Chapter 266

"Seriously?"

"I haven't found the person I'm looking for, and now this mess happens. Are you telling me to just ignore it?"

"Or maybe I wasn't clear enough before."

When the boss came out, William stayed completely calm, meeting his gaze without flinching.

"I just think you shouldn't handle things so harshly."

"And besides, she went missing here. How is that our fault? We can't keep an eye on everyone."

Their point was that if things had stayed as they were before, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But William was being overly aggressive.

He didn't respect them at all, so now they had to show their own stance.

"Although I don't know what you're thinking, I remind you to consider the consequences of your actions."

"If you don't care about the consequences, then be prepared to pay the price."

William and his entourage made a grand entrance and left just as grandly.

Watching him leave, the boss slammed the table in anger.

"This William is too much."

"His woman just came here for a meal and went missing. Now he wants us to pay the price?"

"We've already cooperated with the surveillance investigation."

"But boss, apart from Christina, nothing else seems to have happened. If this were just a regular incident, it would be fine."

"But I'm afraid it might drag our restaurant into it, which wouldn't be good," one of his subordinates whispered.

The boss frowned deeply at this.

"How would I know?"

"Whatever grudges they have, they should resolve them themselves. Why come to me? I can only handle some minor issues."

He remained serious, while the others looked cautious.

After leaving, William headed straight to the relevant departments.

But the investigation there yielded no results.

When Parker received the news, his expression turned grim.

"I knew William would investigate, but I didn't expect him to be so reckless."

"Yeah, he's not like the person we saw before."

"I have a feeling he's doing this on purpose."

"Stop talking. We've already prepared for this, and it's been so long. He definitely won't find anything."

They were all confident.

Meanwhile, Christina and the Duke analyzed the situation.

The Duke told Christina that if she wanted to expose Mira, she needed to gather all the evidence first.

In other words, she had to collect evidence before returning.

"In a foreign country, gathering evidence seems difficult, and my identity is awkward."

Going through official channels or other means wasn't suitable for Christina, and she didn't even have a phone.

"Right, I should contact William first."

The Duke was surprised to hear this. He knew Christina took these matters seriously, but he didn't expect her to be so thorough.

He sighed and lent his phone to Christina.

William had searched everywhere but couldn't find Christina. He was worried sick and furious, but he had no choice but to keep looking.

Just then, he got an overseas call. He thought it was the kidnappers.

He was ready to negotiate, but when he answered, he heard Christina's calm voice.

"Stop looking for me. I'm safe for now, but you need to keep up the pretense of searching."

Given their history, Christina's tone towards William was frosty.

She called to reassure Harper, not wanting him to worry.

Christina had woken up underwater thinking of Harper. As a mother and someone who had been reborn, she couldn't die again because of these circumstances.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Do you need me to send someone to get you?"

"What happened before? Tell me, and I'll handle it."

William's barrage of questions made Christina frown in annoyance.

"No need."

"I'm safe for now. Just tell Harper I'm fine and will return on time."

"Don't worry about anything else."

With that, Christina hung up before William could respond.

The Duke, puzzled, asked, "If you have no feelings for William, why tell him this?"

Christina sighed. The events of her past life were still fresh in her mind. Although William had changed in some ways, this time was different.

"I don't know how to explain it, and I don't think it's worth discussing."

"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't push. I trust you have your reasons."

"Let's proceed as you suggested."

The Duke sent his men to investigate. Given their clean records, they quickly uncovered the details.

"Did you expect Parker to do this?"

"I knew Parker had issues, but I didn't think he'd be so despicable."

The Duke sighed.

"Didn't you say it yourself? The human heart is the hardest to predict. This situation isn't uncommon."

"But I'm curious, how do you plan to retaliate? These pieces of evidence alone aren't enough."

"Let me come up with a plan."

"You mean finding evidence of their kidnapping and throwing me into the sea."

"I think it's not that simple. Parker can be stupid but also decisive and smart. Just investigating like this might not work."

The Duke waved his hand dismissively.

"Other methods might not work, but don't you trust my abilities?"

"I've always thought I was competent enough not to fail at this."

Christina sighed.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just think your method might not work here."

"How do you know if you don't try? Leave it to me, and you'll see the results."

With that, the Duke instructed his men, and the room fell silent again.

"Since the plan is in motion, why not relax a bit? You've been tense since you got off the ship, frowning all the time."

Christina looked puzzled.

"Is it that obvious? I thought I was relaxed."

"Why don't you check the mirror yourself?" The Duke pointed to a mirror in the corner.