Chapter 6
The phone rang again.
Brook answered it.
A panicked voice came through from his friend: “Brook, something’s happened to Erica. The Marshall family’s villa caught fire last night, and by the time anyone noticed, it was already reduced to rubble.”
“Erica was still inside and never came out…”
“The police said… she might not be alive anymore…”
Brook sneered upon hearing the news. “Don’t think I don’t know what she’s up to. Tell Erica to give up on that idea.”
Before his friend could say anything else, Brook hung up the phone.
To avoid further trouble, he simply turned off his phone.
Just as he put the phone away, Alex’s phone rang
It was the same friend calling.
Alex was about to answer when Brook immediately cut him off.
“Erica’s just making a scene again. Don’t pay attention to her. Janis’s award ceremony is more important.”
Alex frowned. “What does she want now?”
“What else? Stirring up trouble, trying to make us come back.”
“She doesn’t want us to watch Janis get her award. She just wants to make Janis upset.”
Alex frowned even more deeply, then shut off his phone. “She’s becoming more and more unreasonable.”
“Erica is too arrogant. This time, we really need to teach her a lesson.”
Brook sneered. “Exactly.”
The applause was deafening on stage. Brook and Alex also clapped, their eyes fixed on Janis as she stood gracefully in the spotlight.
Janis smiled sweetly and looked at them in the audience.
“To receive this award, I want to thank two people,” she said, her voice full of gratitude.
‘My senior and my brother.”
Chapero
“If it weren’t for them, there wouldn’t be a ‘me‘ today.”
“Thank you both.”
Brook and Alex’s faces softened, both wearing expressions of gentle affection.
Their eyes were locked on Janis, as though she was the only thing in the world that mattered.
The award ceremony ended successfully.
To celebrate Janis’s victory, Brook and Alex took her on a shopping vacation.
On the way to the resort, Janis asked about the phone call during the ceremony.
“Did my sister call you? I thought I heard her name before I went on stage.‘
“Don’t worry about her. She’s trying to pull the same old trick, setting a fire to get attention,” Brook replied dismissively.
“Don’t say that, senior,” Janis said softly in defense. “Sister just wants to get your attention. She doesn’t mean any harm.”
“It’s all my fault. If you two weren’t trying to stay with me, she wouldn’t have come up with such a ridiculous plan…”
“Why don’t we go back and check on her?” she suggested, her voice full of concern.
“If she’s angry and says something mean to me, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.”
Janis looked up at them, her eyes glistening with tears, like a meek kitten who had been wronged.
Brook pulled Janis into his arms, his heart aching for her. “Janis, you’re too kind. That’s why she keeps bullying you.”
Alex nodded in agreement.
“Janis, don’t blame yourself. It’s Erica who’s too overbearing and cruel.”
Just as Alex finished speaking, his phone rang.
The caller identified themselves as a New York police officer, asking if Alex was a relative of Erica.
Before Alex could respond, Brook scoffed. “Police? Erica has some nerve, trying to trick us by pretending to be the police.”
The voice on the phone continued: “This is the New York City Police Department. We received a report in the
early morning. A fire broke out in one of the villas in the southern part of the city.”
“Surveillance footage shows that Miss Erica returned to the villa, but she never came out until
the house was completely burned down.”
“Due to the severity of the fire, only a few items were recovered, which may belong to Miss Erica.”
Brook’s expression grew even more mocking. “Faking her own death? Tell Erica this trick won’t work. She should give up on that idea.”
Brook took Alex’s phone and added the number to his blacklist.
Someone like Erica, causing trouble all the time–how could she possibly die so easily?
A private jet landed on a picturesque island, with a mild and pleasant climate.
This island was privately owned by Brook.
Everything on the island was arranged according to Janis’s preferences.
