Orion Crest, Series_1

Chapter 198: Two Invitations

　　Orion swore it was the first time he'd heard such an odd request in all the time he'd been in America.

　　Orion: ????

　　Jericho: ????

　　SHIT, is this guy crazy?

　　Jericho looks nervously at Ricardo, already pulling out his mobile phone, ready to call the police.

　　Being a Native American, he obviously knows more about the dangers of psychopaths than Orion does, and how to react to such situations.

　　However, Orion gestured at him, indicating that he didn't have to.

　　"Although I would like to help you ......" looking at Ricardo, Orion paused for a moment and said somewhat helplessly, "but you should be clear that a civil lawsuit that has been withdrawn, without an addition to the case, In principle, the court will not repeat the same case."

　　After listening to Orion's explanation, Ricardo's face went pale, took two steps back, and lowered his head with a pale face, not knowing what he was thinking.

　　Orion looked at him and sighed in his heart.

　　In fact, combining the causes and consequences of the matter, and remembering Professor Sarote's strange expression, he had probably guessed what Ricardo was terrified about.

　　In a sense, being misunderstood as a double agent often ended up worse than a commercial spy in the usual sense. Both an angry ExxonMobil and a stain on his professional CV were enough to say goodbye to his profession.

　　But even if he deserves sympathy for what happened to him, Orion doesn't feel sorry for it.

　　If he hadn't run into the arms of ExxonMobil with the data, what would have happened?

　　If he had left his job normally, Orion might have been able to introduce him to a few better places from the academics and research organisations he knew.

　　But sadly, there are not that many ifs in the world.

　　Just as no one will compensate ExxonMobil and Prof Haley for their losses, someone has to suffer the consequences ......

　　......

　　With the title of Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, Orion, who had been separated from Princeton for a long time, finally rejoined the quiet town.

　　When Jericho drove his Ford Explorer to a stop in front of the courtyard, Orion had just dragged his suitcase out of the trunk when he received a warm welcome.

　　"Professor, you're finally back." The one who behaved the most pompously was undoubtedly Hardy, looking at the returning professor, the enthusiastic Brazilian boy gleefully said, "We were originally betting on whether or not you'd simply stay there ...... I knew that you wouldn't leave us behind."

　　Orion smiled, his heart warming.

　　Letting Jericho help him park the car in the garage, Orion walked into his cosy cottage with his suitcase in hand.

　　As soon as he entered, however, he was stung into sneezing by the dust that filled the house.

　　The house hadn't been lived in for two months, not even through the wind.

　　Obviously, there was no way to live here until it was thoroughly cleaned.

　　As for the kitchen, naturally, it was also unusable.