Broken Memories, Intertwined Hearts

Chapter 117

"Where did you get the membership card from?" Ines looked at her in confusion.

"Ah, in a pinch, my mom's always the reliable one." Phoebe said.

With the membership card, Phoebe and Ines quickly and smoothly made their way into the club. However, there was no trace of Shirley. Phoebe darted her eyes around, grabbed a nearby attendant and said, "Excuse me, do you know where Mrs. Galeana is? I'm Emma, her daughter. I have an urgent matter to discuss with her."

"Mrs. Galeana is in private room 408. You can find her there."

"Thanks." Phoebe smiled.

As soon as the attendant left, Phoebe raised an eyebrow at Ines, "Izzy, let's go."

Ines chuckled, "You're really something."

"I wouldn't bother pretending to be Emma if it wasn't necessary. Let's go, we can't let Shirley get away." Phoebe said.

Phoebe led Ines to the elevator and up to the fourth floor, straight to room 408. Room 408 was located in a corner with only one box, separated from the other boxes. There was no one loitering in the hallway, making it very convenient for them to move.

Phoebe showed a sly grin, "Izzy, look, this woman is so cunning. She chose a room that's so secluded, it's clear she's got something to hide and it's convenient to do sneaky stuff."

Ines looked helplessly at Phoebe, "Have you been spending too much time as an editor? You're full of conspiracy theories."

Phoebe shook her head, feeling her bestie was a bit naive in this respect, "Izzy, I admit you're better than me at work stuff, but you should listen to me on this one. You better believe it."

The room door was tightly closed, the soundproofing was excellent, and nothing could be heard from outside.

"What do we do now?" Ines whispered.

Phoebe blinked, pulled out a thin, pen-like object from her coat pocket, then squatted down, slightly lifted the carpet on the floor and slid the pen through the gap.

"What is that?" Ines asked.

"Obviously, it's a recorder. I've roughly estimated the area of this room. If they talk, this pen will pick it up." Phoebe said.

Ines looked surprised, "You're really prepared."

"Of course." Phoebe pointed to the opposite room, "Let's wait for them to leave, then we'll go in to check the results."

"Won't they notice?" Ines asked.

"Don't worry. I placed it under the carpet, they won't find it." Phoebe said. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

They quickly handled the procedures and ordered a spa package, lying down to enjoy. To keep track of the movement in the hallway, they didn't close their room door tightly.

After a while, faint footsteps came from the hallway. Phoebe quickly got up from the lounge chair, signaled the attendants to leave, then said to Ines, "Izzy, let's go."

"Isn't it too soon? What if they notice us?" Ines asked.

"They should've left by now. If we don't go now, I'm afraid the room door will be locked by the staff. Let's hurry." Phoebe said.

"Alright." Ines replied.

Ines didn't leave the room, but waited at the door for Phoebe. On one hand, she was worried about running into Shirley since Shirley knew Ines, but only saw Phoebe once or twice and wouldn't necessarily recognize her right away. On the other hand, she was standing guard for Phoebe.

Soon after, Phoebe came out from Shirley's private room with the recorder.

"How did it go?" asked Ines.

Phoebe had a smug smile on her face, "Success."

Ines finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, this was her first time doing something like this. Eavesdropping on someone's private conversation wasn't honorable, but she didn't feel it was wrong to do it to someone like Shirley.

Back in the car, Phoebe excitedly pressed the play button on the recorder, turning the volume up. The sound from the recorder made Ines tense. She was anxious, worried that Shirley was actually seeing men as Phoebe suspected. If that woman was really like that, she felt it was a waste for her mother to commit suicide for such a person.

After a while, a woman's voice came from the recorder. Ines recognized it as Shirley's.

"Why are you looking for me again? Do you know how risky it is for me to meet you like this?" Shirley said.

"Don't worry, one of the security guards here is my brother. I used his card to get in, and there are few people on this floor. No one noticed me. But I'm out of money again." Carlos said.

"Carlos, what do you want? Didn't I just give you 50 grand last time?" Shirley asked.

Carlos said, "I spent that in two days. I don't care; I want 3 million this time."

Shirley's voice seemed to shake, she was angry, "3 million is not a small amount. Where do you expect me to get it? Why can't you just live a decent life with the money I give you? Why do you have to gamble? Have you forgotten why you were in jail? Have you forgotten how your dad died? 50 grand is enough for you to start a small business. You wouldn't have to worry for the rest of your life."

"Don't talk to me about that. I've been inside for more than ten years, it's about time I enjoyed life. Why should I live a stifled life while you and your daughter live in luxury? Things aren't like they used to be, 50 grand might have been a lot ten years ago, but it's nothing now." Carlos said.

"I don't have any money left. I may look well-off, but I don't actually have much money." Shirley said.

The man let out a strange laugh, "Don't play the victim. I've done my research. You're a platinum member of this club, which means your spending has reached 5 million. You spend so much on your maintenance, yet you only gave me 50 grand. Do you think I'm a beggar? Even if you don't have money, your current husband does. You can ask him for it."

"I really ain't rolling in dough like that, or else I'd give you a million right now." Shirley said.

Carlos immediate interrupted, "No can do, I want three million, or I'm spilling your secrets to Hunter. I'd love to see if you can still live high on the hog then. I've had a secret meet up with Emma. Would you believe it, she was a puny little thing when she was little, but now she's blossomed into a real looker. If it wasn't for someone calling her by her name, I wouldn't have recognized her, she's so darn adorable, it's got my heart all aflutter."