Chapter 1109: Chapter 1049: Clever Girl
Adrian Desmond was about to look up at the fake Noah Phillips, but Sienna Johnson clung to him and wouldn’t let go. "Don’t startle the snake in the grass yet, I still need to confirm one thing."
"What thing?"
"If that person is fake, then does that mean the real Noah Phillips is still alive."
So she was waiting for the next secret signal—or slip-up would be more accurate. If it was really Noah Phillips, knowing full well she was scared of ghosts, he wouldn’t have invited her to a Haunted House.
Thinking back to Noah Phillips’s recent odd behavior, Sienna Johnson became even more suspicious of the Noah standing here now.
Noah Phillips had always been a gentle, refined man; being with him gave people the feeling of a spring breeze.
The Noah Phillips in front of her now, though he was trying hard to present that same gentle, refined side, had only the form, not the spirit. After just a few words with this Noah, Sienna Johnson felt an urge to run away.
Adrian Desmond also knew this wasn’t the right place to talk. He swallowed all the questions in his heart, planning to ask her properly after they went back.
"What should I do?"
"You leave now."
"What?" There was no way Adrian Desmond was leaving right now.
If that Noah Phillips really was fake, he had no idea what the man was planning, what his goal was. Letting Sienna Johnson be alone with him would be too dangerous.
"Trust me!" She looked into his eyes, gaze firm; right now she needed his support.
"I can’t relax! What if he hurts you?"
"Adrian, I’m begging you!"
She lowered herself, soft and vulnerable as she pleaded with him. Adrian Desmond had no way to deal with this version of Sienna Johnson.
"You know me, I won’t act recklessly. If there’s any danger, I’ll come find you immediately."
Adrian Desmond took off the watch on his wrist and shoved it into the pocket of her trench coat. "Don’t let this watch leave you. It has a locator and eavesdropping function. I want to be able to track you at all times."
"Okay."
"Then I’m going." Adrian Desmond’s worried gaze was laced with reluctance.
"Mm. Go back to the Hotel and wait for me first. I’ll come find you as soon as I can." Sienna Johnson soothed him, afraid he’d change his mind and refuse to leave.
"Promise me, no taking risks!"
"I swear!"
Only then did Adrian Desmond agree to go.
When he left, he made it look like he had something urgent to attend to. Someone asked Sienna Johnson, "Why did your Husband leave?" and Sienna simply said he had something urgent to deal with.
With Adrian Desmond gone, the others finally dared to talk to Sienna Johnson, and a few people gathered around her.
"Belinda Rafael—oh, no, Sienna Johnson, are you really President Johnson of Eastminster Group?" a woman asked.
"Yes." Sienna Johnson hadn’t made any effort to hide her identity.
"Oh my god, I actually got to meet my idol." The woman covered her mouth, looking utterly stunned.
"..."
"When I saw you on TV I thought you looked familiar, but I didn’t dare recognize you. I never imagined you really were the Belinda Rafael I know." The way the woman looked at Sienna Johnson was like a fan staring at a star.
"And you are?"
"My name is Greta Rafael."
"Hello, Greta." Sienna Johnson greeted her, looking easygoing and warm.
Greta Rafael stared at Sienna Johnson, stars sparkling in her eyes. "You were different from everyone else even as a kid, pretty like a doll. Turns out you really are a Princess."
Sienna Johnson was amused by her and explained, "I’m not a Princess."
"Of course you are a Princess! Your identity just got stolen by a fake, impostor Princess.
That Sabrina Johnson and her mom are so bad, downright rotten. How can there be such awful people in this world?" Greta Rafael said, righteously indignant.
A few more women came over, all very interested in what Greta Rafael had brought up.
"What fake Princess?"
So Greta Rafael vividly, dramatically retold the whole story between Sienna Johnson and Sabrina Johnson. When she was done, the looks the others gave Sienna Johnson became much friendlier.
"There’s really something like that?"
"Of course! That whole matter caused an uproar in Sileria City. I’ve lived in Sileria City my whole life, no one knows it better than I do."
"What about that Sabrina Johnson? How is she now?"
"She’s in prison. Unless she wears out the prison floor, she’s never getting out. This is what they call ’The net of heaven is vast and fine-meshed; it lets nothing through. It’s not that there’s no payback, just that the time hasn’t come yet.’" Greta Rafael struck a storyteller’s pose and wrapped up with a big summation.
"That’s unbelievable."
"Belinda, you actually turned out to be the Miss of a wealthy family. That’s so wild... No wonder you were always different from us since we were kids."
After all these years, the label of "illegitimate daughter" was finally wiped clean from Sienna Johnson. She met all those probing gazes openly, looking utterly calm and unruffled by praise or blame.
"My family just runs a Pharmaceutical factory."
Belinda Rafael said, "A huge Pharmaceutical factory called Eastminster Pharmaceutical Factory. I’d bet every one of you has taken their medicine."
"..."
"President Johnson, can we get our meds for free from now on?"
"Greta Rafael, can you stop being so clueless? I don’t want to take advantage like that."
Who goes around wishing to get sick.
"Oh, please. You might not need meds now, but when you’re old you’ll definitely need them, right? Medical bills are so expensive these days. Some pills are 1.5 thousand dollars for a single tablet—that’s daylight robbery against the poor.
Sienna Johnson, if they don’t want it, I do."
Sienna Johnson smiled slightly. "Sure."
"Then I want in too."
"Me too."
A woman who seemed to be on good terms with Greta Rafael muttered, "Bunch of idiots."
"Hmph, let’s see you go your whole life without getting sick; and if you do get sick, let’s see you refuse to take medicine!"
...
Night Owl walked into that room on the second floor. Augusta Rafael’s body was completely dead-cold, lying there stiffly, both eyes empty and lifeless. Any normal person who saw it would definitely scream in fright.
Night Owl, however, acted as if he didn’t see the woman he’d killed lying on the floor, and walked straight past her.
He took out his phone and dialed that fixed number.
"Hello?" A hoarse voice sounded from a very quiet place.
Night Owl cut to the chase. "Sienna Johnson said there’s another secret signal for going to the Haunted House. Tell me, what’s the signal."
This time the person on the other end was very straightforward and answered immediately, "I’m not afraid of ghosts!" Then he hung up right away.
Getting hung up on that impatiently made Night Owl feel rather irritated. He knew he wasn’t likable, but this kind of itching-to-hang-up attitude still grated on him.
"Noah Phillips?"
"..."
"I’m going to make you wish you were dead, make you kneel in front of me and beg me to let you go." Once Noah Phillips had no more use.
...
In the dark basement, there was the sound of water dripping—drip, drip—very much like footsteps.
With his eyes closed, Noah Phillips’s hearing had become even sharper. He could hear the sound of rats gnawing on things, and he could hear footsteps from people walking around upstairs.
In the darkness, Noah Phillips smiled.
"Smart girl."
Just as Noah Phillips had expected, Sienna Johnson had noticed the flaw.
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