Chapter 74

Chapter 74

At the hotel Rhett spent the night in a fitful slumber due to the haunting memories that used to rob him of sleep. For the longest time, he couldn’t catch a wink without popping some sleeping pills.

On the nightstand, there were sleeping pills that York had set out for him, but tonight Rhett didn’t take any. His head was buzzing with thoughts of Kristin…

Funny enough, Rhett never thought he’d be head over heels for a dame.

When she said she was deaf in her left ear and tried to off herself more times than she could count, she was so calm like she was talking about the weather or spilling the beans on something trivial.

Glancing at the clock, it was already 3 a.m.

Rubbing his chest to calm a heart that wasn’t in it, Rhett felt all kinds of restlessness.

Why the heck did he keep thinking about that gal without even trying..

His phone screen lit up with a call, but in sleep mode, not even a buzz.

Outskirts of town.

Kristin was trembling all over as she stared at her phone, shaking so much she was about out of juice.

“Lady, we should call the fuzz,” said the jogger who was scared witless. The gal looked like she had bled out…

Tears brimming in her eyes, Kristin stubbornly kept dialing Rhett’s number.

Finally, on the third try, Rhett picked up. “Hello?”

His voice was detached, weary with a hint of gravel.

“Rhett…” Kristin’s voice shook with emotion, thick with the verge of tears, but she couldn’t get the rest out.

On the other end, Rhett hitched his breath and bolted upright. Tentatively, he asked, “Where are you?”

It was Kristin.

He recognized her voice.

“I’m at…” Kristin asked weakly, her vision turning black.

The jogger quickly took the phone and added, “We’re at the outskirts on the Road 306. Your friend’s in bad shape, all bloody. Should I rush her to the hospital?”

“Stop the bleeding, I’m on my way.

1/4

11:27

Chapter 74

After hanging up, Rhett call an ambulance, grabbed his car keys from the table, and ran out in a panic.

He had a gut feeling something bad had happened to Kristin.

Today, when York said the Haywood family goons had shown up in Crescendo Town, he knew they might not let Kristin off the hook.

But since she had been with James, Rhett didn’t think things would go south.

Cursing under his breath, Rhett drove like a bat out of hell to the outskirts.

The caller had said she was covered in blood…

When Rhett got there, the ambulance hadn’t arrived yet.

Jumping out of the car, he saw a shivering figure curled up in the grass by the road.

Her face was as white as a sheet like a paper doll.

Her f

feet were bare, the tops frozen to a bluish–purple, toes smeared with blood.

When Kristin’s eyes, void of life, caught sight of Rhett stepping out of the car, she broke down in

tears.

He came running through the headlights like a god come to save her.

Could it be that the gods hadn’t forsaken her after all?

But it was only a fleeting moment.

Rhett couldn’t protect her forever. She was well aware of that.

“Rhett…” Kristin croaked.

Rhett stood in front of her, panting.

He quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around her, pulling her into his arms. “The ambulance is coming. Hang in there.”

Finally, Kristin could let go and pass out. She had held on for so long.

He had come, really.

Honestly, Kristin hadn’t held out much hope. She thought if Rhett didn’t show up, she’d just take her life. That way, the Turner family, the Haywood family, and the FitzGerald family would stop hounding Garner and Summer.

But Rhett came…

Her breath growing fainter, Kristin slumped in Rhett’s arms.

He was so warm.

Rhett’s breathing stopped short because of ice–cold Kristin.

Chapter 4

In the biting cold of a Crescendo Town night, when even puddles froze solid, she sat there barefoot, waiting for him.-

“Don’t be afraid, it’ll be alright.”

To Kristin, Rhett sounded far away but crystal clear.

He was so gentle.

Instinctively, she snuggled closer into his embrace, seeking the warmth.

“Kristin, stay with me, you can’t sleep now,” Rhett urged her to stay conscious. She’d lost too much blood and it wasn’t time to sleep.

But Kristin was so tired.

“So tired…” she sobbed, her tears scalding hot. She was exhausted.

“When will my penance end?” she murmured, as if asking the messenger from hell how much longer she had to atone before she could be free.

“You’re not guilty.”

Struggling to keep her eyes open, Kristin heard someone say she was innocent.

At that moment, as if being torn apart by countless hands from hell, she seemed to hear redemption.

The ambulance arrived, and Rhett held Kristin close, never letting her down.

The medics and nurses gasped at the sight of the wound on her neck. “Did someone call the cops?”

Rhett nodded. “The police will head to the hospital.”

Rhett’s face was grim. The Haywood family wouldn’t get off easy after stirring up this mess.

At the abandoned factory.

Not long after Kristin had made her escape, Clarence had a fit of madness, doubling back and ramming his car through the warehouse door.

He hopped out, gasping for air, looking for Kristin like a madman, but Kristin was no longer there.

The warehouse was empty, save for a puddle of blood.

Clarence went numb in his fingers as he lit up a cigarette, then turned to follow the blood trail.

He found nothing.

Punching the car window in frustration, Clarence couldn’t shake the image of Kristin…”

Chapter 74

During the Chamber of Commerce dinner at Crescendo Town.

The dinner started at three in the afternoon.

As the organizer, James had to be there early.

Bill looked panicked, desperate to tell James that Kristin was in trouble, not in the villa, but Carter’s men blocked him.

“Bill, Carter wants to see you.”

Bill felt a sudden pit in his stomach and knew trouble was brewing.

He got pulled away, which meant James would be in the dark about Kristin’s mishap.

He wanted to shout out to let James know, but feared maybe Kristin wasn’t as big a deal in James. If he did shout, he could kiss his career goodbye.

“Bill, if you cross Carter, you’ll be out in Crescendo Town,” Carter’s guy gave Bill a warning look, clamped a hand over his mouth before he could speak, and shoved him into the car.

“You guys are way out of line!” Bill’s protest came out weakly. “To go after a woman with such dirty tricks, how do you sleep at night?”

“Bill, haven’t you learned anything from all the years with Mr. Bryce? If it ain’t your business. hang it up and don’t get involved. Did you get a piece of Kristin too?” The guy riding the shotgun was Vincent.

Bill hitched his breath. At that moment, it all clicked that this scheme was the doing of Vincent. Clarence, and the Haywood family, all in cahoots with Carter.

What about Kristin? A woman with no power, no support, trampled and humiliated, how was she expected to fight back?

“Vincent, you were once engaged to her, how can you do this to her without fearing regret?” Bill glared at Vincent with anger. “What did she do wrong? Is it her fault that her life got swapped. or that she was raped? You just take it out on her but don’t have the guts to confront those who hurt her, you coward!”