I bit down on my lip. How could I have forgotten about Mrs. Windsor? Even though I’d been focusing on Chloe, her mother was arguably the more dangerous of the two. Mrs. Windsor loved her daughter more than anything and kept her from getting the help she needed, knowingly endangering the people around her.


    With her son’s help, Mrs. Windsor had a good chance of staying out of jail. And maybe that was why Hana hadn’t tried to help Chloe. She was going to use all her resources to get her sister out of jail.


    Then, if Madeline was free, she would stop at nothing to get Chloe out of jail.


    *Olivia*


    Ava reacted differently to the news that Felix was focusing all his energy, trying to keep his mother out of jail than me.


    “Oh, that’s a relief,” she said, and her entire body slumped. “I’m happy that Felix isn’t trying to get his sister out of jail.”


    My friend smiled at me, and my panic lessened slightly. Maybe I was worrying too much. It wouldn’t be the first time.


    I looked at Richard. “Thank you for doing that, Richard. Knowing that we have you there to watch over Sarah, her brother, and Kelly and keeping an eye on things is such a relief.”


    Richard gestured to Alexander. “He was the one to send me there, and I’m doing it on his payroll. Thank Alexander, not me.‘


    ”


    A hot blush spread across my face as I slowly turned to Alexander.


    0.00%


    10:06


    288 Vouchers


    stomach swooped. Embarrassment washed <i>at </i>I didn’t have to interact with him in front of all


    When our eyes met, my over me. I wished


    of our friends. Especially since our rtionship was so new andplicated. I barely knew where we stood when we were alone, and I didn’t want to have to figure out how to act around him in front of an audience.


    My eyes shot down to his almost empty ss of water. I abruptly stood from the table. Everyone else looked at me curiously, but Alexander was barely suppressing a smirk. Like usual, I ignored him and ran to the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge for him. When I came back, everyone was still staring at me. I wished that they could just talk amongst themselves instead of watching Alexander and me.


    “Here’s a beer for you, boss” I muttered and set the cold drink in front of him. “As a, um, thank you for always helping us with our investigations.”


    I blushed even more this time. Getting him a drink had been a mistake. It was a lousy way to thank him for all the ways he had quietly helped me while asking for nothing in return. But what could I give him? What did you give a man who had everything?


    Alexander frowned down at the beer. “I don’t drink light beer,” he said.


    An awkward feeling settled over the room. My neck burned, and I tried to think of something to say to smooth over the weird tension I helped create. Without looking at anyone, I picked up the beer and put it in front of me even though I didn’t like light beer either.


    Across the table, Ava was staring at us with her head slightly tilted like we were a difficult math equation that she was trying to figure out.


    After another strange moment passed, everyone began to eat again, but it wasn’t the same as before. It was like someone had taken a knife to the rxed atmosphere of the room and chopped it up.


    36.67%


    10:06 T


    288 Vouchers


    Ava tried her best to save her dinner party, but every conversation topic that she brought up fizzled out quickly. I tried to join in to help my friend, but the delicious food now felt like sand in my mouth. Every time it felt like Alexander and I took a step forward in our rtionship, the next second, we were taking four steps back.


    When our dinner was almost over, Aiden stood from the table. He had just finished an entire bowl of spicy seafood stew. He was fanning himself, and his face was red.


    Chapter 284:


    1288 Vouchers


    I bit down on my lip. How could I have forgotten about Mrs. Windsor? Even though I’d been focusing on Chloe, her mother was arguably the more dangerous of the two. Mrs. Windsor loved her daughter more than anything and kept her from getting the help she needed, knowingly endangering the people around her.


    With her son’s help, Mrs. Windsor had a good chance of staying out of jail. And maybe that was why Hana hadn’t tried to help Chloe. She was going to use all her resources to get her sister out of jail.


    Then, if Madeline was free, she would stop at nothing to get Chloe out of jail.


    *Olivia*


    Ava reacted differently to the news that Felix was focusing all his energy, trying to keep his mother out of jail than me.


    “Oh, that’s a relief,” she said, and her entire body slumped. “I’m happy that Felix isn’t trying to get his sister out of jail.”


    My friend smiled at me, and my panic lessened slightly. Maybe I was worrying too much. It wouldn’t be the first time.


    I looked at Richard. “Thank you for doing that, Richard. Knowing that we have you there to watch over Sarah, her brother, and Kelly and keeping an eye on things is such a relief.”


    Richard gestured to Alexander. “He was the one to send me there, and I’m doing it on his payroll. Thank Alexander, not me.‘


    ”


    A hot blush spread across my face as I slowly turned to Alexander.


    0.00%


    10:06


    288 Vouchers


    stomach swooped. Embarrassment washed <i>at </i>I didn’t have to interact with him in front of all


    When our eyes met, my over me. I wished


    of our friends. Especially since our rtionship was so new andplicated. I barely knew where we stood when we were alone, and I didn’t want to have to figure out how to act around him in front of an audience.


    My eyes shot down to his almost empty ss of water. I abruptly stood from the table. Everyone else looked at me curiously, but Alexander was barely suppressing a smirk. Like usual, I ignored him and ran to the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge for him. When I came back, everyone was still staring at me. I wished that they could just talk amongst themselves instead of watching Alexander and me.


    “Here’s a beer for you, boss” I muttered and set the cold drink in front of him. “As a, um, thank you for always helping us with our investigations.”


    I blushed even more this time. Getting him a drink had been a mistake. It was a lousy way to thank him for all the ways he had quietly helped me while asking for nothing in return. But what could I give him? What did you give a man who had everything?


    Alexander frowned down at the beer. “I don’t drink light beer,” he said.


    An awkward feeling settled over the room. My neck burned, and I tried to think of something to say to smooth over the weird tension I helped create. Without looking at anyone, I picked up the beer and put it in front of me even though I didn’t like light beer either.


    Across the table, Ava was staring at us with her head slightly tilted like we were a difficult math equation that she was trying to figure out.


    After another strange moment passed, everyone began to eat again, but it wasn’t the same as before. It was like someone had taken a knife to the rxed atmosphere of the room and chopped it up.


    36.67%


    10:06 T


    288 Vouchers


    Ava tried her best to save her dinner party, but every conversation topic that she brought up fizzled out quickly. I tried to join in to help my friend, but the delicious food now felt like sand in my mouth. Every time it felt like Alexander and I took a step forward in our rtionship, the next second, we were taking four steps back.


    When our dinner was almost over, Aiden stood from the table. He had just finished an entire bowl of spicy seafood stew. He was fanning himself, and his face was red.


    Chapter 284:


    1288 Vouchers