Chapter 278: They Are Competitors Sabotaging My Business
Chapter 278: Chapter 278: They Are Competitors Sabotaging My Business
Kyle Morgan took the QR code and scanned it. The screen showed the recipient as "Wright & Co."
He then looked at Renee Jennings, his serious expression melting away as he asked with a smile, "And your payment record?"
"Right here." She took Diana Jennings’s phone and handed it to Kyle Morgan.
The roast duck shop owner hurried over. "Officer, take a look! Isn’t the payment information the same as my recipient information?"
"It’s the same," Kyle Morgan nodded.
The shop owner quietly sighed in relief and continued, "See, Officer? We’re just trying to run an honest business here. We wouldn’t do something so shady."
"Is that so?" Renee Jennings took back Diana’s phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held up the call log to question him. "Then why did you keep calling us this afternoon?"
"What?" The shop owner’s eyes widened in shock. "You must be mistaken! I never called you. Besides, how would I even have your phone number?"
Hearing this, Diana Jennings said with displeasure, "When I bought the roast duck this afternoon, you asked me to register my phone number. You said you’d be calling customers for feedback to make your duck even better."
Renee Jennings said in a low voice, "So that’s how you trick customers into leaving their phone numbers."
"That’s nonsense! I’ve never asked customers to leave their numbers!" The shop owner frowned tightly. "I bet you’re competitors, jealous that my business is doing well, and you’re here to cause trouble!"
He looked at Kyle Morgan and said in a wronged, innocent tone, "Officer, you have to get justice for me!"
Kyle Morgan ignored him and turned to Renee Jennings, a smile in his eyes. "Renee, what’s your take on this?"
"The recipient information from this QR code does match the merchant my sister paid," Renee Jennings said unhurriedly. "But the owner of the roast duck shop kept calling my sister, claiming his shop’s name is Wright’s Roast Duck."
"You’re lying!" the shop owner immediately retorted. "Do you have any proof? You can’t just make baseless accusations!"
Renee Jennings tapped her own phone a few times and opened a video Rhea Dempsey had sent her on WeChat.
When the roast duck shop had called that afternoon, Rhea Dempsey had sensed something was off. She’d turned on the video recording and asked the man to repeat himself. "What did you just say? We couldn’t hear you clearly."
"I said I’m from Wright’s Roast Duck. You bought ninety-eight yuan worth of roast duck from our shop earlier and didn’t pay. Please transfer the money."
Diana Jennings’s tone was serious. "Are you sure you’re not mistaken? I already paid."
"Miss, there’s no way I’m mistaken. You bought a lot of duck, just two yuan shy of a hundred. It left a strong impression," the shop owner said, even letting out a sigh. "Miss, it’s not easy running a small business. Please, have a heart and pay me back."
"I have the payment record right here," Diana said.
The shop owner: "Then, Miss, why don’t you send me the payment record for me to see? Just send it to this number."
"Okay." Diana had hung up and immediately sent a screenshot of the payment record.
The first video ended there.
As she tapped the screen, Renee Jennings said, "My sister sent the screenshot of the payment, and about five minutes later, the roast duck shop owner called a second time."
The shop owner’s expression gradually turned ugly. He hadn’t expected the two sisters to have recorded videos.
"You’re just jealous of my business, so you faked this video..." He tried to argue but was stopped by Kyle Morgan.
"Don’t say anything yet. We’ll watch the videos and judge for ourselves."
Renee Jennings played the second video.
The shop owner’s voice came from the phone. "Miss, are you kidding me? My shop’s name is Wright’s Roast Duck, but your screenshot shows a payment to Wright & Co.! Hurry up and transfer me the ninety-eight yuan."
Diana Jennings said calmly, "I don’t care if it’s Wright’s Roast Duck or Wright & Co. The fact is, I paid. The fact is, I scanned the QR code in your shop. The problem isn’t on my end, so stop calling me."
Diana had hung up at that point. Afterward, the shop owner relentlessly kept calling her, but she didn’t answer any of them.
The third and final video was one Renee Jennings had recorded in the car just moments ago.
The shop owner was still pressuring Diana to pay up, even threatening to call the police if she didn’t.
"Did you make all these calls?" Kyle Morgan held up Diana Jennings’s phone. The call log showed dozens of missed calls, all from the same number.
The shop owner’s eyes darted around. He hung his head and said, "Officer, I’ve truly been framed."
The words had barely left his mouth when a phone began to ring sharply inside the roast duck shop.
Kyle Morgan raised an eyebrow and held up the phone. "You say you’ve been framed, but when I dial this number, why does a phone start ringing inside your shop?"
"I..." The color drained from the shop owner’s face. He was speechless for a moment before blurting out, "Officer, they want to set me up, so of course they’d go all out with the act! They must have planted that phone in my shop beforehand!"
"It’s fine. All numbers are registered under a real name now," Renee Jennings said coolly. "We just need to check who the number belongs to."
’Damn it,’ the shop owner cursed inwardly. ’This time, I’ve really met my match.’
"I thought our shop’s recipient name was always Wright’s Roast Duck!" His eyes darted back and forth as he continued, "I only just realized it’s been changed to Wright & Co. A family member must have swapped the QR code without telling me, leading to this misunderstanding."
"I’m so sorry, you two ladies," the shop owner said, forcing a smile. "My apologies for all the trouble."
"You think that explanation makes any sense?" Renee Jennings glared at him, her eyes cold. "You think a simple ’sorry for the trouble’ is enough to brush this off? This is clearly fraud."
"What fraud?" the shop owner retorted, his face darkening. "Do you have to make it sound so ugly?"
Renee Jennings scoffed. "What did you say about my sister and me earlier? Were your words so pleasant? I think you must be desperate for money to come up with such a dirty trick to scam your customers!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She took out her phone and started recording a video. "Wright’s Roast Duck, displaying a QR code for Wright & Co., then turning around and calling customers to say they didn’t pay because the shop’s name is supposedly Wright’s Roast Duck. Is this a misunderstanding, or is it premeditated fraud?"
"What are you doing?" Seeing her filming his shop while narrating, the shop owner grew even more uneasy. "Stop filming! How about I don’t charge you, okay? I’ll refund you the ninety-eight yuan! Just stop filming!"
’What a rotten day. Not only did I fail to scam any money, but now I have to lose some!’
"This isn’t about ninety-eight yuan anymore," Renee Jennings said with a humorless smile. "This is about how long you’re going to prison."