Ch. 1001..1010
Chapter 1001 Argument
Talking about that after someone’s death was inappropriate, but that was the truth. Cindy didn’t care what Tessa was thinking. The moment Mona couldn’t say anything to her, she mocked, “I’d be too ashamed to stay if I were you. What? Don’t have enough guts to bail on us? Or are you just too untalented for Sofia Symphony? Trying to use cronyism, I see. But I wonder if they’ll take you in.”
Mona was shivering in fury, and Tessa came forward to defend her friend. This was too much, even for her. “I would take Mona with me if she’s willing to come, but she never had the idea to leave. And you can’t tell her to leave. The only one who can is the director, and since when are you the acting director?”
Cindy couldn’t argue with that, and her face fell. She was silent for a long while, and then she hissed, “So what if I’m not? Not like you’re any better than me, you traitor, so shut up!”
She was about to mock Tessa, but then Hathaway boomed furiously, “Cindy, you keep quiet!”
Hathaway appeared from the crowd looking all upset. She was about to go out a while ago, but then she realized she left something, so she came back to retrieve her stuff. Then she saw everyone surrounding Tessa as if they wanted to kill her. And what Cindy said made Hathaway mad.
Cindy and everyone else were scared into silence the moment Hathaway showed up.
“Director…” Cindy was a little nervous seeing Hathaway so upset.
She wanted to say something, but Hathaway interrupted angrily before she could finish, “If you have time to deal with something like this, you have time to improve yourself. Your performance leaves a lot to be desired. If you can’t get any better, I will get someone else to be the concertmaster.”
Cindy looked horrified while feeling angry at the same time. I did that for the team. However, she stopped mocking Tessa and apologized despite how she felt. “I’m sorry, director. I’m going back to training right now.” She quickly left lest Hathaway switched her out for someone else.
Everyone hurried away, leaving Hathaway alone with Tessa and Mona.
Hathaway stared at Tessa. She was conflicted about the whole thing, but she said, “Don’t take it to heart.”
“It’s alright. I know they don’t like me, but I’m leaving soon.” Tessa shook her head and gave a ticket to Mona. After that, she went to Scott’s place and gave him a ticket as well before going home.
…
Group Six’s maiden performance finally began three days later. Tessa was a special guest, and she was styling herself up behind the stage.
Susan came in, but the moment she saw Tessa, her gaze dripped with venom. Her hostility was too obvious, causing Tessa to turn toward her instinctively. Susan quickly hid her hatred and approached her with a smile.
“You’re gorgeous, Miss Reinhart,” she praised, but in reality, she envied Tessa for looking so beautiful even when she was pregnant.
Tessa thought the praise came out of nowhere, but she nodded and replied, “You’re not too bad yourself.”
Susan was the concertmaster, so of course she had to doll herself up for the performance. She silently scoffed at Tessa’s praise, then beamed and answered, “They told me there’s going to be a lot of people tonight, including reporters. Do your best out there, Miss Reinhart.”
Chapter 1002Argument
Talking about that after someone’s death was inappropriate, but that was the truth. Cindy didn’t care what Tessa was thinking. The moment Mona couldn’t say anything to her, she mocked, “I’d be too ashamed to stay if I were you. What? Don’t have enough guts to bail on us? Or are you just too untalented for Sofia Symphony? Trying to use cronyism, I see. But I wonder if they’ll take you in.”
Mona was shivering in fury, and Tessa came forward to defend her friend. This was too much, even for her. “I would take Mona with me if she’s willing to come, but she never had the idea to leave. And you can’t tell her to leave. The only one who can is the director, and since when are you the acting director?”
Cindy couldn’t argue with that, and her face fell. She was silent for a long while, and then she hissed, “So what if I’m not? Not like you’re any better than me, you traitor, so shut up!”
She was about to mock Tessa, but then Hathaway boomed furiously, “Cindy, you keep quiet!”
Hathaway appeared from the crowd looking all upset. She was about to go out a while ago, but then she realized she left something, so she came back to retrieve her stuff. Then she saw everyone surrounding Tessa as if they wanted to kill her. And what Cindy said made Hathaway mad.
Cindy and everyone else were scared into silence the moment Hathaway showed up.
“Director…” Cindy was a little nervous seeing Hathaway so upset.
