CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 436: PROTECTING HIS DAUGHTER

Noelle York pushed open the door and asked, "Dad, did you catch that little bitch? Where is she? I want to..."

The rest of her words were cut off when she saw Owen Sinclair and Vincent Ford.

Vincent and Owen’s expressions turned grim simultaneously.

Having talked with Owen, Vincent was eighty percent convinced that Ashley Shaw was innocent.

But hearing Noelle say this, Vincent understood everything clearly.

Hugh York had truly spoiled his daughter to the extreme and abused his power to the extreme.

Such a person could not be kept in their department.

In that instant, Vincent decided to conduct a thorough investigation on Hugh York once he returned.

Noelle stood awkwardly, a bit at a loss for what to do.

She hadn’t expected Owen and Vincent to be here at all.

The other day when she saw Jocelyn Hayes with Ashley Shaw at the restaurant, she was already surprised and used the excuse of having left something in the private room to avoid them.

But she hadn’t expected to run into Jocelyn’s mom here and now.

Noelle cursed her bad luck inwardly, and Hugh York was even more irritable.

But he couldn’t bear to scold his daughter since, ultimately, it was his idea to handle this matter in this way.

Noelle hadn’t asked him to do any of this.

No matter how awkward he felt inside, he could only smile to cover it up.

"You silly child, feeling ill and getting confused when you speak? Why don’t you wait outside for me? I’ll take you to the hospital as soon as I’m done."

It was obvious that he was using Noelle’s alleged illness as an excuse to downplay what she had just said.

Owen Sinclair had no intention of letting Noelle off the hook just like that.

"Miss York, I heard you called the police to accuse Ashley of slander and defamation? May I know what exactly she fabricated about you?"

Noelle’s face turned bright red, not out of embarrassment, but out of anger.

She didn’t like how Owen spoke to her in such a questioning tone, and all because of Ashley Shaw.

She thought that she was held in high regard by Owen, but it was evident that he valued Ashley more.

What was so worthwhile about that woman, besides her looks, that made her so worthy of protection?

Could they really be in "that kind" of relationship?

"Alright, alright... Mr. Sinclair, let’s just stop here. Why make things difficult for a kid?"

Hugh York stepped in to mediate.

If this had been solely Owen’s matter, considering his temper, he might have let it go, but since it involved Ashley Shaw, it couldn’t be handled this way.

Otherwise, how could he still call himself a father?

His lips curled in a cold, slight smile.

"Mr. York, I’m merely trying to get to the bottom of things; how is this considered making things difficult? Moreover, your personnel took Ashley directly from school to here, isn’t that what’s truly difficult?"

Hugh York’s expression faded.

"I was simply acting in accordance with the law."

"The law? Which law exactly? I happen to have a lawyer friend coming to Aethelgard today. I can arrange for us to sit down and discuss which law mandates such a grand act of arrest at a school."

Hugh York, who was already feeling guilty, naturally couldn’t refute him on the spot.

He could only speak bureaucratically, "Mr. Sinclair, if you have any dissatisfaction, point it out directly. The matter is what it is, and we’re following regular procedures. It just so happens that, in this instance, the conductor is the victim’s father. That’s all."

"The victim? So you’re implying that Ashley is the perpetrator?"

Hugh chuckled, saying, "Whether she is or not, Mr. Sinclair, you should know best."

"After the interview, you openly claimed to admire Noelle."

"Yet, two days later, your company sent an email stating they had no intention of signing..."

"So, in those two days, could Miss Shaw possibly have said something she shouldn’t in your ear?"

"According to that logic, we have every reason to suspect this, don’t we?"

Owen wasn’t ensnared by Hugh York’s words. He straightforwardly said, "Does suspicion warrant a police call? Besides, that’s not how defamation works, is it?"

Hugh York kept muddying the waters, obfuscating the focal point.

The focal point was that even if Ashley said something in those two days, it could hardly qualify as slander or defamation.

Owen admitted he wasn’t very familiar with legal proceedings, but slandering and defaming required the content to be false and fabricated.

Ashley had indeed talked about Noelle, but everything she said was true.

Vincent interjected, "Indeed. Mr. Sinclair is right. For defamation, there must be an act of fabricating facts, where the content slandering others is entirely fictional...yet you have not even confirmed if Ashley Shaw actually said the alleged defamatory words."

Hugh’s face darkened slightly.

He had always been articulate, but now, with another equally articulate person, and a professional present, his eloquence was of no avail.

Noelle couldn’t hold back any longer, "Mr. Sinclair! Do you dare to deny that it was after Ashley spoke ill of me to you that you decided not to sign me?"

Owen calmly met Noelle’s gaze.

"I can swear on my career that my decision not to sign you had nothing to do with Ashley."

Owen’s demeanor and tone were far from deceitful, leaving Noelle momentarily dumbfounded.

But soon she asked quickly, "Then why? After the interview, you clearly said you saw potential in me, and you admired me."

Owen gazed deeply into Noelle’s eyes.

"Does Miss York really want to know why?"

Noelle instinctively wanted to say "of course," but seeing the profound meaning in Owen’s dark eyes, she felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

It was Hugh York beside her who spoke up, "If there is another reason, I hope Mr. Sinclair will clarify. If this is indeed a misunderstanding, I am willing to apologize to Miss Shaw on behalf of my daughter."

"Very well." Owen nodded.

He suddenly pulled out his phone and, under Hugh York’s suspicious gaze, tapped on a few buttons.

For some reason, Noelle felt a drip of cold sweat trickling down her mind, her palms unknowingly dampening with fine sweat.

Her palms felt somewhat sticky.

They watched as Owen found a number in his contacts and dialed it in front of them.

After two rings, the call was connected, and a middle-aged woman’s voice came through.

"Hello, Owen. What’s the matter?"

"Dr. Jane, could you kindly repeat the conversation we had that day for me?"

"That day? You mean interview day?"

"Yes," Owen replied, putting the phone on speaker.

The other party, not understanding why Owen was requesting this, still spoke truthfully: "Alright, I’ll repeat it. The candidate you interviewed, Miss York, Noelle, had an abortion last year with me."

The faces of Hugh York and Noelle went pale.

Noelle’s mind went completely blank.

She never imagined that this was the evidence they had against her; if she had known, she would have endured this incident silently, as if nothing had happened...