The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 496

496 /520

From their brief interactions, Chester had picked up on Suzie's personality. If he offered to do it for free, her pride would likely make her reject the help altogether. Plus, this was the perfect excuse to spend more time with her—he wasn't about to pass that up.

Suzie managed a faint, strained smile. "I haven't forgotten. Once this is all over, I'll definitely treat you. By the way, what brings you here?"

"A buddy of mine just transferred to this precinct," Chester said smoothly. "I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd drop by. I'm actually taking him out for a steak dinner tonight to celebrate. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have bumped into you."

Unsure of what to say, Suzie offered a stiff, polite nod.

Suddenly, Chester's eyes lit up as if remembering something. "Oh, speaking of—I just flew back yesterday, and the moment I turned my phone on, the news was absolutely everywhere. Did you expose the Chaim Cosmetic Clinic? The director jumped off a building. It's a massive scandal."

Suzie shook her head, frowning slightly. "It wasn't me. It's actually really bizarre. When I saw Suzanne Baird looking like that at the mall, I thought it was incredibly shady. I was planning on compiling the evidence I recorded to expose them, but before I even had the chance, the news broke. And the crazy part is, the article used Suzanne's case as the primary example in their exposé."

Chester looked thoroughly confused. He thought for a moment before pressing, "What about the other headline? The one claiming the 'mystery woman' Jamie took to the gala was actually that plastic surgery girl, Suzanne? The article painted him as some superficial creep."

He furrowed his brow, leaning in slightly. "What's even weirder is that I tried calling him yesterday, and he sent me to voicemail. I texted him to ask why his PR team wasn't burying the story. He replied saying someone was just trying to make him look bad, and he was fine with letting them have their fun. Let me tell you, that is wildly out of character for him. Normally, if someone tried a stunt like that, his legal team would be suing them into oblivion..."