Chapter 669 A Broken Leg
“Mr. Halliwell, you merely ordered us to escort that woman to you back then. We didn’t hurt her in any way. But what should we do now? Our faces are plastered all over the internet, and the police are even offering a reward of two hundred thousand to arrest us. You’ve got to help us suppress this matter. Otherwise, we’re never letting you off the hook!” the leader of the kidnappers asserted in a harsh voice.
The Mr. Halliwell he was addressing was none other than the man previously castrated by Jolin under Amelia’s orders, Zyaire Halliwell. Incandescent with rage, he roared, “What a bunch of worthless idiots! I paid you to kidnap her, yet you allowed her to escape midway! After having caused a huge mess now, you’ve still got the nerve to ask me to handle things? It’s already merciful of me that I didn’t eliminate the lot of you! Get lost, you bunch of worthless idiots!”
The kidnappers were livid, but still, it was the leader who snarled, “Mr. Halliwell, you can’t just sit idly by. You were the one who forbade us from hurting her in the first place and instructed us not to restrict her freedom. That was why she made up the excuse of having a stomachache and escaped right under our noses. If you don’t guarantee our safety this time and we get arrested, we’ll definitely drag the Halliwell family into this mess.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“We’re no easy prey either, Mr. Halliwell. We know a lot of people in this line of work. You hired us, yet you won’t guarantee our safety. Since you’re such a useless and unreliable client, you should watch out, lest you’re stabbed to death on your way home from a night out.”
“Buzz off! You’re a bunch of worthless idiots, yet you still have the guts to make demands of me?”
Indeed, the kidnappers didn’t contact him anymore. However, when Zyaire, a playboy who did nothing besides eating, drinking, and carousing, was on his way home in a drunken state the next night, someone slipped a gunnysack over his head and dragged him into an alley, beating him up severely. The perpetrator even broke one of his legs.
In the end, a passerby spotted him and sent him to the hospital.
The Halliwell family almost passed out upon receiving news that he had been hospitalized. Needless to say, Crystal’s situation was no better.
With Zyaire being in bad shape, she was naturally the subject of anger since she was the culprit behind it all.
Dorothy slapped her in front of everyone and spat, “You really disappoint me, Crissy! Look what you did to your cousin! He’s barely alive now!”
Crystal’s parents stepped forward and defended her.
Her mother, Suzanne Zahn, argued, “Mom, you can’t just place all the blame on Crystal. You know Zyaire’s character full well. I think he probably had his leg broken because he was flirting with some girl. It’s clear as day that this is revenge from the mafia.”
“Nonsense! He’s your nephew! You’re spouting accusations when he’s still laid up on the hospital bed, huh?” Dorothy lambasted.
Suzanne wanted to speak further, but her husband tugged at her shirt and smoothed things over. “Mom, this isn’t the time to point fingers. Let’s see what Zyaire’s condition is first.”
Only then did Dorothy’s expression ease up.
The doctor then spoke to them about Zyaire’s condition, saying that there was no possibility of recovery for his leg, and he could only walk with a limp in the future.
Dorothy fainted right then and there.
“Mom!” The Halliwell family plunged into chaos.
After making sure Dorothy would be all right, Suzanne suggested, “Crystal, go abroad and lay low for a while first. With your cousin in such a condition, she’ll likely vent all her wrath on you since he’s her favorite. Go and wait it out, only returning when things have calmed down in the Halliwell family.”
Shaking her head, Crystal asserted, “I want to go to Tayhaven, Mom. I’ll never accept it! I don’t believe that Derrick would be so cruel to me. I want to seek justice for myself!”
“Why are you so obstinate? Look what he did to your cousin. If your grandparents really fly into a rage, they might even cross you off their will. Thus, don’t go to Tayhaven anymore. Just pretend that we’ve never made the acquaintance of the Hissons. They’re merely a bunch of ungrateful people!” Suzanne urged.
Crystal straightened to her full height with stubbornness written all over her face.
“I can’t accept this, Mom. I’ve waited for Derrick for so many years, and Mrs. Hisson also promised to take me as the daughter-in-law of the Hisson family. I can’t simply let go. If I’m not happy, the Hissons should also brace themselves for mayhem,” Crystal hissed.
At that, Suzanne’s temper flared.
“What do you want, then? It’s abundantly clear that Derrick isn’t going to marry you! All this is just one-sided on your part! He loves someone else, and if you’re so eager to cling to him, you’ll only be making a fool out of yourself!”
However, Crystal merely snorted and scoffed, “Who can tell for sure before the last moment?”
Unable to convince her daughter otherwise, Suzanne had no choice but to allow her to leave first. She even gave Crystal a gold card without a limit and warned, “It’s fine if you want to go to Tayhaven, but don’t do anything that will humiliate the Halliwell family!”