She wanted to say something, but Hathaway interrupted angrily before she could finish, “If you have time to deal with something like this, you have time to improve yourself. Your performance leaves a lot to be desired. If you can’t get any better, I will get someone else to be the concertmaster.”
Cindy looked horrified while feeling angry at the same time. I did that for the team. However, she stopped mocking Tessa and apologized despite how she felt. “I’m sorry, director. I’m going back to training right now.” She quickly left lest Hathaway switched her out for someone else.
Everyone hurried away, leaving Hathaway alone with Tessa and Mona.
Hathaway stared at Tessa. She was conflicted about the whole thing, but she said, “Don’t take it to heart.”
“It’s alright. I know they don’t like me, but I’m leaving soon.” Tessa shook her head and gave a ticket to Mona. After that, she went to Scott’s place and gave him a ticket as well before going home.
…
Group Six’s maiden performance finally began three days later. Tessa was a special guest, and she was styling herself up behind the stage.
Susan came in, but the moment she saw Tessa, her gaze dripped with venom. Her hostility was too obvious, causing Tessa to turn toward her instinctively. Susan quickly hid her hatred and approached her with a smile.
“You’re gorgeous, Miss Reinhart,” she praised, but in reality, she envied Tessa for looking so beautiful even when she was pregnant.
Tessa thought the praise came out of nowhere, but she nodded and replied, “You’re not too bad yourself.”
Susan was the concertmaster, so of course she had to doll herself up for the performance. She silently scoffed at Tessa’s praise, then beamed and answered, “They told me there’s going to be a lot of people tonight, including reporters. Do your best out there, Miss Reinhart.”
Chapter 1003 An Appearance
Tessa had no idea about Susan and Eunice’s devious plans for her. After she was done styling up, she waited for her turn to perform. The seats were almost full, and the friends and family area were packed with gorgeous women, handsome men, and adorable kids.
Mona was sitting on Gregory’s left, while Nicholas and Scott were on his right. They were both in black suits, but both of them were radiating different vibes. One looked cold and calculating like an ancient emperor, while the other looked soft-spoken and well-mannered. Both of them attracted a lot of attention, however. Sitting beside Nicholas and Scott were Sofia and her students.
Eunice just came in and was about to greet her teacher, but when she saw Nicholas in the seats, she froze up. “Mr. Sawyer?” she gasped, and everyone frowned.
Oh, great. She sees Nicholas again. God, is she going to take her shot again? Sofia chided, “Stop shouting and sit down!”
Frustration glinted in Eunice’s eyes. She sat down as she was told, but her heart was thumping nervously. I thought he had already flown back home. Why is he still here? If he sees Tessa falling down…
She wanted to cancel the plan, but she held herself back. The stage was already sabotaged, and telling someone to return it back to normal again would raise some eyebrows. She might be the mastermind, but it was unlikely that anyone would find out she was behind it. Eventually, she calmed down and looked at Nicholas again. This time, her eyes glinted with resolve.
Nicholas thought the look in Eunice’s eyes was weird, but he paid it no heed. Eunice was just an inconsequential woman, after all.
Tessa had nothing to do, so she started practicing to try and get herself in the zone. She wanted to deliver a perfect performance, after all. But then she felt her face getting itchy, though she ignored it since she could take it.
Kellen came in a moment later and asked, “How are the preparations going, Tessa?”
“Done. Just waiting for my turn.” She raised her head.
Kellen gasped. “What happened to your face?” He strode over to Tessa, worry filling his eyes.
Tessa wondered what he was worried about. “What’s with my face?” She turned around, but what she saw in the mirror almost made her faint.
Her smooth, beautiful face was covered in rashes, and she looked like a woman who was infected by some sort of disease. “What happened to me?” Panicked, she tried to scratch the rashes, but Kellen stopped her.
“Don’t touch your face. This is probably an allergy reaction, and touching it would make things worse. You might get infected.” He pulled her hands down and frowned. “This is a serious case of allergy. Regular meds won’t work. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Tessa was already calming down. The hospital? But the performance is going to start soon. What’s going to happen if I leave?
Kellen noticed the look in her eyes. She’s worried about the performance. He assured her, “Don’t worry about us. I’ll deal with this. The public doesn’t know you’re going to perform first. It’ll be fine.”
He has a point. Tessa agreed to that suggestion, but instead of going to the hospital, she called Nicholas.
