Charlie’s words made Yvette find it hard to refuse him. She could only nod and say that she would call him.
After Charlie left, Yvette ordered a car and went directly to the cetery.
Unlike those in the city, ceteries in the countryside weren’t planned exquisitely. Instead, there were just graves without any decorations. Yvette paid for a tombstone for Phoebe.
When she saw Phoebe’s tombstone splashed with red paint, she was so angry that she trembled.
She went to a family living not far from the cetery and asked if they knew what had happened.
The family did not know Yvette, but they knew Phoebe. When they heard that Yvette was Phoebe’s granddaughter, they told Yvette that it was a resident in the village who did it.
The man claid that Phoebe owed him money. They tried to stop him, but the man was a rascal, so they did not dare to stand in his way.
Yvette had never heard that Phoebe was in anyone’s debt. She was furious. However, her priority was to clean up the tombstone.
She borrowed so tools from the family to get rid of the paint, knelt in front of Phoebe’s tombstone, and cleaned it carefully while shedding tears.
She collected herself and murmured.
"Granny, I will make things right for you."
After she was done, she left 300 dollars for the family and asked them to help look after Phoebe’s tomb. Should anything happen, they shall give her a call.
The family was more than happy to take her money. They wouldn’t have lived here if they weren’t poor anyway.
She asked for the rascal’s address and went to the town to find him.
Yet before she could find him, her neighbor, lissa, called her and said that a lot of people had gathered in front of her house, claiming to demolish it. The landlord who bought the house was also there.
Yvette hurried over.
When she arrived at the Dudley’s house, there were already many people there, including the police even.
When the landlord saw Yvette, she was unhappy. She said, "Yvette, you and I are neighbors, right? Back then, your uncle wanted to sell the house, and I bought it. You wanted to rent it, and I agreed. I never expected you to gang up and trick . I no longer want to rent it to you. Explain to everyone that the house has nothing to do with you or your uncle anymore."
Yvette was stunned. She thought, what does she an? When did I gang up with Hoffman?
I haven’t seen him since he was arrested because of the incident at the hospital.
Yvette was just about to ask more. Suddenly, soone grabbed her hair and dragged her to the ground.
"Cut the crap. Pay back the money!"
There was a police officer at the scene who maintained order. He stepped forward to stop the man and said, "Calm down. Don’t get physical."
The landlady asked the police officer to co because these people were causing trouble in the house she bought. She showed them the docunts she had, including the property ownership certificate, yet they just wouldn’t leave.
Yvette looked up and saw that the man who pulled her was the rascal ntioned by the family earlier.
She imdiately beca angry and asked, "Are you the one who disrespected my grandmother’s tomb?"
The man wasn’t guilty at all and shouted, "So what if I say yes? Would you co back if I didn’t? You cunt. You colluded with Hoffman and fooled us. The rest of our lives depend on the money you swindled!"
The police officer next to Yvette told her that not long ago, Hoffman went back in a luxury car from sowhere unknown, bragging that he had made a lot of money while he was away. He lobbied the villagers to trust him with their money, and he would make them rich as well.
Moreover, he pledged the house as collateral.
No one knew that this house had been sold by him a long ti ago, and since Yvette rented the house, no one was suspicious.
Now, Hoffman was nowhere to be found.
Therefore, in everyone’s eyes, Yvette and Hoffman colluded and defrauded them of their money.
It was a dispute. Besides, since the villagers gave their money to Hoffman, though the police officer was helpless, he still said that Hoffman needed to be found.
Hoffman was nowhere to be found. Naturally, everyone targeted Yvette.
The police officer could only diate, trying to calm everyone down. He said that people here should talk nicely and stop making Yvette take the bla. After all, what Hoffman did had nothing to do with her.
So villagers were puzzled. They asked the police officer if they could get the money back should Hoffman be caught.
The police officer looked reluctant. He explained, "Only if Hoffman did not spend it. If he did, he wouldn’t have the money to repay you. He would do jail ti. But it also ans that you can never get your money back."
Imdiately, the scene was filled with wailing.
Many people at present were old and couldn’t find a job. And now, they had no money left. Once they got sick, they wouldn’t have enough money to pay their dical bills. Only death awaited.
An aged woman slumped to the ground, rolled, and cried. They had been saving the money for their entire lives.
Yvette finally knew what was going on.
It was true that Hoffman defrauded those people, yet she also held herself accountable, since she rented the house, which thereby caused the misunderstanding.
She asked them, "How much did Hoffman take from you?"
