Chapter 277: Crisis Point! Chuck, You Don't Want Anything to Happen to Susan, Do You?
Late at night.
After a gathering at Howard Jr.'s house, Chuck drove Mia, along with Monica, who had half-heartedly tagged along at the urging of a group of old friends, back to the villa on the hillside.
"This is the guest room, please make yourself comfortable. If you need anything, just let me know..."
After shaking off the group of old friends and overcoming the initial awkwardness, Monica, upon arriving at the villa, acted like a warm hostess, immediately starting to take care of Mia without Chuck needing to say anything.
"Thank you so much, Monica."
Mia was genuinely grateful.
"It's nothing."
Monica looked at the gentle and fragile Mia, shook her head and smiled. "We're friends from now on, and it's only right for friends to help each other. Maybe in the future, if I have a troublesome son, I'll have to send him to your school, and you'll have to deal with him."
"You'll be the best mother."
Mia didn't explain that she wouldn't be running a reform school after taking over, but simply smiled at Monica.
"But you need to have the chance to become a mother first."
Monica was initially very happy, then glanced at Chuck's master bedroom, her eyes dimming slightly, and she forced a smile.
"You must be exhausted after such a long day. I won't disturb your rest. I'll be next door."
With that, she closed the guest room door and went to the adjacent room.
Mia looked around the guest room for a while, then washed up and lay down on the bed, curling up into a ball, clutching the crucifix to her chest, reciting the prayers she had learned as a nun since childhood, over and over again.
She drifted off to sleep.
Until she was startled awake by faint, strange, yet penetrating sounds.
She opened her eyes abruptly, released the crucifix from her hands, listened intently, then got up, went to the door, opened it, and walked into the hallway, following the sound towards the master bedroom.
From inside the master bedroom came the sounds of classic intimacy.
Hmm.
The topic was the linear correlation between biopsychology and physical momentum.
"Will Mia be staying here indefinitely?"
Monica, who had gone from a novice to a seasoned participant who dared to challenge her weaknesses, asked absentmindedly while keeping pace.
Clearly, even though she sympathized with Mia's past, the fact that a young woman like Mia was suddenly so close to Chuck was still distracting.
Otherwise, she didn't have Chuck's ability to multitask. Under this intensity, she simply wouldn't have time to be distracted.
"No."
Chuck's voice came through. "She lives in a family-owned castle. How could she stay here forever?"
"Even if she comes occasionally, she can't stay in my guest room."
Monica emphasized.
"Even if you wanted her to stay there, I wouldn't let her."
Chuck said bluntly.
Monica couldn't help but laugh.
She knew why.
Because she came quite often and always stayed in that guest room, Chuck, with his OCD tendencies, had already tacitly accepted that the room belonged to her.
Now she was just getting a definite answer from Chuck.
After the initial amusement, she suddenly couldn't laugh anymore. Normally, she would have tolerated it, but at this moment, she finally asked, "If other people come too often... will this villa be big enough?"
"That's not a problem."
Chuck calmly addressed this crucial question for most people.
"How so?"
Monica pressed.
"This villa is just a temporary residence. Our permanent home will definitely be a castle."
Chuck stated bluntly. "It's big enough for filming school scenes, and if one castle isn't enough, we can just buy a few more. There will always be enough."
"..."
Monica was speechless.
A castle? One isn't enough? Buy a few more!
She'd rather live in this hillside villa forever.
Outside the master bedroom.
Mia stood there quietly for a long time, then turned and went back to her guest room.
Inside the master bedroom.
Chuck glanced at the door and used physics to get the speechless Monica to refocus on the discussion.
Mia returned to the guest room, sat down at the vanity, and looked in the mirror. The lights were off, only the moonlight streaming in from outside provided a faint glow.
Mia's reflection was blurry.
But a single glance was enough to send chills down your spine.
Her eyes were no longer those of weakness and helplessness, but filled with a strange madness. Staring at the mirror, she picked up her purse, took out her phone, and dialed a number.
"911, what's your emergency?"
After hearing the 911 dispatcher's voice on the other end, Mia hung up immediately.
