“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jill. It’s my fault, I didn’t mean it. I was forced too!”
There was no trace of his former fierceness as Mr. Kain fell to his knees and begged.
“I was tempted, Byron promised to sponsor the provincial team 500 thousand and pay me another 200 thousand if I did as he asked. I only did it because I was tempted by money.
“Jill, please help me! Seeing as how I brought you to where you are today, help me put in a word! I don’t want to go to prison!”
Mr. Kain wailed. He saw how Jill’s expression hardened and she did not say anything, so he kneeled in front of Jasper next.
“Mr. Laine, Sir, Daddy, please! Please, I’m begging you! Please! I was blind, I was insolent! I shouldn’t have targeted your friend, but I really didn’t know any better!
“Please, please, just forgive me this once! I really don’t want to go to prison! I still have a wife and kids; I still have my parents to take care of! I can’t go to prison!”
Mr. Kain sounded pitiful as he begged, but no one sympathized with the man.
Sympathizing meant condoning his crimes and God knows how many girls had fallen victim to Mr. Kain before.
If Jill was not the first victim, then who would take justice for those girls? He simply could not be forgiven.
“Enough!”
Secretary Lee shouted and pointed at Mr. Kain, “There’s no point in begging anyone right now. You’ll face legal consequences for your actions!”
Secretary Lee then turned to Byron and spoke unkindly, “You’re one of Nauritus City’s celebrity entrepreneurs, Mr. Woolery. How could you do such a thing? Explain yourself!”
Byron’s complexion paled and he finally clenched his jaw to speak, “This has nothing to do with me. Don’t listen to Kain lie and frame me, I didn’t promise him anything. Nor did I tell him to bring girls to me.”
“Hah.” Henry could not hold back any longer. “I thought that Kain was shameless, but it did not cross my mind that you’d be even worse. That’s alright, though, because I came prepared.”
Henry then pulled out his phone and replayed an audio recording.
The contents of the recording conveyed exactly what Bryon had said earlier when he threatened Jasper.
The recording clearly indicated Byron’s role in the incident.
It also shed light on Echo Welch’s involvement.
Byron’s expression changed drastically when he heard the contents of the recording.
Secretary’s Lee’s gaze instantly darkened as well.
“Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Laine,” Secretary Lee spoke grimly.
“Quite a few people are involved in this since our victim’s a female athlete that brings pride to our country. This is a matter involving the national team and the Sunrisers.
“I just can’t bear to see our country’s future at stake. Sorry to trouble you, Secretary Lee. There’s still something I have to do, so I’ll be leaving first.”
Jasper then made a move to leave. Byron took a step forward to stop Jasper but was held back by the two men Secretary Lee had brought with him.
“Perhaps you should come back with me first, Mr. Woolery. Please cooperate as we investigate your matter,” Secretary Lee spat distastefully.
Byron raged, “What do you mean, ‘my matter? Just because of a recording? What are you doing? Let me go!”
Ignoring Byron’s wails of protest, Jasper looked toward the sky and realized that it was getting late. He still had dinner with Wayne and Jose, so Jasper turned to ask Henry, “Where are you two going next?”
“Jill’s got to be terrified. I was thinking I’d book her into a hotel so she can get some rest for now,” Henry immediately replied.
“No!”
Jill seemed wary of Henry, but she also realized how her rejection might hurt Henry’s self-esteem and she quickly explained, “I have an aunt here in Nauritus City, so I’ll stay with her instead. I’m leaving for Swallow Capital tomorrow anyway.”
Henry sounded disappointed as he asked, “Tomorrow? Why so soon?”
“I only came to Nauritus City to pay back the favor I owed Mr. Kain, but I didn’t expect him to be like this. I should be going back now as I still have training tomorrow. I’ve got to prepare for the next competition,” Jill explained.
Henry’s reluctance to let Jill go was written all over his face, but he did not have a good reason to ask her to stay either.
“Miss Cobb is going back because she has things to do. Of course, that’ll take precedence. I thought you have training in Swallow Capital next week too, Henry? You’ll get to meet her then.”
At this moment, Jasper chimed in and gave Henry the perfect reason to look for Jill in Swallow Capital.
Henry’s eyes shone and he nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me.”
“You two know each other?!” Jill asked, looking at the two suspiciously.
Henry’s smile froze and frantically started thinking about how he should reply when Jasper smiled and did it for him. “I told you a friend asked me to help, right? That was Henry.”
Jill tilted her head suspiciously. She was not a gullible person.
“But how did you know I was in trouble?”
“We didn’t. Henry said he wanted to introduce a new friend to me, so he brought me over to look for you. We thought we’d invite you for a meal or something, but we didn’t expect something like this to happen.
“Thank goodness nothing horrible happened.”
There were no loopholes in Jasper’s smile, tone, or statement. So while Jill did feel something was off about the excuse he offered, she could not pinpoint exactly what was wrong with it.
“Okay…” Jill nodded hesitantly as she reluctantly accepted the explanation.
“I’ll be going, then. You two have fun.” It was getting late and Jasper did not plan to disturb the duo, so he quickly waved and left.
Jill watched Jasper leave and turned to ask Henry curiously, “Is this friend of yours really rich and powerful?”
“He’s not too bad,” Henry replied casually.
“Didn’t you see how cool he was just now? You’re just a high school teacher, so how can you just say he’s ‘not too bad’? Sure, we shouldn’t look down on ourselves, but we have to admit it when other people are outstanding too, okay?” Jill said seriously.
Henry was about to reply when he suddenly thought of something. He asked warily, “You didn’t fall for him, did you?”
Jill glared at Henry and refuted, “What kind of nonsense is that?”
…