When Nicholas saw who was calling, his eyes twinkled.
Chapter 1004 Contemplation
“Did something happen?” “Yeah. Some minor incident. I need to go to the hospital, so can you pick me up? Don’t tell Sofia and the others. I don’t want to put a damper on Kellen’s performance.” Tessa told him about the gist of the situation and hung up.
Nicholas tucked his phone away, his eyes filled with concern. Things must be serious if she needs to bail on an event of this magnitude for a hospital trip. No way she would bail otherwise. He would have teleported over to her side if he could.
But the moment he stood up, Gregory said, “Where are you going, Daddy? Mommy’s going to perform soon.”
Everyone looked at him as well. Ah, she said to keep it a secret. Gotta lie. He came up with an excuse, “I need to settle some work stuff.” Nicholas paused for a moment and looked at Mona. “If I don’t come back in time, can you keep an eye on Greg, Mona?”
Mona nodded. “Sure thing, Mr. Sawyer. You do what you have to do.”
Nicholas nodded and strode all the way backstage. When he entered the dressing room, the first thing he saw was Tessa on a couch, her head covered in a veil. A frown furrowed his brows. “What happened?” He approached Tessa and gave her a look of concern.
The veil stopped her from seeing him clearly, but he obviously sounded worried about her. “It’s nothing. Just some allergy reaction,” she whispered.
That only made Nicholas worry more. “Let me take a look. Is it bad?” He tried to pull the veil away.
“No!” Tessa gasped and moved away while holding the veil.
Nicholas pursed his lips and stared at Tessa without even blinking.
Even through the veil, she could still feel his gaze. Tessa bit her lip and whispered, “It is terrible. I don’t want you to look at me when I’m ugly.”
Nicholas was amused and a little miffed. “Not like I’m gonna complain. Just let me have a look.” He pulled the veil away despite her protests, but the moment he saw her face, his face fell. “How did this happen?”He kept staring at her. Nicholas knew how she must be feeling, and he was angry too.
She noticed his fury and gulped. He’s scary. “Kellen said I’m probably allergic to the makeup products, but we’ll have to go to the hospital to know for sure.” She told him what happened earlier.
Nicholas whipped his phone out and called Edward. “Call the hospital.” He hung up, picked Tessa up, and left for the hospital. Once there, he went straight to the doctor’s office.
“Did you eat any possible allergen?”
“No. There hasn’t been any changes to my diet.”
Tessa answered the doctor’s questions honestly.
Nicholas listened to the conversation, but he thought this whole thing reeked of conspiracy.
He exited the office and called Edward again. “Go backstage and take the makeup products Tessa used. I want them analyzed. And go through security footage. I want to know who tampered with her stuff.”
“Yes, sir.” Edward hung up and went to work.
Due to Tessa’s absence, Kellen gathered all his members and announced, “Due to personal reasons, Tessa won’t be performing tonight.We’ll move our slots up to cover the gap.”
He made arrangements and told them about the changes before dismissing them from the short meeting. Kellen then stood where he was and thought the whole thing through, and he too came to the conclusion that the whole case about Tessa’s allergy came out of nowhere.
Chapter 1005 Karma
However, the performance was about to start and he wanted to focus on that, so he put the investigation aside for the moment.
Susan left with everyone else, a big grin curling her lips. So the powder’s working. Let’s see how you like that, b*tch. Good. With her out of the way, the stage is mine.
The event opened its curtains at eight-thirty. Since it was the group’s first show, Kellen came up to give a speech. “Thank you for coming to witness our performance. We hope you’ll be pleased with what we have to offer.” He gave a formal speech and handed the microphone back to the host.
The host hyped everyone up, and the orchestra members made their appearance.
Their opening tune was grandiose and mesmerizing. Every member put in everything they had in order to make a name for their orchestra.
The performance went well. Eventually, it drew to a close, but not just yet as Kellen had given Susan a solo slot. She was the concertmaster and this was her first show after all. Kellen wanted her to perform last and end the event on a high note.
Unbeknownst to him, Susan was the famous Kathleen. He was worried she might be nervous, so he came to assure her, “Just take this as practice and do your best. Don’t think too much about it.”
Susan nodded and answered confidently, “Don’t worry, director. I’m fine.”
