Chapter 188: Boss, the "Innocent" Victim

Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Boss, the "Innocent" Victim

The woman wiped her tears, as if she’d brought up something heartbreaking. She even trembled when she saw the owner’s face, looking terrified.

But you had to admit, the woman had more brains than her husband. In just a few words, she’d branded the owner as a violent brute and emphasized how dangerous he was.

If Zoe Sawyer and the others hadn’t seen the couple trying to claw at the owner earlier, they might have actually been fooled by her act.

That was the owner’s cue to speak up.

He grabbed Evan Keller’s hand and rattled off a detailed list of everything the customer had ever done, from start to finish.

When he was done, as if that wasn’t enough, he added, "He’s ruined my business, so am I going to be convicted just for blowing off some steam and saying a few things?"

If it was just venting, that really wasn’t a big deal.

It’s normal for people to say harsh things when they’re frustrated and angry, as long as they don’t actually act on them.

Furthermore, security footage showed that after serving the customer his meal and a Wogan mandarin, the owner had stayed hidden in the kitchen.

No physical contact, no conversation.

He didn’t even notice the grapefruit was missing from the cash counter until he came out to clean the tables.

On top of that, the food inspection didn’t turn up anything, and all the other customers who had eaten were still perfectly fine. The food itself could be ruled out as the problem.

From this perspective, the owner seemed to be the victim of a completely random misfortune.

"Something about this feels off," Zoe Sawyer said, tugging on Heath Hale’s sleeve. She recounted the owner’s behavior from their last encounter.

A few days ago, when facing the same harassment, the owner had also tried to avoid the man, but his expression hadn’t been nearly as nonchalant as it was now.

’Has he just accepted his lot in life? Or is he so sure he’ll get out of this scot-free?’

"Don’t be hasty. Let’s just watch a little longer." Heath Hale didn’t make a judgment, merely advising her to wait and see how things unfolded.

Just then, the man received a phone call from his brother.

At a gesture from Evan Keller, the man put the call on speakerphone.

Another voice quickly came over the line. "Bro! The doctors said Dad went into respiratory failure because of a drug interaction! If they’d been any slower, he would’ve died! It happened because he ate that grapefruit!"

The man asked for an update on his father’s condition and hung up only after confirming that he was out of danger.

He then turned to the owner, his voice full of righteous indignation. "Officer, you see?! It was his grapefruit that did this to my dad!

Arrest him, now! And he has to cover my dad’s medical bills, nutritional supplements, compensation for emotional distress, and our lost wages!

He should have to pay for all of it!"

As he spoke, the man reached for the owner again, looking like he wouldn’t rest until he’d squeezed some money out of him.

Evan Keller rapped his knuckles on the table again. "Watch yourself," he warned sternly. "That’s called extortion!"

The man sullenly withdrew his hand but still said defiantly, "But it was clearly his little tricks that put my dad in the hospital.

If it wasn’t for the fruit he gave us, my dad never would’ve had a drug interaction and ended up in the hospital."

The owner put on an expression of utter injustice. "Your brother just said he ate a grapefruit, but I always give out Wogan mandarins. That grapefruit—your dad stole it!

I let it slide when he kept stealing napkins, but now he steals fruit, eats it, and gets sick, and you’re telling me I’m responsible for that?"

As he spoke, the owner deliberately emphasized the word "stole."

’Anyway, I’m not in the wrong. I didn’t give him a grapefruit. The customer stole it. If eating it caused a problem, they shouldn’t be coming after me.’

Evan Keller, for his part, learned from the man that his father had high blood pressure and regularly took medication for it.

And you can’t eat grapefruit after taking that medication. It causes a dangerous interaction, which can be fatal in severe cases.

Evan Keller glanced toward the owner. ’Though he had his suspicions, it was just as the man said: from beginning to end, the customer had brought this entirely upon himself.’

No one had forced him to steal the grapefruit, and no one had forced him to eat it.

It was all the customer’s own doing.

"As a humanitarian gesture, I can donate three to five hundred for his medical bills." The corners of the owner’s mouth turned up in an irrepressible smirk. When everyone looked over, he quickly rubbed his lips. "Can’t be helped. He’s the one who ruined my business. I’m already being generous by not kicking him while he’s down!"

The logic, as far as it went, was sound.

The matter was resolved quickly. The man knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on, so all he could do was snatch the three hundred yuan from the owner, then leave with his wife, cursing under his breath.

The woman looked as if she wanted to say something more—to fight for a little extra—but she held her tongue and followed her husband out.

’I’m sure of it! That owner was behind this whole thing!’

’The police were only refusing to help because there was no proof!’

When she thought about her father-in-law’s future medical bills, her vision swam, and she wished she could just strangle the old man.

’Not only did he fail to ruin the man’s business, but he ended up costing us money!’

’Useless old fool!’

"This pisses me off! He dares to play me? Just watch, I’ll kill him!" the man muttered as he passed the owner’s shop on his way back.

Thinking about the conversation at the station, he was so furious that he kicked the front door of the shop.

"What are you going to do?" The woman, who was also seething with anger, asked eagerly when she heard him speak.

"Just you wait. I’ll make that old bastard regret this!" The man stared grimly in the direction of the police station, then spat on the ground.

Meanwhile, back at the station, the owner waited until the couple had left before standing up with a wide grin. He nodded at Evan Keller and the others. "I really have you officers to thank. Otherwise, that family of scoundrels would have extorted me for everything I have.

I’d have been lucky to get away with the shirt on my back."

After that, the owner made a bit more small talk and then left.

The other customers who had come along to the station had already given their statements and left long ago.

Evan Keller stared intently at the owner’s retreating back. Once the man was completely out of sight, he spoke with absolute certainty. "He was behind it. Or, to be more precise, this whole incident was part of his plan."

That customer had been running roughshod over him in his restaurant for so long, swiping a stack of napkins every time he left.

’So he didn’t know the grapefruit on the cash counter would be taken?’

’No. He knew.’

’In fact, he *wanted* the fruit to be stolen. He knew the customer was on daily blood pressure medication, and he also knew the man would eat the fruit immediately to avoid being caught with it later.’

Whatever happened after it was stolen would have nothing to do with him.

After all, he was just an "innocent victim."

Standing nearby, Zoe Sawyer quickly pieced the whole thing together as well.

’Even the timid owner they saw in the restaurant at the beginning... that was all part of his plan, too.’

’After all, how could a timid, honest little restaurant owner who was afraid of trouble ever do something like that?’

"I hope this is the end of it," Zoe Sawyer said with a sharp intake of breath, hugging her arms and shivering involuntarily.

However, her wish was in vain.

Less than two days later, they all met again.