Chapter 31

For Lily, the soup came at just the right moment. She hadn’t eaten in days, and when the thick, creamy soup slid down her throat, she finally felt alive again.

The days of torture felt like being in hell, and at some points, she thought she might die at the hands of these heartless brats.

But from the moment Shermaine told her she had a plan, Lily stopped worrying, since Shermaine had always been the kind of person who could handle anything that came her way.

As soon as Amira saw Shermaine, she charged at her like an angry bull with gritted teeth. “SHER-MAINE.”

Shermaine stood her ground and calmly said, “No shouting in the hospital, please.”

Amira froze for a moment and then exploded in rage. “Don’t think just because you’re Joshua’s fiancée, I can’t do anything to you. I’m making sure my son and his friends get justice tonight.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Shermaine replied with a calm smile.

Sheila tugged at Amira’s sleeve, trying to get her to listen. “Mom, let me explain. This…”

She planned to say that it was their fault to begin with, and that taking this matter public would only make their family look bad in the end.

Through this incident, Sheila realized Shermaine wasn’t someone to mess with. It wasn’t just about fighting. It was about who Shermaine was. If anyone offended her, they were done.

Amira was afraid that Sheila might say something that would make her look bad, so she ignored Sheila and slapped her hard again. “Shut up, you good-for-nothing.”

The slap knocked the wind out of Sheila, making her spit blood. The bright red stained the white sheets, a sight that made everyone gasp.

Sheila had already been badly hurt, and no matter how strong she was, she couldn’t take this kind of punishment.

“Sheila,” one of her classmates shouted in horror. She then turned to Amira. “You cruel bitch. If anything happens to Sheila, I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

“Come on, she won’t die,” Amira retorted, showing no sign of guilt.

The girl cursed loudly, “Fuck you–”

“Enough.” Shermaine cut them off while pressing the nurse call button. She then assessed Sheila’s condition, thinking to herself, ‘Seems like she’s been holding in that blood for a while. After her mother’s slap, at least she finally spat it out.’

Sheila didn’t know what Shermaine was doing, but she didn’t stop her either. Her heart was now as desolate as a stagnant pool with nothing left to stir.

She’d never been valued in the Leeds family. Her family could yell at her, hit her, and blame her for Ronnie’s mistakes, and she’d always just take it. To please her family, she even tried to confront Shermaine alone.

At school, she appeared to be excellent, but no one knew the pain she hid. And now, she didn’t want to live that life anymore.

Shermaine looked at her and said softly, “Wake up, Sheila. It’s not worth it.”

Suddenly, Sheila realized just how pointless her life had been.

The doctor and nurses soon entered and began to pull the curtains around Sheila’s bed to do an examination.

Shermaine spoke up, “Dr. Zimmer, could you please move her to another room?”

Luke Zimmer looked up and immediately recognized Shermaine. A flash of surprise in his eyes as he spoke up, “Oh, Sh–”

Shermaine made a “shush” motion with her finger. “Thank you, Dr. Zimmer,”

“No prob,” replied Luke.

Amira could no longer hold it in and barked, “Doctor, you’ve got to be kidding me. I’m her mother, her legal guardian. Why are you listening to an outsider?”

Luke demanded, “You beat her and caused her to spit blood, huh?”

Amira stammered, “I…”

Luke’s expression turned cold. “So you do know you’re her mother? How could you even do that to her? Look at how weak she is now.”

The room fell silent, and Amira could feel the gazes on her, making her embarrassed.

After Sheila was moved to another room, Ronnie, now done with his surgery, was wheeled in. His bed was the same one Sheila had just occupied.

When Amira saw her son’s bruised face and broken legs, her previous harsh expression softened. “Oh, my poor boy.”

“Mom.” Ronnie tried to cry out to her, but when he looked up, he saw Shermaine sitting nearby and peeling an orange with a grin. Instantly, his expression froze, and his words choked in his throat.

Just then, Jameson walked in with Ruth and Wendelyn following behind.

Shermaine wasn’t thrilled to see them. She frowned and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to come?” She didn’t expect that the three of them would even show up together.

