Episode 26. Britney's First ShowKevin had just exposed the con man who was trying to sell a fake golden pearl necklace to Phoebe. He was able to stop him from running out by throwing a box at his leg, knocking him to the ground.Phoebe ordered her guards, "Call the police and have him taken to the police station!"Everyone immediately surrounded McKay.Grant pointed an accusatory finger at him and yelled, "You're selling fakes? I can't believe I almost fell for it." However, as he turned around to leave, Kevin had already blocked his path."What's with you? The thief is over there, why are you stopping me?" Grant complained.This made everyone turn around."Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Aren't you going to take your partner along?" Kevin said with a sneer."I assure you, I'm a legitimate businessman," Grant said in a haughty voice as he tried to go around Kevin and head for the door.But Kevin suddenly grabbed Grant's wrist."Your acting skills aren't that great either," Kevin said to him."Can't you see that I'm a victim too?" Grant pleaded.He struggled hard, but found that Kevin's hand was like a steel clamp, tightly gripping his wrist. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free.They all heard sirens in the street and looked out the front window. Kevin had just sent an urgent text message to Officer Emmett.The police lieutenant walked directly to Kevin and asked, "Where are the suspects?"One is here, and the other is over there," Kevin pointed at McKay and Grant."Officer, don't listen to him. I just came in here to shop for antiques. If he tells you anything else, he's a liar," Grant said.The antique dealers from the neighboring shops pulled McKay over to Emmett.One of them said,"Officer, Mr. Grant is telling the truth. We're all witnesses." He paused and continued, "He's framing Mr. Grant to make himself look good and impress President Anderson."Kevin couldn't believe how misguided these men were. How could they have fallen for this nonsense?Officer Emmett looked disappointed. She turned to look at Phoebe, who was standing next to her. "Ms. Anderson, do you think this person is involved in the crime?"Phoebe didn't know what to say, so she just shook her head.Emmett sighed a little and turned to look at Kevin. She informed him, "Since none of the witnesses say that he was involved, I have no choice but to let him go."Kevin couldn't believe that someone with Officer Emmett's experience couldn't see through the deception.He was about to give up and let go of Grant's arm when he noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with the man's face.He reached out and pulled on Grant's skin. Everyone was shocked to see him standing there holding the man's face in his hand. Well, it was actually a mask. And the nasty face that was underneath was pretty frightening."So it's you!" Emmett exclaimed as she tightly grabbed onto Grant's collar.Kevin looked at her in surprise, "You know him?"Emmett nodded and explained: "Half a year ago, a rich Chicago art collector was swindled out of a painting worth about a quarter of a million dollars. We've been following leads ever since, but couldn't find a trace of the suspects."It was them?" Kevin asked her."Yes, it's them," Emmett nodded again. "They have a unique approach, using various disguises to trick their victims."A few backup officers entered the store to help and Emmett ordered them to pull the mask from McKay's face. It was made of very realistic artificial skin. Very convincing, to say the least."Kevin, thank you for helping us catch these two criminals. You've made a great contribution," Officer Emmett said happily.Kevin smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Then he glanced at the owners of the antique shops.The ones who had been speaking in Grant's defense were especially embarrassed. They were staring at Kevin in surprise.The masks on Grant and McKay's faces were so realistic that nobody noticed anything unusual. But how did Kevin see through the deception?As the prisoners were being escorted to the squad cars, Officer Emmett suddenly asked Kevin, "I'm very curious. How did you see that they were wearing masks?"To tell you the truth, it was Grant's fault. When he struggled, the edge of his mask curled up. Pretty careless of him," Kevin said casually.Officer Emmett had some doubts about his explanation.Grant had disguised himself incredibly well. The mask and his entire face were really convincing, but Kevin could actually see the tiny gap and the slightly raised corner at a glance."When did my eyesight get so good?" Kevin thought to himself."In any case, I owe you my thanks. When I have the time, I'll treat you to dinner." After Officer Emmett said this, she headed out to her squad car and drove away.The owners of the neighborhood antique shops also left. Phoebe slowly walked up to Kevin and said a very sincere, "Thank you!"No need to thank me. It was my pleasure," Kevin said with a smile.When Phoebe heard him say this, a faint smile appeared on her face. "By the way, I could tell from your discussion of the pearls that you know a lot about the subject. Have you had any formal training in antique appraisal? "Kevin thought for a second and said, "I used to know an old gentleman who taught me a lot about antiques."What Kevin didn't expect was that Phoebe would suddenly become so excited to hear this. She asked him, "Are you still in touch with him? Do you know his name and address?"Phoebe gave Kevin a hopeful look.She wondered how he had been able to see through the deception at a single glance. He obviously knew things that she didn't. Phoebe figured that his teacher must be even more knowledgeable."I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I haven't seen him in a very long time. I have no idea where he is," Kevin said apologetically.Phoebe let out a disappointed sigh. