Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 85: Chapter 85

The secretary dared only to murmur in agreement. Gareth was consumed with rage over his son being beaten, though not entirely irrational, he still had his wits about him.
Julien wasn't answering his phone, and the officers from earlier didn't provide any useful information. All this only confirmed that whoever dared to lay a hand on Jacob was someone way out of their league.
Gareth figured it had to be related to the Turner family.
Gareth couldn't care less. His son had been beaten, and he was going to make them pay.
He, too, was frantically calling every contact, pulling strings to dig up answers.
After returning, Samson went to see Bowen. "Mr. Turner, Jacob's business isn't over yet."
Bowen said coolly, "They think it's over? Did I ever say they could?"
Samson hissed under his breath, 'The Timberlake family's in for hell this time.'
Aubree was completely unaware of all this.
Aubree quickly put the whole Jacob incident out of her mind after getting home.
'Maybe I should hire a couple of bodyguards myself,' she mused. 'Next time I run into that bastard, I'll have them teach him a lesson before dragging him straight to the police station.'
With the surveillance footage Bowen provided, sorting out the club mess was a breeze. Aubree didn't beat around the bush—she just released the video straight away.
Now everyone knew Emery had his team openly throw the match just to please Aubree.
The tide of public opinion instantly turned. The key was, Emery didn't even try to defend himself—he openly admitted, 'Yeah, I did it. It was my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Don't drag anyone else into this.'
Before long, Aubree's identity was all over the internet.
Quite a few people blasted Aubree as heartless for turning her back on her own family, while those in the know pushed back, revealing the hardships she'd endured with the Wilson family. Soon, a heated flame war broke out online—but Aubree couldn't be bothered.
The next morning, Jacob woke up in the hospital. The police conducted a routine questioning, but he was evasive, offering no details beyond admitting he'd been beaten.
In the hospital, the moment the police left, Gareth urgently pressed, "Jacob, tell me right now—who did this to you?"
Jacob knew better than to cross Bowen, and the Timberlake family was no match for the Turner family either.
"Dad, just drop it, okay? I'm fine. I got beat up, so what? I'll heal. The hospital can't figure out who did it, and there's no proof I actually did anything wrong. Let's just let it go, alright?" Jacob said.
He knew he'd crossed Bowen, so he could only chalk it up to bad luck.
Gareth clearly wasn't about to let this slide. He pressed, "Jacob, tell me. Was the Turner family involved in this?"
Jacob shot him a surprised glance.
That glance was all Gareth needed to confirm his suspicions. "Even if it's the Turner family—" he said.
The police, who had just left, abruptly returned. An officer announced, "Jacob, we've just received a video. You are suspected of sexual misconduct involving a minor. Please cooperate with our investigation.
"Regarding the victim in this case, we've already dispatched other officers to investigate. Be aware that every statement you make could be critical evidence in a trial. We expect you to answer all questions truthfully."
Given that Aubree was still a minor, the police went directly to her home to get her account of what had happened that night.
Aubree gave the police a full account of Jacob's attempted sexual assault, detailing everything from start to finish.
With irrefutable evidence, Jacob was immediately taken into custody.
No leads had surfaced on who beat him up, but everyone had their suspicions.
Gareth was beside himself with anxiety, desperately pulling every string and calling in every favor to get his son out.
"Chief Rourke, it's me," Gareth began, his voice tinged with urgency.
Gareth snapped, "They said not to contact him anymore? Can't help? No way. Fine, I understand. Thanks for trying."
Life seemed to have returned to normal.
Aubree maintained her usual routine， school, meals, and, in between, handling affairs for both her company and the esports club.
While Aubree was perfectly fine, someone else had been utterly tormented these past few days.
"How could you came up with this garbage proposal? Get your ass back to the drawing board and start over," a voice sounded.
Kelvin stood by the door, tsking softly. As someone emerged carrying a stack of documents, he stopped them, took the files, and gave them a quick look. Honestly, they were pretty subpar.
