Chapter 222 by Marina Vittori
An Understated Dominance
âYou fucker!â James got up and was about to spew insults when he realized that Dustin was already gone. Damn it! That kidâs lucky he got away, or Iâd have taught him a lesson!â
âHe canât run away forever! After doing something like this, Iâll make sure he stays in jail for the rest of his life!* Florence gritted her teeth. âThatâs right! You canât let him go!â Julie and the others quickly agreed. Dustin had gone too far!
âHmm Just then, Dahlia began to wake up. âYouâre finally awake!â Florence lit up. âHow do you feel?â
âWhat are all of you doing here, Mom?â Dahlia rubbed her aching temples, her memory was a mess.
âLyra called and told us that you might be in danger, so we hurried here. Thank God we made it in time, or Dustin would have raped you!â Florence got angry again.
âDustin?â Dahlia frowned, seeming to have recalled something. She asked, âWhere is he?â
âDonât worry. We chased him away.â Florence reassured Dahlia.
âThatâs right. We called the police too. Weâll catch that asshole!â James nodded.
âWhy would you arrest him? He was the one who saved me!â Dahlia blurted.
âWhat? He saved you?â Everyone was shocked to hear that. Exchanging incredulous looks with each other. confusion was written across their face
âYouâre kidding, right, Dahlia? He canât be the one who rescued you. We clearly saw him touching you and was about to do something nasty!â Florence obviously didnât believe Dahlia.
âSheâs right, Sis. He tried to take your clothes off while you were unconscious!â James fanned the flames.
âWe can all testify that Dustin was the one who did it!â Julle and a few others agreed.
Dahlia shook her head frantically, which made her alcoholâridden head heavier.
âWho else could it be? There were only two of you in this room when we came in,â Florence said.
âIt was Matt Laney, that bastard!â Dahlia struggled to organize her memories.
âYou must be drunk, Dahlia. Mattâs a decent man. Thereâs no way heâd do something like this.â
âSis, did Dustin slip you a drug? Is that why youâre so confused?â
âI heard that some drugs can cause hallucinations. That must be why your memory got jumbled up.â
One after another, the people in the room refuted what Dahlia said, making her doubt herself.
âDid I really remember wrongly? But how could that be?â she thought. Staring at her injuries, she had a hard time believing that Dustin was the one who did this.
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Chapter 222
âHey, thereâs a phone here, and itâs recording a video.â Julie spotted the phone on the television cabinet and brought it over.
âIt must be that assholeâs!â Florence fumed. âHe was even planning to record himself assaulting Dahlia! How disgusting!â
âThereâs no way that brat can defend himself now that we have this evidence!â
âWe have to put that guy in jail!â
The crowd began to hurl insults at Dustin.
âIt canât be. Dustin wouldnât do that Dahlia shook her head, unable to accept that.
âWhy are you still defending him, Dahlia? Why do you still have feelings for that asshole? Iâm telling you, Mattâs the better man for you. Heâs leagues above Dustin! Iâll show you Dustinâs true colors right now!â Florence yelled and began the playback, showing exactly what happened. By the time they reached the middle of the video, everyone had frozen in dismay.
âMatt Laney?â Florence was rooted to the spot as she stared in disbelief at the man violently assaulting Dahlia
in the video.
Everyone elseâs jaws had dropped as well. Never in their dreams would they have imagined that the person who kidnapped Dahlia and tried to assault her would be Matt, a respectful man from a noble family.
How could this be possible?
However, the video was right before their eyes. It turned out that the despicable person had been the âdecentâ
man, Matt, instead of Dustin.
Everyoneâs faces began to burn in shame as they recalled what they had said just now, and they fell silent.
âI told you it wasnât Dustin, but none of you believed me! How about now? Whoâs the despicable person? Whoâs the hypocritical asshole now? Iâm sure all of you should know.â Dahlia cried exasperatedly.
âI might have made a mistake, but so what? You two were once married, so itâs his duty to protect you. We didnât ask him to do that! Besides, why didnât he explain himself? We wouldnât have misunderstood if he had.â Florence insisted stubbornly, having no intention of apologizing.
âExplain himself? Dahlia chuckled mirthlessly. âWould you have believed him if he had?â
âThatâs up for us to decide, but itâs his fault for not explaining. He had it coming!â Florence defended herself.
âThatâs right! He deserved it! James agreed. So what if they misunderstood a loser?
âAll of you are incorrigible!â Dahlia was utterly disappointed.
She staggered to her feet and bumped past the two of them to run out. She wanted to stop Dustin from leaving. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the hotel entrance, he was already nowhere to be found.