Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1531

Chapter 1531: Married him for the money?

Meanwhile...

Hugo and Mint exchanged a quiet glance, as if daring each other to speak first. For some reason, they’d ended up in the same ward after Atlas had the two of them transferred. But sharing a room wasn’t really the issue.

"Fine!" Mint huffed, rolling her eyes. "I’ll ask then. Stop staring at me like you’re waiting for me to say something."

She cleared her throat, the swelling on her face starting to go down. "Who the hell is that?!"

She pointed not at the coma patient, but at the figure hiding awkwardly in the corner of the room.

"They’re our free lunch," Hugo said proudly, grinning. "I was worried no one was looking after them, so I had them brought here. Now their police protection and your police protection are the same. We’re officially untouchable, Mint."

Mint deadpanned, her expression flat. "I don’t care about that. I’m asking about that guy. Why is he hiding?!"

"He’s a felon—heh." Hugo laughed awkwardly, then snapped his eyes to the man. "Hey, stop hiding already! You’re making yourself even more suspicious!"

The man peeking from behind the bed offered Mint a sheepish smile and raised his hand slightly in greeting.

"You’re protecting a felon now?" Mint asked, giving Hugo a suspicious look.

"I’m protecting a witness, for your information," Hugo corrected. "Remember that raid your team led? That’s the boss—the original one. And this guy here? He’s a member who thought I had abducted his boss, and so he tried to sneak him out. Almost got himself killed in the process."

"Ah..." Mint nodded slowly.

During the raid, most of those arrested kept their mouths shut. Those who were willing to talk ended up dead in prison. Mint clearly remembered that the Information Center they raided was supposedly under a different leader—according to intel, at least. Worse, while the raid was successful, the big players behind it weren’t caught—not the previous boss, nor the current one.

"We suspected some sort of power struggle," she murmured. "That’s why the leadership changed."

"Impossible!" the man blurted, only to bite his tongue when Mint shot him a look.

Hugo nodded. "It’s not just infighting, Mint. It’s more complicated. Why don’t you tell her?" He gestured for the man to speak.

"Ahem." The man cleared his throat and climbed onto a chair. "The Information Center might’ve sold sensitive data—stuff that could ruin reputations—but we weren’t what the authorities made us out to be."

His face darkened with bitterness.

"I’m not saying what we did was right, but it was all just business. And even then, our boss never sold Anteca to anyone. We dealt in information, not murder."

He looked down, his voice quieter. "But then our boss got obsessed with a certain piece of information, and that’s when things started to fall apart. He was attacked... thankfully, Sir Hugo was there."

He glanced at the coma patient. "He may be in a coma now, but at least there’s still hope he’ll wake up. That’s better than him being dead."

Hugo turned to Mint. "This guy thought I was the one who hurt his boss, so he tried to sneak him out of here. Got himself attacked too. I can’t say ’fortunately,’ but... that misunderstanding kept him close."

"How many others still believe that story?" Mint asked, her reddened eyes narrowing. "If he thinks you’re the enemy, there could be others just waiting for the right time."

Hugo smirked. "Don’t worry. I’m not just some side character in this story."

I need more screen time, he thought with a grin.