Chapter 58
I hadn't been waiting long when footsteps echoed in the hallway. I immediately pretended to pass out and collapsed on the floor.
Rustling sounds, then the door opened.
The man rubbed his hands together. "My cousin really cares about me - giving me money and sending me a woman."
He turned on the light, walked over to me, and squatted down to examine me carefully. "She's actually pretty hot, just a shame she's crippled."
He'd obviously noticed the crutch I was holding. After looking down on me, he started muttering again, "Amelia's really something - having such a beauty around and not introducing her to me sooner."
I could feel his hand touching me.
Unable to stand it anymore, I opened my eyes and swung the crutch at his head.
His eyes went blank and he collapsed.
I stood up and kicked him a couple of times. Then I heard more footsteps outside.
Worried it was Amelia, I gritted my teeth and dragged him under the bed to hide him. I turned off the light, gripped my crutch, and stood behind the door, ready to strike Amelia.
"Sophia, are you in there?"
I froze. Why would it be James?
"Sophia, if you hear me, say something."
"I'm inside. How did you get here?"
"You'd been gone so long, so I asked the waiter who gave you the note. He said you went this way."
He tried the doorknob from outside. "Why won't this door open?"
"Someone locked it," I said, covering my mouth.
I felt the smell in the room getting stronger and stronger. I had to get out quickly or something bad would happen.
James left and came back, hitting the door with something that made loud banging sounds. Though the door was solid, it couldn't withstand his assault. Soon it gave way.
The door opened and he walked in. He seemed to smell something wrong too, frowned, and looked around alertly. "What's that smell in this room?"
"It's a drug."
James's expression changed dramatically, his voice cold. "Who did this?"
I was about to answer when I heard Amelia's voice. "The sound came from here."
Before Amelia even arrived, she shouted, "Sophia, how could you do something to betray James?"
"No wonder you came out even with your injured leg - you wanted to meet some man here in secret."
She rushed in with a group of people. Seeing only James and me in the room, she froze, her eyes full of confusion.
Andrew quickly walked to my side and asked urgently, "Sophia, are you okay?"
Amelia was stunned too.
"Amelia, what the hell are you playing at?" James looked at Amelia with icy eyes, his voice full of anger. "Sophia's been with me the whole time. Who's she fooling around with?"
Amelia's face went pale, her eyes panicked, stammering without being able to speak. "I... I clearly saw a man come in with Sophia just now."
"How did that man suddenly turn into you? What's going on?"
"So you got someone to harm Sophia?" James's eyes grew colder, the pressure around him frighteningly low. "Amelia, how did you become like this!"
I held Andrew's hand and slowly straightened up. My complexion had returned to normal. I looked at Amelia with cold eyes, my tone mocking. "Amelia, you drugged the room, had your cousin assault me, then deliberately had people catch us in the act to ruin my reputation. Your mind is truly vicious!"
I exposed Amelia's scheme in front of everyone. Everyone was shocked, looking at Amelia with disgust.
"So you wanted to harm Ms. Brown - that's truly evil!"
"Doing something like this to steal someone's husband - you have no bottom line!"
People around kept accusing Amelia. Her face completely lost composure. Ashamed and angry, tears fell, but she still stubbornly denied it. "James, no, I didn't! Sophia is framing me!"
"Framing you?" I laughed coldly. "The drug smell in this room hasn't cleared yet. Everyone can smell it."
"As for the person you sent, he's over there." I gestured toward the bed.
The unconscious man under the bed was pulled out.
Andrew splashed water on him and slapped him a few times. The man woke up startled, looking at everyone in the room, sitting there dazed.
James gave the security guard at the door a look. The guard immediately stepped forward and restrained Amelia's cousin.
Seeing this, Amelia panicked.
She suddenly knelt on the ground, grabbed James's leg, and cried, "James, I'm sorry, I was wrong. It was all his idea. He threatened me to do this. Please forgive me, okay?"
While crying, she pushed all the blame onto her cousin, trying to clear herself.
Hearing this, Amelia's cousin got anxious too and shouted loudly, "Amelia, how can you say that? You clearly asked me to come, said you wanted me to assault Ms. Brown, promised me money. How can you deny it!"
The two blamed each other. The scene was chaotic.
Everyone around was stunned, pointing and whispering about Amelia.
I wanted to use this incident to properly deal with Amelia, so I had Andrew call the police directly, to prevent James from helping Amelia get away with it again.
Andrew called the police. When they arrived, they took away Amelia's cousin.
Amelia was still struggling. "James, believe me, I'm innocent. My cousin forced me."
Someone suddenly rushed in. Seeing Amelia, she immediately pounced on her, hitting and cursing. "Amelia, you bitch! You made my husband do this, got him arrested by the police. What will happen to our family? I'll fight you!"
Amelia was already breaking down. Being attacked by her cousin's wife like this, she lost control completely. She broke free from the police officer's grip and started fighting with her.
The two pulled each other's hair, cursing and hitting continuously. The scene was chaotic.
James frowned and had someone pull them apart, saying coldly, "Sir, please take them back and educate them properly."
Amelia and the others were all taken away.
With the show over, those people left too. The room finally quieted down.
Andrew helped me back to the lounge area in the hall. He examined my complexion carefully and asked worriedly, "Sophia, are you really okay? Your complexion doesn't look quite right."
"Don't worry, I'm fine." I smiled and reassured him. "I sensed something was wrong early on. When I entered the room, I held my breath and didn't inhale much of the drug. I was just pretending."
Only then did Andrew relax, his eyes full of relief. "Good thing you were smart. Otherwise, if Amelia's scheme had worked, the consequences would have been terrible."
I nodded. The fire inside me burned hotter and hotter. So hot.
I'd stayed in that room too long and still inhaled quite a bit of the drug. It seemed to be taking effect now.
I felt very hot, my head slightly heavy. I couldn't lose control in public - I had to get back quickly.