The call was answered immediately.

When the face of a middle-aged man appeared on Maria's phone screen, all the color drained from Haley's face.

He screamed, "Reece? I mean, boss! How is this possible? No!"

Reece was surprised to hear Haley's voice on the other end of the Line. Frowning, he growled, "Haley, is that you? Are you using Maria's phone? What did you steal this time? Give the phone back to Maria right now, or I'll call the police

The word "steal" immediately made everyone look at Haley suspiciously.

“What? No! I didn't. I didn't steal anything! Reece, quit talking nonsense here! I'm not your employee anymore, so watch your words, or I'll sue you for slander!"

Like a mouse cornered by a cat, Haley became jittery at once. "It's me, Reece.”

Maria faced the camera at herself. When her calm, pretty face appeared on the screen, Reece breathed a sigh of relief.

It was as clear as day that Reece and Maria were on good terms, unlike how an angry owner would react to a thief.

“Hey, Maria! What's up?" Reece's expression immediately softened, and the way he addressed Maria was so friendly, as though he was talking to an old acquaintance.

Maria pursed her lips and said, “Here's the thing, Reece. Do you still remember the county education department's project a few years ago? We needed to set up computer labs for three middle schools back then. The bid amounted to around five million dollars."

Reece showed a Look of enlightenment immediately. "Ah! Yes, of course. How could I forget it? Our store was about to close down, but thanks to that project, the shop finally got back on its feet."

But as soon as he finished saying this, Haley hurriedly cut in. "Sir, you must remember that we've wholesaled over a hundred pieces of high-performance display cards for those computers, right? However, Maria took advantage of her position and stole a display card from the shop. You deducted three months’ worth of my wages and then fired me

After a slight pause, Haley quickly added, "I've kept the surveillance footage that proves that Maria stole the card. I even showed you the bill of sales back then. Maria's name wasn't on it, so Maria didn't pay for the card. She's a thief!"

Believing that his plan was foolproof, a complacent smile appeared on Haley's face.

Mrs. Jenkins had promised him a million dollars in cash if he successfully framed Maria.

One million dollars!

Haley had been working all sorts of odd jobs in Broome, but his annual income only amounted to fifty thousand dollars. A million dollars was equivalent to twenty years' work. How could he not be excited about the offer?

“What nonsense are you talking about?" Reece snapped impatiently.

On Maria's phone screen, everyone could see Reece's expression darken. His reaction seemed to say that the so-called evidence Haley had was nothing but bullshit in his eyes.

The onlookers, including Mrs. Jenkins and Canaan, were on the edge of their seats as a result of this rollercoaster ride.

“What do you mean by that?"

Haley asked anxiously.

“Sir, did Maria bribe you or something? Is it because Maria's now rich and famous that you're afraid of offending her? Are you going to cover up for her, even if it goes against your principles?”