Chereads / Insta Empire / Chapter 24 - Chapter 24. Phoebe's phone call

Chapter 24 - Chapter 24. Phoebe's phone call

Kevin opened the box on his desk and looked inside. Inside it was a red pill, similar to the tan one that Cook had given him a while back. He decided to call his friend to find out what this one would do since the last one had disastrous side effects. "Kevin, didn't I already give you a pill?" Cook slowly said, "Anyway, I found out from the head researcher that the medicinal properties of the new pill actually enhance the properties of the first one you took. It should help you a lot. " Cook's tedious explanation started to give Kevin a headache. "I have to get back to work. Talk to you later." Kevin hung up the phone and stared at the pill. He clearly remembered how he'd felt after taking the first one. "Do I take it or not?" Kevin pondered. He thought for a while and decided that his friend wouldn't try to hurt him. So he picked up the pill and swallowed it. Within seconds, Kevin felt like his whole body was engulfed in flames. It was like his brain was burning with an indescribable pain. Then Kevin fell to the ground in agony. He closed his eyes and passed out. Half an hour later, when Kevin slowly came to, he couldn't find any change to his body. That was fine with him since the last pill had given him that disgusting, smelly ooze all over him. He thought to himself, "I hope those researchers didn't trick him. I don't really feel any different." Kevin's phone rang and startled him back to reality. "Hello?" "Hello, is this Kevin?" Kevin didn't recognize the charming voice that was speaking to him. "Who's this?" Kevin asked in confusion. "This is Phoebe Anderson. We met at the Witsler hotel," she paused for a moment," at the celebration the family threw after getting the Williams contract." The event had turned into a real mess because of Jason's behavior, but Kevin hadn't forgotten her. "Of course, I remember you now. What can I do for you?" He was polite, but still had his doubts about what he was getting into. He hadn't spoken with Phoebe since that day. Why would she suddenly call him out of the blue? "I've been meaning to ask you, at Grandma Jones's birthday party, did you give her an antique tiara?" she asked with a hint of curiosity. "Yes, why?" Kevin asked in an aloof tone. He did give Grandma Jones a tiara, but before he could present it to her, Bradley had ruined his plan. Kevin ended up angrily taking back the gift and leaving. "Do you still have the tiara?" Phoebe asked excitedly. "It's only a trinket. Are you interested in it?" Kevin said teasingly. Phoebe replied in a very serious tone of voice. "Kevin, the Jones family isn't aware of it, but I peeked in the bag when nobody was looking. I'm sure that it's the legendary Golden Sunburst Tiara!" Kevin slightly raised his eyebrows. He really didn't expect Phoebe to know about this. "So, what would you like to know?" Kevin asked with interest. "Don't worry. I just want to take a few photos," Phoebe said hesitantly . "Okay. I think we can arrange that," Kevin agreed readily. "Really? If you're free now, you can come to our antique store, Anderson Fine Jewelry and Antiques. I'll wait for you here." Phoebe said excitedly. She was afraid that Kevin would refuse. After all, the Golden Sunburst only existed in legends. There were few written records of it and she was only aware of it from rare eyewitness accounts. Phoebe had only seen sketches of it. But she had studied them well. An hour later, Kevin arrived at the entrance of the Anderson family's store. This was the biggest antique store in all of Chicago, and it contained many priceless treasures. Kevin had heard a lot about the place, but he'd never been there before. Just as he was entering the door, an employee stopped him. "Excuse me, sir. Are you on the list? " Kevin glanced at the nameplate on the man's chest, "Doug Birch." Then he asked, "What list?" "If you're not aware of the list, then you probably shouldn't be here," Birch said disdainfully, "There are only two ways to get in here. The first is to have a special invitation, and the second is to be an antique dealer. Which one are you? " "I was invited by Phoebe Anderson," Kevin replied calmly. The man took a look at Kevin's clothes and smirked. "Wearing those rags? You can't possibly know President Anderson." Kevin's irritation showed on his face. He didn't expect a staff member to be so rude. "Get lost," Birch said as he pushed Kevin out the door and onto the sidewalk. Kevin didn't strike back, but Birch staggered back and fell to the ground like he'd been hit really hard. "How dare you push me!" he shouted as he got up off the ground, "Security! Robbery!" Two security guards showed up immediately. "Arrest him and take him to the police station," Birch said as he pointed at Kevin. The two security guards looked menacing as they rushed up to Kevin and grabbed his arms. "You'd better cooperate or you'll regret it," one of the guards said coldly. "That's enough!" Kevin shouted. This is such an overreaction, he thought. Kevin struggled slightly, and the two guards flew six feet away, hitting the ground with a thud. Kevin was stunned by this. He looked down at his hands in disbelief. "How did I get so strong?" he thought to himself. "You're in big trouble now!" Birch yelled. "What are you talking about? You attacked me first," Kevin pointed out. Birch looked over at the two security guards who were getting up from the sidewalk. "Arrest him." Just then, they heard a loud voice. "What are you doing?" Kevin turned around and saw a man walking out of the store. "Sir, you have to help me." Birch quickly ran to the store's manager, Steven Burrows, and sobbed, "He came here to rob the store. When I tried to stop him, he threw me to the ground. " He continued his accusation, "Then he beat up these two guards." Burrows walked up to Kevin."Sir, do