Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
âIs Ms. Miranda Murphy here?â
Suddenly, a group of reporters pushed open the ward door, breaking the silence inside the ward.
âIâm Miranda.â Miranda put the divorce papers away and wiped away the tears on her face.
âWhatâs the matter?â
One of the reporters said with a smile, âHello, Ms. Murphy. Weâve just come from the police station. Your kidnapper Chadwick Miller has been arrested.
âAccording to Chadwick, he kidnapped you because he wanted to get back at your husband.
âChadwick said in prison that one of his biggest regrets was not managing to kill Clarence at the last minute.â
The Murphy family was stunned.
Peony looked confused. âNot killing Clarence?
âWhat do you mean?
âChadwick kidnapped my daughter, and Clarence turned his phone off instead of meeting up with Chadwick.
âHow was Chadwick going to kill him?â
âYeah!â Armstrong and the others nodded too. The reporter must have made a mistake.
The reporter asked with a smile, âHas there been a misunderstanding?
âMr. Clarence Howard went to the scene of the kidnapping and fought the assailants.
âHe bought Miranda a lot of time.
âIf Mr. Clarence Howard hadnât arrived in time to fight the assailants, you would have been in great danger, Ms. Murphy.â
It was as if someone had grabbed Peonyâs throat. âClarence fought the assailants?â
âImpossible.â Armstrong shook his head firmly. âHeâs a coward. Miranda was kidnapped, yet he just turned his phone off and ignored her. How could he have fought the assailants?â
âOh, yes, we made a copy of the surveillance footage from the rooftop. Youâll understand once you take a look.â The reporter walked over with a smile as he took out a tablet computer and played the rooftopâs surveillance video.
The contents of the video were clear.
Clarence confronted Chadwick on the rooftop. It was there where Clarence was brutally beaten, nearly to death.
Clarence fought back and beat up some gangsters along the way.
However, Clarence dared not fight back after that because Chadwick had threatened him using Miranda. He was beaten into a coma, and Gunther left with Clarence in his arms.
William was the last to show up, and he got Miranda off the crane.
The whole event was now self-evident.
There was silence in the ward.
Tears streamed down Mirandaâs face at that point. The divorce papers in her hands stung like stabbing needles.
Armstrong felt a little ashamed and did not speak.
âIt turns out that he was the one who saved her. Why didnât he say so?â Peony smacked her lips.
She seemed to have forgotten that none of them had believed Clarence when he had been trying his hardest to explain to them.
Peony then immediately smiled and said to Miranda, âMiranda, William was just being kind. He likes you so much, so he must have wanted to be your hero and to hold a special place in your heart.
âWilliam can be forgiven for lying. Donât blame him.
âBesides, you and Clarence are divorced now...â
Clarence was deemed guilty because he had lied, but William could be forgiven for lying.
Belle also nodded with a smile. âMomâs right. Heâs just a loser, anyway. Accept the divorce. Out with the old, and in with the new.â
Melody advised, âWilliam just loves you so much that he lied. Donât let him down, Miranda.â
Miranda screamed in pain, âStop it!
âJust get out and leave me alone.â
Her family was the same people who had fueled her divorce from Clarence.
At that moment, Miranda felt like something had gone missing from her heart. It felt empty.
Penny smiled awkwardly. âOkay, okay, okay. Weâll leave. Donât be too upset.â
The Murphy family headed for the ward door, but reporters hurriedly blocked their way. âWhereâs Mr. Clarence Howard? We want to interview him.
âWe have to interview Clarence tonight. We got word that the mayorâs office has held a press conference where they decided to award Mr. Clarence Howard a Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year medal for bravely fighting the assailants.â
âTop Ten Outstanding Young Persons?â The Murphy family grew even more surprised. They all had a strange feeling in their hearts.
âThat loser Clarence will be awarded a Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons medal?â
âDragon Soar Heightsâ Villa One is Clarenceâs.â
âChadwick kidnapped Miranda, and Clarence saved her.
âNow, Clarence is being awarded a Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons medal.â
âWhy?â
The Murphy family could not accept it. How had a loser gotten so tough all of a sudden?
Penny snorted. âGo find Clarence if you want to interview him.
âMy daughter and Clarence are already divorced.â
âHuh?â
The reporters were dumbfounded. âWhy did they get divorced?â
After everyone left, Miranda sat dejectedly on the hospital bed, her eyes flickering blankly around the room.
