Penny curiously studied the man who was left in there with one of his hands cuffed in one of the bars on the wall. When he looked back at her, he arched a brow and smirked viciously, as if to scare her. But Penny had t different types of criminals during her ti in prison. Hence, she didn’t react to his attempt to scare her.
If anything, his comnt just now piqued her intrigue.
She blinked, and the man raised his brows higher.
"What is that little girl looking at?" the man wondered, but Penny flashed him an innocent smile. He scoffed and shook his head, thinking this girl knew nothing about the world yet. Hence, she had no sense of danger.
Penny’s attention was snatched when Grace’s mother spoke.
"No, Officer. My husband is not hurting ," she told them a blatant lie, smiling through her bruises.
Everyone frowned — even the officer. "Ma’am, if you’re not being hit by your husband, how did you get your bruises?"
"I had a confrontation with my neighbor that led to a physical altercation."
"Mom!" Grace stood up and shouted. "Mom, why are you lying!? Tell them the truth! Tell them where you got all those bruises!"
"Grace, please." the woman reached out to Grace, tugging her arm helplessly. "Let’s stop this now."
"She’s not telling the truth!" Grace pulled her arm away from her mother and faced the officers urgently. "That man beats my mom every ti he’s in a terrible mood! He would even beat her for no reason at all! Why ask her? Can’t you see her face?! Do you want to strip my mother so you can see her body as well!?"
"Tch!" her father snorted and faced the officer cockily. "Officer, my daughter had been rebellious. You see, I’ve only tried to discipline her because I heard she’s been drinking and smoking with her friends! She’s also skipping school! Sothing like that, of course, I need to discipline my daughter to keep her on the right path!"
"What?" Grace clenched her teeth in disbelief at what she was hearing at the mont.
Her father gazed at her and clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "Can’t you see, officer? She’s throwing a tantrum and even framing her father for sothing so unspeakable!" He then leaned against the desk and faced the officer. "Officer, my wife already told you how she got her bruise. I understand those kids tried to ddle with the situation — maybe because my kid misled them into thinking they were being abused at ho!"
"Mom!" Grace called for her mother again, knowing her father was getting the upper hand. However, her mother simply sported an apologetic look before averting her gaze from her.
Grace’s heart sank, balling her hands into a tight fist. Earlier today, she ca ho with her mother getting beaten by that cruel man. Grace already had enough. Thus, she tried to save her mother and fought her father. In the end, her father overpowered her and eventually dragged her out of the house.
If not for Hugo and Penny, both mother and daughter would be beaten black and blue. Worse. She had to stay outside while her father beat her mother inside the house. Yet, her mother didn’t even dare to stand up for Grace! Instead, she was making everyone think Grace was lying.
The officer sighed as he looked at the woman solemnly. "Ma’am, are you sure?"
"Can’t see her face?" Hugo blurted out in frustration. "Why are you still asking her? Can’t you just arrest him?"
Grace’s father snorted, clearing his throat when Charles glared at him.
"Unfortunately, until a report is made, then there’s nothing we could do," said the officer.
"I’ll report!" Grace slapped her chest. "I’ll report it!"
"Sure, but we still can’t arrest your father," the officer sighed.
"Why?"
"Because we’ll have to investigate first. We can’t just arrest people without probable cause. After all, what your father said might be true as well. We can’t just listen to one side of the story."
"Bullshit!" Grace blurted out, and her father was quick to use that against her.
"See, officer? This is why this girl needs to be disciplined! This is what my wife and I have to go through every day! Her lies and temperant are crazy! Teenagers — ugh! What a headache."
"You!" Grace clenched her teeth, only to stop when Hugo spoke.
"What about ?" Hugo asked, also disappointed at everything he heard. "Can I file a report? He almost hurt !"
"Yes, you can, but he still won’t be arrested."
"We’ll still file a report," Charles remarked solemnly, not surprised that the officers couldn’t arrest the man. He was quite aware of the law and the due process of everything. Hence, even if it was infuriating, he knew there was nothing he could do as well, even if he threw his money.
The officer nodded. "Alright. Here are the files. Just write up the report here, and we’ll let you know once we start the investigation."
Hugo reluctantly accepted the report file, casting his father a look. However, Charles could only respond with an apologetic look. Even Haines had to repress his anger because he could only glare at the man. What the officer said soothed no one but the criminal.
"Hehe." Grace’s father chuckled and spread his arm over his wife’s shoulder, smirking at Grace when the latter glanced at him.
Grace’s eyes filled with bitterness, huffing indignantly as she looked away.
anwhile, Allison and Penny were watching this from the sidelines and were in disbelief.
"Why... would she lie like that?" Allison blurted out under her breath, staring at the battered wife.
Penny glanced up at her mother before she noticed the other felon on the bench. She turned to him, noticing that he was staring at the couple and then at the police with ridiculing eyes.
’And they would just let him get away from it.’ Penny’s heart swelled with bitterness, making the felon glance at her. He arched a brow upon catching the bitterness in Penny’s eyes.
A shallow breath slipped past his lips before he looked away from Penny. "Isn’t it lovely to live in this country!? This county is the best place to live... if you’re a criminal, right, officers?!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)