Chapter 209


    Over the next few days, Karen continued to try and harass Leanna at the studio, but before she could


    even arrive at the threshold, someone would stop her with all sorts of excuses. She didn’t have any


    clue what was going on.


    Even so, she was still motivated by the sum of money Georgina offered.


    On Friday afternoon, as soon as Karen’s daughter got out of school, she pulled her to the side and


    instructed her quietly.


    Her daughter was terrified. “W-We can’t do that… That’s a crime…”


    Karen yanked her hard and snapped, “You ungrateful girl! I’m the one who’s feeding you, but every


    time I tell you to do something, you keep saying it’s not possible. If you were just a little better at getting


    things done, the two of us would be living in luxury right now!”


    “I…”


    “I don’t want to hear any more nonsense from you. If you can’t get this done, then I won’t show you any


    mercy!”


    The girl trembled at the sight of the hand that was about to hit her.


    Karen grabbed her and hailed a cab. “Take us to Southfork University.”


    She had spent thest few days arranging everything and identifying the right person. All she needed


    was to wait for the kid to get out of school.


    At the cafe.


    “Louis, tomorrow’s a weekend. Why don’t youe in for a shift or two?” the manager asked.


    “I can’t tomorrow. I’m going to see my sister.”


    “I’d rather you don’t. The semester holiday ising up and all the youngdies can’t bear to not see


    you anymore. You should give them a bit more time to admire you.”


    Louis was speechless.


    He set the tablecloth down and said to the manager, “I’m done with cleaning up, so I’ll be off now.”


    The manager stared after him and sighed. Being too attractive came with its own set of problems.


    After leaving the cafe, Louis took his phone out and called someone.


    “Still no news yet?” he asked with a frown.


    “Young man, I think you should just give up. It’s a photo from over twenty years ago. Maybe the person


    you’re looking for isn’t even alive anymore,” the person advised over the phone.


    Louis pursed his lips. “I can pay you more.”


    “This has nothing to do with money, okay? You’re asking me to look for a needle in a haystack, and I


    won’t know where to begin even if you paid me more money. Furthermore, you won’t get anything out


    of finding this person anyway, so I think you should just give up.”


    Louis wanted to respond, but just then, he heard a frail voice crying for help from the side of the road.


    “Anyone there? Please help me…”


    He put his phone away and followed the voice.


    Amid the nearby bushes, he spotted a schoolgirl sitting on the ground and hugging her knees. She was


    wincing in pain.


    Louis crouched down beside her. “What happened to you?”


    The girl’s head was hung low. “I twisted my ankle by ident.”


    Louis nced at the leg she was holding. “Can you stand? I’ll take you to the hospital.”


    She tried to stand up but stumbled right away.


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    Louis immediately reached out to hold her arm. “Take it easy.”


    The girl tried again and she nearly fell into his arms.


    She seemed to be in a lot of pain.


    Just as Louis was about to call 911, the girl suddenly tore her uniform open and screamed, “Help! Help


    me, please! Help!”


    It was nighttime, and there were a lot of senior citizens out on a stroll near the university. When they


    heard the girl screaming, they quickly rushed over.


    A kind-hearted, elderly man pulled the girl away from Louis and fumed, “What are you doing?!”


    Louis frowned and said gravely, “I didn’t do anything. She twisted her ankle so I helped her up. That’s


    all.”


    The old man didn’t listen to him. He turned to the trembling girl and said, “Tell us what happened, miss!”


    The girl cried pitifully, “I was just walking when someone pulled me into the bushes and covered my


    mouth. He even started taking my clothes off…”


    One of the bystanders eximed, “What?! He’s a monster! How could he do that to a high schooler?”


    Others began to chime in as well. “That young man looks like a decent fellow. I never would’ve


    suspected him to harbor such filthy ideas! You really can’t judge a book by its cover, huh?”


    “I’ve seen this young man around. He must be a student here, right? Quick, someone, go and get his


    teachers and his school dean. Let them see the monster that’s enrolled here!”


    The crowd began to hurl all manner of criticisms and abuse at him. Soon, the ce was full of people,


    including several students.


    One of them muttered, “Isn’t that Louis McKinney? What’s going on?”


    “Apparently, he dragged that schoolgirl into the bushes and wanted to…”


    “Oh my goodness! So that’s why he doesn’t ept any of the girls who confess to him, even though so


    many of them like him. He’s just pretending to be a decent guy while hiding his disgusting true self.”


    Louis ignored all the insults being hurled at him. He looked at the girl and asked darkly, “Are you sure?”


    The girl lowered her head and stammered, “I… I…”


    “Look! He’s threatening the victim now! Where are the teachers? Why aren’t they here yet?” someone


    in the crowd yelled.


    Louis continued, “There are security cameras all around here. The truth will prevail once we take a look


    at the footage.”


    However, no one bothered listening to his exnation. The crowd continued to holler and scream all


    manner of abuse at him. Some of them even came forward to try and take matters into their own


    hands.


    Just then, a woman’s voice rang out from among the crowd. “Excuse me,ing through. Please let


    me through, thank you.”


    She came over to Louis and nced at him. “I left for just a moment to get some water. How did you


    manage to turn this into a spectacle?”


    Louis had a slight frown as he stared at her without saying anything.


    Daphne’s eyes swept across the crowd. “Hi, all of you kind-hearteddies and gentlemen, you’re all


    mistaken. Things are not what you assume them to be.”


    She slowly said, “Just now, this handsome… young man and I were walking on the sidewalk when we


    heard someone calling for help. This young girl here said she twisted her ankle and couldn’t walk, so I


    went to buy some water for her to help her calm down. However, when I came back, I heard all of you


    iming a totally different sequence of events. Can anyone tell me what’s going on?”


    Daphne sounded so convincing that many of the onlookers were taken aback.


    Even Louis nearly believed her. He couldn’t help but nce at her as she lied right through her teeth.


    Suddenly, someone in the crowd yelled out, “That girl said he pulled her into the bushes…”


    “Alright. I got the message, but I think I still need to rify that her ims are false.” Daphne turned to


    the girl with a smile. “Miss, are your examsing up soon? Did you hallucinate because you’re under


    a lot of pressure?”


    The girl shrank back without saying anything.


    Daphne continued, “It’s alright. This young man here won’t hold it against you, as long as you clear


    things up.”


    The girl bit down hard on her lip. After a moment of silence, she said, “She’s lying… They weren’t


    together… I was just walking on the sidewalk. I didn’t twist my ankle. They must be working together…”


    Daphne’s smile faded. She sighed helplessly and said, “Since you insist on lying, I can’t help you


    anymore.”