Suddenly, the bloody clothes and phone on the ground caught Mirandaâs attention. She immediately picked up Clarenceâs clothes, carefully put them away, and picked up the phone that Peony had knocked down.
Miranda tried to turn on the phone but saw that it was dead.
She turned it on while charging it.
A password was required to unlock it.
Miranda remembered the phone to be the smartphone she had bought for Clarence three years ago because she had been so disgusted by his old handphone.
Clarence had smiled so happily that day. He had even used their wedding anniversary as the password.
Miranda tried entering their wedding anniversary as the password, and the phone unlocked itself.
Miranda opened the phoneâs gallery and looked at the photos inside it. Most of them were photos of Miranda in her glory days, Clarence having captured them from a corner.
Seeing these pictures, Miranda felt a pain in her heart.
Suddenly, a video caught Mirandaâs attention.
She tapped on it to make it play.
Miranda paused. âIsnât this surveillance footage of me at First Birch Hotel half a month ago?â
In the video, her best friend Cece Lang and a group of business owners were frantically persuading her to drink.
Miranda got drunk after a few drinks.
Then, her best friend Cece helped her into a luxurious private room. Mirandaâs breathing quickened as she watched the video.
Then, William appeared. He entered the private room.
A few minutes later, Clarence could be seen on the surveillance footage frantically rushing into the private room.
Afterward, the hotel manager arrived with his crew to take William away.
Mirandaâs body trembled. Her pretty face turned pale at the sight of such a thing!
No wonder her best friend Cece had gone abroad after the previous incident and had not been back since.
No wonder Clarence had been lying on the floor covered in blood that night!
Everything was clear now!
William had been in cahoots with her best friend to rape Miranda.
Clarence had shown up to save Miranda, yet she mistook his actions as him trying to rape her.
âWhy didnât you explain...
âWhy...
âIf you donât explain...â
Miranda felt a pain in her heart as she recalled the days she had spent with Clarence.
Then, it dawned on her. âIâm sorry. Itâs not that you didnât explain, you did every time, but I just didnât believe you.
âIâm sorry... Clarence...
âIâm sorry...
âBoohoo! Itâs all my fault. Iâm so stupid! So so stupid!
âIf you had wanted to rape me, there were so many opportunities for you to have done so at home, where I eat your cooking and drink the coffee you make me.
âWhy would you have gone to a hotel to do it, when you could have succeeded with just a little bit of a drug?
âIt turns out youâve been protecting me all along. Iâm so stupid! I really am!â
Miranda was filled with remorse as she recalled what had just happened in the ward.
Every time Clarence had tried to explain himself, William would step forward and goad Clarence in an attempt to drive Clarence crazy and get Clarence to hit him.
A person was the most irritable when everyone was misunderstanding them.
William used this to his advantage to make Clarence lose control of himself and go berserk.
As Clarence was walking out of the hospital, Cecilia, Julian, Jeremy, Johnson, and Gunther showed up in front of him.
âYouâre okay now?â
Everyone was surprised.
Clarence shook his head. âIâm fine.
âWhy are you guys here?â
Cecilia took Clarenceâs hand and pulled the curtain tighter around him. âThe hospital just called us and said you disappeared from the ICU.
âWe came over to see if youâre okay.
âWhat happened? Why have you taken off your clothes to come out with only curtains on?â Cecilia asked with concern.
Jeremy was dumbfounded. âBrother Howard, how are you alright?â
More than two hours earlier, the doctor had said Clarence only had a 10% chance of surviving.
However, Clarence was now showing up alive and kicking?
Had the doctor misdiagnosed him?
Cecilia glared back at Jeremy. âYou have a lot of opinions. Shut up.â
Jeremy wanted to continue speaking, but Julian grabbed his shoulder. He looked back and saw Julian shaking his head.
âCome on. Get in the car with me.â
Cecilia grabbed Clarence by the hand and dragged him into her car.
âAre you divorced now?â
Clarence smiled bitterly. âHow did you know?â
Cecilia sighed and held Clarenceâs hand tighter. âYour grip on the divorce papers is so tight that everyone can see it.
âDo you think weâre blind? That hotheaded Jeremy is the only one who didnât see it.
âCheer up. Iâm divorced too.. From this day onward, Iâll be your woman.â