Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Victor shook his head. "Tsk, if you like her, be nicer. Always acting like she owes you money? Who'd want that? Especially someone like Elara. She's smart, hot, and has a great body. She's got plenty of admirers."
"Body?" Adrian's mind went back to last night. After a pause, he sneered and muttered, "Just average."
Victor was speechless. "You don't care about her perfect figure? Bad taste. And her voice is sweet."
Adrian thought back to the night before, especially the sweet voice Victor mentioned, which he'd vaguely heard too. A while ago in the private room, they'd stood inches apart, their breaths mingling. She'd sobbed, accusing him in a trembling voice that made his spine tingle.
Adrian's mouth went dry. Frustrated, he undid another button. Seeing Victor's lustful look, he kicked Victor's calf. "Stop fantasizing about everyone! Fantasize about Ruby instead."
"No way. You're too nosy. Can't I just let my imagination run wild in my head? Even if you can try to stop me, you can't control what everyone else thinks. Seriously, are you actually jealous about this?"
"Jealous?" Adrian sneered. "I steer clear of her whenever I get the chance. Do I look jealous?"
"How can you say you don't have any feelings for her at all?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Being stubborn, huh? I've got proof, so don't try to lie." Victor pulled out his phone and played a video that the Aurora Club manager had just sent.
There was a message from the manager: [Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Hartley dragged a girl into the private room. We didn't stop him. Should we delete the footage?]
At places like Aurora Club, stuff like this happened a lot.
Normally, stuff like this wouldn't bother the boss or get to Victor. But the staff knew Adrian was Victor's best friend, so they had to tell Victor to avoid any trouble later.
Victor saw the message and had the video sent over quickly. After watching it, his jaw dropped in shock.
Adrian got a face that was like a magnet for girls but he only showed his care toward Josie. It was the first time that Victor had seen him go all hard-core and pushy on any other woman to get his way.
"Look, this is evidence," Victor said, showing Adrian the video. "Seriously, a big guy like you, showing no mercy; you dragged her in and pressed her against the door. Can a small body like hers handle that?"
Adrian saw the video, and his face went dark right away.
"You forced a kiss on her?"
Adrian knew he didn't kiss her. It just looked that way because of the camera angle.
"She tried to run, but you held her tight. She couldn't escape."
That was Elara trying to save the recording secretly. Adrian grabbed her phone, and she wouldn't let go.
"Come on, man! You're so rude, you made her cry. If you like her, why not chase her nicely?"
Adrian snatched the phone and tapped a few times. "Getting old makes you weirder, huh? And you like watching security cams?"
"Me? Weird?"
"I was just talking business. Must be the camera angle."
"Oh, talking business? You skipped the comfy sofa and pinned her to the door. Grabbed her wrist, got all up in her face, even hugged her?"
Victor squinted, smirking with a teasing look. "Don't tell me, Mr. Hartley, this is your negotiation style? Adrian, I'm a guy too, you..."
Then Alex jogged up, a bit out of breath.
Nancy grabbed Alex's arm. "Adrian, this is my boyfriend."
Alex tried to pull his arm back, but Nancy held on tight. He couldn't break free. Alex reached out with his right hand. "Nah, I'm Nancy's classmate. Hello, Mr. Hartley, I'm Alex Keating."
Adrian didn't shake hands. He glanced at Alex quickly, and then looked away, watching the Uber car drive off.
Seeing Adrian's cold look, Victor broke the awkward silence. "Mr. Keating, do you know Elara?"
Alex froze when he heard that. He remembered Ruby's words. He guessed that they'd probably been drinking together, so of course they knew each other.
Alex lowered his hand after no response. Nodding gently, he said, "Yeah, we grew up together."
Victor winked at Adrian and said in a teasing tone, "Oh, childhood sweethearts?"
Alex paused, thinking. "Sort of. We lived next door."
Victor said on purpose, "Oh, so you're the guy next door." Then he got a kick from Adrian again. "You and Nancy came here for something?" Victor knew what was up. Over the years, lots of people had tried to meet Adrian, all for lawsuits.
Alex said, "It's my dad. He was set up—"
Victor cut in, "Financial case? How much money's involved?"
Alex looked down. "It's a criminal case."
Victor turned him down. "Sorry, Mr. Keating. Adrian only does financial cases now. If you can't find another lawyer, try his law firm."
"I went." Alex looked worn out. "But no one take it."
Not just Adrian's firm—no lawyer in Veritasiton would touch Alex's dad's case. The people and stakes were too big for any local lawyer to handle.
Unless it was Adrian, a legal big shot and the Hartley family's heir.
But convincing Adrian, someone at the top, to help his dad, a nobody, was really hard. So now Nancy was Alex's only hope.
Nancy explained, "Victor, his dad's the accountant at Veritasiton Middle School. He went to get papers signed and saw the principal killing his wife. But then his dad got arrested. His fingerprints were all over the crime scene, and all the evidence and witnesses pointed to him.
"Well, his dad's not stupid. If he killed her, would he leave fingerprints? His dad was framed."
Victor glanced at Adrian. "That sounds fishy. So why won't any lawyers take your case?"
Nancy replied, "The principal is Stephen Heaton."
Victor thought, 'That made sense.' As they talked, the driver showed up. Adrian went straight to the parking spot. Victor sighed; he knew Adrian wouldn't help.
Victor politely refused. "Mr. Keating, our driver's here, so we gotta go. We'll figure something out for your dad. In Veritasiton, there's always a lawyer who'll take his case."
Victor knew it was BS. Only Adrian would dare take the case. Alex knew it wouldn't work but nodded politely and watched them leave.
"Adrian!" a voice shouted from a distance. Alex, Victor, and Adrian all turned toward the door of Aurora Club. Julian came rushing over, his face furious. He swung his long arm and punched Adrian hard when he wasn't looking.