Chapter 598
“This is impossible. It’s absolutely impossible,” Charlotte exclaimed, her eyes blazing with frustration. “There were clearly problems just a moment ago. Why are there no issues now?”
“Enough,” Orion said coldly, cutting her off. “This department is not here to settle your personal grudges. We’ve already wasted too much time on this because of you. Are you going to keep wasting our time? If you persist, Herbathrive has grounds to sue you.”
“No…” Charlotte felt an intense sense of injustice, her eyes turning red with anger as she glared at Melody.
‘Bitch, she cursed inwardly.
She had hoped to see this hideous woman panic and beg for mercy, but now she was powerless to affect her, which drove her to the brink of madness.
She wanted revenge for what happened to the drainage ditch.
Elton’s expression was equally dark.
But his concern wasn’t about revenge.
The minor issue of failing to find evidence against Herbathrive was nothing compared to the major problem of being unable to secure an internship there.
Given the commotion they had caused today, no other hospital would accept them.
Moreover, Herbathrive was the only hospital recognized by the school, leaving them without their last opportunity for an internship.
At this point, he could only hope that the Wallrich family’s two stubborn old-timers wouldn’t be so ruthless as to deny Charlotte her graduation if she couldn’t complete the internship.
Just then, the staff Orion had sent to check the accounts returned.
He didn’t notice the tense expressions on Charlotte and the others’ faces and reported straightforwardly, “Mr. Riley, there are no records of herbs for this storage room in the accounts. All the herbs sold at Herbathrive are kept in their main hall’s herb storage and counters.
“Additionally, I inquired around the area, and some residents are familiar with this storage room. They say it contains many valuable herbs from Mr. Herbert’s personal collection. Therefore, based on the evidence, it appears that the herbs in this storage room indeed belong to Mr. Herbert personally.”
The fact that no problems were found with the storage room made whether it was private or not irrelevant.
However, this investigation result was a major blow to Rowan.
Orion’s face grew even darker as he realized how blind he had been to Rowan’s true nature.
He gritted his teeth, staring at Rowan with frustration and disappointment. “What do you have to say for me now?” Rowan’s lips trembled. “Mr. Riley, please let me explain. I genuinely didn’t know it was a private storage room. I really thought it was Herbathrive’s herb storage.”
Orion sneered. “So, in your ignorance, you barged into someone’s private storage and forcibly detained their staff?”
“I…” Rowan’s throat tightened, and he was at a loss for words.
Melody turned to glance at the bruises on David’s face and spoke calmly, “Mr. Riley, I assume you wouldn’t mind if I called the police to report this break-in and the disturbance caused?”
Orion, though aware that such actions might tarnish the Medicines Control Agency’s public image, was known for his integrity and did not hesitate. “I wouldn’t mind. Feel free to call the police.”
“No…” Rowan’s knees buckled, and he fell to the floor, grabbing Orion’s pant leg. “Mr. Riley, you can’t let her call the police. If the police get involved, I’m finished. The reputation of the Medicines Control Agency will be ruined.
Even if you don’t care about me, you should think about the agency’s reputation.”
Rowan’s two loyal subordinates immediately began pleading. “Mr. Riley, please spare us. We’ll never do this again.”
Orion remained expressionless. “If I continue to cover for you, it will be a real disgrace to the Medicines Control Agency.”
Melody looked at the other anxious staff members of the Medicines Control Agency and said loudly, “I understand many of you were pressured into this, and those who didn’t cause damage to the storage room’s herbs can be forgiven by Herbathrive. You just need to compensate for the loss of customer flow today.”
At these words, everyone visibly relaxed.
Rowan’s two die-hard subordinates, after a moment of hesitation, quickly began distancing themselves from him. “Mr. Riley, we were also forced into this. Please show mercy and let us go.”
“Yeah, Rowan has always threatened us into doing things. If we refused, he’d make our lives miserable, constantly berating and mistreating us.”
The two subordinates continued to shift the blame, eventually spilling all the dirty deeds Rowan had forced them to do.
When they revealed the amount of dirty money Rowan had accepted, many people gasped in shock.
They had always known he took bribes, but they never imagined it was this much.
“Not only that, we know he doesn’t keep the money for himself. He stashes it all at his mistress’s place,” someone added.
“Shut up!” Rowan, panicking, lunged to strangle the man who had spoken, but Melody swiftly kicked him, sending him flying.
“This is what you call acting in self-defense, not an attack on you,” Melody said with a smirk.
“You…” Rowan, wincing in pain, struggled to his feet, about to curse Melody when Orion’s voice suddenly boomed, filled with anger. “Enough!”
Rowan trembled, terror filling his eyes as he looked at Orion. “N-no, Mr. Riley, please, let me explain…”
“Explain? More like making excuses,” Orion responded coldly. “I will immediately file a report on your actions to our superiors. As for your two subordinates, the higher-ups will decide how to deal with you.”
“The superiors…”
That meant all the money he had painstakingly amassed over the years would be confiscated.
God knows, without Orion’s discovery, he hadn’t even spent much of it; he’d always dressed modestly and lived frugally. ‘I’ve never even gotten to enjoy it, and now it’s all going to be taken away?’ he wondered.
Suddenly, Rowan’s gaze snapped to Charlotte, his eyes bloodshot with murderous intent.
Charlotte flinched, instinctively hiding behind Elton. “Mr. Turner, you can’t blame me! You agreed to take my money. Besides, this is the first time I’ve asked you to do anything; everything before this has nothing to do with me…”
But her words only poured fuel on the fire in Rowan’s chest.
He lost all reason, charging at Charlotte like a madman.” Bitch, die!”
If he was going down, he was going to take someone with him.
His career was in ruins, his money would be seized, and his wife would divorce him once she learned the truth.
Everything in his life had been destroyed because of Charlotte.
Rowan moved so quickly that even Elton, standing in front of Charlotte, didn’t react in time.
Of course, that level of speed was nothing to Melody, but she remained rooted to the spot, showing no intention of intervening.
She had no obligation to help them. She had only stopped Rowan earlier because she needed those two subordinates to testify against him.
But as for Charlotte, there was no reason to stop her.
What Charlotte was about to face was a consequence of her own actions.