And then the host announced, “Let’s welcome the orchestra’s concertmaster, Miss Susan! She shall be giving us a solo performance!” Susan nodded at Kellen and held her dress up a little before she went onto the stage.
Silver light shone on her, making her glimmer like a fairy. Almost all of the audience were stunned by how gorgeous she looked, and they clapped for her. Susan loved being the center of attention. She smiled and bowed to everyone before starting her performance.
She went all in to impress everyone, and things went well at first. Everyone was engrossed by her performance, but then tragedy struck.
Just as they had rehearsed, she would be performing her next tune on the stage lift, but right after she stepped on it, the stage lift started wobbling violently. Susan fell like a rock and broke her hand right there and then.
Instead of a melodious tune, a scream of agony tore through the air, and the audience gasped.
“Oh my god, that was terrifying.”
“She’s not gonna come out well after falling from that height.”
“How did this happen?”
The crowd broke into a discussion, and reporters kept taking photos. Some even tried to get onstage for some steaming hot exclusive photos, but the guards stopped them before they even got close.
Kellen asked someone to take Susan down from the stage. Things are getting out of hand. He took the microphone from the host and tried to keep things under control. “Thank you for your concern, audience members. The performer is fine, and there’s nothing to worry about. We apologize for the shock, however.”
They had reached the time that the event was scheduled to end, so Kellen simply closed the performance after calming the audience down.
Gregory wondered why the event had come to an end, and he frowned. “Mona, why didn’t Mommy show up?”
Mona found it weird as well, but before she could answer, Gregory said, “But it’s fine.” He sounded relieved. “If she had shown up, she would have gotten hurt like that woman.”
Mona agreed.
He continued, “And if she’s hurt, her baby would be hurt. Daddy and I are gonna be super worried.”
Aw, look at the boy. He’s so cute. Mona felt her heart melting.
Chapter 1006 Concerned
Mona patted his head and smiled. “Let’s go find your mommy.” “Sure. Thanks, Mona,” Gregory thanked Mona and let her take him away.
Kellen saw all the guests and reporters off before he hurried backstage. Where’s Susan? He called his assistant over. “Where’s Susan? How is she doing?”
“Broke a hand. Just went to the hospital,” the assistant reported. Kellen’s brows knitted together. He was worried. Susan was a violinist, and her hand was incredibly important for her career. Just when he was about to tell his assistant to look into this, Sofia and her students hurried in as well.
“What’s going on, Kellen? This is a huge blunder. Where’s Susan? How is she?” Sofia bombarded Kellen with questions the moment she came in. She was a little angry. The performance was over, but Susan’s accident tainted the otherwise perfect performance. Not to mention she was injured, and that was a mistake she wouldn’t tolerate.
Eunice stared at the chastised Kellen, and her eyes glinted. She had a big question running in her mind. Tessa should have been the one to fall. How did Susan get roped into this?
Kellen answered with frustration, “Susan was taken to the hospital. That’s all we know.”
Eunice had to ask, “Where’s Tessa? I thought she was going to perform the main theme, so why didn’t we see her?”
Oh yeah, Tessa isn’t around either. Sofia asked, “Where’s Tessa? Why didn’t she show up?”
“She’s in the hospital. Had an allergic reaction, so I shuffled the slots around,” Kellen explained. This is smelling real fishy now. “Don’t worry, Sofia. I’ll find out if this is an actual accident or something more sinister.”
Finding out Tessa was in the hospital worried Sofia. “How did this happen? She was fine the last time I saw her.”
She whipped her phone out, and the moment the call went through, she asked, “Kellen told me you had an allergic reaction, Tessa. Are you alright?”
“Thank you, Sofia. I’m alright. I just need to take a few days off.”
“Good to hear. Take all the time you need.” Sofia then hung up.
Eunice realized what must have happened, and it irked her. She had to get an allergic reaction now? When I was about to ruin her? Wait a minute, this is fishy. It’s almost like someone else is trying to sabotage her too.
Sofia thought something was off too. Right after she hung up, she realized things didn’t add up. It was almost as if someone was behind this whole mess, and her face fell. “Kellen, I want you to investigate everything that’s happened tonight, including Tessa’s case.”
Kellen nodded.
Mona and Gregory came backstage to look for Tessa, and Mona stopped one of the crew members. “Hello, Do you know where Tessa is? Tessa Reinhart?”
