Chapter 430

John's crew reluctantly handed the check back to him.

Poor check, didn't even get a chance to warm up in the pocket.

Going from 50 million bucks to just 1 million? No one's gonna be thrilled about that.

John didn't give a damn about his crew's grumbling. If he hadn't made that bet with Mason, he'd still be the Williams Family heir, swimming in cash. Fifty million would've been pocket change.

But now, John had to cough up ten percent of his assets to Mason. Sure, he still had plenty left, but 50 million was no joke. Plus, he'd already blown 100 million on Estella's endorsement.

To top it off, thanks to Bianca, his whole clothing company was in shambles. Even though he brought in PR to patch things up, it was gonna take a while to bounce back. That 100 million? Down the drain. And with the Olympic projects needing funds, John was seriously strapped for cash.

John stuffed the 50 million dollar check in his pocket, scribbled out a 1 million dollar check, and handed it to his crew. Then he and his team bounced from the coal mine.

As they were leaving, John asked if anyone had seen Joe. He hadn't forgotten that jerk who nearly roasted him alive with a lighter.

But with all the flames and smoke, no one had a clue where Joe went. John figured Joe must've jumped off the cliff, but he was sure the guy had a plan.

Just like John thought, they found witnesses who saw a big parachute coming down from the cliff. Probably Joe. The backpack he had must've been the parachute.

John kept hunting for Joe, knowing their beef was only gonna get worse.

Meanwhile, Paxton, after heading out with his crew, went straight home to check out the 4 diaries.

Paxton cracked open the diaries, zeroing in on the folks who brought in the serial killer.

Isabella, Joseph, Colin Brown, Kurt Lowe?

"Seriously? A serial killer with four middlemen? They're playing me for a fool." Paxton laughed, more pissed than amused.

Paxton wasn't dumb. Out of these 4 diaries, maybe one was real, or they were all fake, with the real one already torched. Someone wanted to use Paxton to take out the people listed.

Isabella's name in the diary could be real or a setup by Bianca. Their beef was no secret. One of John's guys was at the fire today, maybe planted there by John.

Joseph's name could be there to stir up trouble between the Davis Family and Mason. Or it could be John's ploy to pit the Brown Family against the Davis Family.

Colin, a Brown Family member, controlled some of the family's resources. If Paxton bit the dust, Colin would be the top contender to take over. If Paxton lost it over Pearl and pissed off the other families, Colin could push him out as family head. John might be trying to spark a family feud within the Browns.As for the last name, Kurt, nobody had a clue who this guy was. None of the big four families had anyone by that name; it seemed totally made up.

Paxton put down the diaries and let out a deep sigh, his eyes showing just how tired he was. He rubbed his forehead, feeling like a dad trying to get justice for his daughter, but someone was playing him.

Paxton slammed the table, his eyes blazing with anger.

Honestly, checking if the diaries were legit was pretty straightforward. They had records of other illegal immigrants and middlemen. By comparing those, he could figure out if the diaries were real.

Paxton snapped some pics of each diary's contents and sent them to different subordinates to investigate.

After handing out the tasks, Paxton called Pearl's doctor, Allan Jennings.

"Doc, I need to know how stable my daughter's emotions are right now. Can I talk to her?" Paxton asked over the phone.

Pearl could hear external sounds through a cochlear implant, but her mental state was so fragile that she could easily break down. Paxton had been hesitant to ask her about the killer.

Allan hesitated and said, "Pearl's condition has improved a lot, but there's still a risk of her losing control. My advice is to wait another year."

"I can't wait any longer. Please set it up for next week. I have some questions for her." Paxton clenched his fist, his eyes fierce.

Allan sighed and agreed.

After hanging up, Paxton contacted his subordinates again. He gave them just a week to verify the diaries' authenticity.

The subordinates could hear the anger in Paxton's voice and pulled out all the stops to gather information. They reported back before the week was up.

Paxton looked at the summarized info in his hand, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"These guys have really outdone themselves," Paxton smirked.

Three out of the four diaries turned out to be real. The illegal immigrants and middlemen matched the contents.

These guys who faked evidence, if the info they found was handed over to the cops, they'd probably get a medal for being outstanding citizens.

Paxton wasn't dumb and knew how crucial it was to hide one percent of false info among ninety-nine percent of true info.

What Paxton didn't expect was that there were actually idiots who prepared 100% fake info.

The diary mentioning Kurt's name was a total fake, with not a single piece of matching info.

Paxton remembered who had brought out this diary. He directly interrogated the guy and quickly got an answer that made him both angry and amused.

This diary was actually cooked up by a member of the Brown Family. These scaredy-cats were worried Paxton would pick a fight with someone he couldn't handle, so they forged a diary and made up a name.

They thought they had pulled it off, but the subordinate who was supposed to plant the diary at the scene, upon hearing that Paxton was offering a 1 million dollar reward, greedily brought the diary back out.