The Heiress’ Return: Six Brothers at Her Beck and Call (Wynter Quinnell) novel Chapter 2003

Dalton said in a pleasant voice, "It could be that only someone in the know would understand the information in the notebook."

Wynter frowned. "Someone in the know… I have a hypothesis. Riley's father may have had dealings with Leviathan and Aidan before, only to get into some conflicts with them later on.

"When they had a falling-out, he wanted to report them all in an attempt to take them down with him. However, as he was on his way to do so, they orchestrated a traffic accident that killed him on the spot."

Dalton glanced sideways at her. "That's a bold hypothesis, but not an impossible one."

"Do you also think it's possible?" Wynter asked, putting her hand on her chin.

Dalton smiled faintly. "Yes. Be bold in your hypotheses and thorough in proving them."

"That makes sense." She looked up at him in interest. "We'll be able to unveil the truth at the dinner banquet."

Wolf leaned over upon hearing this. "A dinner banquet? Will we be able to eat and drink a lot again?"

Wynter smiled. "Yes. All you need to worry about is eating."

Hearing that, Wolf smiled sunnily. "Yay! You're the best, Boss."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the SUV stopped. Seeing this, Wynter stepped out of the car, followed by Dalton and Wolf. Vincenzo, on the other hand, parked the car a short distance away.

"You're here, Ms. Quinnell," said the person at the entrance upon seeing Wynter, stepping aside.

Wynter nodded. "Is that man still inside?"

The person pointed toward the inside. "He is. He can't run, as he's surrounded by our people."

Upon hearing this, Wynter walked straight into the building—a safe house, of sorts. The moment she entered, she saw Hildred sitting in a chair, with his hands and feet cuffed.

She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. "Introduce yourself, would you?"

Hildred replied in a low voice, "Hildred Siena. Don't even think about asking me to betray Mr. Patsy."

Wynter asked coldly, "Hildred Siena, is it? You telling me what you know doesn't count as a betrayal."

Hildred clenched his fists. "I have nothing to say. Moreover, this is a private interrogation, so nothing you can get out of me will stand as evidence in court."

Wynter tapped her fingers rhythmically against the table. "Hey, have you considered that I'm qualified to carry out a private interrogation? Even if I beat you up here, nobody will speak up for you."

Hildred leaned backward. "What are you planning? Private torture?"

Wynter smiled faintly. "I might dirty my hands by hitting you. Even stepping on your back at the port was disgusting to me."

"Please leave," Hildred said with feigned calm. "If you have evidence against me, then just send me to prison. What's the point of keeping me locked up here?"

Wynter simply glanced at him. "Do you expect to enjoy free meals in prison after the things you've done? Dream on. Even executing you 100 times over would be too light a punishment."

Those words made Hildred freeze.

Wynter tapped her fingers against the table again. "By the way, I forgot to tell you something—Aidan went missing."

"What? How could he go missing?" Hildred was quite shocked to hear this.

"That's my question. I looked through your call history and noticed that you'd contacted him before I got to you."

Hildred frowned. "Are you trying to trick me into revealing information? Don't even try."

Wynter couldn't help shaking her head. "Do you think you're smart? In my eyes, you're dumber than anyone else. You think I'm trying to fool you when I'm just telling you the truth."

She paused, then added, "It's completely, utterly ridiculous."

Hildred lifted his gaze. "Say whatever you like. I'm not telling you anything."

Wynter spread her hands. "Alright. I'll let you go, then."

A hint of anticipation appeared on Hildred's face. "Are you serious? You're not planning to tail me in secret after letting me go, are you?"

Wynter put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Sometimes, it's really hard to resist the urge to snap at someone. Can you please stop letting your imagination run wild?"

Hildred said nothing in response, simply gazing at her.

Seeing this, she continued, "I can let you go. I've also informed you that Aidan has gone missing. As for whether or not you'll be allowed to live once you leave, I have no idea."

"Are you saying someone wants to kill me?" Hildred's eyes widened.

Wynter looked at him and tossed a key his way. "This is the key to the handcuffs. Once you unlock them, you'll be able to leave."

Hildred was rather confused. "Can I really leave?"

"Do as you like," Wynter replied, standing and moving to leave.

However, Hildred called out to stop her. "Wait! Hold on a moment! What did you say was the reason Mr. Patsy went missing just now?"

Wynter looked back at him. "He went missing because someone didn't want him to ruin their plans. It'll be the same for you."

Immediately, Hildred returned the key to her. "M-Ms. Quinnell, I've changed my mind about leaving."

Wynter gazed calmly at him. "I think 'cheap bastard' is a good way to describe you."

Hildred lowered his head. "Mr. Patsy has always treated me very well. I have no reason to betray him."

Wynter sat down upon hearing this. "Let's talk about something else, then. Did you know Riley Maisie's father?"

"I did. Her father, Ansel Maisie, was the Cultural Relics Appraisal Association's vice president."

