Chapter 212
Chapter 212
In the nick of time, Gabriel turned around at a 90-degree angle and took the deadly stab for her. Yasmine, who initially had her back against the perpetrator, turned and saw the man with the dagger. She let out a blood-curdling scream, feeling the man in her arms becoming increasingly stiff as he sank to the ground...
"Gabriel, Gabriel!" Yasmine Taylor shrieked.
She trembled and shook Gabriel's body. She saw that her hands were stained with blood. Her mind blanked at that instant. She cried out hysterically, "Gabriel, hold on, I'll call the ambulance right away!"
The person fled after seeing that he had stabbed the wrong person with his dagger. Yasmine was only concerned about Gabriel's injury, so she didn't care about anything else. While she was in grief and panic, she saw a familiar figure vanish into the vast night in a flash.
The pure white first aid lights in the emergency room were blindingly bright. Yasmine's face was pale, her body frozen and quivering in a corner. Almost the entire Smith family was present and everyone looked anxious and worried. They comforted and talked to one another about the incident. No one acknowledged her existence. She wanted to apologize to the Smith family but she did not have the courage to. The person inside had no close relations with her, but he was lying in the emergency room because of her. She turned her back and wiped the tears that were falling from the corners of her eyes. She prayed silently, "Gabriel, you must be safe, you must be fine. Gabriel, please be okay..."
At the moment the dagger was plunged into his body, his fate was tied to her and Sebastian.
After waiting anxiously for two hours, the lights in the emergency room finally went out. A doctor in a white coat came out. The Smith family rushed up to ask, "Doctor, how's my son?"
"How's the injury? Is it serious?"
"Is my nephew awake now?"
The doctor smiled to appease the worried family members. "Please relax, the patient is no longer in danger. He should be able to wake up by tomorrow morning."
Yasmine stood at the back of the crowd. When she heard the doctor, her anxious heart was finally at ease. She breathed a sigh of relief. She had never been so thankful to God before, thanking Him for saving Gabriel's life.
She didn't want to live in guilt forever nor did she want anyone to be injured because of her.
"Miss, may I know who you are to my son?"
A graceful-looking woman walked toward her with a sharp look in her eyes.
Yasmine clasped her hands nervously. She was at a loss, not knowing how to answer the woman's question. If she said that they were just strangers, Gabriel's mother would definitely continue probing her, wondering why her son had risked his life to save her.
Yasmine pondered for a moment. She then replied with a trembling voice, "We are very good friends."
"Are you sure? Are you two such good friends that he would risk his life for you?"
Yasmine was at a loss for words, raising her eyes to look at the woman in front of her timidly. The woman's aura was so overpowering, intimidating her further.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
"I'm not standing in front of you now to hear your apology. I just want to know who you are to my son. How am I supposed to answer you if you choose to dodge the question? Should I just reply that it's alright? My son was saved from the brink of death. Wouldn’t it be too unrealistic if I were to say that?"
Yasmine took a deep breath, silently thanking herself that she hadn't accepted Gabriel's proposal. Gabriel was, without a doubt, a good man, but his mother was too sharp- tongued and smart. She could not cope with such a woman.
"Your son likes me, but..."
"But you don't like him?"
Yasmine nodded helplessly. "It's not that I don't like him. I just have someone else in my heart."
"If that's the case, please keep some distance with him in the future. These complicated feelings will hurt everyone, including yourself."
"I understand. Please do not worry. We've made it clear." Yasmine nodded slightly and gave her a firm look. At the same time, several uniformed policemen came in and asked, "Excuse me, are you Miss Lorris?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Please come with us to the police station. We need to get information about this attack."
"Alright,"
After bowing at Mrs. Smith, Yasmine followed the police out of the hospital.
Sitting in the interrogation room of the police station, Yasmine described the details of the incident as accurately as possible. The policeman asked her, "Did you not see the criminal's face at all?"
"The criminal was wearing a mask and I was in a panic, so I didn't see clearly."
"What about the criminal's back? Did you see what he or she looked like? Could you tell whether the person's a man or a woman?"
An image flashed across Yasmine's mind at that instant. She remembered seeing the figure leaving in a hurry amidst the panic at that time. She suddenly frowned and suggested, "Could you please show me the dagger that was used at the crime scene?"
The policeman was startled. He nodded. "Yes, but we're extracting the fingerprints right now, you'll have to wait a moment."
