CHAPTER 226: SIPPING TEA AND HAVING FUN

Looking at the man hovering over that sweet little girl with his hand on the buckle of his belt and the other gripping both her hands filled Aristia’s heart with rage.

On seeing Aristia, the man quickly released her. The little girl could only curl into herself and close her eyes, trembling with fear. She had probably stopped screaming then because of fear.

The man stood straight, halting his action of unbuckling his belt.

Seeing a stranger, the annoyance in his eyes deepened, but when he caught a clear look of her face, he smiled a sleazy, disgusting smile.

"Hey, pretty lady. I won’t ask why you’ve invaded my privacy like this if you have some fun with me..."

Aristia almost puked. She gave him a once-over with a look of disgust.

This man didn’t care that he had been caught about to r*pe a child, and even had the guts to suggest something so disgusting.

Silently, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

Immediately it rang, someone picked up. Before the person could respond, she said.

"El? I need you to come over."

"Wait. That sounds odd. Where are you?" Her brother asked.

Aristia told him the address.

Elliot’s tone changed.

"What are you doing in that rundown area?"

"Hey, what are you doing? Who are you calling?" The man’s face changed opposite her.

Aristia ignored him and told Elliot in a lazy tone. "I met a child abuser and we’re about to have tea. He wants me to have a good time with him."

"What— You what?! He what?!!" Elliot’s voice sounded angry at the end. "Wait, wait for me. Don’t do anything crazy—"

"I’m not promising anything." Aristia said.

"Aris! Aristi—"

Aristia cut off the call before he could say more.

She looked up at the man whose face had twisted in anger.

"You bitch!" He stormed towards her.

Before he could grab her, she swung her bag.

The metal decoration in its front connected with the man’s face, and a loud groan escaped his lips, followed by a curse.

’Typical.’ Aristia thought, stretching out her leg.

The man that had staggered backwards tripped on her foot and fell crashing on the ground, causing the already pitiful floorboards to creak.

He cursed weakly on the ground.

Aristia glanced at him and walked to the girl. She caressed her hair.

The girl looked up at her with teary eyes.

Seeing the bruises all over her petite body, and the blood seeping from a cut on her lip, Aristia’s eyes darkened.

"It’s okay, Mia. I’m here. It’s gonna be okay. You’re safe now, mm?"

Mia nodded, grabbing her hand and sobbing, hugging her tightly.

Aristia gently rubbed her hair.

"Now, can you close your eyes and ears for me?"

Mia nodded and closed her eyes and ears, but then she removed her hands from her ears. She clutched on to Aristia, not wanting to let go, but softly and with reassuring words, Aristia loosened her grip.

She stood up and turned to the man struggling to get up and off the ground.

A smile tugged at her lips.

"You wanted to have fun, right? Let’s have fun my way."

About thirty minutes later, Elliot had arrived with the police.

They kicked the door open and Elliot’s eyes swept around, sighing in relief.

Aristia motioned for him to keep quiet.

She was sitting on a chair with a sleeping Mia in her arms, the little girl shivering even in her sleep.

The police were stunned at the scene. If it weren’t for the man on the floor in a pitiful condition, they would have doubted the news they had just received. Everything just seemed so calm if you ignored the state of the room.

One of the police officers walked towards her and asked what happened.

Calmly, Aristia told him what happened.

The officer nodded, then glanced back at the man on the ground and then back at her.

"So... what happened to him?" He asked.

"He came to attack me when I caught him. I was so scared. I hit him with my bag without knowing. Who knew he could only bully the weak and helpless. I just hit him lightly in self defense and he fell down and hurt himself."

The police officers, "..."

Elliot, "..."

Alright, it would have been more believable if she said that the man had slipped and fell, unknowingly injured himself, and then fainted because he hit his head. But what was this?!

But the police couldn’t hold her accountable.

It took a while to settle things. During that period, Mia refused to cooperate with child protection services unless Aristia was with her, so Aristia had to be an active part of the case. To Aristia’s relief, Mia’s uncle hadn’t tried to touch her before that day, even though he had abused her physically.

She made sure that he wouldn’t only not see daylight, but that he would suffer in prison.

[He wanted to touch her? Let him handle being touched!] She thought viciously, but she didn’t care. The man was too vicious already to be shown any pity or mercy.

Because of Mia, she came into contact with quite a lot of children with similar cases. Sadly, not all of them were as fortunate as Mia.

Eventually, she became so close to Mia that she couldn’t bear to let her go. She even considered adopting Mia, but she was only nineteen...

In the end, Mia was adopted by one of their family friends; a kind, loving couple that had a bit of trouble conceiving.

They loved her as their own, and Aristia could always see her easily. It was a win-win for everyone.

Gradually, Mia began opening up. But sometimes, the fear she had would resurface and it would even affect the way she acted towards her adoptive father, not fully trusting and feeling like she could be hurt by him. It hurt the couple, but they tried their best to help he get over that fear.

Because of what happened to Mia, Aristia began paying attention to cases involving children and other victims.

She heard about a lot of cases and saw a lot of people. She hated seeing the different people in pain and facing severe trauma, especially children.

They were just so innocent and didn’t deserve it. No one deserved abuse. That was why the perpetrators needed to be punished severely.

"Princess," Owen’s voice snapped Aristia back to the present.

She shook her head to dispel the memories.

[That was when I was hot in the head. My bloom of youth.] That was her way of saying that she had been willful, carefree, reckless and impulsive. She had caused a bit of trouble during that phase in her life.

It wasn’t really trouble. It was something she called ’dealing with the bad guys’. That was why Elliot asked her to not do anything crazy.

She turned to the man who was still bowing on the ground and gave her verdict.

"You will be punished for your evil deeds." Then she turned and left, Owen, Adeline and Lucas following behind, leaving only the horrible, ear-screeching wailing sound of the man calling after her.

"Princess, please have mercy. Spare me, spare me!"

They entered the carriage without looking back.

Owen stayed in the front with Lucas, while Adeline stayed with Aristia in the carriage with the boy’s head on her lap.

The carriage started immediately.

Lucas turned to Aristia through the carriage partition and asked. "What do you want to do now, princess?"

Staring at the now unconscious boy, Aristia spoke softly.

"Take us to the nearest inn."