Josie closed the computer, not wanting to listen anymore. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed by a feeling of disgust, as if she had been tossed aside and forgotten in a corner.
Bright and early the next day, Mallory arrived on time. She handed over the documents that had gotten wet, saying, “It took quite a bit of effort, but as always, I didn’t look.”
Josie smiled. “Thank you, I trust you.”
After collecting the materials, she returned home, ready to start reading. Just then, she suddenly received a call from Mallory. She furrowed her brows in confusion. “What’s wrong? Is there anything else?”
There was a moment of silence, then a man’s voice came through. “Come over here yourself.”
Josie’s scalp tingled fiercely. Arnold! She pulled out her phone and rechecked the phone number, confirming it was indeed Mallory’s. She took a deep breath. “Are you insane? She’s Calvin’s woman! How dare you touch her!”
Arnold’s voice was very calm. “I’m not afraid of Dexter, so why would I be afraid of Calvin?
Come over here, I don’t want to repeat myself.”
When the call ended, her phone slipped onto the floor. Josie understood what Arnold meant, which was that Dexter wouldn’t know about it.
She opened the documents sent by Mallory only to find that they were all blank papers. Mallory had taken risks for Josie several times, so the latter couldn’t possibly abandon the former. Gritting her teeth, she called Calvin, who answered in surprise, “Josie?”
Josie said, “Listen to me, Mallory is missing. She is now-”
“We broke up two months ago.” His words instantly extinguished all of Josie’s hope. As such, Josie went to the same private room in Sky Palace as last time when Summer was there. Scar opened the door and was surprised to see Josie, who had come alone. He exclaimed, “It’s really you, Mrs. Carter.”
Arnold sat in the seat of honor, a woman nestled in his arms. He toyed with a lighter in his hand, expressionlessly and indifferently. A row of liquor bottles adorned the table.
Andy stepped forward and said, “Dexter has an engagement today on a ship. That ship will sail toward the open sea tonight, and there should be people on board who are under his command.”
Arnold flicked on the lighter. “Have we found out who it is yet?”
“Not yet. He’s very cautious,” Andy glanced at Josie. “However, what’s certain is that he won’t be back tonight.”
Josie stood by the door, her face rapidly turning pale. It seemed like Arnold was gearing up for a reckoning. There was someone in the room. They pushed Josie forward, causing her to kneel before Arnold. “My apologies, Mrs. Carter.”
Josie’s knee hit the ground, causing a sharp pain. She looked up. “Arnold, if you have any issues, take them out on me, not Mallory. She’s innocent.”
“Seeing that you’re working with Dexter to scheme against me, indeed, it’s you I should be punishing.” He raised an eyebrow, lifting her chin with his lighter. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in this pitiful state.”
Most of the time after the incident, she was quite arrogant.
Yet, Josie was still humiliated by him.
“Do you like drinking? Louis XIII, right?” Arnold still remembered the medicinal taste of the liquor. “Drink all of these on the table, and I’ll let Mallory go.”
The bottle caps of the alcohol on the table had already been removed. Josie’s throat was sore. “I can’t drink this much.”
Hearing those words, the woman nestled in Arnold’s arms laughed. She was dressed simply, her laugh charming. She said, “This is the first time I’ve seen someone ask for help with such a lack of sincerity.”
Arnold also laughed, toying with the woman’s hair. “You think so too, huh?”
The woman poured a glass of wine and brought it to Arnold’s lips. “If she doesn’t cherish the opportunity, we’ll just throw Mallory into the sea.”