The crew member looked at them and answered, “Miss Reinhart went to the hospital before the show even began. You’ll have to call her if you want to see her.” And then he left.
Mona and Gregory started to panic.
The boy was on the verge of tears. “Why is Mommy in the hospital, Mona?”
Mona quickly held the boy in her arms. “It’s alright, don’t cry. Your mother will be fine. I’ll take you to her right now.”
They arrived at the hospital ten minutes later.
Chapter 1007 At the Hospital
Once they entered the ward, Gregory broke free of Mona and ran to his mother. “What happened, Mommy?” There was concern and confusion in his eyes. “Why are you wearing a mask?”
“Because I had an allergic reaction, and I don’t want to scare you,” Tessa explained softly. Gregory leaned on her and answered cutely, “I’m not scared.”
Tessa laughed. Mona approached her. “Are you alright, Tessa?”
“I’m okay. Just need to rest for a bit.” Tessa shook her head and told Mona to take a seat on the couch. Mona took a seat and sighed. “That was an eventful performance. Good thing you didn’t show up, or you would have been hurt.”
Tessa and Nicholas exchanged a look. “Did something happen?” Tessa asked. Before Mona could answer, Gregory said, “Miss Susan fell down the stage.”
The news came as a surprise for Tessa and Nicholas. Mona nodded. “Things are smelling real fishy. Reeks of a conspiracy.”
Tessa had the same thought, but she was more concerned about the performance. “What happened to the performance? Did things get out of hand?”
“Not really. The accident happened near the end of the event, so Kellen ended the performance early. It was largely fine.” Mona told them what happened at the event.
Tessa was relieved to hear the performance went mostly fine.
Nicholas was quiet, but there was an unfathomable look in his eyes. He decided to stay at the hospital for the night to look after Tessa. When it was starting to get late, he asked Mona to take the boy home.
“No. I wanna stay with Mommy.” Gregory was worried about his mother too. He held her hand, reluctant to leave.
Tessa wanted to let him stay, but Nicholas insisted otherwise. In the end, Nicholas won, and Mona took the boy home. Only the two were left in the room.
“It’s late. Get some sleep.” Nicholas helped her lay down on the bed.
Tessa lay down and moved a bit to the side. “You get in bed too.” She smiled.
Nicholas got in bed and hugged her without any questions.
Thanks to Nicholas being around, Tessa fell asleep in just a moment.
Edward returned not long after Tessa fell asleep.
Nicholas got out of bed as quietly as he could. “Let’s talk outside.” And then he left the ward.
Edward followed behind him. Once they were in the hallway, he reported, “I’ve looked into this, and the cause for the reaction is a substance in the makeup product. Someone tampered with the product.”
Nicholas’ face fell. “Did you find out who did it?”
“If the security footage is anything to go by, then only the makeup artist has come in contact with the makeup product, making her the prime suspect,” he answered. That was the result he found.
Nicholas narrowed his eyes. “Charge that makeup artist with attempted murder and get the cops to weed out the real mastermind.”
“Yes, sir.” Edward nodded.
Nicholas added, “And look into the stage lift too. The accident isn’t as it seems.”
He paid more attention to detail. The moment Mona brought that accident up, he knew something was off. If the performance hadn’t changed at all, the moment the stage lift malfunctioned would have been the time Tessa was performing. He had reason to believe the trap was set up for Tessa.
Edward had no idea about that reasoning, but he went to do his job anyway.
Susan was in the same hospital but a different ward. She was already stirring in her bed, and the agony coming from her right hand woke her up with a jolt.
Her father asked gently, “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
Chapter 1008 Chastise
“What happened to my hand?” She touched the cast on her arm, her eyes filled with anxiety. She’s worried about her career. Rorion said, “Your hand is broken, but just rest up as the doctor ordered, and you’ll heal up. It won’t affect your career.”
Even so, Susan was still enraged. She knew she could heal, but this incident still caused some damage to her arm. Then she remembered that her performance was cut off halfway through, and she held her father’s arm while bombarding him with questions. “What happened to the performance? Is everyone talking about that accident? What’s the orchestra’s stance on this?”
“Calm down, Susan,” Rorion calmed her down before he answered her questions. “The performance is over, and it’s overall a fine event. I pulled some strings and kept your accident’s reports at a minimum. I won’t let those reporters write any articles about you.”
