CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 29: SAVE ME

Fleeting seconds ticking by.

Elliana Lyle rests her left hand on her cheek, while her right index finger taps rhythmically on the table.

The youngest victim is only 12 years old, and the oldest is just 18.

They are terrified of people finding out that they were forcibly violated.

If anyone discovered, they would not only struggle to face their parents, but would also be ostracized by those around them.

Elliana Lyle cannot preserve these girls’ reputations, but she can help them get lawyers and punish the culprits.

After much contemplation, Elliana decided on a plan of action: anyone willing to sue Adrian Young and Raymond Wood would receive a sum of money as compensation.

It’s entirely voluntary, and she’s not going to force anyone who isn’t willing.

She had a plan, but where would the money come from? Though her family is wealthy, she didn’t know what reason she could use for asking.

Indeed, it’s better to earn money on her own.

But... she still had the card given by Norman Bennett in her possession; borrowing it might be...

Suddenly, a WeChat message notification sounded — it was from a newly added victim.

I Saw the Light: "Who are you people exactly? I told you this morning, I’m not willing, if you want to sue, do it yourself, don’t drag me into it."

What did this mean? This morning?

The information in this message was quite revealing. Is someone else doing this?

Knock, knock.

As she pondered, the door to the study was knocked upon. Elliana quickly exited the WeChat page and said towards the door, "Come in."

Norman Bennett approached her, his cold demeanor carrying a touch of seriousness.

Elliana smiled, "Norman, you’re back."

"Mm."

Norman sat beside her, pulling her into his embrace, "There’s been progress with Adrian Young and Raymond Wood’s case; Raymond Wood has found quite a few victims, and they’re planning to sue."

He didn’t tell Elliana what he had uncovered; such disgraceful matters were not something he wanted her to know.

So it was Norman Bennett! Elliana only then realized.

She had only glanced at the list Luna sent using her laptop, and then deleted the cache.

This meant that all of this was discovered by Norman himself.

Elliana felt somewhat moved; Norman really cared about her.

"Norman." Elliana suddenly broke down, her eyes inexplicably stinging and misting over, "Thank you."

"No crying," he said somewhat dominantly, though his hands tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes.

Elliana seemed to recall something, quickly speaking, "Norman, don’t force them to sue, these are all wounded girls, and the reason they endure without speaking is mostly for reputation, for girls...."

"You knew?"

"Huh?" Elliana was momentarily confused by Norman’s words.

"Twenty thousand, with no media exposure, won’t have too much impact on their lives."

Norman comforted her; he didn’t want his little girl to think too much.

"Mm." Elliana then felt relieved, thinking, indeed, how could Norman not have considered the issues she could think of?

Now, it seems the only thing left is to quietly await the outcome; Adrian Young and Raymond Wood will undoubtedly face justice.

Yet, up till now, Elliana still couldn’t understand why Shane Southwell insisted on directing George Lyle to kill her parents. Before she was reborn, she was clearly always getting money for Shane Southwell.

Could it truly be just for more money?

She had been married to Shane Southwell for three years, and her understanding of him boiled down to: aloof, a preference for tall beauties, and a violent temperament — these three.

She felt like she never truly loved Shane Southwell; it was merely a fondness at the start, like... a little girl admiring a celebrity.

After getting married, she had to try to love Shane Southwell and adapt to his family.

These were tragedies she couldn’t change in her past life; everything was her own fault.

She really hated Shane Southwell for all the harm he’d done to her.

"Norman~." At this moment, Elliana felt like a deflated balloon, only wanting to quietly nestle in Norman’s arms, devoid of any desire to act.

Having passed the first hurdle, what follows is even tougher.

"Tired?" Norman lifted her out of the study.

―――― Nightfall.

Elliana hadn’t yet slept, lying half reclined in bed, chatting with Luna.

Luna Detective: "George Lyle was originally just an ordinary college student. After his parents’ tragic passing, he went abroad, then returned and joined Roland. He climbed up from a low-level employee, showing no obvious issues."

Luna Detective: "For now, this is all that can be found; keep waiting for more news."

Kitty: "Okay."

These things were similar to what Norman Bennett had told her. Luna couldn’t find any criminal records for George Lyle, and neither could Norman, nor could the police.

What exactly is George Lyle’s true identity? Is he really innocent?

Ding~

QQ message notification; it’s one of the victim girls, the sole one without WeChat contact.

She’ve been added without needing verification, yet there’s been no response until now.

Ding-dong Cat: "Help me, I’m being"

Upon seeing this message, Elliana immediately sat upright from her half-reclined position — what is happening!

She quickly sent a message inquiring, yet the QQ was offline.

Helplessly, she turned to Dingdong Cat’s QQ space, where there was a selfie of a little girl, very young, beautiful as a porcelain doll, looking happy, but it was posted several months ago.

Cross-referencing the list, the girl’s name is Rupert Zeller, 12 years old, residing in North City, Daan District, Whitesun Town, New Street 29.

She briefly considered calling the police for the girl when the girl came online again.

Ding-dong Cat: "Leave me alone, just get lost, there’s no such thing."

How peculiar, these words don’t resemble those a 12-year-old would say. Her intuition tells her there’s definitely something wrong.

But Ding-dong Cat went offline again after speaking, leaving her unable to follow up.

Thus she screenshot the message and sent it to Luna.

Soon, Luna replied to her.

Luna Detective: "You want me to investigate her?"

Kitty: "Yes."

Luna Detective: "2,000, I’ll get back to you tomorrow."

...

Elliana was running out of money. She had a total of 200,000 in savings, now there’s only about 100,000 left, and given Luna’s spending habits, it likely won’t last long.

Thinking of this, she turned to her scripts; earning money quickly was necessary.

―――― The next day.

North City Central Hospital.

"Cough, cough!" Elliana lay in the hospital ward, and Lana fed her porridge. She was unfortunately suffering from a cold.

Due to last night’s rain and temperature drop, along with the AC set too low in the bedroom, she developed a high fever by midnight.

When Lana woke up to turn off the AC, she heard her coughing.

She remembered Norman Bennett was really panicked at the time, carrying her out of the hotel, then sending her to the hospital.

Norman stayed by her side throughout the night and left the hospital at 7 AM, probably due to other engagements.

"Lana, can I be discharged now?" Elliana asked.

"Yes, Dr. White said you could; I’ll take Ms. Lyle back to the hotel soon."

Half an hour later.

Elliana walked out of the hospital ward, feeling somewhat surprised upon entering the elevator.

Inside the elevator stood a tall woman, someone she knew.

Cari from Shane Southwell’s circle.

Elliana had a rather favorable impression of Cari in her past life. On one occasion, when Shane Southwell kicked her out, Cari took her to her own home.

"Ms. Lyle, what a coincidence, you’re ill?" Cari greeted her first.

Elliana responded, "Mm, just a minor cold, nothing serious."

"Our Vice President is on the sixth floor." Cari intentionally gave a reminder; sometimes, she truly pitied this girl for her foolishness.

Lana looked at Elliana, fearing that she might head to the sixth floor.

"Really? Has he started interning at the hospital?"

Elliana casually mocked and showed no intention of going up; when the elevator reached the ground floor, she directly exited, leaving Cari behind.

It seems that Ms. Lyle doesn’t care much for the Vice President.

At least not completely foolish.