Molly had officially passed her interview at Everbright Law Group and was officially joining the firm as a full-fledged lawyer.

Coincidentally, Jasmine had also resigned from Shelton Law Firm to join Tessa at Everbright, so Tessa had arranged for Jasmine to be Molly’s assistant. Both girls had bright and outgoing personalities, so they were able to get along well.

Meanwhile, Tessa had gathered all the necessary evidence and information for the Helio case based on the suggestions that Lester had given her. She had then prepared a statement of claim to officially start the case.

When it was nearly time for her work day to be over, Tessa received a call from the private investigator that she had hired. “Ms. Yates, I have new updates regarding the investigation into Zachary Gomez and Jacqueline Sanders. Are you free to meet up today? I have some things to give you.”

“Yes, I can meet up with you,” Tessa replied. “I’m nearly finished with work. We can meet at a cafe that is close to my firm.”

“Alright.”

Tessa sent an address to the investigator. “I’ll see you at 6:30 pm at the cafe.”

“Understood, Ms. Yates.”

Lester knocked on her door just as she ended the call. “Ms. Yates, regarding what Lyanna told you yesterday… I still think that I need to compensate you for what you had to endure.”

Tessa arched an eyebrow. “There’s no need. I know that she was just joking, so I didn’t take her words to heart.”

“How about this?” Lester pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Let me treat you to a meal as my apology for Lyanna’s behavior.”

Tessa smiled. “There’s really no need,” she insisted. “You don’t need to act so uptight with me.”

Lester studied Tessa carefully. He paused for a moment before raising his hand to rub the tip of his nose. “Alright, then.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Tessa grabbed two thick paper envelopes and handed them to Lester. “We received a few new cases today. I’m assigning these two cases to you since they fall within your expertise.”

Lester accepted the envelopes with a smile. “New cases already? I see you’re working hard to keep your promise, Ms. Yates. I really won’t have anything to worry about while working with you.”

“I don’t think your ambition is limited to just living a worry-free life, Mr. Cooper,” Tessa shot back with a smile of her own. “Open the envelopes and take a look at what’s inside.”

Lester did as he was told and opened the envelopes. The cases were trademark rights disputes. He quickly scanned through the documents as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Looks like I’ll be earning back the cost of the red wine from last night quite soon.”

Tessa grinned. “I told you that I won’t let you suffer any losses.”

“Thanks,” Lester said as he slipped the documents back into the envelopes.

After work was over, Tessa tidied up her desk before leaving the firm and heading toward the cafe to meet up with the investigator.

She pushed the glass door open and stepped into the cafe. A man that was dressed in all black with a duckbill cap pulled low over his eyes sat in an inconspicuous corner. Tessa approached the man and sat across from him.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Barrington.”

The private investigator was named Felix Barrington. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Yates,” he replied.

After exchanging greetings, Felix ducked his head and rummaged through his bag. “Ms. Yates, I snapped these photos of Zachary and Jacqueline making contact with each other in the last few days.”

He handed a paper envelope to her. Tessa opened the envelope and flipped through the photographs that were inside. She smiled when she saw the photos of Zachary and Jacqueline together.

“I had a feeling it was them,” she scoffed.

“Not only that, but I also recorded their meeting from last night,” Felix said as he scrolled through his phone. “Here, I’ll send the recording to you.”

Tessa put on her earphones after receiving the recording. She then clicked play.

Zacahry’s voice resounded in her ears. “You wanted to use me to get rid of Tessy? You knew that James would kill the hostage if the police were alerted, yet you still told me to call them.”

Next came Jacqueline’s voice. “So what? It would be perfectly fine with me if Tessa died.”

“Jacqueline Sanders! You said you only wanted to separate Tessa and Stephen. You never said anything about wanting her to die!”

“That was in the past. Now, I only want her dead. Only when she’s dead will I be able to monopolize Stephen’s attention.”

Disdain flashed in Tessa’s eyes when she heard Jacqueline’s declaration. She couldn’t believe that Jacqueline wanted her dead just because of a man.

“You’re insane!” Zachary sounded indignant.

“You’re so utterly useless, Zachary.

땅은

What can you even do? It’s no wonder Tessa didn’t want you. Even though she and Stephen are no longer together, she didn’t eve spare a single glance at youd no longer have any use for you, so I’m ending our partnership right now.”

“Aren’t you scared that I’ll tell Stephen everything that you’ve done?”

“Did I hear you right? Are you trying to threaten me? Don’t forget who is supporting me behind the scenes. I’m much more useful in James’ eyes compared to you. Just think about what would happen if the Jacobsons kicked me out after you tesl them what I’ve done. If I’m no longer useful, James will never let you off the hook.”

The recording ended after Jacqueline’s final words. Tessa’s brow furrowed upon hearing it. She had long detected that Jacqueline had feelings for Stephen, and she had also guessed that Jacqueline

was working with Zachary, Thus, she wasn’t too surprised when she heard the first half of the recording.

However, she was surprised upon hearing that Jacqueline was one of James’ lackeys. Tessa’s brow furrowed tightly as she got lost in her thoughts. She hadn’t expected this turn of events. She wondered if she should tell Stephen about what she had found out.

“Thank you,” Tessa said to Felix. “I’ll transfer the money into your account as per our agreement.”

“Alright.”

…

Meanwhile, Stephen was at the base. He was in the study, sitting in the chair behind the desk as he listened to Lawrence deliver his report.

“Mr. Jacobson, these are the results of the investigations that are related to Ms. Sanders.”

Lawrence turned the laptop toward Stephen so that the screen was facing him. Stephen’s face darkened after he scanned through the information.

“Our men have discovered that Ms. Sanders has been meeting up with Zachary frequently recently. According to our investigations, when Ms. Yates was kidnapped, Ms. Sanders was the one who ordered Zachary to call the police.”

Lawrence continued, “Gomez Group was on the brink of bankruptcy a few months ago. They suddenly received a large investment, which allowed them to bounce back. I looked into it and found out that the investor is a foreign investment company.

“The legal representative of that company has connections to Cayden Lindth, a subordinate of James.”

A glacial cold flickered in Stephen’s eyes upon hearing James’ name. His lips curled as he said, “So Zachary has also become one of James’ men.”

“There’s more…” Lawrence said before letting his sentence trail off.

“Speak,” Stephen ordered coldly.

“We have a recording that is related to Ms. Sanders.”

Lawrence pulled out his phone and navigated to the audio tab before handing the

device over to Stephen. “You should listen for yourself, Mr. Jacobson.”

Stephen frowned before clicking play on the recording.