Billionaire And His Son Betrayed Me: Brothers Back Me Up novel Chapter 280

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Chapter 280

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Joshua’s eyes grew cold as he listened to Richard. His icy gaze locked onto Richard, the message clear: “Do you have a death wish?” Joshua thought.

The air between them crackled with tension, a silent standoff brewing–so intense it made the busted artifact seem trivial by comparison.

Xylia was taken aback when Richard suddenly made such a remark—especially since it was so pointed.

Anyone could see his words were aimed directly at Joshua.

‘Were things awkward when these two met earlier?‘ Xylia wondered.

Xylia tightened her grip on Joshua’s hand, turning to Richard and said, “He had something urgent to take care of just now, but he reported it before leaving.”

She shook her phone slightly, showing that there was a record to prove it.

“Honestly, that’s not the issue here. What really matters is the damaged artifact,” Xylia said, redirecting the conversation.

Xylia deliberately steered the discussion away from the confrontation and back to the real problem.

Joshua finally broke his icy stare, stepped up beside Xylia, and shielded her from Richard–making it clear he wasn’t letting Richard get anywhere near her.

The curator stood there, glaring at the ruined garment. The longer he stared at the huge tear, the grimmer his expression became, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hide the panic in his eyes.

“Pull up the surveillance footage now! I want to know who dared mess with the museum’s collection!” the curator snapped.

The staffer shuffled nervously behind the curator. “Curator, don’t you remember? The cameras in this hall broke last week–they still haven’t been fixed.”

“Then pull up the surveillance from outside! I want to see exactly who walked in today!” the curator snapped.

The staff member gulped and rushed off to carry out the command.

The curator’s frown was so deep it looked like he could pinch a fly between his brows. He glanced over at Xylia and the others, fixing his gaze on Joshua.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Garcia. I’ll make sure you get the answers you deserve, but I’ll need your full cooperation with the investigation,” the curator said.

Joshua nodded. “Of course, Curator. We’ll do whatever it takes to help.”

The police showed up soon.

8:41 Thu, Sep 25 B·

Chapter 280

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While the cops were checking out the scene, Xylia leaned in and quietly asked Joshua, “Hey, you know the curator, right?”

Joshua leaned in, his voice nearly inaudible by her ear. “The Garcia Group put money into this museum.”

Xylia’s eyes lit up. ‘So that’s the connection!‘ she realized.

After thinking for a bit, Xylia couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of call did you get just now? You were gone for ages!”

She deliberately put on a pouty tone, half complaining, half playfully accusing him of leaving her alone too long.

Joshua immediately picked up on it, pulled her close, and murmured softly, “Sorry about that. My assistant called–something went wrong with that project I’m managing.”

“I’m the one in charge, and my dad doesn’t know the details, so I had to handle it myself. It took longer than I thought. I’m sorry for making you worry and leaving you here alone.”

Xylia couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Joshua had been sticking by her side all this time, barely even glancing at his work for the Garcia Group.

Feeling a bit bad about it, she looked up at him and said softly, “Maybe you should go back to work at the company? I don’t want you to fall behind because of me.”

Joshua frowned slightly, about to say something, when the cops wrapped up their investigation.

A police officer stepped up to Xylia and asked, “The cameras caught you both entering the exhibit. When you were inside, was that garment still in one piece, or did you notice any damage?”

Joshua walked in with Xylia, barely able to tear his eyes away from her for even a second.

‘When she gets all serious and focused, she just blows me away,‘ Joshua thought, too mesmerized by Xylia to spare a glance at any of those artifacts.

He couldn’t take his eyes off Xylia, leaving it to her to answer the cop’s question.

Xylia nodded confidently. “It was in perfect condition from the moment I walked in until I left.”

The cop frowned, clearly skeptical. “Are you sure about that?”

“Positive,” Xylia replied without hesitation.

Xylia was so sure because she’d been focused on that garment for most of the night.

It had inspired her, so she’d been paying extra close attention to it.

With her photographic memory, there was no way she could’ve gotten it wrong.

The cop looked stumped.

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“Footage from the outside cameras shows you were the last person to leave. No one else went in after you. If that garment was still intact when you headed out, the timeline just doesn’t make sense,” the cop pressed.

“What’s the problem here?” Richard chimed in, sounding almost bored.

His tone was nonchalant, like he couldn’t care less about the whole mess.

“Didn’t that staff guy head in after her?” Richard asked, nodding toward the staffer.

He jerked his thumb lazily in the direction of the nervous employee standing behind the curator.

The staffer blurted out, “This was clearly deliberate! I work here–why would I ever damage the museum’s artifacts?”

“You never know,” Richard replied, sounding casual. “Some folks have some pretty dark motives. If you harbor a grudge against the curator, it’s not out of the question you’d do something like this.”

The staffer’s face flushed scarlet. “Nonsense!” he snapped.

No point in arguing here–the cops just went ahead and started grilling everyone one by one, hunting for clues.

Richard lingered nearby with Xylia and Joshua, standing off to the side.

Joshua stepped forward, planting himself squarely between Richard and Xylia, blocking Richard’s view of her completely.

The cops acted fast–before anyone knew it, they’d already found the tool used to mess up the artifact and pinned the blame squarely on the staffer as the culprit.

As the cops escorted the staffer out, he glanced back at Xylia, Joshua, and Richard, his eyes full of bitterness- like he just couldn’t swallow what had happened.

After all the chaos, the crowd finally cleared out.

The curator walked over to Xylia, looking genuinely apologetic.

“I’m truly sorry for all the trouble you never should’ve had to deal with. As a small gesture from the museum, please accept this limited collector’s edition of our collection book,” the curator said.

Xylia accepted the hefty volume from the curator with a grateful nod.

The book was thick, packed with images of the museum’s most classic outfits.

Xylia flashed the curator a grateful smile, then headed out of the museum hand in hand with Joshua.

All things considered, it wasn’t a wasted trip after all.

She was in high spirits now–the excitement had fully replaced any lingering anger from being wrongly

accused.

8:41 Thu, Sep 25 B…

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