Chapter 299 - White Pearl Resort

The resort elevator was relatively quiet compared to the loud laughter that Halia heard outside, but some gentle piano music played over the speakers to prevent any awkwardness. The resort had a total of 3 floors, with each room either facing the pool or the beach, and the restaurant was on the ground floor. When Halia and Jackson stepped in, there was already a man inside, so the couple stood to the side and scanned their room card on a scanner on the wall. The scanner automatically recognized the floor they needed to go to and took them to the third floor. The other man got off on the second floor. Jackson and Halia's room was one of the most expensive suites in the resort and it faced the beach they had just shared dinner on. This beach was the most famous beach in Boracay, White Beach, and it often appeared on postcards.

As soon as Jackson and Halia returned to their room, Halia headed straight into the bedroom to check her phone.

Sure enough, there was a message from their driver confirming the details for the next day.

But...there was also one other message waiting to be read...a message from Trisha.

"Did the driver message you?" Jackson called out from the kitchen as he tipped two glasses of red wine.

Halia had a quick look at the driver's message and proceeded to open Trisha's message inconspicuously as she answered, "Yes. He said he'll meet us in the lobby at 11am tomorrow. Natalie and Sean will be arriving at the resort at 9am. So they can have a little bit of time to settle down before we head out."

Halia didn't want to trouble Jackson on their honeymoon, so she quickly read Trisha's message, deleted it and put her phone away. Trisha's message was brief and straight to the point: "Joel Gabriel Santos opened a resort in Boracay last year with an anonymous investor from Hong Kong. The resort is called, White Pearl Resort. I will continue to investigate. Leave it with me and enjoy your honeymoon."

Halia wanted to listen to Trisha and leave the entire investigation in her hands, but she couldn't help but furrow her brows at the name of the resort.

White Pearl Resort?

That was the resort she was staying in! 

How could she ignore it when she was right there? If this place belonged to Joel Gabriel Santos, then the anonymous investor had to be Trojan. If that was the case, then there was definitely something wrong with this resort.

Halia closed her eyes and repeated the name, 'White Pearl Resort', in her mind, hoping to trigger some memories. She had tapped into her memories at will before and she was certain she could do it again.

At that moment, the phone in her hand suddenly vibrated.

Halia quickly opened her eyes in surprise. Who was calling her at a time like this?

But...as soon as she opened her eyes, she looked around and realized she was no longer in her hotel room. She was sitting in front of a computer inside a study room and the phone in her hand wasn't hers. Halia glanced around the room and quickly recognized where she was; she was in Trojan's study room. The police had searched this room after Trojan was caught.

It seemed, she had successfully tapped into Trojan's memory!

At that moment, the phone in her hand vibrated again. Trojan was secretive; he didn't even have a ringtone.

Halia slowly picked up the phone and placed it to her ear. "What do you think of the plans, Brother?" a familiar voice asked from the other end. It was Joel Gabriel Santos!

Halia enlarged a file on the computer and looked at it with a greedy smile, "It's perfect. The Organization will be happy with this."

As Halia stared at the file on the computer, she realized it was the plan for White Pearl Resort! This must have been before the resort was constructed.

Trisha was right to be suspicious of this resort. It seemed, it was linked to Trojan and The Organization.

Most importantly, as Halia scanned her eyes across the plan, she noticed something strange about the plan. White Pearl Resort was clearly a 3-level resort with a ground floor for the lobby and restaurant, she was staying in it right at that moment and she was certain about this. So, why did the plan show 5 floors in total? Halia raised her eyebrows in curiosity as she tried to figure out the plan. She was no architect, but there was clearly an empty floor below the ground floor. There was something suspicious about this.

At that moment, the man on the other end of the phone replied, "They will be happy when they see how much money we make." He then let out a loud, hollow laugh that echoed through the phone.

The laugh pierced through Halia's bones and sent shivers down her spine.

This laugh...

...she heard it earlier.

This was the laugh she heard in the lobby!

...

Over in Hong Kong, Mimi was also laughing. But, her laugh was extremely awkward as she stared at the bottle in Emerson's hand. She wanted to deny that the bottle was hers, but Emerson spoke up before she did and pointed to a security camera above their heads, "I wonder if the camera captured what you did with the contents of this bottle..."

Mimi froze. She didn't expect to be caught. After all, stomach aches were always related to food, why would anyone suspect otherwise? How did Emerson discover this?

Sue immediately stared at the bottle and realized what Emerson was suggesting. "Mimi, what did you do?" she asked in shock.

Mimi did not respond.

Avaleigh held onto her stomach and looked at Mimi, "D-Did you spike my drink with laxatives?"

Ara and Chu gasped in surprise. Even though Mimi always disliked Avaleigh, why would she put their concert at risk by making her sick? If she did, then she had gone too far.

At that moment, Avaleigh's stomach started to cramp again and she hunched forward in pain. Emerson subconsciously rushed forward to support her. "Are you OK?" he asked worriedly. He then handed her the bottle of water he had specifically gone to buy for her, "Have some water, it will help wash out the laxatives and give you some relief."

Avaleigh held onto the bottle thankfully. She thought this man had left, but it seemed, he had gone to get her some water. The cramps in her stomach were immediately replaced with butterflies.

Mimi glared at the two. "I was just sticking up for the rest of us!" she said. "Macaron has 7 members, but why does Ava always get the attention? Sometimes, I feel like I'm just a background dancer! Ava's always in the center, she gets her own solo performance, she gets the most exposure, and even President Wu treats her differently! Don't you think this is unfair?" 

Just as Mimi finished her sentence, a loud slap echoed across the room.

Mimi held onto her cheek and looked at her manager in surprise. Sue had thrown a slap across her face, "I can't believe you're trying to justify your actions! You could have ruined this concert! Do you know how serious that is?"