamation is not exactly an urgent matter now. I happened to be free earlier, so I casually asked some of the crew members about your whereabouts at that time. Coincidentally, during the period that you claimed that your necklace went missing, you were not discussing the script with the other actors in the director’s room. What was more coincidental was that the producer was absent too.”
Upon hearing the word ‘producer’, the discussion among the crowd became even louder and more looks of dismay landed on Brenda—they were filled with contemptuousness and disgust. The film producer was a renowned professional actor, who retired to work behind the scenes a few years ago. As he had long been married, that revelation made Brenda a mistress.
“Y-You should shut up!” Brenda’s face paled with a dark expression.
The corners of Oliver’s lips curved upward. “There are more coincidences—the hotel’s system database showed that the water of your bathtub in the bathroom of your room was left flowing at 9.00PM.”
More evidence was revealed—and it was more solid and concrete than the one given by Brenda to support her unfounded one-sided accusation that Penelope had stolen her necklace. There were even people who secretly took videos of the situation. Courtney glanced at the hotel employees who were watching the commotion and frowned. “Keep your phones away. Stop taking videos.”
The crowd felt a little embarrassed and kept their phones away before they dispersed.
Courtney then turned to Brenda, who had lost all of the confidence she had earlier, and asked, “Miss Clark, can we have a word in private now?”
Brenda gritted her teeth; she nodded and agreed, even though she was reluctant to do so.
“I won’t be joining you guys, then. Everything has been resolved, right?” Oliver returned to his innocent facade. His childish, immature features gave off a vibe of a young teenage boy, making it difficult for people to associate him with the logical, meticulous, and solemn look he had earlier—it was as if they were completely different people.
Although Courtney was a little puzzled, she nodded without asking further since she had to deal with Brenda’s matter now. “Okay, you don’t have to come. Thank you for this.”
“You are welcome. It’s just a small matter. Go ahead with your matters. I will explain the situation to Penelope later.”
“Okay.”
After Courtney left, it was only Oliver and the remaining hotel employees left in the hallway. Most of them were waiters and some receptionists who were quite close with Penelope. Upon seeing that Courtney had left, they joyfully approached him. “You are amazing. How did you manage to find out about those things?”
“Brenda’s expression fell earlier. I have long noticed that she had been having suspicious eye-contacts with the film producer, but you were actually able to think of this. You are simply brilliant!”
The couple of girls who stayed behind were all young—their eyes were filled with admiration, treating the young boy who was 18 to 19 years old as a god in deduction and continued to praise him.
Meanwhile, at the end of the hallway, a slender figure stood still at the corner for a long time and thoughtfully stared at the young boy. A shred of wariness appeared in his calm cold eyes…
The matter was much easier to deal with after that. Courtney had a frank and open conversation with Brenda while explaining the whole situation—the incident today was indeed the latter’s self-orchestrated farce.
Penelope happened to run into Brenda when the latter was in the midst of hooking up with the producer in the bathroom. As Brenda was afraid that the matter would be exposed, she framed Penelope for stealing her necklace—on one hand, she could take advantage of the situation and force her out of the hotel. On the other hand, if Penelope exposed the matter in the future, Brenda could claim that the accusation was merely a revenge tactic on her.
After understanding the whole situation, Courtney felt cold in her heart. “Miss Clark, did you realize that your wild accusation nearly caused someone to take their own life?”
Brenda seemed embarrassed, but she put up a strong front. “I never thought that she would really attempt to jump from the building. Since things have come to this stage, I… Go ahead and name your price and I will accept whatever figure as long as the hotel can keep your employees’ mouths shut.”
Courtney was pissed by her words. “Do you really think that money is able to resolve everything?”
Brenda was also maddened. “What should I do, then? I said that I will pay, so what else do you want? Anyway, if footage of this incident is uploaded online, it will be the hotel’s responsibility. I will definitely file a lawsuit for the loss that it will cause me.”
Upon seeing her attitude that did not have any sense of remorse, Courtney clenched her fist, took a deep breath, and raised her head to look at Brenda’s eyes before she scoffed, “I’m afraid that if this incident is uploaded online, you will be busy dealing with the reporters’ inquiries and handling the producer’s wife. I don’t think that you will have the time to sue us.”
Brenda’s face immediately paled.
