Chapter 1 Send Her to Jail
Chapter 1 Send Her to Jail
Chapter 1 Send Her to Jail
“I didn’t kill her. Please trust me.” Caroline Jameson stared perversely at the man in the car. The rain came pouring down, wetting the car windows and blurring her sight. She could vaguely see the cold face of the man sitting in the car. Shivering, Caroline stood outside the car and shouted across the window, “Bentley, at least you should give me a chance to explain to you!”
The car door suddenly opened. Before a smile crept onto Caroline’s face, she was dragged into the car by a great force. She fell on him and his white shirt immediately got wet.
“Bentley, listen, I didn’t hire those hooligans to rape Winnie.” Shortly after she finished these words, he reached out and pinched her chin without any pity. The next moment, his charming voice sounded on the top of her head. “Do you like me so much?”
It was a cold voice, with the light smell of tobacco. It was his smell.
“What?” Caroline asked confusedly. Everyone knew that she liked him, but why did he suddenly ask her this question?
Pinching her chin with one hand, Bentley Shawn reached the other long, powerful arm toward her and gently touched her wetted, cold cheek. Caroline was captivated and got lost in his gentle eyes. She could even imagine what would happen next – he would ask her if she was cold or not.
However, Bentley suddenly exuded a cold aura and asked coldly, “Caroline, do you like me so much? That you even spare no expense to kill Winne?”
A cold feeling surged in Caroline’s heart and spread to her limbs. Caroline awoke from her illusion and smiled bitterly. How would he treat her gently? It turned out that it was not his tenderness, but Satan’s smile.
“I didn’t mean to kill Winne.” She tried to justify herself.
“Yep, you didn’t mean to kill Winne. You just hired several hooligans to rape her.” Fierceness gradually rose in Bentley’s eyes as he said the words. Without giving Caroline a chance to explain, he raised his hand and tore her clothes.
Caroline screamed.
Accompanied by a scream, Caroline was mercilessly pushed out of the car and fell into the rain. Bentley’s cold voice sounded especially clear in the rain.
“Caroline, oh, Ms. Jameson, I will return what you’ve done to Winne to you. How does being naked feel?”
Caroline suddenly raised her head and looked into the car in disbelief. Bentley, who was sitting in the car, looked down at her condescendingly. Then he took out his handkerchief, slowly wiped his fingers, and said, “Ms. Jameson, I’m very tired now. Please go back.”
“Bentley, listen. I really…”
“Ms. Jameson, I can listen to you, but there’s a premise.” Bentley raised his eyes indifferently, swept a glance across Caroline, and said, “If you can kneel before my manor for one night, perhaps I will feel better and give you ten minutes to explain.”
The car door was then closed and a handkerchief was thrown out of the car. It lightly landed before her and got wet by the rain soon.
Caroline bowed her head, picked up the handkerchief, and pinched it tightly in her palm.
Bentley’s car drove into the Shawns’ manor and the manor’s iron gate was relentlessly closed before her.
Caroline looked pale in the rain. After standing on the spot for a while, she suddenly raised her head and walked to the gate of the Shawns’ manor. She pressed her lips tightly and abruptly knelt.
She was on her knees.
It was not for redemption!
It was just because Winnie was her friend! She knelt because her friend died, but not because she killed Winnie though everyone thought so.
She knelt to beg him to give her ten minutes to explain.
Her clothes had been torn apart and looked tattered. They could barely cover her key parts. Though she had to cover her body with both hands, she still straightened her back. She was such a proud woman. She was still unyielding even if she was on her knees. She had her self-esteem and dignity. After all, she was Caroline of Lehcaster!
She knelt stubbornly for a chance to explain. She didn’t kill Winnie. And she wouldn’t admit what she didn’t do!
But, could she really get such a chance?
Could she really explain it clearly?
Moreover, would anyone believe her words?
The rain was getting heavier and it showed no sign to stop.
…
One night passed.
In the downpour, Caroline still knelt before the Shawns’ manor.
The rain drenched her dress. She had knelt in the rain for a whole night.
When the dawn finally came, the manor, which had been enveloped in dead silence for a whole night, finally came alive. A silver-haired, old butler, holding an old-fashioned, black umbrella, walked out of the manor.
With a creak, the iron doors, which had been closed for a whole night, were opened to both sides, leaving a gap. Caroline finally moved. She raised her head and gave a pale smile to the old butler standing in between the iron doors.
“Ms. Jameson, Mr. Shawn asked you to leave the manor.” The old butler’s hair had been meticulously combed and showed no trace of disorder even if it was raining. It was as meticulous as the rigorously trimmed grasses and plants in the manor. He then threw a coat at Caroline.
Caroline reached out her hands which had been soaked in the rain for a whole night and tremblingly put the coat on. She moved her pale, bloodless lips and said in a husky yet firm voice, “I want to see him.”
The old butler didn’t even raise his eyelids when he passed on the words of the owner of this manor. “Ms. Jameson, Mr. Shawn said that your existence has polluted the environment of this manor and he asked you not to be his eyesore.”
Caroline didn’t show any trace of cowardice ever since this accident happened. But at this moment, it was difficult for her to maintain though she had been pretending to be strong. Her trembling shoulders had unveiled her broken heart.
Caroline closed her eyes. The rain on her face made it difficult to tell whether the water at the corners of her eyes was rain or tears. The old butler looked at her expressionlessly. Then Caroline
opened her eyes again, raised her head, and said to the old butler, “Mr. Carter, no matter what you think of me, I must tell you that I didn’t hire those hooligans to rape Winnie. No matter what, I can’t bear your hatred without complaint.”
