Chapter 285 - 285 The Fake

285 The Fake

The worker who was tasked to fetch the ledger by Hendrix was now looking as though he was in a great dilemma. He pulled the drawer, but he kept on staring inside without even pretending to rummage through the files.

Hendrix furrowed his brows and restlessly mumbled in his head, ‘Come on! What’s taking him so long? He isn’t scared of the King, is he?’

That worker definitely looked scared. Hendrix suddenly got furious at that worker who was frozen in place because of that simple threat from the King.

‘Our alpha is more dangerous than the King!’ Hendrix was looking at that worker’s back and was screaming in his head. ‘If he gets an air that the King got his hands on our misconduct, then we are all as good as dead.’

And although that staff wasn’t obviously able to hear his thoughts, Hendrix kept on screaming in his head, ‘You better not give the real file to the King, you idiot!’

On the other hand, it was very apparent to Everard that they had indeed maintained a fake file for situations like this. However, he didn’t interfere with that worker’s visible ride on the rollercoaster of dilemma. Instead, he patiently waited to see which file that worker would hand over to him.

Each second felt like an hour to all the workers present in the room. Hendrix was getting impatient by the second because he could see that it was only making the King suspect them even more.

And since that man was taking too long, Hendrix sprinted toward that drawer himself and pushed that worker aside. “Why were you taking so long to fetch the file that is right in front of your eyes?” he shouted.

He then tried to cover up that awkwardness by nervously laughing and saying to the King, “He is relatively new here. And I think he got a little nervous since we don’t normally get a chance to be in the presence of Your Majesty.”

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Hendrix quickly grabbed the fake ledger and then walked toward the King while saying, “Please excuse him for his behavior and for making you wait this long.”

Everard waved his hand and replied with a mirthless smile on his face, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. I too get nervous from time to time when I enter my new study room. I am also new to my position.” He looked at that worker who had turned pale with fear and said, “So, I understand his nervousness.”

Everard took the file from the nobleman and then opened it right there.

The nobleman was expecting that the King would take the ledger with him and leave. And he was thinking of running to the alpha’s manor and informing him about the sudden visit from the King.

However, it looked like the King was going to take his sweet time and look at the file then and there.

Hendrix nervously looked out of the door and thought to himself, ‘I hope that William has that common sense in him. I hope he sent someone to inform the alpha about this. Or else, we will be doomed if the King catches on to our deceits and demands for the real file.’

Just when Hendrix was thinking about William, he appeared in view while being followed by a maid.

William saw that the King was busy with the ledger. So, he looked at Hendrix and then gave a nod as if to say something.

Hendrix understood that he had indeed sent someone to fetch the alpha, and he sighed in relief.

Everard took the glass of water that the maid offered to him. He drank the whole glass in one go and then began flipping through the pages of that file.

The records showed that the sales were indeed very low and that the company wasn’t earning much profit. Everard was already sure that he was looking at the fake ledger. However, he still kept on flipping through the pages just to give stress to all the liars. He even started flipping the pages angrily so as to stress them out of their minds.

His plan was to throw the file at Hendrix in the end and then demand the real file. If they showed their reluctance, he was planning to ransack the room and take all the important documents back with him.

He wanted to show everyone that the alpha wasn’t as nice as he looked. After all, Everard had seen that cunning side of Romulus before his father passed away. And no matter how much Romulus tried to mend his image in front of Everard, the King wasn’t buying it.

As per his plan, Everard suddenly threw that ledger right at Lord Hendrix and startled him to his core. He then glared at that man with his yellow eyes and asked in a chilling voice, “Didn’t I tell you that I would seal this distillery if you tried to dupe me? And yet, you try to do the exact thing?”

Hendrix tried to act as if he didn’t know what the King was talking about. And then he said while playing the fool, “But that is the real ledger, Your Majesty. Why would we try to deceive the King? We don’t want to get labeled as the crown’s enemies, Your Majesty. We would never deceive you.”

Everard simply ignored that man and snapped his fingers at the previous worker who was too scared to give him any file. Then he asked that man, “I think you know where the real file is stored. Why don’t you do us a favor and save my men from the trouble of searching it?”

That worker looked at Hendrix with questioning eyes.

Hendrix stood in front of that man and once again tried to reason with the King, “Your Majesty, please believe me when I–”

“Shut your mouth!” Everard snapped this time and got up on his feet. He clapped his hands and then asked in a loud voice, “Guards, tear this place down and bring me the real ledger of this company.”

The royal guards wasted no time in entering that small room. And despite the futile attempts of Lord Hendrix to stop all the guards by himself, they all started to open all the drawers and ransack the place.

Everard sat back down on his chair and watched the place being torn apart.

Jerome, on the other hand, was watching everything in silence. He wanted to stop the King from vandalizing the place like that. It was owned by one of the alphas, and although it might not have been Everard’s intention, Jerome feared that all the other alphas would accuse him of targeting them.

However, since the guards came in so fast and acted on the King’s order right away, Jerome kept silent, hoping that the issue wouldn’t get bigger than it looked.

While searching the place, one of the royal guard’s eyes fell on a small hole that was on the wall. He went there to examine it, to the horror of Hendrix, and quickly noticed that it was a keyhole. He quickly turned to look at the King and said while pointing, “Your Majesty, there’s a–”

Right at that moment, they all heard a cold greeting from outside the room, “Your Majesty! To what do I owe this pleasure?”