Husband plans to kill me Chapter 380

I forced a smile, feeling a bit lost for words. "No... Your dad's been really swamped with work lately. I almost forgot."

Royce and I exchanged a glance, both sensing something was off.

But now that we were here, we couldn't just leave Briar alone.

We decided to take Briar to a nearby restaurant to grab a bite while we waited for Leo to come back.

At the restaurant, Briar seemed a bit uneasy.

She kept looking around and staring at her phone, lost in thought.

"What's up?" I asked gently, noticing Briar's mood.

Briar flinched and mumbled, "Ms. Sharp, Dad's been really busy lately... He comes home really late. I'm kinda worried about him."

I patted her head and reassured her, "Don't worry, your dad's just buried in work."

Even though I knew Briar could be a bit manipulative, I couldn't say too much to her right now.

Just then, my phone rang.

It was Leo calling.

I answered immediately, and Leo's urgent voice came through the line. "Caroline, can you come to the police station? I... I'm in some trouble!"

My heart tightened, and I quickly asked, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Leo's voice trembled. "I... I might have gotten involved in a scam. The police are investigating me. Can you come and help explain things?"

I glanced at Royce and mouthed that Leo was in trouble.

Royce nodded. "We can handle this together."

I took a deep breath and told Leo, "Alright, we're on our way."

After hanging up, I typed a message in my phone's notes and showed it to Royce.

[Leo might be involved in a scam and is at the police station. We need to go.]

Royce nodded. "Okay, let's go."

But we didn't say anything to Briar.

Our destination was the police station, so Briar probably sensed something was up.

She sat in the back seat, clutching her phone, never looking up.

I couldn't help but think about the creepy profile picture.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling.

When we arrived at the police station, Royce and I left Briar in the car and went to find Leo.

Leo was sitting in the interrogation room, looking pale and exhausted.

It had only been two days since I last saw him, but he seemed to have aged several years.

When he saw us, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

"Caroline, you're here." Leo's voice was hoarse.

I walked up to him and asked softly, "What happened?"

Leo lowered his head, his voice shaking with regret.

"I... I was looking for investors recently and came across a company that said they could help me with funding. They needed me to sign some documents. I didn't realize those documents were fake, and they used my name to scam a lot of money. Now the police think I'm an accomplice."

My heart sank. I hadn't expected things to escalate this far.

Royce patted my shoulder, signaling me to stay calm.

He approached the officer and politely asked, "Sir, what's the situation now?"

The officer glanced at us and said, "Mr. Schmidt is suspected of being involved in an illegal fundraising scheme. We need to investigate further. If you're his friends, you should get him a lawyer."

Royce nodded. "Alright, we'll get a lawyer ASAP."

Leaving the police station, I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. Leo's situation was worse than I had imagined, and something about it felt off.

"Leo's not usually this reckless. How did this happen?" I wondered aloud.

Thinking about Briar waiting in the car made my head hurt even more. Everything that happened today felt surreal, and I hadn't figured out how to explain it to Briar. She was a smart kid; she couldn't be completely unaware of what Leo was doing. 

But Leo wasn't usually this impulsive. The fact that he and Renee hadn't divorced yet showed he was usually very cautious. How could he make such a mistake with his startup investment?

Unless someone was behind this, guiding or manipulating him, I couldn't believe it was his own decision. I quickly shared my suspicions with Royce.

"I know, I feel the same way," Royce said, holding my hand as we walked back to the car. "But right now, that's not the most important thing. We can't let Briar see anything unusual. The most pressing issue is what to do with Briar."

With Leo at the police station, we couldn't resolve this quickly. He couldn't be bailed out right now. We needed more information and evidence to get Leo out. Briar couldn't stay home alone; she was still a child.

I bit my lip. "If worse comes to worst, she can stay at my place for a couple of days..."

Even though I really didn't want to. The events from before were still fresh in my mind, and Briar's cunning made me wary. Even if it was orchestrated by adults, she still carried out those actions herself.

Royce seemed to sense my hesitation and reassured me. "Don't overthink it for now. If Briar were really that manipulative, she wouldn't have confessed to you last time. I think she might not fully understand what she's doing. She can still be helped."

I sighed. "I hope so... But I really don't know if there will be more trouble in the future."

We didn't know when Leo would be released, which meant we didn't know how long Briar would stay at my place.

"If it comes to that, we can go to your new place. We can say we want some alone time and take Briar with us."

I shook my head. "Let's not... The new place is for meeting friends. If they find out the address, it'll only cause more trouble."

Royce agreed with my decision. In the end, we decided to let Briar stay at my place for a couple of days. We also had someone inform Leo about this. 

There was no other option right now. If we ignored Briar, Leo would definitely notice something was off and distance himself from us even more. I didn't want things to get that bad.

That night, when I brought Briar home, the most excited person was Brett.

"Briar, I haven't seen you in so long!" Brett ran over with a big smile and hugged Briar.

Briar smiled too, but it seemed a bit forced. I didn't ask much and had Zola prepare a guest room for Briar.