Chapter 281: Chapter 281

"ROCKWELL WENDOVER! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT?!"

"Mrs. Clara Wendover, you know deep down you are not worthy of being called a mother, so don’t strive for that title!" Rocky retorted swiftly. He couldn’t be bothered with Clara anymore, so he turned, only to see the equally shocked Angela.

"What are you still doing here? Are the discharge procedures done?"

"N-o, sir! I mean, young master Rocky. I’ll get right onto it."

Angela bit her lip because she was terrified of defying Rocky’s instructions at that moment. She was even more surprised at this, Rocky. If she had thought that the one the workers had met was scary, then this one was terrifying. One could see how even Clara was scrambling to say anything that could move him.

Ian smiled playfully, choosing to stay quiet and not meddle. It was like Ian had his own private joke. At one point, he gently crossed his arms and relaxed against the wall with ease. Just his presence alone felt quite intimidating. It was as if it was fuelling Rocky’s words and every action.

"James will turn in his grave at this!" Clara’s hands shook as she pointed at her own darling son. The son that she had never expected to hear these words from.

"I hope he does! For Dad is not blameless in this as well!" Rocky added with a hint of disdain when thinking about his father. To him, James was the genesis, and Clara was the fuel for whatever Shelby had gone through.

".... And mind you, Madam Clara, you are not going to be handed things like a child henceforth. I know that, brother-in-law gave you that contract and you understood its terms clearly. Since you do not care about the hand that feeds you, no one will buy anything for you! You will start at the shop tomorrow."

"I-" Clara stiffened as tears of frustration ran down her cheeks, just as Angela returned.

Rocky turned to face her head on.

"The doctor had already left instructions, so all discharge procedures are done."

"Good! Now get her out of here!"

Rocky turned a deaf ear to anything else that Clara brought out. Not even her tears moved him.

Ian patted him on the shoulders and the two left without a backward glance.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!" Clara screamed at the top of her voice, thumping her chest to let out the frustration she felt but there was nothing she could. She obviously could not confront Ian, besides, he had not done anything, but Clara was unsure of how to relate to her son anymore.

The scream left her breathless. It was as if she had done a strenuous activity. She had been getting a bit of those more often, and the doctor only said that it was a symptom of old age.

Clara was getting many of the symptoms of old age, shortness of breath, light-headedness, and difficulty in doing simple tasks. There were some medical issues as well, but none could explain why she had aged overnight.

Clara knew but she could not tell anyone. This made her hate Shelby the more because it reminded her of what she had lost. Despite all of these, Clara did not look plump though. Because she had maintained her body well, she did not look out of shape. She was just wrinkled here and there after ageing about a decade in the span of hours.

Clara did not even realize that she had not even once asked how her daughter was doing after that near-death experience.

Avril groaned as she opened her eyes, squinting at the light. Ouch! A shooting pain suddenly pierced her head, causing her to gasp. It took mere seconds for her to understand where she was and the fact that she had been involved in an accident.

She attempted to shift, but parts of her body weren’t quite on board with the idea, making her let out a little whimper. That was when she noticed the car on its side.

Avril groaned again and then tried to get up with a little more force this time. She started to sweat profusely from that pain. It looked like she had banged her head very hard from their little tumble.

She did a mental body check, ’All my limps are in place! TG!’

As she did this, she remembered the proceedings from the hour before,

"I was on the ship and the, they brought me to ...."

The thought of that made Avril shiver. In fact, at that moment, the slaps she had received from both Ava and Suzie were nothing compared to the body pains and the throbbing in her head from the accident.

She spat out a mouthful of blood and a tooth! The loose tooth from the slaps had finally come undone.

Avril’s eyes widened and she trembled. It wasn’t the tooth that was the problem; it was the recall of those cold, unfeeling blue eyes that truly petrified her.

"I cannot go to jail!" she whispered, wiping the blood from her mouth.

Then a voice whispered right in her ears,

Avril did not need a second invitation. She did not question what voice was or if it was her own thoughts. Avril knew that she needed to get out of the place. She crawled out onto the side of the car, facing up, and jumped down from the vehicle. She grimaced painfully, and that was when she also realized that she was no longer chuffed.

She wrang her arms and then stepped tentatively towards the front and saw that the two officers were unconscious.

Suddenly, "Hey! There’s been an accident! Call the ambulance!"

"No!no!" Avril whispered, backing away. If she was sent to the hospital, then she will be imprisoned! She would be right back where she had started! She did not want that at all. Avril turned and sprinted away before anyone got to the scene.

Murray appeared as soon as she had turned. He kept his eyes on the limping, fleeing figure before turning to the detectives. He checked their pulse to verify that they were alive and then nodded. A short while later, the two began to wake up, but there was no sign of Murray anywhere.

Avril gritted her teeth and limp-run as far away as she could. She used the foliage cover off the side of the highway and stayed within them.

She ran for hours until she entered a lone mart off the side of the road.

Avril did not need a mirror to know that she looked like a mess. She slipped into the shop, trying her best to avoid the two people in there as well as the mounted cameras.

Slipping through the isles, Avril picked some few items and then rushed towards the bathroom at the far end of the shop.

No matter how careful she was, she stood out with her tall frame and coloured hair.

"Hey, did you see that lady? Should we call for help?"

"Just leave her be for now...."

"But, she looks injured!"

"Not everyone is open to help from strangers. If she asks for help, we will do our best to be at her aid, but until then, do your job!"

In the bathroom, Avril looked at her appearance in the mirror. Gone was the flawless skin with exquisite makeup, and its place was a very bruised girl, eyes nearly swollen shut, two large palmprints on either cheek, slightly swollen mouth and other lacerations. In short, she looked like a mess! A real one!

She brought out the iodine and gauze, cleaned out the cuts as best she could, and then popped some painkillers that she had also taken from the stalls.

"My hair stands out too much but there is nothing I can do about that." She sighed and then settled on wrapping a scarf she had also picked up around her hair and part of her face.

Avril slipped out of the bathroom and moved silently through the aisles, crouching a bit, then,

"Breaking News: We have new information of the culprit who had tried to murder Mrs Shelby Thornston. We have displayed a picture of the suspect on your screens. Please call the T-Vino Police hotline for...."

Avril froze. "What the fuck!"

"Hey, don’t you think that the woman who entered looks a bit like the wanted person?"

"Yes! I think so too. I’ll go check the bathroom and call the police immediately!"

It’s not like Avril had any intention of paying for the goods she had taken. She had no means of doing that. She could not afford to use her bank cards if she had them, and she also had no cash on her. She went lower and grabbed a few snacks from the closest isles and then ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Hey! She’s running!"

Avril was long gone by the time the two overweight shop attendants came out.

It did not take long before the police swarmed around the place, but there was no sign of her. A few hours later, Avril learnt the bitter lesson that she could not go anywhere. Her face was all over the media and even on walls all around. She could not afford to go out with her face. She could not secure another ship getaway because of her lack of funds.

She tried calling a few trustworthy friends from the public payphone, but none responded and the single one who did, also turned her in.

This was all just one day. Avril felt so cornered that she contemplated turning herself in but went against that idea.

Just when she thought that all was lost, a car pulled up to her in the middle of the night as she lay shivering underneath a bridge.

"Hey, pretty girl...why are you here all alone?"

Her heart lurched and she scrambled up, trying to hide her face, ’Am I going to be taken in after all of this?’

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