The Man I Couldn’t Escape Chapter 06
“You can’t afford condoms, yet you have money for a hotel room?
“Officer, people like her should be punished!”
Standing beside the pharmacy owner, Natasha crossed her arms and raised her voice.
Lorelei looked at the officer, her voice flat. “I didn’t do it.
“You can check the security footage if you don’t believe me.”
“The security feed gets deleted in a month. No point looking at it now.” Rayden entered the police station. “You’re wasting everyone’s time.”
Perhaps Lorelei was numb inside. A flicker of tension crossed her eyes and then faded back to stillness. Now that he had made up with Natasha, he no longer bothered to pretend he cared.
“The owner said you can settle this with a public apology and compensation. He’s giving you a way out, but you still refuse. Lorelei, what are you playing at? You did it, so why won’t you admit it?”
Lorelei ignored her and stared straight into Rayden’s eyes. “Are you really going to stand there and pretend you don’t know?”
Rayden stayed calm. “How should I know?”
Natasha walked over to the officer and pulled photos from her bag.
They were the explicit photos Rayden had posted online of Lorelei.
“Officer, look at her. She degrades herself like this. Can you really believe anything she says?
“Her own husband won’t take her side. That tells you everything. She stole those ten boxes of condoms!”
The officer took the photos and frowned at Rayden, who didn’t deny anything. His voice turned sharp. “Lorelei, apologize now. Pay back for what you stole.
“The owner is willing to settle with you. Why are you stalling? Do you want a criminal record?”
Her family had been respectable for generations.
She couldn’t bring shame to them. An apology was nothing.
Her nails dug into her palms. Lorelei stared at Rayden’s cold profile. Slowly, she lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t know how long they kept recording. Eventually, the flashing stopped.
“What are you waiting for? Pay up.”
Natasha tapped the table and urged.
Lorelei’s back went rigid.
She left home three years ago. The money she brought back then was gone.
Rayden never let her work. Besides the card he gave her, she didn’t have enough cash on her.
“Rayden, looks like she wants you to pay for her,” Natasha sneered.
“The one at fault should pay. I’m not doing it for her.”
Lorelei was slow to catch on, but she finally understood.
Neither the theft accusation nor the public apology was real. It was all because Natasha could not get over what had happened between her and Rayden during those three years. Rayden had set up another trap, just to humiliate her.
“Let me go home. I’ll get the money. You won’t lose a cent.”
Lorelei lifted her head, her hoarse voice laced with irony.
Rayden frowned and refused without thinking.
“No. Where else do you want to go?
“You can only stay by my side!”
Natasha’s face turned sour.
She bit her lip, walked over in her heels, and sneered, “That pendant around your neck is worth a lot, isn’t it? No money? Then use that to pay for it.”
She grabbed the crystal pendant and yanked it off Lorelei’s neck.
“What are you doing? Give that back!” Lorelei’s eyes went wide.
That pendant was the only thing her dad had left her.
“You have to pay for what you did. I can’t stand people who try to weasel out of it.”
A sudden burst of strength surged through Lorelei. She lunged at Natasha, her eyes red with rage. “I said I’d pay it back. Just not with this!”
The pendant slipped from Natasha’s hand and shattered on the floor.
Fragments scattered everywhere, and Natasha let out a sharp scream.
“Lorelei, what do you think you’re doing? You freaked me out!”
Lorelei froze at the sight of the broken pieces on the ground.
“Enough!” Rayden walked over with a stern face, shoved her out of the way, and led Natasha across the broken pieces. “Nattie was just trying to help you. You didn’t thank her but scared her on purpose!”
He saw everything clearly.
Yet, his first instinct was still to protect Natasha.
“I’ll pay up for you. Starting now, every task you do for Nattie will go toward what you owe, until the debt is cleared!”
After checking that Natasha wasn’t hurt, Rayden turned and left with her.
Natasha’s heels crunched over the broken pieces.
She glanced back at Lorelei with a cold, mocking laugh.
A sharp pain pierced Lorelei’s chest.
She crouched down, her fingers trembling as she gathered the broken pieces.
A tear landed on her hand, and the last spark in her eyes went out.
“Why did it take you so long to pick up?
“Pack your things and come to the airport. I’m here.”
Lorelei answered in a low voice, keeping her eyes down as she carefully wrapped the fragments.
“Sir, take me to the San Francisco International Airport.”
She had nothing to pack.
In these three years, she had left nothing behind and gained nothing for herself.
The window was down. The warm wind dried the last tears on her face.
Rayden was behind her now.
From now on, Lorelei would finally live her own life. One that truly belonged to her.