She sent a text message, then deleted the message and call history, put away her phone, walked back to the bed, spread her arms in a cross shape, and flopped back onto the bed.
The next day.
Monica hummed a tune as she and Justine, who came to clean, did a thorough cleaning. Seeing that it was getting late and Mia was still in bed, she knocked on the door.
"Mia, are you awake?"
The knocking and calling startled Mia awake. She opened her eyes abruptly, gasped for breath, and answered with a soft "yes." She tried to get up, but a sharp pain shot through her lower body, causing her to curl up in a ball and groan.
"Mia, are you alright?"
Monica knocked again.
"I... I'm fine."
Mia replied, her face pale, barely managing to suppress the pain.
"Chuck had to leave. Come out and have breakfast first."
Monica said through the door.
"I'm not hungry."
Mia managed another weak reply, curling up tightly again. Only after Monica left without saying anything more did she begin to sob softly.
After a long while, as her pain subsided, she struggled to her feet, supporting herself against the wall as she went to the bathroom to check herself.
A short while later,
accompanied by the sound of the shower, her increasingly painful cries could be faintly heard from inside the bathroom.
When Monica saw Mia again, her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked so fragile and pitiful. Compared to before, her eyes were vacant and lifeless.
"Mia, what's wrong?"
Mia finally focused on Monica's face, staring at her for a while. When Monica touched her face, confused, to make sure there was nothing there, she shook her head, looked down at the cross on her chest, and didn't speak.
"Still upset about that situation?"
Monica thought for a moment, realizing what was going on, and looked at the downcast Mia with pity, comforting her.
"How many women have a smooth life? Who doesn't encounter a few scumbags? Don't worry, things will get better..."
After comforting her for a while, Mia looked up, avoiding Monica's gaze, and said, "I want to go out later."
"I'll take you!"
Monica said enthusiastically.
"No!"
Mia's voice rose slightly. Seeing Monica's surprise, she lowered her head and said, "If I could, I'd like to go by myself."
"Alright."
Monica didn't think much of it and nodded. "There are plenty of cars in the garage. I'll get the keys for you. Call us if anything happens, don't worry!"
"Okay."
Mia responded softly, watching Monica get up to get the keys, clutching the cross on her chest tightly, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
After getting the keys, Mia drove away from the villa on the hillside. After driving around for a while, she found a small clinic, went in discreetly, gave a fake name, and had a female doctor examine her.
Then she refused the doctor's offer of help and hurriedly left under the doctor's sympathetic gaze.
After driving away from the clinic, she stopped in a secluded place and cried her heart out. Finally, she returned to the villa on the hillside, went back to the guest room, went into the bathroom, took the medicine the doctor had prescribed, and began to treat herself.
Then, clutching the cross on her chest, she knelt by the bed and began to pray, and only then did a glimmer of life return to her eyes.
A secluded side street in New Jersey.
Chuck drove up, and a car was already parked there.
A woman got out of the other car—it was Susan from the IRS.
"Why here?"
Chuck got out, glanced at the pale-faced Susan, and looked into the car. "What happened?"
Under his gaze, another woman got out of the car—it was Nicole, smoking.
"Chuck, I need your help."
Susan trembled as she lit a cigarette as well.
"Speak."
Chuck looked at Nicole expressionlessly.
"Let me explain."
Nicole said, pulling Susan closer and putting her arm around her shoulder. "You might have some misunderstandings about me, but I'm not a bad person. I just wanted to help Mia.
Things have gotten to this point, which wasn't my intention.
I know you, and I even tried to persuade Guy to back down.
But he wouldn't budge.
I guess that's the difference between men and women. We're more willing to compromise and cooperate, while men tend to fight.
To get your and Mia's understanding, I thought of G!
She's an old friend of mine.
I also knew you were friends with her, so I called her and asked her to mediate.
After so many years, G was a little surprised to hear from me again, but she was very helpful and came immediately.
Just as we were discussing things, Guy barged in, drunk, claiming he overheard our conversation, and started to force himself on me.
