Love's perfect match novel (Elspeth and Callum)
Chapter 578

Chapter 578 Search Came Up Empty

"But..."

Bobby looked conflicted.

"Why can't you open up the place? I demand to be let in. If you don't open up, you can say goodbye to your company tomorrow."

Welson never minced words, and Bobby knew he couldn't stop Welson, so he had to retrieve the key and unlock the gate to allow entry.

As soon as they walked into the courtyard, Welson saw Haris sitting leisurely at the stone table by the gate.

"What's going on? What brings you here, Mr. Harley?" Haris sipped from his cup of tea. He didn't seem upset that an outsider had barged into his place. Instead, he pointed at the stool next to him and suggested, "Why don't you enjoy a cup of tea with me?"

Welson snorted. "I'm not in the mood to sit around and have tea with you. Hurry up and tell me where you hid the two of them."

"The two of them?"

Haris set his cup down and pretended to exclaim in shock, "You shouldn't throw such false accusations around, Mr. Harley. No one came here."

"Let me search the place and we'll see whether it was a false accusation."

Welson couldn't be bothered to play nice. With a wave of his hand, the men beside him immediately went around searching the courtyard.

After a quick search, they reported back saying they didn't replace anyone.

Welson couldn't help but frown. Was I wrong about this?

Nevertheless, he'd personally witnessed Elspeth entering the place using the hidden passage, and judging by the location, he was fairly certain it had to lead into this courtyard. Why haven't we found anything yet?

"I told you, Mr. Harley. There's no one here."

Haris shrugged helplessly.

Welson's expression was dark. He was displeased by the fact that they hadn't found anything.

"I think I need to search the place one more time!"

Bobby was a lot more confident now that the initial search came up empty.

"That's pushing it, Mr. Harley. I gave you permission to search the place and you didn't replace anything, so why are you still trying to cause trouble for us?"

If Welson insisted on searching the place one more time, it would look as if he were hellbent on accusing them of a crime they didn't commit.

He had to stop.

"It's getting pretty late. Would you like to rest here for the night, Mr. Harley, or would you be returning home?" Bobby asked courteously. He was still too afraid to offend Welson. Welson threw Bobby an icy glare before storming off.

Bobby exhaled in relief.

Haris dropped all pretense of civility as his fury colored his expression. "What on earth are you doing? You can't even do one little thing right."

"How would I know he was going to barge in all of a sudden, Dad? You saw him. He would surely replace a way to ruin us in revenge if I don't let him search the place! I couldn't stop him."

Haris took a sip of tea. "He's already suspected us now, but since he just did his search, it's unlikely that he'll return anytime soon."

"Dad, did you really kidnap both Helia Joneson and her daughter?"

Bobby had been busy dealing with the business and couldn't pay attention to what Haris was up to, but after seeing Welson's reaction today, he had a feeling that his father did indeed do something unspeakable that he didn't know about.

"Hah. You don't need to bother with that. All you need to do is just let me know in advance if he comes again."

Bobby chuckled awkwardly. "Dad, kidnapping is no joke. If you get caught, you'd be sent to prison. You better be prepared."

"Do you think I need you to tell me what to do?"

Since Haris put it that way, Bobby couldn't say anything.

"That's enough. You can leave now if there's nothing else." Bobby sighed and left.

Soon, Haris was the only one left in the large courtyard.

His eyes glittered as he quickly made his way over to the inner room and unlocked the door.

He wasn't worried about entering alone as the hidden room had been drugged with muscle relaxants that immobilized everyone inside. He'd taken the antidote in advance so no one could put up a fight with him in their state.

Haris strode around the room and found Elspeth leaning against a block of stone. She looked perfectly harmless.

"Elspeth." He slowly walked over to her and smiled. "I can't bear to turn you into a drug tester. If you're willing to become my disciple, I'll teach you everything I know."

Elspeth wasn't surprised to see him enter. She wasn't furious either. Instead, she cocked her head to the side in thought before exclaiming in feigned shock, "Does that mean you'll let me go if I become your disciple?"

"Of course. How can my disciple stay in a place like this?"

Elspeth knew that he was only trying to hide his true intentions.

He simply wanted to numb her mind momentarily before experimenting on her.

Does he think I have no clue what he's up to?

Although she was sneering on the inside, she pretended to be naive and hopeful. "Can you let me go now? I've been tied up here for a whole day now. My hands feel like they're about to fall off." "Are you sure you're willing to be my disciple?"

Haris didn't believe her. He knew that Elspeth wasn't someone easy to deal with.

It didn't seem plausible that she would readily agree to this simply because he tied her hands up.

"Of course. Who'd choose to suffer in here as a drug tester?"

Elspeth's acting was pretty bad. Haris saw right through it, so he said, "I don't think you're sincere about wanting to be my disciple, but if you are, then take this medicine."

Haris took out a brown pill from his pocket and held it out in front of Elspeth.

She had a keen sense of smell and could immediately pick up on the unusual scent of the medicine.

If I'm right, that medicine will allow him to control my mind.

Something addictive had been added to the medicine as well. If she ate this medicine, she would have to constantly rely on him to give her the antidote.

What a distrustful man he is. How can he come up with such a heinous trick?!

Elspeth didn't move at all, so Haris had to change tactics. "I guess you don't want to be my disciple after all. It was all a lie."

"The medicine doesn't look pleasant to eat at all." Elspeth let out a troubled expression.

"There's no such thing as a pleasant medicine to eat. As long as you eat this, I promise to untie you right away." Haris tried his best to sound kinder as he hid his excitement.

Elspeth had no choice but to open up and allow Haris to bring the medicine to her mouth.

She was about to take the medicine when a harsh growl rang out from the door.

"Hold it!"