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CHAPTER 35 The Complete Recording
Three days later, the small courtroom on the third floor of the district court was packed. Half the seats were filled with reporters wanting to see the continuation of the ballroom video.[Ding!] [Day 20 login successful.] [Reward: Master Level Investment Skill Proficiency +5%. Current proficiency: 5%.]Rendi closed the panel before Judge Whitfield entered. The judge was a woman in her sixties with reading glasses hanging on a silver chain.Evelyn sat on the petitioner's side in a simple beige dress, without any jewelry. Her hair was tied in a low bun, and her eyes looked puffy.'She intentionally dressed like a victim,' Rendi thought. 'Five years ago, I definitely would have believed it.'Nathaniel Price opened the hearing with a calm and measured voice. The lawyer played the same two video clips that Rendi had seen at the police station."Your Honor, in five days, the respondent appeared twice near my client," Price said. "My client did not invite him anywhere. My client only wants
CHAPTER 34 Stalking Report
Dinda refused to let Rendi go alone. The lawyer grabbed her bag, told Ayu to lock up the office, and then followed him down to the police car."Don't answer anything before I hear the question," Dinda whispered in the back seat. "One wrong sentence can be edited and used against you.""Like that video?""Exactly like that video."The Hakward central police station was busy that morning. The young officer who picked up Rendi escorted them to an interrogation room on the second floor.Rendi already knew the man waiting inside the room. It was the inspector who came to the Old Pier that night, with short graying hair and rolled-up shirt sleeves."Inspector Holt," the man said while pointing at two chairs. "We meet again, Mr. Martin. This time you are not the victim."Holt opened the file in front of him and turned his laptop screen toward Rendi and Dinda. On the screen, a fifteen-second video played repeatedly.The video was taken at Hale Antiques. Rendi stood two steps away from Evelyn,
CHAPTER 33 The Owl's Name
Rendi barely slept that night. His phone buzzed constantly until past midnight, and he finally turned it off after the battery dropped to ten percent.Upon waking, he touched the ring on his ring finger.[Ding!] [Day 17 login successful.] [Reward: 100 Points. Host Points: 1,900.]Rendi turned his phone back on. The video in the ballroom had already been watched three million times.The recording was taken from the next table. The image was a bit shaky, but everything was clearly visible, from Steven's laugh, Alex's job offer, to the wine glass tilting right at Rendi's chest.Rendi read some of the top comments. Most defended him, and many called Evelyn a cruel CEO.A message from Jerry came in at six in the morning, full of capital letters. The Martin Group's stock opened down four percent.Rendi stared at the number for a long time, then put his phone down on the mattress without a smile.'Four percent isn't just Evelyn's number,' he thought. 'There are thousands of employees whose s
CHAPTER 32: Valen Corp's Black Card
The sea breeze blew the hem of Clarissa's black dress. The woman did not move, and her eyes were still staring at the ballroom behind the glass door.Rendi placed the wet napkin on the stone railing. "Did you buy the painting because you are a Valcourt collector?""I bought the painting because the woman in the blue dress in it is my grandmother," Clarissa answered. "My mother came from the Ashby family. That painting was lost when my mother's family home burned down."Rendi fell silent, remembering the portrait hidden beneath the cheap lake painting in Oliver's warehouse."My mother looked for it until the day she died," Clarissa continued flatly. "I continued that search for ten years. Then Isabelle called and said a young man had found it in an art teacher's warehouse.""I didn't know the painting had a story like that," Rendi said quietly."No one knew." Clarissa finally turned toward Rendi. "That is why I wanted to see your face. I wanted to know if you found it because of luck,
CHAPTER 31: Red Wine on a Gray Suit
Rendi placed his napkin on the table and stood up. He didn't want to take insults while sitting down."I came as a guest of Halden Gallery," Rendi said calmly. "Not yours."Evelyn chuckled and turned to the guests around her. "Did you hear that? He's a gallery guest now. Two weeks ago he was still selling secondhand watches at the flea market."Several guests smiled along. Steven laughed the loudest."Be careful, Miss Evelyn," Steven said. "Later he'll say your dress is also a pieced-together item."The laughter at the surrounding tables grew louder. Isabelle put down her glass with a stiff face.Alex stepped forward and stood beside Evelyn. His voice was friendly, but his tone was like he was talking to a beggar."Rendi, you look healthy for someone whose heart had stopped," Alex said. "I heard you're now an appraiser of secondhand goods. If you need a steady job, the Wijaya Group always needs people who understand cheap things."This time, laughter rang out from three tables at once
CHAPTER 30: Awards Night
Evelyn only froze for two seconds. The cameras were still flashing, and the woman who had been acting for five years knew when to smile.Evelyn posed again, waved her hand at the reporters, then walked into the lobby without looking back. However, Rendi saw her fingers squeezing the silver handbag until her knuckles turned white.Rendi waited until the red carpet was quiet before he went inside.The Grand Meridian ballroom was already full. A giant crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room, and the scent of lilies mixed with the smell of expensive perfume from every direction.Rendi recognized almost half the faces in the room. They had shaken his hand, praised his speeches, and sent flower arrangements for his wedding.Tonight, they stared at him, then whispered to each other."Is that Rendi Martin?""I heard his heart stopped after that canceled wedding," whispered a woman at a table near the door."Who did he come with?"Rendi walked past the whispers without quickening his
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