G, of course, helped me.
But we're both women, no match for him.
In that moment of crisis, I grabbed an ice pick and handed it to G... and then, and then G accidentally killed him."
"Where did that ice pick come from?"
Chuck glanced at Susan, who was trembling and silently smoking, then stared at Nicole.
"It's an antique from the castle."
Nicole explained. "I thought it was quite artistic, so I kept it at the house as decoration."
"Did you do it?"
Chuck ignored Nicole and looked at Susan.
Susan nodded silently.
"Where's the body?"
Chuck asked again.
"It's in the trunk."
Nicole pointed to the trunk.
"Open it."
Chuck said expressionlessly.
Nicole obediently went over, opened the trunk, revealing a box. Lifting the box, she revealed Headmaster Guy, his eyes wide open in death.
Chuck wasn't Mia, so he could distinguish between real and fake death.
So this time, he was truly dead. The fatal wound was an ice pick stuck in his chest.
"We don't know what to do, so we had to ask you for help."
Nicole looked at Chuck. "What should we do now?"
"Call the police, of course."
Chuck examined the body and said expressionlessly. "You acted in self-defense. It's no big deal."
"No!"
Nicole immediately refused, explaining as Chuck looked at her, "The police won't believe us. Mia and I already called the police saying Guy was missing.
Now he's dead, and we've moved him here. It's hard to explain...
And even if it's cleared up in the end, I'll still be suspected. It's not a big deal for me, but G works for the IRS, such a good job. We can't let her lose it because of this."
Susan also looked over, her expression complicated.
"Since you've thought it through so clearly, why didn't you just leave the body there instead of moving it, to ensure more evidence to prove you acted in self-defense?"
Chuck said calmly. "Now what do you want me to do?"
Nicole was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "I only remembered all this afterward, and now there's no other way but to ask you for help."
"Is she really your good friend?"
Chuck looked at Susan.
Susan glanced at Nicole and said, "We used to be colleagues."
"She has something on you?"
Chuck asked again.
"I've done some wrong things in the past..."
Susan said softly.
"Besides the things you did that involved other women, is there anything else?"
Chuck asked calmly.
"...You know?"
Susan was stunned.
Chuck gave her a knowing look.
Susan realized she had asked a stupid question: "I'm sure you knew everything after our first meeting."
"Trust me, report it to the police."
Chuck said. "I can win this case. Even if your job is affected afterward, it's okay. Out with the old, in with the new. I guarantee you a satisfactory job."
"No!"
Nicole cried out, seeing Susan's interest. "I don't want to go to jail. If I really go to jail, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the pressure and I'll tell everyone everything, including what happened with Mia."
"You don't believe me?"
Chuck looked at Nicole expressionlessly.
"It's not that I don't trust you..."
Nicole avoided Chuck's gaze, turning her head to look at Susan. "It's just that there's no guarantee of winning in this kind of thing. Even you can't promise that. I simply can't bear the torment of that kind of risk."
"So you still don't trust me."
Chuck adjusted his glasses and said calmly. "If you don't trust me, why did you come to me? You want me to secretly help you dispose of the body and become your accomplice? So that you can threaten me like you threatened Susan?"
Nicole lowered her eyes. "I didn't threaten Susan, and I absolutely didn't mean to threaten you. I just really wanted some peace of mind."
"Me too."
As Chuck spoke, he flashed behind Nicole, knocked her unconscious with a chop to the neck, and carried the unconscious Nicole to the car.
"What are you doing?"
Susan exclaimed in shock.
"I'll help you!"
Chuck calmly secured Nicole and said to the horrified Susan, "Get in the car and follow me!"
"What do you plan to do with Nicole?"
Susan instinctively walked towards the driver's seat, asking Chuck before getting in.
"That depends on what she's thinking."
Chuck said. "Is it a spur-of-the-moment thing, or something organized and purposeful? Like I said, I don't like change, and I especially dislike uncontrollable danger."
Susan froze, watching Chuck get into his car. She glanced at the trunk, then got into the driver's seat and followed Chuck's car away.
(End of Chapter)
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