Chapter 215 Going Home
Karl pleaded earnestly, "Sir, please let me see Jing for just a moment. I know I was terribly wrong. I'm not asking for her forgiveness—I just want to atone. Please, give me a chance to make things right!"
Harrison was furious. His precious daughter had been hurt so badly by Karl that she'd even gotten an abortion behind their backs. How much suffering had she endured? And now, Karl had shown up, talking about "atonement" as if a few words could make up for the sins he'd committed against Jing. Could he possibly atone for what she'd been through?
Even though he was angry enough to want to hack Karl apart with a knife, Harrison didn't open the door. He glanced at his wife Judy in the living room, and she understood immediately, standing up to go to Faye's bedroom.
Only then did Harrison speak coldly to Karl. "If you keep making a scene, I'm calling the police!"
Karl still had some sense of shame left. Seeing he couldn't get anywhere, he slunk away.
Harrison breathed a sigh of relief. As he turned to go back to the living room, he saw Faye had emerged from her bedroom at some point. Her eyes were red, and she wore an oversized nightgown, her feet bare on the floor.
Judy rushed around anxiously, quickly grabbing a pair of slippers. "Faye, you just had the procedure—you can't be careless! How can you walk around barefoot? What if you catch a chill?"
Faye obediently put on the slippers her mother held out, then walked to the living room sofa and sat down. Looking at her parents, her eyes grew even redder. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. If I hadn't been so blind about people, we wouldn't have had all this trouble. I gave him so much money too. I was so stupid. Now I can't even get it back..."
Harrison sighed and walked over to comfort her. "Faye, the fact that you escaped his trap is the best outcome for me and your mother. We weren't planning to get that money back anyway, but if you want it, we can ask your cousin's family for help. A lawsuit should work."
Judy added, "That's right. That money means nothing. Your dad and I already prepared a house and car for you—they're in your name. We saw early on that Karl wasn't right, so we never mentioned it to you. We were afraid he'd get ideas. These past few years, we knew Karl was manipulating you, but you wouldn't listen to anything we said, so we just stopped giving you money. Faye, you've suffered."
Faye broke down sobbing at her parents' deep love for her.
Judy patted her shoulder consolingly. "Fortunately, it's not too late. You have your whole life ahead of you."
Faye nodded, sniffling. "Thank you, Mom and Dad."
The next day, Arabella went to work as usual. Seeing how Faye had transformed in just two days—more positive and energetic—she felt relieved. Faye was luckier than most. This disaster had finally passed.
Over the next few days, Karl came to the office twice, each time playing the devoted lover begging for Faye's forgiveness. But after everything that had happened, Faye had completely seen through him. No matter what he said, she treated him with disdain.
Karl finally quieted down, not showing up to pester Faye for several days in a row.
Three days later, Arabella noticed Faye wasn't at work. She called Faye and heard her weak voice. "Arabella, I might need to take a few more days off."
Then she told Arabella what had happened. After Faye rejected him repeatedly, Karl had developed a grudge against her. Last night after work, he'd followed her out of the office. In a quiet area, he'd dragged her away and attacked her with a knife—six stabs. Fortunately, none were fatal.
Fortunately, a car happened to pass by at that moment. The driver noticed something wrong and called the police immediately.
Karl fled the scene but was caught by police an hour later.
"My parents are going to sue him for attempted murder. He'll never get out in his lifetime." Faye's voice was full of hatred. "We were in love once, and he actually tried to kill me. Even now, thinking about it makes my blood run cold. Thank god my luck held out and I survived. Otherwise, how could my parents go on living..."
Arabella was shocked to hear this. "He actually tried to kill you..."
This was the kind of thing she usually only saw on the news. She never imagined something so depraved would happen to someone she knew.
She told Faye to rest well, and after work, she and Gillian went to visit her.
Faye's injuries weren't as light as she'd made them sound. Six stabs—four had gone into her abdomen, damaging her spleen and stomach. Two more had gone into her thighs, with one hitting a major artery. If the passerby hadn't rushed her to the hospital in time, she would have died.
Gillian's eyes were red. She cursed angrily, "That bastard is absolute scum! I hope he rots in prison!"
Arabella's mood was heavy too. She'd thought escaping Karl would be the beginning of Faye's beautiful new life. She never imagined it would nearly cost her her life.
After a long moment of silence, she could only console her. "At least you survived. You're finally free. You don't have to live in fear anymore."
