Chapter 232: Lady Boss, What Are Your Orders?

Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Lady Boss, What Are Your Orders?

From entering, to planting the recorder, to the conversation, and then threatening the victim—goading her into calling the police herself, all while exercising enough restraint to not cause any real harm.

Even if she were caught, the worst she’d get would be a verbal warning and an administrative penalty. No jail time.

She also understood copyright law, hitting her opponent right where it hurt.

The entire process was seamless. Sean Hughes would never believe it if she said she hadn’t prepared beforehand.

"Yes, and she was the one who told me the passcode for the apartment door. She said I could come over anytime.

Oh, right. The fruit knife is hers, too. When I came over, I didn’t bring anything except my notebook and the recorder." Laura Sherman shot Wanda Sherman a grin. Wanda couldn’t even accuse her of trespassing now; after all, she had been the one to grant her permission to come over anytime.

’She’d calculated everything down to the last detail. That means her threat about watching my parents was probably a lie, too.’

Then Wanda thought about everything she had said, and the fact that the entire confrontation had been broadcast on a livestream.

Wanda Sherman’s face went ashen. ’It’s over. It’s completely over.’

’Not only will my contract be terminated, I’ll probably have to pay damages. I might even have to return the copyright fees I’ve already received.’

’If only I had just agreed to Laura’s demands back then. Things wouldn’t have ended up like this.’

Wanda was filled with a regret so intense she wished she could go back to the beginning, slap herself silly, and force herself to agree to Laura’s demands.

Sure enough, the next second, a call from her editor popped up on the phone Wanda had just picked up.

Sean Hughes clicked his tongue. ’To be able to consider every possible outcome... this suspect is quite something.’

Impressive, yes, but Sean Hughes still didn’t approve of her methods.

"Both Miss Shermans, please come with us to the station to give a statement," Sean Hughes said, looking at Laura and Wanda.

One of them was a public figure, so to avoid causing a bigger commotion, Sean Hughes decided it was best to get them back to the station quickly.

As she walked past her boyfriend, Wanda subconsciously glanced at him, only to see him avert his gaze.

Wanda’s heart went cold. She wanted to say something, but she heard Sean Hughes hurrying them along and could only swallow her words.

’Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait until after I give my statement.’

Back at the station, Sean Hughes took them to an interrogation room and questioned Laura Sherman first.

Laura didn’t hide anything. She explained her situation and her reasons for doing what she did.

Finally, Laura reiterated, "The fruit knife was my last resort. If she had just agreed to my request from the beginning, it never would have come to this."

Sean Hughes nodded without offering his own opinion and then turned his attention to Wanda Sherman.

"I was so sick of my job back then. The pay was low, the work was endless, and my asshole boss yelled at me every day.

I also love reading novels. One day, I saw a new contest on a website, and I remembered Laura had written something in that genre before, so I secretly took pictures of it and uploaded it. I never expected it to blow up." Wanda’s voice faltered with guilt as she spoke.

When I first started making money, I thought I’d wait until there was a little more, then tell Laura and give her the cash.

But then I watched the back-end revenue go from a few thousand to tens of thousands, then over a hundred thousand.

The urge to confess got stuck in my throat. When it was just a few thousand, I could still have given it back to Laura. But once the income grew, I couldn’t bear to part with it.

After the copyrights were sold, I completely gave up on the idea of giving the money back. I just figured she was busy and would never notice.

With my heart in my throat, I watched for a while, but when I saw no reaction from Laura, I finally relaxed. I started making public appearances, making a lot of money under the ’beautiful author’ persona. I even met my current boyfriend, and we were even at the point of discussing marriage.

But just when everything was on the right track, Laura found out, which led to what happened tonight."

"Officer, can I talk to Laura again? If we can resolve this ourselves, does a case still need to be filed?" Wanda asked, looking uneasy.

She didn’t want to go to jail, and she certainly didn’t want to pay any compensation.

’The best solution now is to contact Laura and settle this privately.’

Besides, her editor had just called. The partner who bought the rights said that if this issue wasn’t resolved properly, they would demand the copyright fees back and cancel the deal.

But before hanging up, the editor had subtly told Wanda that a private settlement would be for the best.

The copyright fees were split between the author and the website, so naturally, the site didn’t want to lose that money either.

And besides, if the incident blew up, it wasn’t all bad—wouldn’t her name recognition increase?

The partner wouldn’t pass up on free publicity, either.

So, if possible, they still hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Wanda understood the hidden meaning in her editor’s words, which was why she had just asked Sean Hughes that question.

Sean Hughes thought for a moment, then went out to discuss it with Evan Keller.

In the end, they decided to let the two of them resolve it privately.

Although Laura had evidence and a recording, a case like this would take a lot of time to resolve.

She was after the manuscript and copyright fees, hoping to use the money for a family member’s medical treatment.

If she really sued, she would definitely win, but the timeline would be too drawn out, making it a difficult process.

So, having the two of them negotiate a private settlement was indeed the fastest and most convenient solution.

Sure enough, less than half an hour later, Laura and Wanda came out of the mediation room.

With the police as witnesses, Wanda transferred all the manuscript and copyright fees to Laura and promised she would never publish any books under that pen name again.

In return, Laura had to drop the lawsuit against her. The matter was closed.

From the beginning, all Laura wanted was to get her money back, so she readily agreed to Wanda’s terms.

The two families were from the same village and closely related; they would see each other all the time.

’As long as I get the money back, there’s no need to make things too ugly.’

Once they confirmed everything was settled, the two of them left the police station.

Seeing that things were more or less resolved, Zoe Sawyer yawned, said a quick word to the others, and went back to her dorm.

The report?

’Not her problem!’

The matter here was resolved. Meanwhile, in a remote little village...

A man emerged from a haystack, shook his head, and pulled a crimson butterfly knife from his pocket, which he began to flip skillfully.

His gaze swept across the entire village before finally settling on one of the houses.

"You’re the one~ The lucky winner for tonight!"

Just as the man was about to head toward his target, the phone in his pocket suddenly began to vibrate wildly.

The man clicked his tongue, but after seeing the caller ID, his impatient expression vanished.

"Boss, what are your orders?"