Chapter 8 The Report

• "Universal Grand Hotel, Room 2202." Damien's brow furrowed slightly as he heard Sebastian's bewildered tone.
• "What? No way. I'm not even in Astria. How could there be a woman in my hotel room?" Sebastian was even more confused. Was I still half-asleep, or was I just not understanding what Damien was saying?
• "Are you sure?" Damien pressed. This situation was far too strange.
• "Damien, I'm in Rivenhall. Why would I leave a woman in my hotel room in Astria? What am I supposed to do? Fantasize about her? Even if I wanted to, I'm too far away for that to work," Sebastian joked, though the confusion in his voice remained.
• "Who knows the code to your room?" Damien exhaled quietly. It was clear now that Sebastian wasn't involved, but the woman had entered his room from Sebastian's.
• That made the situation even more complicated.
• Both his and Sebastian's rooms were secured with fingerprint and passcode locks. If someone knew Sebastian's passcode, they might have used it to access the room ...
• "Who knows my room code?" Sebastian paused, thinking for a moment. "My secretary, Clara Bennett knows it. I asked her to pick up a document from my room once.
• "Damien, is something serious going on?" Sebastian's curiosity was piqued. For Damien to personally question him about something like this, it had to be a big deal.
• But Damien didn't answer. He simply hung up the phone.
• Sebastian stared at his phone, dumbfounded. Damien had woken me up at this hour, asked a bunch of cryptic questions, and then hung up without any explanation. What kind of twisted game was this?
• Thirty minutes later.
• "Damien, I found Liam. He was at the hotel with Ms. Elise Wren, the second daughter from the Wrens ," Leo reported. "From the security footage, it looks like they checked in last night and never left. So, clearly, he wasn't the one driving. But man, Liam's something else. He's supposed to be getting engaged to the Wrens' eldest daughter today, but last night he spent the whole night in a hotel room with the younger sister."
• Damien's brow twitched slightly. "The Wrens' eldest daughter?"
• "Exactly, Ms. Serena Wren. She's the daughter of Douglas Wren, the eldest son of the Wrens, who died unexpectedly twenty years ago. Serena was brought back to the family five years ago. It's said that her engagement to Liam was arranged by her grandfather, Mr. Oscar Wren himself. But there are rumors that she's not very bright—some say she has mental issues. Even after being brought back to the family, she struggled in school. I heard she took five years just to finish high school. Apparently, she's not much to look at either, which might explain why Liam doesn't seem too keen on the marriage. Word on the street is that Liam has always had a bit of a thing for Elise ... " Leo's voice sped up as he rattled off details, not missing a beat.
• "Send a few reporters to the hotel," Damien interrupted suddenly, cutting him off.
• The woman's drugging, the reporters' sudden appearance, and Liam's indiscretion with Elise the night before his wedding to Serena ...
• Were these events merely coincidence, or was there a more sinister plot at play?
• "Wait, you want me to send reporters to catch Liam with Ms. Elise at the hotel? You want this to blow up?" Leo quickly caught on to Damien's plan. "But ... isn't that a little harsh? Today's the day Liam's supposed to get engaged to Serena. If this gets out, won't it embarrass her?"
• Despite his words, Leo's eyes sparkled with excitement, unable to hide his enthusiasm. He was already changing his tune. "Then again, this could help her see Liam for who he really is. Maybe it's for the best, to help her break free from him.
• "But why are you doing this, Damien?" Leo was smart, but he couldn't see the connection between Damien and the Wrens. What did any of this have to do with him?
• Leo was completely confused now.
• A slow, enigmatic smile spread across Damien's lips, a hint of seductive charm flickering in his eyes.
• The Wrens' eldest daughter! He wanted to see how she would react at the engagement party today when things took an unexpected turn. If she was the woman from last night, there was no way she could hide the truth without showing some cracks in her facade.
• "And who was driving the car?" Damien hadn't overlooked this critical point.
• "Liam's brother, Evan Laine. I've already had him brought in for questioning. Do you want to come down to the station and see for yourself?" Leo was always thorough, and with Damien involved, he wasn't about to slack off.
• "Alright." Damien gave a rare grunt of approval, though this time, Leo wasn't too surprised by his response.
• "Also, check if Clara has any connections to Liam or Serena," Damien added.
• "Clara? Which Clara?" Leo was confused for a moment.
• "Sebastian's assistant."
• "Oh, right, that Clara," Leo said, finally understanding, though now he was even more puzzled. "Why do we need to check her? What does she have to do with all this?"