Echoes of Unrequited Love ( Hogan Zade )
Chapter 97

Chapter 97

just found out that Cecilia was the one who saw things most clearly. Seeing that I kept mum, Cecilia piped up again, “Xaviera, you don’t need to try to talk me out of it. The decision to sue was Hogan’s call; sorry, my hands are tied.”

After she said her piece, she hung up on me, not giving me a chance to smooth things over.

Wallis‘ words from before suddenly popped into my head, and anxiety washed over me. I figured, if reaching out to make peace didn’t work, then we better lawyer up, just in case.

Wallis and I only knew two lawyers who handled civil cases, but as soon as they heard the lawsuit was from the legal department of Rainbow Capital, they bolted.

Wallis was stomping mad, “Look at them, all wussy.”

I got it; nobody wanted to shoot themselves in the foot for no good reason.

Upon learning this news from who knew where, Darren showed up at our studio with a criminal lawyer in tow.

Wallis and I were super grateful, and we listened to the lawyer’s advice, “It’s all about the evidence. The café’s surveillance wasn’t clear enough to capture the whole story, but my opinion is, you can talk to the staff on duty that day to get the lowdown.”

That helped Wallis and me start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before sunset, Darren and I, with the staff’s recording in hand, got Cecilia to meet us.

The girl looked surprised to see me and Darren, asking, “Xaviera, you looking for me?”

Darren and I exchanged a look and handed the recording to Cecilia, saying, “Director Irwin, here’s a recording of one of the café staff; have a listen.”

At that, Cecilia’s face went white as a sheet, “What recording?”

I patiently explained, “A staff member mentioned that before Candy spilled coffee on you, there was a bit of a tiff.”

“R–Really?” Cecilia curled her fingers nervously, stumbling over her words, “Xaviera, after our talk last night, I thought it through, and honestly, it’s not as serious as the lawyers make it out to be, right?”

Darren and I exchanged another look, and he asked, “So what are you suggesting, Ms. Irwin?”

Cecilia glanced at me and said, “I’ll talk Hogan out of the lawsuit.”

Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief.

Then I heard Cecilia ask, “And this recording?”

Little did she know, the recorder was just filled with some banal chit–chat we had with the café staff member. The staff nowadays were no fools; they didn’t want to stir up trouble.

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13:30

Chapter 97

But she had already shown her hand. So, it wasn’t hard for Darren and me to put two and two together that the provocation Candy spoke of might’ve really happened.

“Ms. Irwin.” Darren sipped his coffee, calmly saying, “We’ll, of course, destroy the recording, but we’ll leave the lawsuit to you.”

Cecilia looked at me timidly, nervously saying, “I–I understand.”

She always looked so fragile, and now with this cautious vibe, she indeed seemed like she’d been wronged.

But at least the outcome wasn’t too shabby.

“Hogan, what are you doing here?”

The question hit my ears, and following Cecilia’s gaze, Darren and I saw Hogan standing just a few steps away.

The man came over with furrowed brows and a serious look. He silently gave me a once–over, his gaze sliding past Darren, and scoffed, “What, you knew you couldn’t get through to me, so you brought backup to gang up on her?”