The Heiress’ Return: Six Brothers at Her Beck and Call (Wynter Quinnell) novel Chapter 1925

Wynter ruffled Wolf's hair. "Why are you always thinking about stirring things up?"

Wolf pouted and muttered, "Life's too boring if I don't stir things up."

Wynter chuckled. "Just be patient for now. When something comes our way, it won't be too late to act. Let's head out first."

Outside the study, Antoine was listening to Phineas' explanation about the company's situation. It sounded almost too good to be true, so he asked, "Phineas, what's that company's name?"

Phineas blurted out, "Stellar Corporation."

Antoine nodded, pulled out his phone, and looked up the company. Sure enough, there was such a company in Havenia.

However, Antoine's brows furrowed when he saw the registration date. "Phineas, this company of yours has only been around for a few months. I don't have a good feeling about this."

Phineas smiled. "Uncle Antoine, you're overthinking it. The company not only pays us on time every month but also organizes team-building activities every week.

"In fact, there's another one coming up in a couple of days. Our boss thinks we've already visited every corner of Havenia, so he's planning to take us abroad this time. Round-trip expenses are all covered by the company."

Just then, Wynter walked out and heard Phineas. She quickly asked with a puzzled look, "How does your boss earn money, then?"

Phineas turned to look at Wynter. "I don't know, but our boss says he's got plenty of money and just wants us to be happy at work. He's not interested in money."

Wynter rested her chin on her hand. "Interesting. How many people does your company have now?"

"We've got around 30 or 40 people already."

At that answer, Wynter's eyes darkened slightly. "Do most of them know how to use computers? Or are they computer science graduates?"

Phineas' eyes widened. "How did you know? Wait, have you heard about our company before?"

"No." Wynter shook her head. "I've already guessed what your boss is trying to do."

She could tell Antoine genuinely cared about Phineas, so she didn't hold back. "You'd better quit right now, or it'll be too late for regrets."

Phineas looked confused. "Why would I quit? The company's great. We make good money, and we're not treated like machines."

Wynter's lips parted calmly as she replied, "Because he's going to sell you off. No boss wouldn't want to make money. The reason he's treating you all so well is to lower your guard. Once the time is right, he'll traffic all of you. You need to understand that humans have a greater value than cold hard cash."

Hearing that, Phineas shook his head vehemently. "No way. There are so many people in the company. How could he possibly traffic all of us?"

Hearing Wynter echo the suspicion he'd had, Antoine quickly tried to convince him. "Ms. Quinnell said exactly what I was thinking. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

"If he truly didn't care about making money, he could have just started a company and hired his own friends and family. Why bother recruiting strangers? That's just wasting his time and effort."

Phineas sank into thought after hearing Antoine's words. A moment later, he looked up and said, "But Uncle Antoine, I really haven't sensed anything wrong."

Antoine gripped his hand. "You silly child, why would I lie to you?"

Phineas still felt uncertain.

That was when Wynter spoke again. "How about this? I'll go to the company with you tomorrow. Just say I'm a friend you're recommending. If I'm right, their HR department will take me in without hesitation."

Phineas nodded. "Alright, I'll bring you with me tomorrow. I'm heading back now."

His mind was now filled with everything Wynter and Antoine had just said. After all, no one wanted to believe that the job they had been doing for the past two months was a lie. It was also true that the money had been deposited into his account.

After Phineas left, Antoine's smile faded. "Ms. Quinnell, it seems he doesn't believe us."

Wynter lifted her eyelids slightly. "It's fine. I'll go with him tomorrow. The worst-case scenario is we'll tear that company down."

Antoine said solemnly, "Thank you, Ms. Quinnell."

Just as Wynter was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to look at him. "Oh, right. Mr. Chamberlain, there's something I need help with."

She stepped a bit closer. "I'll send you a hotel's name and a photo. Send someone to keep an eye on the person in the photo for me."

Antoine nodded. "Understood, Ms. Quinnell."

"Then, we'll be leaving now." With that, Wynter turned and walked toward the door.

Wolf waved goodbye as well. "Bye-bye, Mr. Antoine!"

Just as they stepped outside, light rain began to fall. Wynter glanced up and murmured, "It's raining… I have a bad feeling about this."

On the way back, Wynter gazed out the window. Suddenly, she noticed a police cordon ahead. Her instincts told her to get out and see what was going on, but after a moment's thought, she gave up on the idea. After all, this was Havenia, not the mainland.

"Take a detour! Something had happened up ahead!" a police officer shouted.

So, the driver turned around and took a different route. As they passed, Wynter caught a glimpse of a white cloth covering something on the ground. She shook her head. Anything covered by a white cloth could only be one thing—a body.

...

Meanwhile, a police officer stood at the edge of the rooftop, rain dripping down his uniform. He looked down at the body covered with a white sheet. The forensic team was busy taking photos and collecting evidence.

He let out a long sigh before he heard a voice addressing him. "Captain Balfour, the deceased is Denzil Bodhi. He was 30 years old and an IT programmer at a local company."

A fellow officer handed him a report. "He jumped from the 28th floor and died instantly. We found a suicide note in his apartment. Based on the scene, we've ruled out foul play."

Robbie Balfour took the file. Rain had already started to soak the pages. He flipped to the first one and saw a young face—Denzil's ID photo. He wore glasses and had a shy smile.

"What did the note say?" Balfour asked quietly.

The officer sighed. "It contained mostly an apology to his parents. He said he felt he had failed them after all their years of raising him. He also wrote that he'd been scammed by an online gambling platform called Infernia. He had lost all his savings, racked up a mountain of debt, and saw no way out."

Robbie furrowed his brows. This was already the fifth suicide linked to online gambling this month.

Back at the police station, Robbie headed straight for the conference room. The cybercrime unit was already inside, and the projector displayed a screenshot of the Infernia platform's homepage.

"We've been tracking this platform for a while now," one of the cybercrime leads began. "The servers are hosted overseas, but it targets users in Havenia. Based on our scans, it handles over ten million dollars in daily transactions."

Robbie nodded and opened Denzil's bank statements. In just one month, there were 102 transfers, ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. The total transferred was 1.34 million dollars.

"Where did all that money go?" Robbie asked.

A cyber officer pulled out a complicated flowchart of financial transactions. "After multiple layers of transfers and laundering, most of it ended up in accounts owned by offshore empty companies. But interestingly, some of the money remained in Havenia."

Robbie's eyes lit up. "Who received it?"

The cyber officer shook his head. "A few front companies. Their registered owners used fake resident IDs, so we can't trace any real identifying information."

Just then, Robbie's phone rang. He gestured for the others to continue without him, then stepped out of the conference room and pressed the answer button.

The voice on the other end spoke first. "Captain Balfour?"

Robbie asked solemnly, "Who's this?"

The caller chuckled. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that I'd like to befriend you, Captain Balfour."

Robbie paused. "Friends?"

The caller continued, "Of course. There have been quite a few cases lately, so you must be exhausted. I've prepared a little reward for you."

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