CHAPTER 91

#TheFinalBattleOfTheBattered

"But don't be mad at me, fool!" I felt one of her hands on the end of my hair and pulled it down. "It also seems impossible to attract him to love me."

Re-registering in my memory that day Lucile and I met at the bar. When she left me because her boyfriend had come... and the exact day as well, I formulated my hypothesis that Lucile might be the other woman since I saw a man in a lab coat pleading on the second floor at that time. 

"Is Henrix the one who you refer to as your longtime boyfriend?" With a little, weak voice coming out of my mouth, while Lucile's elbow was still choking me, surprisingly that I'd still be able to talk.

"Well... I just said he's my boyfriend to give you another reason to overthink," she perhaps never gets tired of laughing while talking. "The flowers, chocolates and a small box that Audrey has seen in his car, I actually put them there. Just to make the show realistic."

"And I also gave the idea to Maui, his ex, that Henrix should be the one she approaches when she finds out she's pregnant."

Another new piece of information has been added.

"Do you know her personally?"

"No, Liam. I was a random person in Maui's life who approached her to give her a piece of advice... as a stranger." While narrating the whole truth, Lucile seemed to be enjoying the story-telling. "But I never thought that she would do what I told her. Well... maybe that's what she had in mind in the first place, so she continued."

I won't get any more shocked if the reason behind this is... me again. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucile used Maui to make me think badly of her while she covered her own skin for what she did so shamefully.

"And as I've told you, I repeatedly meet him in the bar. To talk. To attract. To tempt him to do something that men really do."

"What else did you do, Lucile?!"

"Excited, Liam?" Lucile's witch-like laugh hurt my ears. "We're really just talking. Because we have some sort of agreement."

"He begged me not to speak about the truth to Audrey. I threatened him because I would be the one to tell Audrey that Henrix is ​​not her father-"

"So, Audrey found out everything from you?!" I couldn't hold back any longer this time, I managed to get out of her elbow, but not out of Lucile's gun range at me. "When will you learn to keep quiet about what you know you can't share with others, Lucile?"

"Don't talk like it's my fault, Kris. Because everything is really your fault, okay? It should be you who deserved to be blamed... because you don't know how to choose someone to trust with your secrets."

I gasped in the air, realizing the huge mistake I've made in my entire life.

"Lucile, let us go. Just go with us to the police-"

"If I can go to jail with you, Liam… why not?" I saw a sudden smirk on Lucile's face. "Remember those two innocent students that you murdered wayback? Those two boys who harassed your daughter?"

I glanced at Liam, unbelievably. Because everyone thought that those two students tripped my daughter, when the police saw them hanging from the tree... well... we all thought it was suicide.

"Do you kill them-"

"Which parent isn't willing to kill someone for their child?"

I was completely disappointed when I heard Liam's answer to me. Because... I don’t know... The way he answered my question... it's like... he's pleading guilty.

"Even at the time when I still thought Audrey was my daughter without any confirmation, I didn't hesitate to teach those men a lesson for the rest of their lives," Liam sincerely explained. 

"And that's good news for me, though. At least until we go to jail, we're together. So, I won't be afraid of having a record," Lucile said artfully. She raised her gun and pointed it at me again. "So, if I shoot your skull, that means I can be charged with murder-"

"Lucile, do you really have no heart anymore? Please don't do this. Have a conscience-"

"And I’m the bad person now?!" she snorted.

"Here in the world, half of the human population doesn't care about the dogs and cats on the street if they are hungry or it rains, am I still bad? I am the one who takes them in to protect them, give them something to eat and a second life, I'm still the bad guy?!"

Lucile started being emotional right now as she's drawing us the conclusion that... this place is really... an animal shelter.

"I'll admit that I've been a bad person. I've been selfish. I've broken all your trust, yes!" Her deafening voice echoed in it, that even the dogs here were beginning to condemn. "But I just have to do it, eh. I need a lot of money to build this new home for stray dogs and cats that people have abandoned and now... the government is planning to catch them and slaughter them together!"

Some of the information that Lucile has been sharing with us is difficult for me to follow.

"Anger engulfed me, so I warmed to you completely, Kris. Especially when you tried to destroy our business, you let Liam's business that is now closed... then the money we expected from Jessica's family, turned to stone."

"You made me cause another war because of that," she replied with emphasis. "Because that money is supposed to pay for all our debts... my debt... all of which went to the construction of the animal shelter, the food for the animals here, medicines and other things they need for life every day."

"I am ready to drown myself in debt just to protect them from the savage government personnel who want to eliminate stray dogs and stray cats from the streets because they believe that these animals are the ones who bring disease to the people. And they want to keep them away from the imported and the breed dogs they owned!"

While watching Lucile fighting for the lives of these pets that she adopted and cared for, I somehow managed to understand some of the reasons why she had to borrow a large amount of money... and as a consequence... they went bankrupt in debt.

"Question my choices for all I care! Because no matter what I do to explain to you, if you are just like the other people out there who don't care about animals, you will never understand me!"

Right at this moment, my fear of Lucile's gun that was still pointed at me completely disappeared. Without fear, I approached the mirror, so that I could take a look at the pet dogs and cats that Lucile adopted from the streets. And to be honest, with their looks now... they don't look like dogs and cats with bones and skin that I usually see on the street. Maybe with Lucile's dedication to take care of them and spending money, they will look healthy.

As for the hatred I have for Lucile, the only thing left is the one about her attempt to destroy Henrix and me. But overall, I noticed how good her heart is for animals that need care for their owners who abandoned them or did not choose to care for them. Because of the truth, there are many people who just pass the dogs and cats on the road begging for food. There are also people who have no conscience that when their pet cat gives birth, even if the kittens are still kittens and cannot be separated from their mother, they throw them away.

And with the huge concern and kindhearted Lucile has for the pets, it's great that someone like her is ready to accept any kind of dog and cat on the street and offer the door of this place for those like them who want to have a second life.

"Henrix is ​​on his way here," I heard Liam reply. I kept rubbing my cheeks without even realizing that I had cried. "He said he was with the police-"

"What the fvck-"

"Lucile, don't panic." Liam calms Lucile as he tries to take the gun from Lucile's hand. "Let's get out of here-"

"I'm not worried if the police catch me, okay?!" But it was Lucile who willingly dropped the gun she was holding.