Chapter 306

Carol felt something off in Isabella's words.

Carol looked into Isabella's eyes, curious. "What made you the way you are?"

Isabella shrugged with a smile. "When you have a sister who wants you dead and parents who aren't much better, you get desperate."

Carol blinked, remembering the news about Isabella and the shocking details of her trial. Carol had never thought any parents could want their own child to die.

"Surviving that mess must've been tough," Carol sighed.

Isabella smiled, walking behind her desk and plugging a USB drive into the computer. "I've had a lot of close calls, even almost getting killed by a wild boar once. But I always managed to survive, mostly thanks to my husband. Though there was that one time I should thank two kangaroos."

"Wait, kangaroos? Like super kangaroos?" Carol asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, they were like super kangaroos. I named them Optimus Prime and Megatron. They once stomped a wild boar to death," Isabella said casually, scrolling through the USB drive's contents and recounting her wild forest adventures.

"Seems like you've had some divine intervention. Anyway, I have work to do, so I'll leave you to it," Carol said, smiling as she left. But Isabella's smile faded as she looked at the USB drive's contents.

The USB had dirt on the company's top brass, including serious stuff like bribery and inappropriate behavior with female employees.

One supervisor had raped a female subordinate, paid her off, and kept her as his mistress because she had a sick mom. When she got pregnant, he arranged an abortion. Most appallingly, he killed her sick mother..

The subordinate eventually jumped off a building. The police found what looked like a suicide note in her room.

The USB had photos of the note, torn from a notebook, which looked more like diary entries to Isabella.

'My mom is gone. What do I do? I feel so hopeless. Is death my only way out?'

The note ended abruptly, not because she wrote so little, but because part of it was torn off.

Isabella squinted, examining the document. The info pointed to a guy named Duncan Taylor, who was from Isabella's own family.

Isabella stroked her chin, packaged the USB contents into an email, and sent it to Michael.

Soon, Michael called her.

"Hey, what did you send me? Looks like some dirt on your company's people," Michael said with a smile over the phone.

Isabella nodded, speaking seriously. "I need you to help me check if this stuff is true. Some of these people have bad records, but most of it seems like rumors. We need solid proof."

Michael was always there to help Isabella dig up whatever she needed, and he had some top-notch private detectives on speed dial.

"No problem, babe, I got this. By the way, what do you want for dinner? I'm not working late, so I can whip up something special to celebrate your first day as CEO," Michael said, smiling over the phone.

Isabella smiled too, despite being furious about the dirty things her subordinates had done. She wasn't going to let those jerks ruin her mood.

"How about some pan-seared cod?" Isabella suggested.

"Consider it done, babe. It'll be ready when you get home," Michael replied, chatting a bit more before hanging up.

After the call, Michael's face darkened as he read through the email.

"If this stuff is legit, these guys are going to rot in prison," Michael muttered, narrowing his eyes as he dialed his driver, Leo.

Leo, cruising around the city, pulled over to take the call.

Leo's main gig was chauffeuring Isabella to and from work, so he had plenty of downtime to kill.

Michael's tone was serious. "Did you catch Isabella's press conference? She might've pissed off some folks at the company. I have no idea how they'll react, so you need to protect her. Use force if necessary. I'll arrange for some discreet backup too."

Leo's face turned serious. "Got it, Mr. Williams. I'll make sure Ms. Taylor is safe."

Leo hung up, drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, and headed to a hidden spot. When he came back to the car, he had two handguns, extra magazines, and a bulletproof vest.

He put on the vest and covered it with his jacket. Leo thought, 'Maybe I should get a vest for Mrs. Williams too?'

After a moment's hesitation, he went back to the hideout, grabbed another vest from it, tucked it under the car seat, and headed back to Isabella's office.

Meanwhile, in a nearby café, a shady-looking middle-aged man ordered coffee and sat by the window.

He stirred his coffee, making clinking sounds, and kept glancing at his watch, looking impatient.

Just then, a waitress approached and placed a piece of paper in front of him.

He looked at the paper, which had a series of numbers on it. Smiling at the waitress, he asked, "Is this your number?"

The waitress, clearly grossed out by his sleazy grin, kept her cool. "No, sir, someone asked me to give this to you. They said it's about your fate."