Susan was relieved, but the whole thing still frustrated her. She was planning on making a name for herself with this performance, but that had gone down the drain. Furthermore, she thought something was off with the accident too. Kellen cares about stage safety. This shouldn’t have happened. The look in her eyes sharpened. “I don’t think this accident is a mere coincidence, Daddy. Get someone to look into it.”
Tessa’s allergy got better the next day, and she wanted to go home, but surprisingly, she saw Susan and Rorion standing together before she left. That’s odd. Why is Kathleen’s father with Susan?
And then Nicholas broke her train of thought. “What’s wrong?” Nicholas noticed her standing like a statue, so he turned around.
Tessa snapped out of it and answered, “Look. That’s Kathleen’s father, and the girl beside him is Susan, a member of our orchestra. I wonder why they’re together.”
Nicholas looked at where she was pointing, and he too thought it was odd. A frown furrowed his brows. “I’ll look into this.”
He wasn’t being paranoid. Rorion was Kathleen’s father, and he hated Tessa because of her bad blood with his daughter. Now he was awfully close to one of the members of Tessa’s orchestra, and he wondered if Rorion was up to something.
Tessa didn’t stop him, as she shared his opinion. Any mistake, no matter how little it was, was not tolerable. Her baby was on the line, and she couldn’t be too careful.
Gregory welcomed them the moment they came home. “Are you feeling better, Mommy?” He was worried about Tessa.
Tessa was touched that he cared about her so much. “I feel so much better now. So, what did you do today?” She led the boy to the couch and sat down.
Nicholas followed them, the look in his eyes gentle.
Stefania video called in the afternoon. She asked, “Miss Reinhart, I heard you were hospitalized. What happened?”
Tessa was surprised Stefania knew she was in the hospital, but she answered honestly, “It was nothing. Just had an allergic reaction. Don’t worry about it, Stefania.”
That answer only worried Stefania more. “And how did that happen?”
“Probably some changes to my skin because of the pregnancy, and the makeup products just whipped up a storm.” Tessa told her about the doctor’s diagnosis.
The frown on Stefania’s forehead deepened. She was upset to find out Tessa was performing even though she was five months pregnant. “You’re already in your second trimester. Just come back and wait until you give birth to the baby before you chase your dreams. I won’t stop you. But if you run around and get into any trouble, it’d be disastrous. Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Chapter 1009 The Cops Came She tried to convince Tessa into coming home. Tessa was in a dilemma. It was the cusp of her album’s release, and her career was just starting to flourish. If she gave that up and went back, all her efforts would have been for nothing.
Nicholas noticed her predicament. He held her in his embrace and told his mother, “I told you it’s still early. We’ll come back once it’s almost time for her to give birth. And I’m staying with her, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Stefania was infuriated that her son refused but she knew she wouldn’t be able to change his mind, so she told him to keep an eye on things and hung up.
Tessa was grateful, but she also felt guilty. She turned around and hugged Nicholas. With a muffled voice, she asked, “Do you think I’m too selfish?” Everyone’s worried about the baby, but I still want to work on my career even though it might be risky.
Nicholas could guess what she was thinking, and he patted her back. “Don’t think too much about it. You’re the best.”
At the same time, back at Sawyer Residence, Tobias saw his wife hanging up angrily. He asked, “What happened?”
“I just can’t get through to Nicholas. I was doing it for that girl’s good, but he couldn’t see it.” Stefania told her husband what they just talked about. She was worried about Tessa. After getting along with her for a while, she thought Tessa had a penchant for attracting trouble.
Tobias frowned as well, and he too was worried. “Tell Nicholas to get more bodyguards to keep a close eye on her.”
Guess that’s the only way. Stefania nodded.
…
Tessa’s allergy got a lot better the next day. Her rashes were mostly gone, save for the faint marks on her face. Even so, Nicholas took great care of her. He set everything aside and helped her with putting the salve on her face. “Does it hurt?” He gently rubbed the salve on her cheeks.
Tessa shook her head, the smile on her lips incredibly sweet.
Gregory was lying on the floor, staring at his father. The boy muttered, “Slow down, Daddy.”
Sunlight shone through the window, draping the happy family in a sheen of gold.
Right after he was done putting the salve on Tessa’s face, the butler came in. “Sir, madam, we have two police officers waiting downstairs.”