Jameson shot back, “If I don’t show up, you’re just going to have Joshua clean up your mess again, right? You’re not married to him yet, so you’re still a Jean, and I can’t just ignore you.”

‘If you weren’t my daughter, I wouldn’t give a damn about you,’ Jameson thought but didn’t say.

Shermaine rolled her eyes but didn’t respond.

When they saw all the injured people lying around, Jameson’s face showed a fleeting moment of embarrassment. He thought, ‘Damn, Shermaine is indeed cruel.’

Wendelyn’s gaze immediately landed on Lily. Just as she suspected, Shermaine and Lily did know each other.

Lily saw her too, and her face instantly soured.

Acting like she was concerned, Ruth walked toward Shermaine. Her cold attitude from before was now replaced with false sweetness. “Sheary, did you get hurt?”

Shermaine couldn’t help but think, ‘I’ve got bandages on my hand, and you can’t see that? Maybe you should get your eyes checked.’

However, she remained composed and replied with a smile, “No, Mom, I’m good.”

“Oh, don’t act tough. Let me check your hand.” Without waiting for Shermaine to respond, she started unwrapping the bandages on her hand. “Good thing it’s just a superficial wound. It’ll heal in a couple of days.”

Shermaine couldn’t be bothered with Ruth’s lame act. She snatched her hand back and re-wrapped the bandage.

Ruth went on, feigning concern. “You really messed up this time, but don’t worry. Your father and I won’t let you get dragged back to the police station again.”

Shermaine sneered, “Wait, it was Mr. Leeds who was taken away by the cops. I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

Ruth let out a tense chuckle, looking awkward.

Amira’s fury was ignited again when she heard that. She went straight to the point. “You’re all here just in time. The people in this room, aside from that woman, are all injured by your daughter.

“I know your Jean family is a prestigious family, so surely you won’t cover up for her, will you?”

Another rich lady chimed in, “Yeah, Mr. Jean, look at my son’s face. It’s all swollen. He looks disfigured.”

Someone else added, “And my son’s hand. How’s he gonna live with an injury like that? He plays the piano. If his hand gets messed up, his whole future will be ruined.”

Other mothers also complained about how severe their sons’ injuries were.

Before coming here, Jameson had already gotten the gist of what happened. After listening to the women’s complaints, he spoke calmly, “From what I learned, this started because of Shermaine’s friend Lily. So, why don’t you explain how Lily got injured?”

Amira retorted, “Lily first bullied Wendy at Grandview Mall, and Ronnie wanted to teach Lily a lesson. But just to be clear, her injuries have nothing to do with Ronnie and other boys.

“She got drunk and had a fight with others before they took her away. I have evidence for this, Mr. Jean. You can take a look.

“Honestly, they didn’t really do much to Lily after taking her away. They just scared her a bit and made sure she’d learn her lesson and not mess with people, especially not with good-hearted ones.”

“I didn’t bully her. You’re TWISTING everything!” Lily was choking on her anger. She had indeed gotten into an argument with others and fell down, but the bruises from falling would never be the same as what she had now.

Lily looked to Shermaine, who patted her shoulder, signaling her to calm down.

Shermaine turned to Wendelyn and said, “Wendy, good you are here. Why don’t you tell us what really happened between you and Lily that day?”

Wendelyn was only here to watch Shermaine’s drama unfold and wasn’t about to admit any relationship with Lily, let alone help her.

She lowered her head, bit her lip, and said, “It really wasn’t a big deal. Let’s forget it.” She then added, “Mrs. Leeds, Lily’s someone who really values loyalty. What happened was the last thing she’d ever want.”

Lily couldn’t help but think, ‘This two-faced snake is actually my sister. I regret recognizing her back then.’

Amira said with a sneer, “Oh, she looks like she’s enjoying it a lot. And let’s not forget, Shermaine was the one who started hitting others. Mr. Jean, you should look at the next video.”

The next video showed Shermaine beating the shit out of those guys outside the auto service center.

The footage was clear as day. Jameson paused for a moment, clearly thinking about how to handle this situation.

Just then, a group of police officers walked in. One of them stepped forward and asked, “Is Ms. Shue here?”

Shermaine responded, “That’s me.”