Chapter 243 - Awkward Encounter

Halia hurried down the corridor to where the bedrooms and bathrooms were.

Roy's apartment was quite big, so there was plenty of space in the main entertaining areas for everyone to fit. This included the kitchen, the living room, the balcony, and even an indoor pool area. Thus, the area around the bedrooms was relatively quiet.

As Halia walked down the corridor, she saw four closed doors. Obviously, three of them were bedrooms and one was a bathroom. Since there was only one bathroom, there was a small line outside. 

However, Halia's real aim wasn't the bathroom. She had deliberately spilled the drink on herself so she had an excuse to come down this corridor and enter the bedrooms.

In this modern age of technology, everyone waiting outside the bathroom was naturally focused on the phones in their hands. No one noticed as Halia walked past them and suspiciously tried to open one of the bedroom doors instead of joining the back of the queue. Unfortunately, the first door she tried was locked. 

With a frown, she quickly tried to open the next one. Still, no one noticed her.

This time, as she turned the handle, it clicked and opened.

Halia's heart sped up with excitement as she quickly checked that the coast was clear. She had to find something before she was discovered.

As soon as she stepped inside, Halia turned on the flashlight on her phone and realized she was standing inside Roy's study room. "Yes!" she cheered on the inside. This was exactly the room she was after. If any evidence was to be found, it was bound to be in here, right?

She quickly scurried over to the desk and started searching through the man's drawers. 

Blank paper, blank envelopes, letters, pens...

...nothing seemed suspicious.  

This man was careful. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten away with his fraudulent activities for so many years. Even in his own home, he didn't leave evidence lying around because he often had guests. Halia sighed with frustration.

At that moment, she received a message from Sean, "The fraud department checked the photos you sent of the receipts. Although they look suspicious, all the transactions were properly signed and dated by Donald Qian or they were purchased using his credit cards. We need evidence that the money actually ended up in Roy's hands or that he spent it in some way. Even if we want to charge him for overbilling, we need evidence that he was doing something else during the time that he billed Mr. Qian for his services."

Halia looked around the study room helplessly. There was nothing in this room that could prove any of that. Perhaps, Roy kept this important information somewhere else.

"I'll see what I can find," she replied to Sean.

Eventually, Halia stepped out of the study room with disappointment and went to try the last room. The line outside the bathroom had moved a little, but a few new faces had joined the queue. As like before, everyone still had their eyes focused on their phones, so no one noticed her step out of the study room at all.

Halia let her guard down and walked right up to the last room without double-checking her surroundings. This time, as soon as she grabbed onto the handle, a familiar voice asked, "Are you looking for something?"

Halia jumped a little in surprise. The voice sounded familiar.

She slowly turned around awkwardly and a tall, handsome man came into view.

It was her boss: Morton Meng!

Halia quickly lowered her head, pointed to her wet dress and said, "I spilled a drink on my dress and I'm trying to find another bathroom because the line's too long." 

Morton looked at the woman in front of him. Who was she? He had never seen her before.

"The bedroom doors are locked," he said as he leaned over to turn the handle, demonstrating that it couldn't be opened.

Morton looked the woman up and down. Normally, he would just ignore someone like this. He only came to these parties to show Roy some face but he didn't care about socializing or networking. But, the woman looked so vulnerable in her wet dress, he couldn't just leave her there like that. So, he sighed and decided to help her even though he didn't know her. He quickly took off his jacket and covered her shoulders. "You must be cold," he said.

Halia held onto the jacket and nodded her head awkwardly, "Yes, thank you."

She then shuffled towards the line outside the bathroom. "Since the rooms are locked, I guess I have no choice but to line up," she said, hoping the man would leave after she said that.

But, to her surprise, Morton pressed down on her shoulders and said, "Wait for me here. I'll go ask Roy for the keys. Both these bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms you can use."

Halia kept her head down and nodded in surprise. Just as she thought she was going home empty-handed, an opportunity suddenly presented itself to her. If she could get into the bedrooms, perhaps she'd find something in there.

Morton quickly found Roy mingling amongst his guests and tapped on his shoulder. "Give me the keys to your bedroom," he demanded straightforwardly.

Roy looked at his boss with a sleazy smile. He usually kept his bedrooms locked in case his guests needed some 'privacy'. "I have protection in the drawers, make sure to clean up after yourself," he laughed as he handed the keys over. "By the way, don't..." 

Morton thought Roy had more dirty things to say, so he turned around before the man finished his sentence and hurried back to look for Halia.

"...don't use the guest bedroom..."  Roy screamed out across the room, hoping that Morton heard him.

Unfortunately, the music was too loud and Morton had already wandered too far.

Soon, Morton returned to Halia's side with the keys and quickly went to open one of the rooms.

"Thank you," Halia said quietly as the door unlocked.

Morton simply smiled without a word.

But, as soon as the two of them stepped into the dark room, there was a loud scream. Someone quickly turned on a bedside lamp and looked at Halia and Morton in horror. It was a n.a.k.e.d man and woman trying desperately to cover themselves with the sheets of a bed.

"We took this room already. Didn't Roy tell you? Go next door," the woman squealed.

Halia opened her eyes wide in shock and immediately turned away. "I'm sorry," she apologized as she walked back out. Morton quickly followed behind her.

"Lock the door behind you," the man yelled.

As soon as Morton locked the door back up, he looked into Halia's eyes properly for the first time. There was a sense of familiarity to her. Suddenly, the coldness on his face melted away and he began to laugh.

Halia also found herself laughing. What an awkward and unexpected encounter.