you have a reasonable explanation for this?" He looked threatening but remained polite. "Who do you believe, me or him?" Kevin asked flatly. Burrows frowned, turned around, and said to Birch and the guards, "Please show him off the property." "Alright, Mr. Burrows," Birch said with a smile. He stared spitefully at Kevin and said, "So, you want to cause trouble? Well, I'll teach you a lesson." A moment later, Birch was lying on the ground staring up at Kevin. Half of his face immediately swelled up. Kevin had barely touched him. "This is getting annoying." Kevin said unemotionally. "You're a dead man!" Birch growled as he rubbed his face. When Burrows saw this, he was very upset. "Do you have a death wish or something?" Burrows had lost patience with Kevin. Kevin decided he'd wasted enough time with these stooges. He took out his phone and called Phoebe. "If you're not down at the front door in two minutes, I'm out of here." He didn't give Phoebe a chance to respond. He just hung up the phone. "It's useless to call for help. We're calling the police. But first we're going to beat the crap out of you!" Birch shouted as he struggled to get up. He stood next to the manager and glared at Kevin. In fact, Birch and Manager Burrows were cousins. Burrows used his influence to get him his job as head of security. Needless to say, the job and his family connection went to Birch's head. "Mr. Birch, he looks pretty poor. I don't think he can even afford a lawyer," one of the security guards said. "That's right. His clothes look like he got them at the thrift store. " The other guard said. "I don't care." Birch responded. Then he turned to look at Burrows. "Cousin, I'll leave it up to you." Burrows took a deep breath and walked over to Kevin. "You've been a lot of trouble today. I think I'll let security spend a little time with you before we send you to the police station." The manager's attitude gave Kevin an uneasy feeling. How would he get out of this without even more trouble? Suddenly, they heard a woman's voice from the entrance. Phoebe practically ran out the door. "Kevin, when did you get here? Why didn't you come inside?" Burrows and the others immediately snapped to attention when they saw her, "President Anderson!" Kevin looked Phoebe in the eyes and explained, "President Anderson, your security guards just threatened to beat me up and have me arrested. Are you sure I'm still welcome?" "What are you talking about? You've misunderstood, sir." Birch said to Kevin. Phoebe was stunned at first, but when she saw the look on Birch's face, she understood what was going on. "What's this about?" she asked sternly. "President Anderson, he's the one who barged in and hit me," he replied. She didn't want to hear another word. "You're fired!" "Don't you think you owe me an apology?" Kevin asked Birch. "Never!" he replied arrogantly. Kevin turned around and looked at Phoebe. He smiled and said, "Why, President Anderson, I'm surprised that you hired someone like this." When Phoebe heard this she turned to the man and said, "Yes, I think an apology is in order." Birch was about to argue with her, but decided it would be easier to just apologize. "Yes, ma'am" "Then what are you waiting for? If you want to continue working here, you have to apologize to this gentleman." Phoebe crossed her arms and waited. Burrows closed his eyes. He knew that his cousin had finally gone too far and been rude to the wrong person. Even though he was the store manager, he was an Anderson family employee. There was no way he was going to stand up for his cousin. On top of that, he didn't expect Kevin to be so important, especially the way he was dressed. Birch walked meekly over to Kevin and. said quietly, "Sir, I apologize." Kevin cupped his ear and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you." Birch took a deep breath and shouted, "I'm sorry, sir!" "That's better," Kevin said with a slight smile. Then Kevin handed the bag containing the Golden Sunburst Tiara to Phoebe. "Here you go. Go ahead and take all the photos you want." She looked very excited. She immediately grabbed Kevin's elbow and pulled him into the shop. Phoebe led him into the store's photography studio. She set up a camera and placed the tiara on a beautiful backdrop that helped highlight all the details of the piece. Kevin watched her intently. After taking quite a lot of shots, Phoebe turned off the studio lights and put the camera away. She turned to Kevin and said, "Thank you so much." "No problem. If you ever want to see it again, just give me a call, any time." Kevin slowly put the valuable item back in his bag. Phoebe nodded. Then she hesitated for a moment and said, "Kevin, there's something else I'd like to ask." "Go ahead." Kevin said with a smile. "The legendary Golden Sunburst has been lost for many years. How did you track it down," she asked him. Having grown up in a family that was involved in the antique business, Phoebe was well aware of its value. She was very curious how Kevin, who everyone claimed had been freeloading off of the Jones family for three years, had found such a precious object. "If I told you that this was a family heirloom, would you believe me?" Kevin replied with a smile. A staff member suddenly ran into the room and interrupted them: "President Anderson, we need your help downstairs." Phoebe was surprised by this and replied, "Is it something that you can't handle yourself?" The man's name was Albert Landau. He was a senior antique appraiser who had worked for the Anderson family for more than ten years. It was extremely unusual for Mr. Landau to have trouble appraising an antique. "This gentleman has brought a string of antique pearls. There's something about their quality that's giving me some trouble arriving at a value. I really can't make a decision," Mr. Landau said somewhat awkwardly. Kevin wondered if he might be able to help.