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He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and lowered his voice as he said, “Nothing at the moment. Did you find
out about something?”
Isabelle could not come up with a reply because it was not true that she had found any clues. Previously, she had
only overheard some conversation between her grandpa and her dad, and she did not hold any substantive
evidence aside from that. So, she only shook her head at John’s question. He gave it some thought before asking,
“Does your family have a side business?”
She blinked at him. “I don’t know about that.” What she said was true. However, in her vague recollection of the
conversation between her grandpa and her dad, they seemed to be talking about another business other than their
current company.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThat day, Elder Mr. Bailey did not make things very clear and Isabelle could only retrieve fragments of things from
the conversation, which was unhelpful to piece the puzzle. Therefore, she was put on the spot when John asked her
about it.
He looked around them and lowered his voice further. “Since you gave me a reminder, I will return your favor by
being upfront with you. Your family seems to be running a shadow bank that dishes out microloans. It feels
suspicious.”
She immediately furrowed her brows. “Suspicious?”
John could not tell her more than that. Due to his status as a business partner, he could only release limited
information to alert Isabelle.
On the other side, Old Mr. Bailey was still crying uncontrollably with his face covered.
Isabelle had no choice but to hurry over and comfort him. There were a lot of deceased who underwent cremation
at the same time. When the Baileys stood there and witnessed the other families crying their hearts out, they finally
had a taste of the mundaneness of death. Every day, there were many people who crossed the bridge to the
afterlife, and with that, their families suffered with grief. Half an hour later, Dexter’s ashes were sent out from the
crematorium. What was left of him was nothing more than bone fragments. The Baileys had purchased an urn,
which they placed his ashes in and wrapped it up nicely. As Dexter’s parents were heartbroken, they were in no
condition to proceed to the funeral home. Therefore, the task of sending Dexter’s ashes to the funeral home fell
onto Isabelle’s shoulders. John volunteered to drive her there. “I’ll drive you there. You don’t look like you can
drive.” She nodded gratefully at his offer. “Thank you.” The group left the hospital and Isabelle went into John’s car.
They soon drove out of the area. During the trip, Isabelle continued asking John about the topic. “You mentioned
that our family has been running a shadow bank. Where is it located?” Instead of answering her, he asked another
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question. “Do you really not know about what your dad or your grandpa did in secret?” She gave it some careful
consideration and answered, “I have a gut feeling, but I have no way to prove my guess.” It was surprising enough
that Isabelle willingly shared her inner thoughts with John, so he said, “Okay.
I trust that you really don’t have an idea.” She hugged Dexter’s urn and gently said, “Ever since Dexter left us, I
have been carefully examining our family. I feel that our way of life, or perhaps the dynamics of our
communication, is extremely toxic.” Then, she sighed and lowered her voice. “Sometimes, I really feel that it’s not
easy for me to survive until today. Perhaps I should feel thankful that I was born a girl. If I were a boy, I probably
would have ended up with a fate like Dexter’s.” It was true that Old Mr. Bailey had been putting restrictions on
Dexter and forcing things on him. Since young, Dexter did not have much personal time for himself. His hobbies
and everything he did in his life were laid out based on his dad’s plan. In the past, Elder Mr. Bailey also actively
participated in interfering with Dexter’s life. Step by step, the two men of the Bailey Family tried to mould Dexter
based on their preferences. The thought made Isabelle tear up once more. “My poor Dexter. If only I had noticed
the signs earlier, he would not have ended up dead.” .
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