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Kevin, can I ask you for a favor?"Just name it, Phoebe. As long as it's something I can help with, I'll do my best," Kevin said straightforwardly."I want to invite you to be the chief antique appraiser for Anderson Fine Jewelry and Antiques," she said. Phoebe seemed to be afraid that Kevin would refuse, so she quickly added, "You don't have to come to work every day, but if I need your help, I'll expect you to come in. I can give you a salary of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year for your effort. Would that be okay?"Phoebe was nervous because she didn't know if he'd be interested. But at the moment, Kevin was the most insightful expert she knew.Mr. Landau, who was standing nearby, gasped when he heard this. He had worked for the Andersons for over ten years, but he barely made a third of that salary. If Kevin was only going to be a part-time consultant, why would his salary be so high?On the other hand, Mr. Landau had witnessed Kevin's profound knowledge and insight, so he couldn't disagree with the decision to hire him. He was envious of Kevin's offer, but felt that he deserved his good fortune."Let me get this straight. I don't need to come in to work every day and I'll earn a hundred and fifty thousand a year? Why would I say no to that offer?" Kevin agreed right away.He felt that it was getting late, so he said good-bye to Phoebe and headed back to the office, carrying the tiara in his bag.That night, Kevin went home to his new apartment. He sent a message to Lily, showered, and went to bed.The next morning, as soon as Kevin arrived at his office, Ms. Wilson came in to give him a report on the company's activities."Mr. Williams, today is the premiere of Britney Davis's show, the one that the Jones family took the lead on. Do you want to attend?" she asked him."I won't be able to attend. If I go, it may affect Britney's performance. If you can set up the live feed, I'll just watch it here at my desk," Kevin explained.He was well aware that Britney's deal had been set up by the Jones family. Moreover, Lily was personally responsible for it.If he appeared in front of his wife, his true identity would certainly be exposed."I understand, sir." Ms. Wilson replied. Then she left to make the arrangements for him.A while later, the live feed was set up on his computer and Kevin watched Britney slowly walk on stage. He noticed that you could hear a lot of noise from the audience, which made it hard to appreciate Britney's performance.Then, when Britney was halfway through her song, there was a problem with her microphone. The crowd began to boo.As the sound engineers were trying to fix it, Britney stomped her feet angrily and turned around to go backstage.Kevin slammed his fist on his desk and called Ms. Wilson in. "What's going on over there?" he asked her."I have no idea, sir. I'll go find out right away," Ms. Wilson replied. Then she left the room and went to her desk to make a call.Kevin looked in astonishment at the dent that he'd just made in his desk with his fist.He stared at the deep indentation and wondered. "How did I get so damned strong?"Just then, Ms. Wilson hung up her phone.Kevin grabbed a few documents and used them to cover his desk so that she wouldn't see what he'd done."Sir, I have an update on the show. There are four engineers in charge of Britney's sound equipment backstage. Unfortunately, they've all made a mess of the production," Ms. Wilson explained.When Kevin heard this, he understood immediately and said, "Please call them to my office."Right away, sir!" Ms. Wilson also had some suspicions, so she was glad that Kevin had made this request.After she left, Kevin immediately picked up his phone and called Mitchell Cook, "Hi, Mitch. I'm in my office at the Williams building. I need some help with a few things. Do you think you could come downtown?"A little over a half an hour later, the four staff members who had screwed up Britney's show entered the CEO's office and saw Mitchell Cook sitting in Kevin's office chair smoking a cigar. There were several men in black suits and sunglasses on either side of him.Kevin could easily have gotten the four of them to talk, but he didn't want to expose his identity."So, I understand you're all sound engineers. Were you just working backstage at Britney's show? Well, what I'd like to understand is what the hell happened