Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Chapter 407 - Just Plead Guilty!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
An hour later, the lawyer, Roger Oakley, walked into the interrogation room.
Dressed in a sleek suit, he was about 40 or 50 years old but he still appeared very energetic, had very sharp eyes, and possessed a unique aura.
When the police saw him, they could not help but feel a headache coming on.
Roger was no stranger to them, for he specialized in serving the rich and was a notoriously tricky lawyer. As long as he was present, it would be extremely difficult for them to elicit any useful information from the
suspect.
Harmony became smug when she saw the policeman’s face.
That was the power of wealth!
She did not need to be afraid of anything as long as she had money!
Roger said to the policeman, “I’d like a private chat with my client, please.”
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The request was a reasonable one and the police could not refuse it, so all they could say was, “Twenty minutes.”
Roger nodded.
The police got up, walked out of the room, and closed the door.
Harmony’s eyes fell on Roger and she smiled. “With your skills, this shouldn’t be a problem for you, right Mr. Oakley?”
“My one request is for you to handle this quickly. I don’t want to stay in this rotten place for a second longer!”
Since the whole fiasco has been exposed in advance by that b*tch Samantha, it was no longer feasible to deal with it in a low-key manner. Instead, she had to deal with it in a high-profile manner!
If she cleared her innocence in a high-profile way, then she would be able to stop the rumors from those foolish people!
Once the news died down, she would find a way to regain her reputation once more!
Roger pulled out the chair and sat down. He glanced up to look at her but his expression became solemn. “Ms. Johnson, this matter is out of control now.”
“What?” Harmony asked in surprise. “What do you mean out of control? You’ve taken God-knows-how-many cases like this in one year and you’re telling me now you can’t handle it? What the hell kind of job are you
doing?”
She could not hold her anger back in the end and her expression became a little distorted.
The indifferent look Roger had when facing the policemen earlier changed into that of sadness. “Ms. Johnson, there might still be a chance to salvage the situation if this matter hadn’t been exposed, but now…public
opinion has gone out of control ever since your arrest. Public opinion is a double-edged sword and you know that!”
She was able to clear her name partly because she had done charity for years, and partly because of everyone’s trust and support for her.
Everyone knew that she was a benevolent person.
Unfortunately, she just had to make herself rich by embezzling money that was meant for charitable purposes. Not only did that crush the support given to her by those who were on the fence, but it also dealt a blow to
her die-hard fans who once supported her.
Those people venerated her but she was not the person they all made her out to be.
On that occasion, she had aroused the anger of that group of people, and the backlash suffered from all her fan-turned-haters was more severe than anything!
Harmony’s eyes widened in shock. “How could that happen…”
Roger went on to explain, “The case of you hiring a hitman, which I denied by sending a legal notice on your behalf, is now being brought up again. The public is now calling for a re-investigation of that incident and the
police are already considering whether to file a case!”
Harmony’s face changed drastically and she slumped on the chair as if all her strength had been taken away in an instant.
That was probably how it felt to fall straight from heaven to hell.
She finally knew why Samantha wanted to expose her act of hiring a hitman in the first place, even though she solved that matter easily and even looked down on Samantha for doing something so pointless.
It turned out that Samantha had been waiting to set everything else in motion!
That damn Samantha had all sorts of tricks!
Harmony was so angry and irritable that she clenched her hands tightly and scolded, “I don’t want to listen to this nonsense anymore, Mr. Oakley. I called you here to solve this problem for me. I’ve been paying legal
fees every single year, so you have to come up with a way for me regardless of what happens!”
Roger adjusted the glasses on his nose bridge and pondered for a while before saying, “Regarding the embezzlement, Ms. Johnson, my suggestion is that you plead guilty!”
After pleading guilty, everyone’s anger toward her would subside and the public would not continue to hold it against her. If she were to stubbornly refuse to admit her misdeeds, the issue involving hiring a hitman
would snowball into something much more troubling!
“You idiot! Are you seriously asking me to plead guilty?” Harmony thought as if she heard it wrongly. “If I pleaded guilty, my reputation will be ruined and I’d be completely done for!”
Moreover, she would not be able to swallow her anger if she was told to just lose to Samantha like that.
There was a fleeting displeasure in Roger’s expression.
To think that Harmony had the decency to call him an idiot when she was the real idiot! Things had already come to a head, yet she still could not see the truth and thought that spending a little money would settle
things!
Had it not been for money’s sake, he would never have wanted to serve such a stupid client again!
Roger endured his anger and analyzed her from a professional perspective, “Ms. Johnson, public opinion is raging right now and the police have already secured the ledger. Stubbornly refusing to admit your guilt won’t
change anything, because reputation-wise, you’re already doomed!”
“But if you’re willing to plead guilty, there will be a silver lining.”
Asilver lining?
Harmony’s eyes lit up. “Go on!”
Roger said, “In simple terms, this issue falls within the realm of commercial and economic disputes. It can be serious, or it can be a very trivial matter.”
“As long as the Barker Foundation doesn’t formally prosecute you, you just have to put on a good attitude by pleading guilty and be willing to reimburse the embezzled money. You won’t need to go to jail then!”
Harmony pursed her lips tightly when she heard that and did not speak for a while.
Although she was unwilling and extremely incensed, her mind was clear and she knew that Roger’s proposed plan was the best solution.
She would always have a chance to turn the tide as long as she did not go to jail. If she had to go to jail, the things that lay in store for her would be utterly unbearable.
She did not dare take a gamble!
Harmony thought for a while before struggling to answer, “Okay. I’ll listen to your advice and plead guilty!”
Roger nodded gently. “Then what we need to do now is to make sure that the Barker Foundation won’t sue you. The largest shareholder of Barker Foundation is Mr. Barker. His shares, together with yours, exceed sixty
percent, which means that you have the right to vote against suing you!”
“You should contact Mr. Barker right now and ask him to come to the police station.”
Since Harmony’s cell phone had been taken away, Roger was considerate enough to take out his cell phone and handed it over to her. “Go ahead, Ms. Johnson.”
Harmony looked at the phone and recalled ‘his’ warning. She shook her head sharply and said, “No, I can’t contact Tim now!”
Roger was puzzled, “Why not? If it’s inconvenient for Mr. Barker to come here, making a phone call and giving me verbal assurance is good enough. Otherwise, I can’t do anything without his order!”
Harmony bit her lower lip forcefully. “There’s just…no way I can contact him right now. Mr. Oakley, please use whatever methods you can to delay things for a week. I’ll plead guilty in a week, but I absolutely can’t do so
now!”
“A week?” Roger felt that it was a little troublesome. “Why do you have to wait a week?”
“You don’t have to ask. The point is, Tim will show up in a week. I’ll plead guilty by then, and this whole thing will be perfectly resolved once the Barker Foundation doesn’t go ahead with any legal action!”
Harmony stared at him with a burning gaze and concluded, “You’ll be paid handsomely too!”
Her last sentence swayed Roger and he nodded. “Okay, I will try my best!”
After exiting the gate of the police station, Roger walked not towards his car, but a black car parked on the side of the road.
When he walked up to the car door, he looked left and right to make sure that no one saw him before opening the front passenger seat and getting in.
Then, he turned around slightly and looked at the two people sitting in the back seat.
Roger then spoke in a somewhat fearful and polite tone, “Ms. Larsson, Ms. Tyrell…”.