Faye nodded enthusiastically, tears streaming down her face, but her eyes were resolute. "From now on, I'm going to live well—for my parents. Men are like poison. I never want to touch them again."
As they left the hospital, Gillian sighed. "Faye seems too deeply hurt this time. She might really choose to be alone forever."
Arabella didn't know what to say. She could only remain silent.
Just as she was about to head home, Arabella got a call from her father. Percy said cheerfully, "Arabella, New Year's Day is coming up. This year, bring Mr. FitzRoy and Becky over to my place for a gathering."
Arabella was surprised. "Will Marilyn be okay with that?"
She'd originally planned to just bring Becky for a brief New Year's visit. After all, Marilyn was her father's wife in name, and the two of them seemed to be getting along pretty well lately. For her father's peace and happiness, she didn't want to provoke Marilyn.
Percy laughed. "It was Marilyn's idea, actually. You don't know yet, but Daniel came in first in the whole school on his practice exam. Now he's the teachers' favorite. Your stepmother has resolved a weight that's been on her heart for years. Maybe she wants to patch things up with you too."
Arabella was impressed. "First place? Daniel's really something."
In just six months, going from an uneducated punk to first in the school—that wasn't just about effort. It required exceptional intelligence combined with hard work to achieve such results.
Since Marilyn was extending an olive branch, Arabella agreed. "Alright, we'll come over on New Year's Eve."
Percy was happy too. This would be the first time in three years they'd be spending New Year's Day together as father and daughter.
When Arabella had been with the Watsons, their family had strict rules—she absolutely couldn't leave on New Year's Eve. This was going to be her first New Year after the divorce.
Arabella paused, then added, "But I need to ask Alexander if he can make it."
Though she said this, Arabella figured Alexander probably couldn't come. He had his own family, and as the current head of the FitzRoy family, on such an important day as New Year's Eve, he probably wouldn't have the opportunity to leave.
Percy understood this too. Mainly, he just wanted his daughter by his side. Whether his son-in-law came didn't really matter.
After hanging up, Arabella stood by the roadside trying to hail a cab. Less than a minute later, a fire-red Ferrari pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down to reveal Anthony's face with its faint smile.
"Where are you going? I'll give you a ride."
Arabella took a step back. She frowned at Anthony. "No need."
Lately, Anthony had been showing up to make his presence known every few days. After the Cassidy incident, apart from disgust, she also felt some fear toward him.
After all, someone who could casually have people killed—what kind of person could that be? She'd come to understand that the help Anthony had given her before, all that kindness he'd shown—it had probably just been a performance. A performance to win her over.
He wasn't as good as she'd thought. The man who'd seemed like her savior might have just been playing a role.
So now, when she saw Anthony, her first instinct was revulsion.
Anthony was hurt when she took a step backward. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, standing before her. "Arabella, don't be afraid of me. I just like you."
Arabella couldn't agree. "I don't like you anymore. If you respect me at all, you should leave right now instead of pestering me again and again. It's pointless, Anthony."
Anthony's eyes filled with sorrow. "Arabella, I can't let you go. I didn't know how to love before. I was too arrogant and lost you. Is it really so hard to give me one more chance?"
Arabella looked at him. "How many times do I have to say it before you understand—I'm married."
Anthony laughed bitterly. "Arabella, after everything, you still won't be honest with me. You're obviously about to divorce Alexander, but you still use him as a shield. What's the point?"
Arabella was shocked. "How do you know that?"
She'd only told Daisy about this. On Alexander's side... there shouldn't be any outsiders who knew. So how did Anthony find out?
Anthony looked at her with a pained smile. "I care about you. I want to know everything about you, so naturally I did my investigation. Arabella, you say I'm not right for you, but obviously Alexander isn't right for you either. Has he been making you suffer? If you were with me, I would never let you suffer."
He grabbed Arabella's wrist and continued, "Who is he? Someone of his status—how could he possibly bend over backward for you? And you're too proud to grovel and please him either. You two splitting up is inevitable. Arabella, he's not right for you, but I'm different. I've already lost you once. I know how to love someone now."
The moment he grabbed her, Arabella felt her whole body go numb. She yanked her arm away. "Anthony, stay away from me! You should know that Alex has arranged bodyguards around me to protect me. If you do anything excessive, he won't let you off!"
Anthony secretly gritted his teeth. If it weren't for that, he would have already dragged her into his car by force. How could he be reduced to just talking at her again and again?