Rachel paused for a moment. “The wedding is on the 15th. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
Arnold’s enthusiasm plummeted as a result of the phone call. He pulled away from Josie, who quickly buttoned up her clothes.
“It’s already the 10th. Instead of preparing for your wedding, you’re here doing this. Do you have that much free time?”
Rachel was left speechless, perhaps due to a certain degree of apprehension she felt when facing Arnold.
“I just want to remind you not to let your personal feelings ruin our plan.”
As Rachel spoke, Arnold glanced at the flustered Josie, who was glaring back at him intently. He rose and walked to the window. “Before Dexter boarded the ship, did he tell you exactly what he planned to do?”
Rachel replied, “No, he doesn’t trust me much. He doesn’t tell me many things. All I know is that he boarded the ship to conduct business.”
“Business,” Arnold savored the word. “Quite a significant business to discuss in international waters.”
“International waters?” Rachel was surprised.
“He hasn’t left for international waters. He’s still in Wavery. He just called me, saying he’ll return in an hour.”
Upon hearing that, Arnold’s expression changed abruptly. “What did you say?”
“He… he didn’t go out to the open sea.”
Josie pressed her back against the wall and rapidly processed the complexities of the situation as her heart pounded.
After Arnold hung up the phone, he stared at her for a second before scoffing, “Your ex- husband, he’s full of tricks.”
With that, he roughly grabbed Josie’s arm and strode out. Josie wasn’t sure what was happening. She was taken downstairs, where Arnold had her cleaned up and changed into a new set of clothes. Then, she was escorted into a car.
The vehicle moved along the road for some time before it stopped on the side of the road. Soon, a person from another car got in and reported cautiously, “Mr. Carter, the batch of goods we were exporting has been intercepted by the police.”
Arnold, who had his eyes closed, abruptly opened them sharply. “Which police force intercepted it?”
“They are from another jurisdiction, not from Wavery.”
Arnold looked at him. “What about Dexter?”
“He… He never actually went out to the open sea. The person who boarded the ship was a stand-in…” His voice trailed off as he spoke, losing confidence. Then, he lowered his head, not daring to look at Arnold.
“He tricked us,” Arnold said as he sneered. Josie hugged her arms, listening intently to their conversation. She glanced at the scenery outside in the dark night. There was a mist, and they had arrived at the seaside.
At the dock, the vehicle stopped, and Arnold closed his eyes to rest. Ten minutes later, another car arrived.
The car door swung open, and two people escorted a woman out. She was older but well- maintained. Josie frowned as she recognized the struggling face of the woman.
It was Xanthe.
“Arnold! What are you doing!” Xanthe’s hands were tied behind her back as she hysterically shouted at him.
“Ms. Quorn, I’ve helped you so many times. It’s your turn to help me now,” Arnold said coldly. Josie clenched her fist, recalling that Justin had discovered Arnold had always been assisting in Xanthe’s business. Indeed, there was some connection between those two.
“What are you up to…” Xanthe’s hair fluttered in the wind, her well-maintained face faintly showing signs of aging.
“Your son has leverage over me, so naturally, I need to take you, his mother, as my bargaining chip. What do you say?”
At this point, Arnold simply stopped pretending. Josie speculated that the batch of goods that was intercepted must have reached a level of notoriety. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken this step.
“You’re insane! You know how Dexter treats me. He would never give up for my sake!” Xanthe was very self-aware.
