Chapter 175



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Arnold didn’t hold Hayden back as he walked out of the house.

The sun was hot outside, but Arnold’s wife was still feeding the chicken in the sun as if she didn’t mind the heat. She was obviously looking toward the inside of the house. But when Hayden came out, she turned her face away as if she felt hatred.

As Hayden walked past her, he could hear the woman mutter, “What a blind woman.”

“What?” Hayden glared back at her, scowling, “Who did you say blind?”

The woman looked up angrily, “I said my chickens are blind.”

The hens inside the cage cooed as if they were also expressing their discontent.

This woman certainly wasn’t crazy for calling her own hens blind. There was only Hayden here, and the woman must have been referring to her.

Hayden looked at the woman, “Chickens are blind, but they don’t get in your way. But if someone is mute, that’s really getting in the way, don’t you think?”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The fire at the hotel had caused a major loss and you need someone to take responsibility for it. One would be ruined by paying for the loss, even if it was only a fraction. It’s not a matter that can be settled by simply resigning. Do you know anything about this matter?”

The woman paled instantly.

“I’m staying at the BB at the entrance to town. You can come find me if there’s anything you want to tell me.”

Hayden walked out of the Bevis’ house without even looking back.

Arnold’s wife seemed to know the story of the fire. Hayden had guessed at some possibilities, but now he just needed to confirm it.

“You’re back. Did you find Arnold?”

The fisherman’s wife greeted her warmly as she returned to where she lived.

She was staying at the house of the fisherman who drove her to town. The views were beautiful, and there were many who came here on vacation during the high season. Almost all the homes were cottages.

“I found it.” Hayden smiled, “Where’s the boss?”

“He went to pick up the nets with his son. A customer just came in and ordered a box of seafood. And he’s coming to pick it up shortly.”

“Is that so? Sounds like a good deal.”

Hayden took a sip of tea and stared out the window, feeling the breeze.

After a while, a car pulled up outside. The attendant saw Hayden getting out of the vehicle and gave him a suspicious look, “You again? Aren’t you done harassing us? How mean you are.”

Hayden didn’t know why he was being hostile to her. She rolled her eyes and said to him with her chin resting on her hand, “What did you say, I’m calm staying here and now you’re trying to blame me?”

“You live here?”

A cold voice sounded behind the attendant. She startled and looked back respectfully, “Mr. Sanchez.”

“Yes, you can ask the boss’s wife if you don’t believe me.”

Señor Sanchez didn’t ask anything, but approached her, “May I sit down?”.

“Feel free.”

Before he sat down, the assistant, who was even more pretentious than the boss, called out to him, “Mr. Sanchez, don’t sit down yet. I’ll get you the cushion.”

Hayden sighed, looking at the assistant’s servile look, “Mr. Sanchez, where did you find such an assistant? He’s more attentive than any secretary, he even intrudes on where he should sit.”

Señor Sanchez hesitated and sat down: “I found an antique rosewood armchair at the Bevis’ house. It’s even more collectible than the desk because of its age.”

“Oh, yeah? Congratulations.”

“It’s considered a credit to you. Later, give your bank account to my assistant and he will give you the due reward.”

“No need.” Hayden waved his hand and said nonchalantly, “I didn’t help much. I just recommended him about something he knew about, you don’t need to be so nice.”

Soon the aide returned and saw that his boss had already sat down. He looked distressed, hugging the cushion.

Hayden looked at the two of them and realized something.

Señor Sanchez was in his late forties, handsome, quiet and even more mature than Joseph Beckham, as if he were remarkably weathered. However, the assistant next to him contrasted markedly with him, he was young and energetic, seemed intelligent, but always spouted nonsense.

Especially when confronted with Hayden, he was inexplicably hostile towards her.

A pretentious assistant and a stone-faced CEO? How interesting, Hayden thought.

After chatting for a while, the boss returned with his son. They delivered a box of seafood to Señor Sanchez and his assistant. The assistant checked it carefully before taking it to the car.

Señor Sanchez gave Hayden a business card before leaving: “I don’t like to be indebted to anyone. You can find me anytime you want to get back what you deserve after you make up your mind.”

Hayden accepted the card and felt amused.

In fact, there were people eager to pay back the money.

Looking at the card, Hayden read it in his mind: [Cleveland Sanchez].

It was such a pretty name.

Hayden could only catch a glimpse of the name before putting the card in his pocket, when he saw someone approaching in the distance. It was Arnold’s wife.

She came faster than Hayden thought she would.

“About the fire, are they really going to make us pay for it?”. Arnold’s wife was tense, no longer as authoritative as before.

“It depends on whether or not the company files a lawsuit in the end.”

Hayden wasn’t lying. Such a significant loss in property damage was not something the people in charge were resigned to settle for. Someone had to be responsible.

The woman blushed as she heard him, “That’s not right, we don’t have that kind of money, how can we afford to pay for it?”

“That’s only if it was Arnold’s fault for smoking and causing such a mess.”

“It wasn’t because the smoke alarm went off? This one wouldn’t be our fault, would it?”

Hayden frowned, feeling alert. “How do you know the smoke alarm was broken?”.

To control the orientation to public opinion, Hayden let Jeff handle it right after the fire. No more than five people in the entire hotel, including Hayden and Jeff, knew the smoke alarm was broken. They claimed the fire had swept through, not that the alarm wasn’t working.

But then, Arnold’s wife was pretty sure of that.

Finally, the woman loosened her tongue under Hayden’s questioning: “It was my husband who broke the smoke alarm because he was afraid to set it off when he smoked. But he didn’t actually set the fire, he told me he was cautious every time he smoked. He made sure he put out the cigarette and wrapped it in his pocket to take it out. He did that this time too.”

“But why didn’t he say so?”.

“No, it’s just because…”. Arnold’s wife turned blue and stopped talking.

“It’s because of Baron, isn’t it?”

Hayden said the rest for her. His voice was as cold as the breeze.

“You treat Baron like your own son. Arnold knew he had broken the fire alarm and could not shirk his responsibility. After weighing it and considering it, he decided to take responsibility. At least he was able to save Baron, wasn’t he?”.

After saying this, the woman in front of him broke down, staggering, “You… knew all about it?”

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