"So, that traffic accident wasn't an accident but a deliberate setup, right?"

That made Hildred's eyes widen. "H-How did you know? Very few people know about that."

Wynter asked slowly, "Mr. Maisie is related to what Aidan is doing, right?"

Hildred looked incredulous. "Who did you hear that from?"

Wynter could guess the truth from his reaction. The puzzle pieces fell into place alongside her previous hypothesis.

She smiled faintly. "Everyone inevitably leaves behind traces of their past actions. Aidan and the person backing him actually planned that traffic accident. What was your role in this?"

Hildred looked upward, his gaze wandering a little. "I… I found people to carry out the plan."

"Very good. Were Aidan and Mr. Maisie involved in the smuggling of cultural relics together?" pressed Wynter.

Hildred, feeling pressured, met Wynter's gaze with a hint of fear in his eyes this time. He then lowered his head and replied, "Yes… I'd like to know why you know so much."

Wynter arched an eyebrow slightly. "I made inferences."

Her answer weighed down on him like a boulder, leaving him feeling breathless.

She looked directly at him. "It's your turn to speak now."

Hildred sighed. "Before Mr. Patsy married Ms. Maisie, he and Mr. Maisie were both involved in smuggling cultural relics. They had a good relationship with each other back then, so Mr. Maisie introduced his own daughter to Mr. Patsy.

"I didn't expect them to get into a dispute later on. I don't know the exact details of their conflict. Later, Mr. Patsy met someone in secret, after which he instructed me to find people to orchestrate Mr. Maisie's accident."

Instantly, Wynter grasped onto a piece of key information. "Who was that person?"

Reese went silent for a moment before saying, "Okay, but don't go too far. We still need them to take care of Havenia's affairs, after all."

Wynter nodded lightly. "Noted."

After hanging up, she glanced at the time, then looked at Dalton. "I'm leaving Aidan to you."

"Alright. I'll send him your way when you need him."

Wynter looked up slightly. "Okay. I'll head straight over to the banquet, then. See you tonight."

She then looked over at Wolf and added, "Remember to listen to Mr. Leprechaun. Don't misbehave."

Wolf nodded. "Don't worry, Boss. I'm the best!"

Wynter chuckled lightly. She then turned around, got into the car, and left. The dinner banquet was the main event, after all, and there was still something she needed to confirm.

Carven Duane may or may not be Leviathan. Leviathan might also be a small organization consisting of people in important positions, working together to carry out shady operations.

Wynter looked out the window. Aidan was going to be the key player tonight.

She'd handpicked the attendees for the dinner banquet, and she was going to observe each and every one of them.

She still needed to make a trip overseas once she'd taken care of the tasks at hand. She'd already instructed Delmar to establish a foothold there first.

There were still many cultural relics lost overseas, after all. It would be quite difficult to get them all back to Cascadia. Some collectors would not part with their collection, no matter how much they were offered.

At the thought of this, Wynter massaged her temples. Just as she was about to close her eyes for a nap, the car stopped, and she looked up to see that they'd already arrived at the dinner venue.

One of the receptionists approached the car. "Ms. Quinnell."

Wynter paused. "Do you know me?"

The receptionist lowered their voice and replied, "Mr. Grier told us about you. He said that you'll be solely responsible for today's dinner banquet and that we're to follow all your arrangements."

Upon hearing this, Wynter glanced at him, then at her surroundings. The waiters and receptionists looked like ordinary people, but they were all relatively capable.

"Is every member of the serving staff planted here by Mr. Grier?" Wynter asked calmly.

She'd already figured out Reese's motive for doing this. On the one hand, he could have his people take Carven away once Wynter rooted him out. On the other hand, he was worried that Wynter would declare everyone present guilty, which would affect Havenia's political system.

The receptionist nodded. "Yes."

Wynter smiled. "Okay. Then, before the dinner banquet begins, gather them all here."

"Understood, Ms. Quinnell."

As the receptionist spoke, he trotted off to gather the remaining employees.

After a while, dozens of people stood in front of Wynter. Some of them were expressionless, while others looked rather impatient. From their perspective, they'd trained hard, only to be reduced to playing the part of serving staff.

Wynter raised her voice and said, "Mr. Grier naturally has his reasons for posting all of you here, everyone. If you play by the book and do your jobs well, he'll reward you for this, too. And if you do a bad job, you'll also be punished."

"Yes, Ms. Quinnell," the fake serving staff shouted in unison.

Wynter waved in dismissal. "Proceed with your tasks."

She then pointed at the receptionist who was beside her just now. "You, stay here for a moment. What's your name?"

"My name is Amery Rollie. You can just call me Amery, Ms. Quinnell," Amery replied politely, standing where he was.

Wynter looked at him with lidded eyes. "Once the dinner banquet is in session, Amery, I'll need you to turn off the lights at a certain time."