Chapter 8
Chapter 8
"The things you bought with dirty money? We're just doing the right thing, why should we pay for this?" William shot back, shamelessly throwing out insults and riling up the crowd. His words lit a fire under the mob, and just as they were tearing through my place, the police finally showed up.
"The cops are here, thank God! Let's get her arrested now!" someone yelled, dragging the officers toward me like they were sure this was over for me.
But the police stood there, looking at the wreckage with confusion.
"What happened here? Who called this in?"
I wasted no time stepping forward, pointing straight at William and Lucy. "I did. These two brought a group into my house, assaulted me, and destroyed my property. That broken bottle of wine? It's worth over half a million dollars."
The officer's expression shifted instantly, this wasn't something they could brush off.
"And where do you think that money came from? You conned it out of patients. I broke it. So what?" William sneered.
"Exactly, we're just doing the right thing!" the crowd echoed, trying to justify their actions.
But the officers weren't impressed. They started collecting evidence and quickly cuffed everyone involved, hauling them down to the station. The livestreamers, William, Lucy, and even the families of the patients thought I was done for. They were sure I'd be arrested on the spot.
When we got to the station, it didn't take long to tally up the damages, and that's when the panic started to creep in. Every one of them was ordered to pay me back, every. last. one.
One of them shouted, eyes wide, "We were doing the right thing! Why should we have to pay for this?"
The officer's voice was calm, but the warning in it was clear. "It doesn't matter who you are. Destroying someone's property is a crime. If you don't pay up, your next stop is jail."
The mention of jail time had everyone squirming. Someone even pointed directly at William. "We were just following his orders! He told us to smash everything. We shouldn't be paying for this!"
William went ghostly pale. "That's a lie! I never said that! Don't pin this on me!"
I couldn't help but smirk. "Oh really? Denying it now? Well, I've got the chat logs to prove it."
The officers dug into the messages, and it didn't take long to uncover the truth. William and Lucy had planned the whole thing. Watching them squirm made me feel a bit of satisfaction.
"This is conspiracy to commit assault," the officer said, his voice steady and firm. "If she doesn't settle with you, you're not walking out of here today."
Before they could say another word, I shook my head. "I'm not settling. Not with the ones who destroyed my house, not with the ones who laid a hand on me, and certainly not with these two. Let the law do its job."
William's face was drained of color. He glared at me, desperate. "Tina, I'm still your boyfriend, for crying out loud! Do you really have to be this cold-hearted?"
I didn't even flinch. "Boyfriend? Oh, now you remember? Where was that 'boyfriend' when you led a mob to wreck my place? Cold-hearted? You think this is cold-hearted? We're just getting started."
I pulled out a thick stack of evidence from my pocket, eyes locked on William. "Officer, this is proof of his embezzlement. I'd appreciate it if you could look into it."
William and Lucy stared at me, speechless. I reached into my bag for a backup phone. "This phone contains evidence of their medical malpractice, which directly led to someone's death. And there's proof they tried to pin the blame on me. You might want to investigate that too."
"And let's not forget about the defamatory videos circulating online that have damaged my reputation. Spreading lies is a crime, right?"
Each piece of evidence I handed over had William visibly shaking. He couldn't wrap his head around how the woman he thought he could control had flipped the script on him so completely.
When the video played, Lucy collapsed on the spot, her face going as white as a sheet. She knew exactly what that video meant, there was no way she could dodge responsibility now.
"Tina, please, forgive us!" William pleaded, his voice shaking. "I was wrong. I'll cut ties with Lucy right now, okay? From now on, I swear, I'll only love you. Please, just forgive me!"
I didn't even blink. His words didn't move me. I wasn't the naïve woman from my past life anymore. As for him "loving only me"? Yeah, no thanks.
I gave him a cold, hard look. "Love me? Spare me. I'm done with your lies and manipulation. Don't waste your breath."
novelnext