to our star performer's microphone!" Cook asked sternly as he blew a smoke ring toward the ceiling.Kevin, who was standing with Cook's bodyguards, shook his head when he saw the four of them."Cat's got your tongue? Do you know who I am?" he asked with a sneer, "I'm Mitchell Cook. If you dare lie to me, I guarantee there will be consequences."When they heard his name, the four unlucky sound engineers were quaking in their boots.Everyone knew about Cook's reputation throughout Chicago.After about a minute of this staring contest, one of them couldn't take the pressure and he stammered, "As long as you don't hurt me, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."The other three men looked at each other and started to cooperate, too.A few minutes later, Cook ended the impromptu meeting and waved them out of the room.Then Cook stood up and smiled saying, "Kevin, everything is clear to me now."Why, that's amazing, Mr. Cook. I didn't realize you were so well known around here," Kevin teased."No need to thank me, Kevin. If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't be so successful right now. " After saying this, Cook said with a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Kevin, there's one thing I don't understand. Now that you're the head of Williams Media, why are you still staying in the Jones family?"I have my reasons, Mitch. Let's drop the subject for now," Kevin answered.After a few more minutes of small talk, Kevin asked Ms. Wilson to walk Cook back to the elevator.Then he let her know that if Williams Media needed any hotels in the future, they should put the Witsler Hotel at the top of the list.After Cook left, Kevin's phone rang.Dorothy's voice blared in Kevin's earpiece. "You're a real piece of work. You haven't been home in days! Do you have any idea what just happened? Hurry up and meet us at the Jones mansion!" Actually, Dorothy didn't want to see Kevin. It was Grandma Jones who had ordered everyone in the Jones family to come right away. She was furious!"Alright, I'll be right there," Kevin responded. Then he hung up the phone and rushed over to the Jones mansion. Of course, he knew what this was all about.While waiting at a stoplight, Kevin called Britney.At that very moment, Britney was in her room crying about the disaster at her show. There were tears flowing down her face and she was heartbroken.When she saw that Kevin was calling, Britney answered very politely and nervously, "Mr. Williams, I'm sorry. I just don't know how this happened."The botched show had ruined her image, erasing all her previous success. And the company suffered an enormous loss.So Britney assumed that Kevin was calling to chew her out."No need to apologize. I've already sent someone to investigate this matter. This has nothing to do with you. It looks like it's an internal problem in the Jones family," Kevin said with a sigh."Oh, Mr. Williams, is this true?" Britney asked in surprise."Don't ask any more questions right now. Ms. Wilson will send you an email later and I'll need you to do exactly as I say," Kevin instructed her.When Kevin hung up the phone, he'd just arrived at the Jones mansion.As he walked in the room, Kevin saw that the entire Jones family was standing in the main reception room. Grandma Jones, who was sitting on a chair, had a gloomy expression on her face.Since the Jones family was in charge of the project, they assumed that Williams Media would blame them for the disastrous show.When they saw Kevin walk in, they all looked displeased. They didn't know why she'd asked him to come to their meeting. What use could he be? Had he come just to poke fun at them?Suddenly, Jason stood up and pointed at Lily. He sneered and said, "Lily, it wasn't easy for our family to set up the deal with Williams Media. You screwed everything up! So now it's up to you to tell Grandma how to fix it."I'm sorry, Grandma," Lily said sadly.Without waiting for Grandma Jones to reply, Jason interrupted and said, "What's the use of being sorry? Are you just looking for Grandma's pity? Whether you're sorry or not, Williams Media is going to blame us for your blunder."Then Jason turned his head to look at Grandma Jones and continued, "Grandma, I think Lily did a terrible job. In order to keep something like this from happening again, I suggest you pull her out of all her duties in the company. That way, she won't be able to interfere in our business anymore. We can't let Williams Media hold us responsible for her incompetence."One of the younger members of the family said, "That's right, Grandma. What Jason said makes sense. "Another one commented, "Lily really blew it. I think this would be a good way to punish her for her failure." Everyone around him nodded in approval.Grandma Jones looked around the room and then looked at Lily. She coldly said, "Then it's agreed. From this moment on, you will have no say in the company's affairs."When Lily heard this, her face instantly turned pale. She wanted to explain, but just couldn't find the words.Kevin had been watching all this from the sidelines. What could he do to help without revealing his true identity to Lily?