Chapter 544
The moment James received the call records, he wasted no time. He forwarded them directly to Ken’s email without glancing at them.
At that moment, Ken was waiting in his car for Melody to bring Owen over.
As soon as he saw the email from James, Ken’s brows furrowed, and he opened it. The second his eyes landed on the string of numbers in the call records, his expression darkened, and the temperature inside the car seemed to plummet.
He found it unbelievable.
His eyes revealed intense rage, like a tornado that swept away the last shred of trust he had left for Janet.
Just then, the car door suddenly swung open.
Ken turned his cold gaze to see who it was and found himself staring into a pair of clear eyes. It was Melody’s eyes.
Ken lowered his gaze, and when he looked back at Melody, the coldness in his eyes had completely vanished.
“You’re here?” His tone was as calm as ever, showing no sign of what he had just learned.
However, Melody had already remembered his gaze just now.
In all the time she had known Ken, she had never seen him look like that. Not even when dealing with Ulric, or when they first met.
His gaze was piercing and extremely intimidating, sending a chill down her spine.
Ignoring Ken’s words, Melody frowned and asked, “What happened?”
Ken smiled slightly. “What do you mean?”
“You just-” Melody started to press him for answers when Owen’s cough interrupted her. She remembered the matter at hand and said, “I’ve brought Mr. Nathan. You two talk, I’ll head back to the Nathan family’s place to handle something.”
“Alright.” Ken nodded, his gaze shifting to Owen, who stood behind Melody.
Owen’s nerves were nowhere near as steely as Melody’s. Even though Ken had reined in his intimidating aura, just one look from him made Owen’s heart tighten with fear. Instinctively, he avoided meeting Ken’s eyes.
Without emotion, Ken reminded him, “Mr. Nathan, do you want everyone to know you’ve reconnected with me?”
Startled back to his senses, Owen quickly bowed his head and climbed into the car, ignoring the powerful presence beside him.
As soon as the door closed, Ken’s deep voice broke the silence. “Let’s go.”
“Go… go…?” Owen stammered, mustering the courage to ask, “Where are we going?”
Ken glanced at him with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “To the Swanson Group headquarters, of course, where you’ll explain those falsified accounts and the dirty deals you made with Ulric.”
“Wha-what? Right now? Mr. Swanson, there must be some mistake! We haven’t even started negotiations yet… I-I haven’t agreed to anything!”
“Oh? So you’re choosing your career over your daughter’s life. That’s fine, too. Stop the car…”
“Wait!” Owen was on edge. “Mr. Swanson! Please, listen to me. I don’t want to sacrifice my daughter. She’s my most precious thing. I just haven’t had time to prepare myself!”
Ken chuckled coldly, though his eyes remained hard. “I’m not asking you to spin a story, just to tell the truth. There’s no preparation needed. All you have to do is be honest about what you’ve done and what you know.”
“N-no… Mr. Swanson, I’m really not ready yet. This is too sudden! You can’t just drag me to meet the chairman without giving me a moment to collect myself!”
“Fine.” Ken nodded. “I’ll give you time to prepare your thoughts…”
Owen finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could fully exhale, he heard Ken instruct the driver, “Slow down a bit. Give Mr. Nathan more time to prepare.”
The driver obediently replied, “Yes.” The car indeed slowed down, but only by ten miles per hour.
Owen felt irritated. It was as if Ken was toying with him like an animal in a zoo, and he was the helpless creature being mocked.
The man known as the devil of Silverlake truly lived up to his reputation. And here he was, after betraying the devil, making deals with him again.
Regret washed over Owen, but there was no turning back now…
Ken’s ruthless efficiency caught Owen by surprise, and naturally, it shocked the rest of the Swanson family as well. It wasn’t until Ulric was wheeled into the Swanson Group headquarters by Ramon that he realized how dire the situation had become.
Meanwhile, after returning to the Nathan family’s place, Melody didn’t immediately seek out Shindy. Instead, she went to Pauline’s room to continue her investigation.
Her efforts soon paid off, revealing something that suddenly made a lot of sense to her.
“So that’s it…” Melody murmured, her eyes narrowing as she had a servant take her to the locked-up Pauline.
Pauline, already in a state of panic, began crying and pleading the moment she saw Melody. “Dr. Knowles, I swear, I didn’t know there was poison in that wine! If I had known, I wouldn’t have dared to harm Miss Nathan!”
Melody remained calm, pulling out a chair to sit down. “When did you start drinking?”
Pauline averted her eyes, replying nervously, “Drinking? I only started drinking a little every day after I got those barrels of wine.”
Melody sneered. “Still not telling the truth?”
“I-I am telling the truth! Miss Nathan never had that sleeping problem before I started drinking those wines!”
Seeing that Pauline was sticking to her story, Melody’s patience wore thin, and the smile vanished from her face. “You’re still lying? Take a look at this.”
As she spoke, Melody pulled out a small bottle from her pocket. The liquid inside was a pale white, sealed with a cork, seemingly ordinary but enough to drain the color from Pauline’s face.
Pauline asked, “H-how did you find that…?”
Melody shook the bottle gently, her expression indifferent. “When you first arrived here, you were already an alcoholic, gambling away your money and drowning in debt.”
She continued, “Seeing that Shindy was about to be weaned, you were about to lose your job. So you resorted to this, ensuring Shindy would remain dependent on you. And you succeeded. To this day, she still hasn’t been weaned. Your wicked deeds have gone unnoticed, until now!”
“You… you…” Pauline was so terrified that her pupils contracted, and she was unable to form a coherent sentence.
Melody smirked coldly. “You thought no one would ever find out? Shindy and the entire Nathan family have been deceived by you for years. How does your conscience handle that? I’m genuinely curious. Have you never felt guilty, never had a single nightmare?”
With the last barrier of her deceit torn down, Pauline’s expression shifted from terror to rage.
“Shut up! Shut up!” Completely unhinged, Pauline screamed and lunged at Melody in a fit of desperation.