Chapter 6
Herbert arrived before the police even got here.
It was most probably Michelle who called him over. He arrived visibly worked up,
nostrils flaring. Two buttons on his shirt were undone.
his
+25 Bonus
As soon as Michelle caught sight of him, she immediately wriggled free from the guards
and ran over to him, wrapping her hands around his arm.
She then spoke in a soft, helpless voice. “Herbie, you’re finally here. They’ve been hurting
me-”
“What’s going on?”
a
Herbert scanned the mess on the floor, the pile of broken glass by the cupboard, and then
stared long and hard at my bleeding ankle.
Meanwhile, Michelle looked triumphant, as if her cavalry had just arrived. She started telling him tall tales about me.
“Herbie! Mandy just won’t give me the gold bracelet. It must be because of her! It’s bad enough that she denied it, but she even laughed in my face about it!
“I accidentally broke that glass bottle because I was just too angry at her. I didn’t mean for the glass to hurt her. But she then told the guards to arrest me…”
Michelle looked so teary and pitiful that even I was starting to believe her gaslighting. Could I really be as terrible a person as she claimed?
Herbert stared at my cut for a few more seconds. Then, he said, “She’d never.”
A split second later, without even sparing Michelle a glance, he stepped over the hundred-
dollar bills on the floor and came up to me. He got down on one knee and grabbed my ankle.
He wore a frown as he asked, “Does it hurt?”
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I neatly avoided his hand. “It’s none of your business, Mr. Fischer.”
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However, Herbert continued to gaze at my cut with a look of sympathy. He made a move, as if wanting to help me up.
“That won’t do. You’re coming with me to the hospital.”
I realized then that I had absolutely no idea what was going on in Herbert’s head.
He had stood by silently, watching me be relentlessly bullied while we were still dating. But now that we’d broken up, he was suddenly interested in my well–being and pretending to
be concerned about me.
Michelle looked hurt.
2
“Herbie! I’m still standing right here! How could you go over to her? Have you forgotten what you promised me back then? You said that you’d only love me for the rest of your life!
You said that we’d get married as soon as I came back!”
Herbert just turned back to her impatiently and said icily, “You also said that it happened back then. Back then, you weren’t obnoxious and unruly like this. You’re behaving like a hooligan. How could you hit her and lie to me?
“You told me that she kept calling you names and humiliating you in the past, didn’t you? And that she stalked you and threatened your life? They were all lies, weren’t they?”
Herbert’s eyes were sharp and piercing. Michelle immediately paled at the sight.
The police finally arrived. After getting the gist of things, they then asked me to follow
them to the police station to give my statement.
I wrapped gauze around my ankle, pushed away Herbert’s hand offered to steady me, and slowly hobbled out of the place.
Michelle, who was being led away ahead of me, suddenly turned around to look at Herbert. Her voice was shaky as she said, “Herbie, don’t tell me that you’re in love with her.”
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Herbert just lowered his head next to me and said nothing.
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Since I wasn’t badly hurt, Michelle was just slapped with a fine and ordered to compensate me for my losses.
What surprised me more was that Mandy somehow had heard of the incident and hurried to the police station.
She kept looking at my bandaged ankle with a remorseful expression.
Then, she turned to Herbert. This was the first time she had ever lost her temper in public
in her 50–something years of existence.
д
She yelled, “Herbert Fischer! If you still insist on marrying a woman like that, then I’m severing all ties with you! You can marry whoever you please! I can’t be bothered anymore. You might as well pretend that I’m dead!
“And you, Michelle Watson, you’re almost 30 years old. Yet, you’re still going around throwing things at people in public? Did the Fischer family ever teach you to behave like that? I sent you abroad to study, and this is everything you learned?”
Mandy then held a hand to her heart and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
“Regardless, I was the one who willingly gave that gold bracelet to Lyanna. If she can’t be my daughter–in–law, I’m more than willing to treat her as my adoptive daughter! And even if she doesn’t want that, I’d rather destroy the bracelet than give it to anyone else!”
At the very least, Herbert still had some sense left in him. He quickly stepped forward and held Mandy, helping her calm down.
He looked confused. Frowning, he asked in a low voice, “About that gold bracelet…”
Mandy’s eyes were red and swollen. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. She then thumped herself on the chest as she began to sob.
“What on earth were you thinking? What’s wrong with Lyanna? What wrong has she ever done to you? You’d rather…”
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Mandy then pointed at Michelle and cried harder until she wasn’t able to form words
anymore.
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Herbert quietly took out his phone and tapped on an audio file. It sounded like a phone recording.
Michelle’s voice could be heard.
“Herbie, I heard from Mandy that Lyanna practically begged her for the gold bracelet. I heard that she’s not from a good family. I’m worried… Do you think that she’s up to no good?
“Also, don’t you think that you’re way out of her league? Do you really think that she’d love you? Or is she really in love with the wealth and power that being with you would give her?
“Herbie, it’s not that I’m jealous of her. I’m just worried that she’s not sincere about her feelings for you. I don’t want to see you
unhappy…”
