The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 21

Before Jaylan could react, the other end of the line went dead. He furrowed his brows, still trying to wrap his head around the situation, when his phone rang again.

“Boss, we’re in deep shit, the voice on the other end of the line said. “The girl we arrested today, she’s got a complicated background. The bigwigs already know about it. They’ve made their decision. If we don’t let her go, we’re gonna be in a world of trouble. You better get here ASAP”

Jaylan was dumbstruck.

The bigwigs knew about it? What the hell was going on? Wasn’t it just a petty theft case?

Jaylan took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding. “So what if she’s well–connected? We’re supposed to be fair and just. We didn’t frame anyone. As a suspect, it’s her duty to cooperate with the investigation.”

“Damn suspect! We’ve already contacted your mom. She said she didn’t lose her bracelet.” The voice on the other end informed him. “Also, Ms. Hawthorn isn’t just a tenant of Tranquil Estates. She’s the owner. She bought a place there not long ago at triple the market price.”

“What?” Jaylan exclaimed. The bracelet isn’t lost?” A dreadful thought occurred to him, and his face turned dark.

“Herman is pissed off. I’m calling you on the sly. You better get your ass here.”

After hanging up, Jaylan stormed out of his room, storming over to where Coral was

“Slap!”

Coral was chatting with Arabella when she was suddenly slapped across the face. She covered her cheek and stared at Jaylan in disbelief. “Jaylan, why did you hit me?”

Jaylan glared at her, his face livid. Tell me the truth, did mom really lose her bracelet?”

He had always found his sister to be obedient and sensible, so when she said someone had stolen their mom’s bracelet, he didn’t question it. And when he got back, their mom wasn’t home, so he didn’t ask further.

Coral blinked. “It really was lost.”

“Slap!”

“You dare to lie to me again! Coral, is this how I raised you? Framing others for this? Are you trying to bring down the

“You know

foolish expression,

of what Herman had said on the phone, he grabbed Coral’s arm. “Come with me to clear things up. I’m warning you, if you dare to mess up again, I’ll kick

Jaylan. Arabella, who was left behind, looked on

Police station.

he could see Herman, red in the face

a moment before walking

causing trouble!” Herman barked the moment he saw Jaylan. “Do you

speechless by the onslaught.

Go apologize to Ms. Hawthorn. She was brought here because of you, and now she refuses to leave! You have ten minutes to get her out of here, or you

headed towards the interrogation room. He pushed open the door to see Vivienne sitting there, her face expressionless. He cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Ms. Hawthorn, I apologize. I made a mistake. I blindly believed

Although Jaylan had no clue about Vivienne’s powerful background, her gaze alone was enough to make him nervous. He immediately turned to Coral. “What are you still doing

T’m sorry, Ms. Hawthorn. I misunderstood you. We found my mother’s bracelet. It turns out our

Jaylan had told her to say on

am I innocent now?” Vivienne asked in

“We will compensate for the misunderstanding. I’ll drive

go home, Vivienne said indifferently. 1

was at a loss for words.

smile, “Ms. Hawthorn, I promise to offer you a satisfactory solution to this incident… We’re all rather busy. Would you mind going home now?” If Vivienne didn’t leave, it would have been him who

leaned back in the chair, smiling. “What solution do you have in mind?”

moment, “Ms. Lockwood will be detained and investigated for

due to negligence, and

busy, so I

look at Coral, then turned and exited the room.

out a sigh of

entrance of the