A Billionaire In Disguise

Chapter 42

The sound of his ringtone forced Rome to raise his eyelids, and his gaze rested on Catherine, sleeping

peacefully on his arm.

Then he slowly pulled his hand from under her, picked his phone from the nightstand, and got out of

bed.

Afterward, he left the room, stood by the door, and answered the call.

“Boss.” Brook’s voice echoed into his ear.

“Speak,” Rome said, leaning against the wall.

“It has happened.”

“I will meet you guys at the casino.”

After ending the call, Rome was about to go back into the room when he saw Jeff, hurrying down the

hallway with his phone pressed against his ear.

“What? Faulty wiring! I'm on my way.” Jeff said as he marched past Rome without looking his way.

Taking in a deep breath, Rome pushed the door open and headed inside.

By seven, he and Catherine came downstairs and met everyone seated in the living room.

“What's going on?” Catherine mumbled, noticing the distress on everyone's faces.

No one spoke for a while. Then she met her father's gaze, and he said, “Warehouse 2091 is on fire.”

“What? How?”

“Well, the warehouse had a power outage yesterday. The electricians did some work on the wires by

noon. But this morning, the warehouse is in flames.”

For a moment, Catherine said nothing, then her gaze swayed towards Chloe, and she felt her heart

miss a beat.

“Can you all just say out loud what you guys are already thinking!” Chloe abruptly said, glaring at the

faces in the room.

With his icy gaze fixed on her, Anthony frowned and coldly asked, “Are you the one behind this?”

“Why will my daughter do such a thing!” Elijah shouted, scowling at his brother.

“To sabotage my son's hard work! That warehouse was filled with construction materials for Mr.

Richmond’s project.”

“But that warehouse also belongs to us, ‘Barlows’, and is worth two million dollars! Why would my

daughter hurt this family just to get at your son!”

“Because she is spiteful just like her father!”

“Spiteful!”

In a fit of rage, Mr. Barlow glared at Elijah and coldly intoned, “Chloe is not two, is she?”

“But father, Anthony is spilling nonsense about my child,” Elijah said with a hint of nervousness in his

eyes.

“I don't expect such a ridiculous attitude from you, Eli! Let Chloe speak on her behalf!”

“Sorry, father.”

Watching everyone's gaze swayed towards her, Chloe pulled her brow together in a frown and said,

“I'm not behind the fire.”

“Like you are fooling anyone by saying that.” Richard mockingly said.

“I swear. This isn't my doing!”

“You seem so set on getting revenge on my brother. You even told me three weeks ago to warn him to

back down or you will strike.”

When Chloe looked her grandmother away, tears began rolling from the corners of her eyes as she

pitifully said, “Grandmother, I'm innocent. The warehouse fire is not my doing.”

For a moment, Madam Rosey kept her silence. But as she watched the tears fall from her

granddaughter’s chin, her heart softened.

“Chloe wouldn't be this reckless to do something this damaging to the family.” Madam Rosey said,

gazing at her husband.

“Well, it might be the cause of faulty wiring after all.” Mr. Barlow half-heartedly mumbled, knowing not to

go against his wife before the family.

Even though the others maintained their silence, no one believed that the warehouse getting burned

down was a coincidence. But since Madam Rosey and Mr. Barlow had deemed it as such, they all kept

their thoughts to themselves.

“Ma’am, sir, breakfast has been served.” Susanna, their head maid said when she entered the living

room.

Staring at Catherine’s worried expression, Rome took her hand in his and mumbled, “What's on your

mind?”

As she gazed at him, she faintly smiled and said, “I'm not sure. My thoughts are all fussy.”

“You should eat something.”

“Mhm.”

A few minutes later, they were are in the dining room, and the Barlow family took their seats at the

table.

Breakfast went on peacefully, even though there was tension in the room.

After a few minutes had gone by quietly, the sound of footsteps approaching the dining hall echoed into

the room, and everyone's attention got drawn to the entrance.

A few seconds later, a group of officers, led by Jeff entered the dining room, and the place fell silent for

a moment.

“What's going on?” Mr. Barlow said, standing from his seat.

“We are sorry for bashing in, but your grandson has filed a case with our station.” One of the officers

said.

Leaving the table, Mr. Barlow approached the policemen and then scowled at his grandson as he

walked past him.

“We presently have a suspect in custody from the Darklight gang that claimed that your granddaughter

paid them to touch the warehouse to ashes, and we have a warrant for her arrest.” An officer said,

taking out a paper from his pocket.

The fork in Chloe's hand dropped onto her plate as she stared at the officers, then at her father before

gazing at her grandfather.

Suddenly, an officer approached her, took out a handcuff, and reached for her wrists.

But she pulled away and shouted, “Get your filthy hands off me. I didn't do this!” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Miss Chloe, you are under arrest, and anything you say will be used against you in the court of law.

Please corporate with the law.” The officer said, gently grabbing her hands before snapping the cuffs

on them.

“But...But…”

“Let's go, Miss Chloe. You can explain yourself at the station.”

With her head hung, Chloe stood to her feet. Then she obediently walked along with the officers.

When they reached Mr. Barlow, Chloe lifted her head, gazed into his cold eyes, and said, “Grandfather,

I…”

“Don't lie to me.” Mr. Barlow said with a look of disappointment on his face.

“I did hire the Darklight gang to touch the warehouse, but it was already on fire when they got there. I

swear that I didn't do this.”

“You brat!”

Without holding back his anger, Mr. Barlow raised his hand and smacked Chloe hard on her cheek.

Her teary eyes widened as she gazed at the rage in grandfather’s expression. Then she stared down at

the tile.

“Franco!” Madam Rosey cried, glaring at her husband.

“Take her away. No one is allowed to bill her out until tomorrow.” Mr. Barlow said as he turned away

from Chloe.

“But father!” Elijah said, hastily standing to his feet.

Fixing his angry eyes on everyone, Mr. Barlow scowled and said, “This is my final decision on this

matter.”

A frown crossed Rome’s face as he watched Chloe getting escorted out of the dining room by the

police.

Then he stared at Charles, then at Richard, before focusing on Jeff, and his frown deepened to a

scowl.