Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 1889

Tarquin's eyes darkened, his voice low and calculating.

"If your theory is correct, it means we are dealing with a highly formidable opponent. He's incredibly intelligent and knows exactly how to insulate himself."

"Zane has always been brilliant!" Elliot pointed out, his brow furrowed.

Zane was a highly educated, terrifyingly smart psychopath!

If he had been even a fraction less intelligent, he never would have successfully manipulated Winona and the entire Newsom family so completely, nor caused them such horrific suffering!

And he certainly wouldn't have possessed the logistical mastermind required to build a massive criminal syndicate from scratch!

Just as Elliot finished speaking, Tarquin's phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.

Tarquin answered with a cool, "Hello."

Min-jun's voice came through the speaker, trembling noticeably.

"M-Mr. Bradford... Hello. I... I'm Jae-hyun's mother. I had an urgent matter to discuss with you, so I asked Diane for your number."

Tarquin's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

Min-jun sounded terrified.

"Um... I just wanted to ask. Did the children mention anything to you when they got back today?"

Tarquin let the silence stretch for a long, torturous moment before answering.

"Are you referring to the male model in your basement?"

Min-jun immediately seized on it.

"Yes! Yes, exactly! I just found out that while the kids were playing hide-and-seek, they accidentally wandered into my room. The smart lock on the basement must have glitched, and the door opened."

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors. My husband and I have a terrible relationship. We've been practically separated for years. We live entirely separate lives and stay out of each other's business."

"I was worried about being photographed at a hotel, so I invited someone over to the house. We..."

Tarquin had zero patience for her excuses. He cut her off cleanly.

"How did you know the children went into the basement?"

Min-jun stammered, "I-I heard it from the model. He said when the kids came down, he was actually just pretending to be asleep. He didn't know what was going on, so he didn't dare move."

Tarquin fell silent.

Liar!

Evan was highly trained in combat. He could easily tell the difference between someone feigning sleep and someone genuinely unconscious.

The model had been out cold. There was zero chance he had told her anything!

Min-jun rushed to add:

"I know I haven't broken any laws, but if this kind of scandal gets out, it would ruin me. I beg you to keep this a secret, Mr. Bradford."

"As long as you don't say a word, you have my absolute loyalty. If there is ever anything you need my help with in the future, all you have to do is ask."

Tarquin gave a low, noncommittal hum and hung up immediately.

Elliot's analysis was spot-on!

Jae-hyun had absolutely orchestrated this, leading Evan straight into that basement.

His goal was simple: show Tarquin that the basement was nothing but a sordid affair, successfully killing any urge to investigate further.

Furthermore, it gave the illusion that Tarquin now held a major piece of leverage over Min-jun.

Human nature dictated that Tarquin would relax his scrutiny, assuming he had her completely under his thumb.

With leverage in hand, why waste resources investigating? If he needed something, he could just squeeze her for it.

And by ensuring Tarquin stopped digging into Min-jun, Jae-hyun successfully insulated himself from the fallout!

This proved one critical thing: Jae-hyun was deeply terrified of them investigating Min-jun!

Which meant that digging into Min-jun's life was exactly where the real clues were buried!

They weren't just going to dig—they were going to tear her entire world apart to find the truth!

Tarquin turned back to his sons. "Did you set up the surveillance feeds?"

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