“I got it, Mom.”
And so, Crystal left. Without bringing anything with her, she went straight to the airport and bought a plane ticket, flying over to Tayhaven. Upon reaching, she didn’t alert anyone to her arrival. Instead, she hired a private detective to keep an eye on Derrick and Tiffany and then report their whereabouts to her.
In the luxurious presidential suite of a hotel, she swished the wine in her glass and swore, “Just you wait, Derrick Hisson. Sooner or later, you’ll be mine. Even if it means a battle that drags on for years, I’m going to snatch you back, and you’re going to be my husband!”
Okay, I’m going to change my strategy and practice the adage of knowing thyself and thy enemy. I don’t believe that Derrick and Tiffany’s relationship is really so strong that it’s indestructible. There’s no unbreakable relationship, only mistresses who are lazy!
Zyaire’s matter was the deciding factor that triggered her determination to snatch Derrick back. She didn’t want to be the target of criticism by the entire Halliwell family and have nothing at all while Derrick got to live happily with his beau.
I was the one who made Derrick’s acquaintance first, but Tiffany got a jump on me in the end, and I became the mistress in the eyes of others. How could there be such twisted events in this world? She found it wholly unfair and wanted to snatch Derrick over to claim him for herself. Right then, she could no longer be bothered whether it was because of her so-called love or possessiveness toward him.
Crystal stayed in the hotel for a day before she drove to Derrick’s office.
No sooner had she parked the car than she received a call from the private investigator. The person on the other end of the phone reported, “Ms. Halliwell, we discovered that the person you wanted to monitor, Tiffany Winters, was kidnapped a few days ago. The kidnappers’ sketches were published online, with a reward offered for their arrest. You can find the related information online.”
“Did the kidnappers do anything to her?” Crystal demanded earnestly.
“I’m afraid that I’ve got to disappoint you, for rumor has it that she escaped midway. However, both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Hisson are infuriated. Hence, they offered a high reward for the kidnappers’ arrest.”
Sneering disdainfully, Crystal snapped, “Why are you telling me this when she’s fine?”
“Didn’t you say you want to know everything about her, Ms. Halliwell?”
“That’s enough. In the future, don’t tell me about trivial matters. I’m going to hang up if there’s nothing else. I’m not paying you so much money for you to tell me about some insignificant matter!” she growled impatiently.
Having said that, she hung up right away.
As she stared at the towering office building, her hands tightened around the steering wheel. She hated Zyaire to the core then. If it weren’t for his stupidity, I wouldn’t have been dragged into the mess, and Derrick wouldn’t act as though I’m his mortal enemy whenever he sees me! Besides that, I wouldn’t be this afraid to visit the Hissons after coming to Tayhaven!
After sitting in the car for an indeterminate amount of time, she caught sight of Tiffany and Derrick walking out of the building with the former holding the latter’s arm. A flash of resentment and hatred promptly flittered across her eyes.
She wanted to swing open the door and get out of the car, but she retracted her hand for some inexplicable reason.
After that, she followed them both while maintaining a certain distance.
Ahead of her, Tiffany stated with her hand on Derrick’s arm, “Derrick, I’d like to treat Amelia and Oscar to a meal today. They’ve helped me a lot throughout this time. Although we’re all friends and don’t mind helping each other out, I’ve still got to treat them to a meal.”
“Sure.”
Derrick dipped his head and pecked her on the lips, remarking, “Mom knows that you were almost violated at the banquet, so she’s still feeling a touch guilty toward you. She has also relaxed her stance slightly on our relationship. As such, I think she’ll agree to us getting married soon.”
“Really? You aren’t deliberately saying that to make me feel better, are you?” Tiffany questioned dubiously.
“Of course not,” Derrick maintained indulgently. Then, he added, “As the host, I’ll invite Mr. Clinton, Amelia, Mom, Dad, and Granddad. I’ll arrange this matter. You only need to attend the dinner obediently the next day.”
Tiffany cast a skeptical look at him and inquired in puzzlement, “Are you hiding something from me, Derrick?”
“You know all my affairs, no?”
“I’ll believe you this once.”
Pulling her into his arms, Derrick chuckled softly.
Meanwhile, Crystal was so enraged that she clutched the steering wheel tightly in the car as she watched them both nestling with each other. Her nails sunk into her flesh.
What exactly is so great about her that you treat her so well, Derrick?
Her heart twisted as her mind wandered.
She was particularly perturbed that she lost to Tiffany when she was obviously superior. No matter what, she couldn’t accept that fact. The latter wasn’t her match in any aspect.
