Chapter 290 - An Unexpected Message

Avaleigh felt her heart race at a hundred miles per hour. As her face began to heat up, she quickly turned her head and started chasing after her members before the man saw her blush. His words warmed her heart and his voice made her nervous.

Watching her run away, a slight smile appeared on the corner of Emerson's lips. After the love of his life married his brother, his heart felt a little lost; like it had been plucked out of his chest, never to return again. But, at that moment, as it raced rapidly, he could hear it thumping in his ears and he knew that this woman had helped him find it again. It made him excited and nervous, but most importantly, it made him feel alive. 

The loading dock was busy as the staff quickly packed up and returned to work, but Emerson stood in the middle like they didn't exist as his eyes remained focused on the woman that was running away from him. Only after she disappeared from his line of sight, did he turn around calmly and leave.

Meanwhile, not too far away, a pair of eyes were glaring at him with frustration. It was Mimi. No one else noticed, but she saw the way he looked at Avaleigh and it bothered her. Why was he looking at Avaleigh in that way? Shouldn't that gaze be left for her instead?

The man had visited her room last night and brought her breakfast this morning. He obviously liked her. Did Avaleigh steal him away?

"That little b*tch steals everything from me," she whispered to herself between gritted teeth.

Avaleigh stole her position as leader, she stole the limelight, and she stole numerous opportunities from her, but this was the last straw. She was not letting her steal Emerson as well!

She stormed into the backstage and pulled out a little bottle of medicine from her handbag. She had a habit of taking laxatives to help her lose weight and always carried it around with her. With a smirk, she slipped the bottle into her pocket and ran over to join her group members.

That little b*tch needed to be taught a lesson.

...

Meanwhile, not too far away in the Hong Kong/Macau branch of Interpol, Trisha was investigating Joel Gabriel Santos and his possible connection with Trojan.

She was working with Jackson when Trojan was arrested and she was even there on the wharf the day that the man was shot. Since that day, the man fell into a coma and had not woken up. He was being detained inside a cell and was being watched over by police 24 hours a day with daily visits from doctors, but it didn't seem like he was waking up any time soon and the doctors predicted he would have brain damage even if he woke up.

Unable to question the man himself, Trisha had no choice but to trace the man's travel records. Halia said he had traveled to Boracay to discuss business with Joel Gabriel Santos. If she was right, then there would definitely be records at the immigration office, so she immediately gave immigration a phone call to check.

Sure enough, Trisha discovered that Trojan, Officer Stanley Rong, had indeed traveled to Boracay 3 years ago. She then did some research to see if Joel Gabriel Santos was involved in any projects in Boracay during that time and discovered he was a huge advocate for the development of a casino on the island. Most importantly, the investor was an unknown partner from Hong Kong!

Was this what Halia was talking about? Was Trojan planning to work with Joel Gabriel Santos to build a casino on Boracay? Did he discover how lucrative the casino business was and how easy it was to launder money after cooperating with Emma Wu?

Trisha checked the time and realized it was dinner time. Unwilling to leave her work, she walked into the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee; that would be her dinner for the night. She then returned to her computer and continued to follow the lead she found.

As she took a sip of her coffee and scrolled through an article on Joel Gabriel Santos, she suddenly paused on one particular article. Boracay was shut for rehabilitation and after it was reopened, the government decided to place a ban on the development of casinos on the island; tourism was having a negative impact on the environment and they needed to control it to protect the island's natural beauty and ecosystem. So, what happened to the cooperation between the two men?

Filled with curiosity, Trisha continued to click through one article after another. Finally, her eyes opened wide when she saw an article from last year - Joel Gabriel Santos had opened a resort on the island! Since he couldn't open a casino with Trojan, did they opt for the next best thing? If these two men were connected to the organization, was the resort a cover for something much darker?

With this thought, she decided to pick up her phone and speak to Halia about what she discovered. But, just as she picked up her phone, she noticed she had received a message. Her phone was on silent and she had not checked it for a while, so she didn't realize someone had tried to contact her.

She clicked on the message, opened it up, and froze. 

It was a message from Oliver...

It had almost been a month since she left London and returned to Hong Kong on her own. But, as much as she tried, she struggled to forget this man. Why was he suddenly contacting her?

[Hi Trish, have you been well? I miss you] the message read.

Trisha felt her eyes tear up a little. When she left the man, she told herself it was goodbye forever, but why was this man messaging her all of a sudden. Didn't he get the hint when she left without a word? 

Trisha stared at the message and her hands trembled a little as she glanced at the delete button. She wanted to reply to his message, she wanted to tell him that she missed him too, but she knew things would never end between them if she did, so she closed her eyes, pressed delete, and pretended she never saw the message...