Hearing that, the people suddenly saw a glimr of hope. They had heard that Yvette had a job in New York, and she was a college graduate. She must have been sothing. She must have had money.
They all took out the IOUs written by Hoffman. Yvette did a rough estimation. There were more than twenty families, which added up to nearly 500 thousand dollars.
Yvette left for her studies very early, so, she did not know many of the people on site.
Yet she could see that most of them were dressed in plain clothes and looked very honest. It was obvious that they were peasants who worked hard their entire life. Finally, they saved up tens of thousands of dollars for retirent, and now, their money was conned away by Hoffman.
Yvette pursed her lips and said, "Everyone, I will pay back the money on behalf of Hoffman, but if he cons you again, it will have nothing to do with ."
The police officer said, "That won’t happen. Hoffman has already been used as a typical negative for our publication in town. No one will ever be conned again."
The people were happy. "OK! Go and get the money for us now."
Yvette was a bit embarrassed. "I don’t have the money right now. You might need to wait until I get back to New York and sell my apartnt."
She still had a loan on her apartnt. After she settled the loan, there would be around 300 thousand dollars left. She could only slowly repay the rest by working.
Hearing this, everyone was unhappy again.
"Co on. You told us that you were going to pay back the money, and now you claim you have to sell your apartnt? You are lying to us!"
The rascal tried to stimulate the people and said, "Hoffman is her uncle. They are the sa. Both of them are liars!"
All the people were agitated, and they wanted to co forward to push Yvette again. Even the police officer couldn’t stop them.
The scene was getting chaotic. Seeing that, Yvette found a stool to stand on and shouted, "Stop!"
Everyone quieted down and looked at Yvette.
"Arguing won’t get you any money." Yvette looked at them. "I promised to pay you back for Hoffman. I will not go back on my word."
Yvette was fair and beautiful, and she looked different from the people in Pittsburgh. Her words were sohow convincing.
A woman said, "Then tell us, how long do we have to wait?"
Yvette apologized and said, "I can’t say for sure, but I will pay you back as soon as possible."
Selling a property was not an easy thing. After she sold the apartnt, she still needed about 200 thousand dollars. She needed to work to slowly raise the money.
The rascal said again, "I told you. She is a liar. Don’t think otherwise, simply because she looks pretty. If you let her go back to New York, you will never see her again."
The scene had an uproar again.
Yvette suddenly realized sothing. It was the rascal that stirred trouble every ti, yet he didn’t even take out his IOU.
She asked, "Did Hoffman take money from you?"
He said, "Of course."
"How much?"
The man’s eyes flickered. "130 thousand dollars."
Yvette didn’t buy it. The family living next to the cetery said that the man was a parasite. How co he had that kind of money? Chances were, he was ripping Yvette off.
"Where’s the IOU?"
Of course, the rascal didn’t have one. He said, "I don’t have one. I told you he owed 130 thousand dollars."
"Why should I believe you?"
Yvette looked at the policeman and said, "He splashed red paint on my grandmother’s tombstone. I took photos of the scene. Also, I had witnesses to back up. I will report this to you now. Besides, I don’t think Hoffman took his money. I think he just wanted money that doesn’t belong to him at all."
Yvette was right.
The rascal was just a parasite, and he didn’t have 130 thousand dollars. He just saw that there were many people here, and he might be able to make so money out of it.
He beca angry at once. He didn’t care for the presence of the police officer and grabbed Yvette by her hair. Then he slamd her against the wall.
No one had ti to react.
Yvette felt her scalp hurt. Seeing that she was about to hit the wall, she subconsciously closed her eyes and prepared herself.
Bang!
The wall was very sturdy, yet it did not hurt that much.
Yvette sensed a familiar aura. She reflexively opened her eyes and looked up, only to see the man’s exquisite jawline.
She was still a little dizzy. When she t that pair of dark eyes, she thought that she was hallucinating.
She thought, Lance? Why is he here?
She subconsciously retreated. However, she was pulled back by him and leaned against him.
The rascal had been subdued by the policeman in one move. He was pressed to the ground.
"Do you want to call an ambulance?" the policeman asked Yvette.
Yvette felt a little dizzy, but she could manage, so she shook her head.
The policeman was about to take the rascal back to the station. He looked at Lance and asked Yvette hesitantly, "Do you know him?"
"Yes."
"No."
Lance and Yvette replied in unison.
In a split second, Lance’s expression beca utterly ugly. He clenched his hands that were hanging to the side so hard that his knuckles turned pale.
He thought, why bother?
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