Kelvin stroked his chin. 'Normally, Mr. Turner wouldn't be quite so harsh with his words, but these days— It's all because Miss Miller and Mr. Turner have a falling-out,' he wondered.
Kelvin patted the manager on the shoulder. "Even if this project is tough, you still need to put in more effort. Mr. Turner's been in a foul mood lately, so everyone better be on their toes."
With that, Kelvin entered with this quarter's financial report. "Mr. Turner, here's the financial statement from accounting. Please take a look."
Bowen pressed a hand to his forehead and waved the report away.
Kelvin casually brought it up, "Mr. Turner, I have this friend who recently took a liking to a young lady. The thing is, he thought he was such a catch that she'd naturally fall for him without him even trying. Guess what happened?"
Kelvin continued, "The girl got snatched up by another guy."
Bowen stared at Kelvin, shifting his full attention to him.
Seeing he had Bowen's attention, Kelvin cleared his throat and continued, "I think, if he likes her, he has got to make his move quickly. Or at least drop some hints. Just waiting around will get him nowhere."
"Kelvin, do you have too much free time on your hands lately?" Bowen asked in a dangerous voice.
He pressed, "Or is it because I haven't docked your bonus lately that you've gotten cocky?"
Bowen wondered, 'Does he really take me for a fool, thinking I can't tell he's making a point about me?'
Kelvin forced a laugh. "Let's not go there with the bonus deduction, Mr. Turner. How about checking the financial statements first?"
Bowen scoffed derisively.
Bowen thought, 'If you like her but don't take the initiative, some other guy might sweep her off her feet? Nonsense, how is that even comparable to me?
'Who do I even like? How could I possibly like her? I just see her as a little girl.'
As Bowen mulled over Kelvin's words, he grew increasingly unsettled
He wondered, 'Holiday is coming up, and in just about six months, Bree will be heading off to college. There'd be plenty of guys chasing after her then. What if she meets some smooth-talking charmer? What if she gets taken advantage of?'
Bowen couldn't make sense of the documents in his hands. "You're dismissed," he ordered.
After dismissing Kelvin, Bowen called Ollie.
"Well, I should go buy a lottery ticket today—the super busy guy actually called me," Ollie teased.
Bowen remained silent, half-listening to Ollie brag for a while.
"Alright, spill it. Why'd you call?" Ollie asked.
"Got a question for you," Bowen said, narrowing his eyes, though what really occupied his mind was how Aubree hadn't shown the slightest intention of reaching out to him these past few days.
Bowen even asked Alvin about her last night—not a single word about him.
"Now that's something," Ollie chuckled. "Come on, what's the scoop?"
"What's the deal when a girl doesn't give a guy the slightest attention?" Bowen said.
"They used to spend quite some time together," he added.
This sent Ollie into a fit of laughter. He'd been wondering why Bowen suddenly reached out to him. 'So that's why,' he wondered. 'It seems he is about to fall in love.'
Ollie laughed and said, "Come on, isn't it obvious? The girl just isn't into the guy."
The corners of Bowen's mouth instantly drooped, but still unwilling to give up, he rationalized, "What if she's just been too busy lately?"
Ollie could barely contain his laughter. This was absolutely hilarious. 'Bree must've finally dumped him,' he thought, thoroughly amused.
"Come on, Bowen, who could be busier than you? Back when you were so into Bree, you always made time for her, no matter how packed your schedule was. Let's be real. If she really cared, she would find the time. Bottom line is, she's just not making you a priority," said Ollie.
Bowen fell silent for a moment, then weakly insisted, "I wasn't talking about my issue."
"Right, of course it's not you," Ollie drawled, kicking back in his chair and picking at his ear. "Anything else? Or can I hang up now?"
Bowen said, "Let's grab drinks tonight."
"Sure thing, I'll round up Mark and the gang," Ollie smiled.