About ten minutes later, another policeman came in with a plastic bag and showed Yasmine the dagger in it. "Why do you want to look at this?" the policeman asked in confusion.
Yasmine's face suddenly sank when she saw the dagger. She said with certainty, "I think I know who the criminal is."
"Do you know him?"
The two policemen looked at each other in surprise.
"Yes, if I had guessed correctly, the criminal is Richie Lind from T City. He has some history with me. I suppose he was targeting me last night."
She was all too familiar with this dagger. It was part of Richie's personal belongings. Yasmine once threatened to take her life with it.
"Richie Lind?"
A policeman repeated the name, "Could you roughly describe his appearance to us?"
Soon, Yasmine heard that the entire city was on the lookout for Richie. As the sole witness, she remained in the police station temporarily to assist in the investigation.
At 5:45 am, Richie was caught at the airport of F City. He did not resist the arrest and nor did he admit to his crime honestly. However, when he was asked about the motive of his attack, he chose to remain silent.
When Yasmine heard that Richie had been brought to justice, she came to the place where he was detained in. She was slightly shocked at the moment their eyes met. The middle-aged man in front of her was not the boisterous and arrogant man whom he used to be. He was simply like a prisoner who had just released. His eyes were hollow, his face was haggard, his beard was untrimmed and his clothes were in a mess... All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
She found it unbelievable. Just as she was about to ask him his reason for killing her, Richie had already lost his temper. All of a sudden, he roared like an angry beast, "You shameless bit*h, why couldn't I kill you myself... You killed my son, so you must die a terrible death... You're a woman with loose morals. I curse you to a lifetime of unhappiness. Everyone who loves you will die one after another. You'll be lonely, helpless, and die of your own hatred in the end! Hahaha!"
Richie seemed to have gone mad as he let out a horrible and shrill laugh. Yasmine's face instantly turned pale and she couldn't stand firmly. She put one hand on the wall to support her and asked, trembling, "What did you say... Did you say that I killed your son? What happened to Leighton?!"
"Don't you dare mention my son's name. You don't deserve to say his name. You're such a vicious woman. Sooner or later, you'll be punished!"
Richie was quiet before, but the moment he saw Yasmine, he went completely insane. The police shouted at him, "Be quiet!"
Yasmine's legs went limp and she fell to the ground. Was Leighton dead? She clutched her chest and tried to ease her panicking heart. She told herself that Richie must have gone mad.
"I will never believe a lunatic's words,"
She raised her pale face and glared at Richie hatefully. "You don't believe me? If you don't believe me, feel free to die here and go to H*ll to see if my son is there! The whole tragedy is your doing. You turned down my son's feelings for you. My son has been upset all day over your disappearance for the past two years. He became as thin as a skeleton, sitting in front of the door every day saying, 'She'll come back to see me, she will, she'll definitely come...' He'll repeat the same words every day. Until a week ago, he accidentally heard his mother and I talking about seeing a girl like you in B City. He ran out of the house in a fit of madness, saying he'll find you. We begged him to come back. He ran straight into a car before we caught up to him. He was still muttering that you would definitely come back for him until the second he died!"
Richie was already on the verge of collapse when he reminisced that horrifying moment. It seemed as though he couldn't wait to skin Yasmine alive. Even then, it seemed that that would not be able to satisfy him. "You don't even believe my son died because of you. I came to look for you to give you a piece of my mind, to ask you to kneel down in front of my son's grave to atone for your sins. I looked for you for five whole days and asked around everywhere before finally finding you in F City. I didn't expect to see such a dirty scene along the way. You abandoned Sebastian like how you abandoned my son and hooked up with another man. My son's body hasn't gone cold but you're already cuddling with other men. You disgusting sl*t, it's a pity I couldn't see you drop dead on my feet and avenge my son. Never mind then, I won't let you go even if I die. Just you wait, I'll be haunting you day and night as a spirit, making your life a living hell! Hahaha!"
Richie was eventually taken away by two policemen. Yasmine leaned against the wall weakly, as if her soul had left her body, completely numb to any feelings.
A policewoman came over and asked sympathetically, "Miss, are you okay?"
Yasmine shook her head blankly. "I'm fine." She staggered along the corridor, her hand still on the wall, supporting her. It was already bright outside as the sun had just risen. The February sunshine was so blinding. As soon as she walked out of the police station, she was surrounded by a dizzy feeling. Just as she was about to collapse to the ground, a car stopped in front of her. Someone jumped out of the car and stretched his arms out to hold her tightly.