Chapter 70
This answer caught me completely off guard.
"Why would the Percy family's bodyguards hurt you?"
Ethan gave a bitter smile. "I'd like to know that too. I was just staying at my hotel. How did I end up provoking the Percy family?"
"Ethan Guise!"
Leopold's furious voice suddenly rang out from behind me.
I spun around to see him standing in the doorway, his towering frame blocking out all the light. An invisible pressure radiated from him.
When he spotted me, Leopold's already cold expression tightened further. A thick aura of violence rolled off him.
"Leopold, you—"
Before I could finish, Leopold's brutal fist came hurtling toward Ethan with the sound of cutting wind—
"Leopold Percy!"
I screamed.
My body moved on instinct, inserting itself between them. I threw my arms wide, shielding Ethan behind me.
I braced for the punch to land.
But at the last possible second, Leopold forced himself to stop.
His fist—clenched so hard his knuckles had gone bloodless—hovered mere inches from my face.
He stared at me, fury burning in his eyes. But beneath the anger at being blocked, I caught something else. Confusion. Agitation.
"Move."
His voice came out hoarse, barely restraining towering rage.
"Leopold, why do you have it out for Ethan?" I met his gaze head-on, fearless.
"Cindy, Leopold's right. Move aside. Don't let him hurt you." Ethan's voice was low and weak. He reached out to pull me away.
Worried Leopold might take his anger at me out on Ethan, I refused outright. "No. I need to get to the bottom of this."
"Who gave you permission to touch her?" Leopold's barely contained fury exploded again.
His long arm shot past my shoulder and seized Ethan by the collar.
"Leopold!" I quickly grabbed his arm. "Calm down. Whatever it is, we can talk it out."
Leopold twisted his head to stare at me, the emotion in his eyes making my chest tighten.
"You're so worried about him, and you still have the nerve to tell me you're innocent!"
Seeing he was still on edge, I tried to soften my words.
"I'm not worried about him. I'm afraid you'll hurt someone, and it'll come back on you."
Leopold's expression faltered slightly, his volatile mood easing just a fraction.
That's when Sophia suddenly appeared.
"Leo, don't be reckless! Be careful of your injury."
I immediately looked at Leopold. Where was he hurt?
"Cindy, stop upsetting Leo. He just got hit in the back trying to protect me. He can't take your accusations right now."
Sophia's voice caught as she pulled Leopold away and positioned herself protectively in front of him.
I stared at them in a daze. Leopold had gotten injured protecting Sophia.
"Sophia, stop it!" Ethan pulled me behind him as well. "If you hadn't jumped to conclusions and sent people to corner me at my hotel, I never would've gotten into a confrontation with Mr. Percy."
"Don't twist the truth! You're the one who arranged for people to kidnap my mom and me. I have proof!" Sophia's eyes reddened as she argued back, holding up her phone to play a video.
In the footage, Sophia and her mother were indeed being forcibly dragged into a car by two foreign men.
But whether those men actually worked for Ethan, I couldn't say.
"Both bodyguards are foreign nationals. Besides you, who else could command people like that? Hand over my mom right now, or I'm calling the police!"
Sophia issued her threat with the air of someone who wouldn't back down until she got results.
"So because they're foreign, they must work for me? What kind of logic is that?" Ethan's voice turned cold.
"It's not just that. My mom and I caught you and Cindy on a date, and the very next moment, we got kidnapped by foreign nationals. How can that be a coincidence?"
Sophia continued twisting the narrative.
I couldn't help but counter her.
"Just because it's unlikely to be a coincidence doesn't mean it isn't one. And Ethan and I were just having a normal meal together—not a date. Stop spreading rumors!"
"Cindy, this is a matter of life and death. Can you please stop nitpicking my word choice?"
Sophia looked even more aggrieved. "My mom's life hangs in the balance right now, and I can't even save her. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
"At a time like this, are you two seriously still refusing to release her?" Leopold chimed in coldly.
I really didn't want to waste any more breath on them. I turned directly to Ethan. "Ethan, call the police. Let them get involved—that's the fastest way to get to the truth."
"Okay." Ethan pulled out his phone, preparing to call.
But Sophia deliberately twisted my words.
"Cindy, just to protect your senior, you're completely disregarding Leo's feelings."
Anger stirred in me. "Sophia, enough. You refuse to listen to our explanations and insist that Ethan and I are involved. I'm calling the police to prove our innocence and to rescue your mother as quickly as possible."
"Don't think I don't know what you're really doing. You're calling the police because you feel sorry for your precious senior getting hurt. You want Leo to get arrested!"
After saying this, Sophia turned to Leopold with an anxious, pleading expression.
"Leo, when the police arrive, whatever you do, don't admit that Mr. Guise's injury has anything to do with you."
"You only hurt him because of me. I'm willing to take responsibility for any consequences."
Sophia's twisted logic left me stunned.
What kind of person even thinks like this?
The next second, Leopold's gaze shifted to me, his expression even uglier than before.
"You're calling the police to get me arrested?"
"I'm not—"
Before I could finish, Sophia anxiously cut me off.
"Leo, even if that's true, Cindy would never admit it. Why torture yourself like this?"
I shook my head lightly. "That's not what—"
"Look at everything you've done. What part of it deserves trust?"
Leopold delivered that cold mockery.
Something sharp twisted in my chest, sending fine threads of pain radiating outward.
I couldn't help but confront him.
"Can't you see Sophia's adding fuel to the fire? Calling the police is the fairest way to handle this. Why are you misunderstanding me?"
Leopold's gaze turned mocking. "You keep defending him at every turn, and you're saying I'm misunderstanding you?"
"Lucinda, I've been lying to myself for too long. That's why you've managed to fool me over and over."
I'd heard enough of these vague accusations. I demanded directly, "If you have something to say, say it clearly! When did I fool you? How am I not worthy of your trust?"
Even if we truly couldn't continue, I at least deserved to know why!
"You—"
"Leo, my stomach really hurts! I don't know if I got kicked in the organs earlier. Please take me to find a doctor!"
Sophia clutched her abdomen with an expression of agony, pleading with Leopold for help.
Seeing Leopold move to take her away, I quickly blocked his path.
"Leopold, make yourself clear before you go."
Leopold shook off my hand in irritation. "Get lost! I have no obligation to explain anything to you."
He shoved me so hard I nearly lost my balance.
Ethan caught me just in time, preventing me from falling.
"Leopold, how can you treat Cindy like this?"
Leopold scooped Sophia into his arms. At Ethan's words, he turned his head with a cold laugh. "How I treat her is none of your concern."
"Ethan, consider yourself lucky this time. But if there's a next time, you won't leave alive!"
I stared at him in disbelief. For Sophia's sake, he'd actually threatened Ethan!
"Cindy, tonight was my fault. I shouldn't have called you here. Then you wouldn't have had to deal with all this nastiness." Ethan looked genuinely apologetic.
"Ethan, it's not your problem. Leopold and I have been like oil and water for a while now."
After taking him back to his hotel, I didn't return to Bayview Villas. Instead, I hailed a cab to somewhere else entirely.