My Husband Is a Gary Stu

Sally explained to Cooper, “Sean has a university classmate who works in Lostaria's judicial system. The guy's a prosecutor and is pretty chummy with the police.”

Cooper's gaze appeared thoughtful as he nudged his glasses. He muttered, “So that's how the Gaudette family found out about Armand and Genev's accident so quickly and spread the news to General Zeigler.”

He surmised, “Perhaps Genev never planned to die with Zephyr. Someone else could've prepared the explosives on the cruise ship.”

Sally argued coolly, “Only Genevieve and Zephyr were privy to their agreed meeting on the cruise ship. She had sent Frank a scheduled e-mail telling him that she had never considered the possibility of remaining alive after boarding the cruise ship.”

Her words caused Cooper's chest to tighten painfully, and he could not help but massage his temples to soothe his nerves.

Amid their conversation, someone suddenly knocked on the restroom door.

Josephine's voice drifted through the door. “Are you in here, Mr. Sutton?”

“Yes.” Cooper continued, “What's the matter?”

Josephine replied, “Oh, nothing. I just realized you had been in the restroom for a long time. Do you need my help?”

Cooper glanced at Sally, who buttoned up her uniform jacket while facing the mirror, looking utterly unperturbed.

He massaged his temples again before replying to Josephine, “My secretary sent me several documents to look through. Go ahead and play a few rounds of golf without me. I'll be there soon.”

“Sure.” The sound of footsteps gradually receded into nothingness. Josephine appeared to have left.

Cooper leaned against the sink and shot Sally a hooded gaze. “Now that everything's done, can I skip out on dinner with Josephine?”

Expressionlessly, Sally replied, “She visits this golf course more frequently than you visit a bar. She pretended to be a newbie in the sport the whole day to drag out your date to dinner. She's definitely hoping for something more to happen.”

“Something more?” Cooper's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Sally turned around and zipped up his golf jacket. She added meaningfully, “Josephine's boyfriend's father is the head of the city's education department. She hasn't split up with her beau yet. If she lands herself in a scandal, both her father and her boyfriend's father would be burned by the news.”

Realizing her intentions, Cooper flung her hand away and stared at her drily. “Are you suggesting I take this act to the extreme and bed Josephine?”

“Would you dare?” Sally returned his stare with a piercing gaze.

“What about my reputation?”

Sally retorted nonchalantly, “You're no stranger to romance scandals. It'll hardly hurt your reputation. In fact, I can still find news on your old flings online.”

After a pause, she added, “I would've done it myself if Josephine were into women.”

Cooper's expression darkened with fury. Eventually, he stormed out of the restroom without further protest.

Just after six the next morning, Josephine's boyfriend, Yannick Nordern, received a video on his phone.

Yannick rushed to Langfield Hotel in a huff and kicked open the door of a certain suite. His gaze immediately landed on a stark-naked Josephine sleeping with another man.