“The cops? Why are they here?” The news surprised Tessa.
Nicholas waved the butler off and told her what happened. “Edward found out why you had an allergic reaction. Someone tampered with your makeup products yesterday.”
Tessa was shaken.
Gregory flew into a rage. “Which baddie tried to do that to Mommy? You gotta catch that baddie, Daddy!”
“Don’t worry. They won’t get away that easily.” Nicholas patted Gregory’s head and went downstairs with Tessa.
Two police officers were on the couch. When they saw Nicholas, both of them stood up. “Mr. Sawyer. Mrs. Sawyer.”
Nicholas nodded and told them to sit. Then he asked them about the case.
The pudgier of the officers answered, “We’ve interrogated the makeup artist overnight, but she refused to give in. We’ve looked into her background, but she’s just a part-timer there. She has no motive to sabotage Mrs. Sawyer.”
Nicholas squinted and asked coldly, “Did you look into her accounts? Are you sure she wasn’t bribed?”
“Yes, and there’s not even a single questionable transaction to look into,” the other officer answered. He was reminded of one thing, and he said, “Since we had no proof, we couldn’t detain the makeup artist, so we let her go last night.”
Tessa had been quiet so far, but then she frowned. Hey, that’s not right.
Chapter 1010 Involving the Orchestra
Nicholas noticed her frown. “She’s probably not the culprit. There’s no reason for her to come after you, so she’s probably a scapegoat.” Nicholas held her hand.
Tessa thought he had a point. She didn’t know the makeup artist, and by all accounts, they should have no beef. Just then, a thought popped into her head. “If it’s not her, then the only suspects are the Group Six members. But do any of them have beef with me?” No, I guess not. She kept frowning. “But I don’t have any enemies on the team.”
Nicholas narrowed his eyes as he fell into his thoughts. The officers said, “Maybe someone outside of the team is trying to push the blame onto someone else.”
Nicholas thought that was possible. “Look into this further.” He gave the officers a look of silent plea. Surprised, the officers nodded and promised they would keep investigating. Then, they left.
And then only Nicholas and Tessa were the ones remaining. Tessa postulated, “If we’re looking at the potential list of suspects, then Eunice is on there, but I don’t think she’s that petty. Ruining Group Six’s first performance just to get at me? That’s not possible.”
Nicholas disagreed. You don’t know what goes on in people’s minds. You’re not a telepath. He hadn’t talked to Eunice much, but he knew she was a woman who would do anything to achieve her goals. It might be her, but I don’t have proof. He held Tessa’s hand again. “Just get some rest and don’t think about it. We’ll talk once the investigations are done.”
Guess so. I have no proof, and suspicion alone isn’t enough to convict anyone.
Gregory came downstairs. “Did you get the baddie who hurt Mommy?” He came up to his father, his eyes filled with concern.
Nicholas answered honestly, “Not yet. So, stay at home and protect Mommy, alright?”
“Don’t worry, Daddy. I will!” Gregory puffed out his chest as he got easily distracted.
Tessa wanted to laugh. Oh, he doesn’t know he’s already distracted.
They had a happy lunch, and Nicholas told the boy to stay at home with Tessa while he went to a quiet coffee shop. Sofia was already waiting for him at one of the tables when he came inside.
He took a seat, and she asked, “Why did you ask me out, Mr. Sawyer?”
“My men investigated the accident last night, and it was probably targeted at my wife,” he cut to the chase.
Sofia started getting solemn too. “Do you have proof, Mr. Sawyer?”
“This is the original performance agenda.” He handed Sofia the list of performances in order.
She skimmed through it while Nicholas continued, “If they had gone with the original plan, my wife would have been the one to perform onstage when the accident happened, but Susan took her place, so she was the one who got hurt.”
He paused for a moment. His eyes were filled with cold fury, and there was an eerie air of anger coming off him. “If my wife hadn’t gone to the hospital because of her allergy, she could have been the one who was hurt, and my child would have been killed.”
Looking at Nicholas’ grim expression, Sofia realized the gravity of the situation. Her expression turned grim as well. She didn’t want to believe someone so evil could exist in her orchestra, but the proof told her otherwise. “I’ll look into this, Mr. Sawyer, don’t worry. I won’t let the culprit run free.”
Nicholas nodded. That’s what I was waiting for. “I’ll get someone to help you out with the investigations.”