Though Caroline was tired, she enunciated clearly. She was such a proud woman though temporarily she was willing to bow her head.
The old butler, who had been indifferent, finally had another reaction. He knitted his gray eyebrows and looked at Caroline with disgust. He said, “Winnie is my daughter. She’s been very obedient and thoughtful since she was a child. She’s never been to any messy places like clubs or bars, but she was raped and killed by a group of gangsters in such a place!”
He continued, “Ms. Jameson, we’ve investigated her correspondence. Before the accident, she called you and sent you a text message. The content is: I’m in Yes Club. Callie, where are you?”
The old butler looked into Caroline with great hatred and continued, “Ms. Jameson, what you’ve killed is not a cat or a dog, but a lively human being, and you’re still arguing! Everyone knows that you love Mr. Shawn and keep pestering him, but he only has my daughter in his heart and resents your persistent approaches. Obviously, you were jealous of Winnie, plus you couldn’t see any hope of winning Mr. Shawn’s heart, so you tried to ruin Winnie. Ms. Jameson, I’m impressed by your malevolence.”
Caroline was lost for words. Winnie was Rowan Carter’s daughter and Bentley’s beloved woman, while she was just a “supporting character, most importantly, a vicious one.
“Ms. Jameson, please leave,” said the old butler. “By the way, Mr. Shawn asked me to pass on his words to you.” Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
Caroline abruptly looked toward the old butler.
“Mr. Shawn asked why the killed one was not you.”
Caroline, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn’t help but tremble with a sharp pang rose in her heart.
The old butler turned around and curled up his dry lips into a mean sneer, which made his serious face look cold and cruel.
Winnie died because of Caroline, and this pulled him into despair. He hated her viciousness.
Caroline, who felt very cold, staggered to stand up. However, just as she had stood up, she felt her legs numb and slumped onto the cold, hard asphalt ground. She curled up her lips into a self- mockery when she recalled Bentley asked why the killed one was not her.
It was exactly what that man would say. Caroline asked with a wry, ugly smile, “Winnie, oh, Winnie, your death makes me universally condemned.”
On the second floor of the Shawns’ manor stood a tall, slender, and good-shaped man. He was barefoot with a black robe casually covering his body. He looked tall and sexy and was standing before the French window quietly. He indifferently looked out of the window, landing his gaze on the back of the girl in the rain.
“Mr. Shawn, what you’ve said has all been delivered to Ms. Jameson.” The old butler silently stood at the door of the master’s bedroom and reported to Bentley after driving Caroline away.
Bentley, who was shaking the red wine goblet in his hand, indifferently withdrew his gaze from Caroline when he heard the old butler’s words. He moved his thin lips and ordered coldly, “First, tell the Jamesons that if they want Caroline, the Jameson family will disappear. But if they choose to protect their family, they must expel Caroline from their family.”
“Okay.”
“Second, inform Lehcaster University that Caroline’s personal file can’t be found in the university. Then notify Groln High School that Caroline was expelled for promiscuity and fighting at school. Her highest education is junior high.”
“Okay.”
“Last,” said Bentley indifferently, “Send her to jail.”
Rowan abruptly raised his head when he heard the last order. He asked in astonishment, “Mr. Shawn?”
“A life for a life. She bribed those hooligans and deliberately killed Winnie. What’s wrong with me sending her to jail and letting her be in jail for three years? Mr. Carter, do you think that I shouldn’t do this to her?” The three-year time limit was set by Bentley for Caroline. Although the available evidence was not sufficient, Bentley angrily believed her crime.
“Nope, Mr. Shawn, it’s a very fair decision. Thank you, aww…” The old butler shed tears and even burst into crying. “If not for you, Caroline won’t be punished for what she has done to Winnie. She’s a member of the Jameson family and I can’t do anything to her. Mr. Shawn, thank you, thank you. Aww…”
Bentley turned around. Standing before the French window, he watched her figure disappear at the corner of the asphalt road. A trace of gloominess flashed across his eyes. He clenched the goblet with his slender fingers, raised his chin, and gulped down the red wine in the goblet.
Bentley said slowly, “Mr. Carter, I punish Caroline, not because Winnie is your daughter, but because she’s the woman I like.”
…
Caroline dragged her tired body back to the Jamesons’ mansion.
However, she couldn’t enter the house anymore. The old butler who had served her family for most of his life passed on Bentley’s words to her and then politely asked her to leave the house. From beginning to end, Caroline didn’t see her parents.
Were they so afraid of Bentley? Caroline smiled ironically and withdrew her sight. That iron gate had drawn a clear line between her and her family and also separated everything that once belonged to her.
Caroline couldn’t tell how she felt at this moment. When she turned around, two men in police uniforms stopped her and said, “Ms. Jameson, you’re suspected of instigating others to assault Ms. Carter, which caused her accidental death. Please go with us.”
Before being sent to jail, Caroline saw Bentley. He was standing before the window and looked tall.
Caroline shook her head and said firmly, “I didn’t kill Winnie.”
Bentley slowly walked to her and stood before her. Caroline told herself not to be afraid. She was innocent and she didn’t commit any crime.
She raised her delicate face fearlessly, trying her best to keep calm. However, her shivering shoulders revealed her nervousness. All these were captured by a pair of sharp eyes.