Chapter 5
855words
Victor immediately let go of the baseball bat, causing it to hit the floor with a heavy thud. He whipped his head around as his expression of pure rage froze, his eyes boring into the two people Wanda had accused.
Joseph had initially been looking forward to the fallout, but hearing that, he turned deathly pale.
Ella began to tremble violently, stepping back instinctively. "That's not right, Wanda! You're clearly not thinking straight after the emergency care! You can't just accuse innocent people!"
She then looked at Victor and continued, "Wanda must be confused, Mr. Lawson! Yvonne was the one who shoved Wanda and caused the seizure! Joseph and I were the ones who brought Wanda to the hospital to save her!"
Joseph stepped forward, suppressing his fear. "Wanda just went through emergency treatment, so she's delirious, and her memory is a mess, Mr. Lawson! She must have misremembered who actually pushed her in all the confusion.
"You can rest assured that, based on my standing as a drill instructor, Ella and I are innocent in this whole situation, Mr. Lawson!"
"That's enough!" Victor bellowed, his voice echoing.
He ignored Joseph and Ella, his focus shifting back to Wanda with visible heartache. He strode forward and gently caught the swaying Wanda, whispering, "Go ahead and tell me what they did to you, Wanda. You have to tell me everything—don't leave anything out."
Wanda, shaking violently from exhaustion and fury, took a deep breath. She glanced at me and then at the two culprits, who looked as if they were about to rip her apart, before bursting into tears.
It was then that Ella's eyes narrowed as she thought of a plan. She threw herself at Victor's feet and pleaded, "Wanda clearly has no idea who she's accusing here, Mr. Lawson! She's actually pointing at Yvonne!
"Do you see how she's looking at Yvonne? She has clearly been manipulated by Yvonne, Mr. Lawson!"
Joseph followed suit at once, pointing at Wanda's weak, trembling hand.
"Do you see Wanda's trembling hand, Mr. Lawson? Wanda was clearly pointing at Yvonne earlier! She's trying to tell you that Yvonne is the one who hurt her! She's probably too exhausted to hold her arm steady!
"You shouldn't be misled, Mr. Lawson—we're the ones who saved Wanda!"
"That's right, Mr. Lawson! Ella and Mr. Jensen have been doing everything they can to help Wanda!"
"Yvonne was the one who pushed Wanda! We all saw it with our own eyes!"
Ella's sidekicks also chimed in one after another.
"I-It's not like that…" Wanda sobbed, her tears falling in a constant stream as she shook her head frantically. She could only manage broken, wheezing sounds, as she was too weak to form a coherent sentence.
She was nearly overwhelmed by despair as she noticed Victor beginning to waver under the weight of Ella and Joseph's lies.
Victor took in Wanda's distressed state before glancing back at Ella and Joseph. He then furrowed his brows and ordered sternly, "Get Yvonne out of here!"
In that instant, his bodyguards stepped out from behind him to carry out the order.
"No!" Wanda yelled. She wrenched herself out of Victor's arms and stumbled toward the bodyguards who were closing in on me.
She shielded me with her body, gasping for air as she forced the words out. "I-It's Joseph and Ella! T-They were the ones who kicked my medicine away! T-They didn't call for an ambulance! E-Ella stepped on my hand! S-She even tried to beat us to death!
"T-They tied Yvonne and me to the roof of the ambulance! They're the ones who tried to kill me, Dad!"
In that instant, everyone in the hallway fell silent, turning their gazes toward Joseph and Ella.
Joseph's knees buckled, causing him to slump directly onto the floor.
Ella collapsed like a ragdoll, her strength completely gone. She then looked into the distance with a vacant gaze and muttered mindlessly, "It's over now… It's all over for us…"
Victor swayed violently. He looked from Wanda to Joseph and Ella, who sat there deathly pale with their true, ugly natures completely exposed. He finally looked toward me, thinking to himself that he had nearly just crippled Wanda's savior with his own hands.
"You've played me well…" Victor's voice was terrifyingly calm, making it even more frightening than his anger had been.
He reached down slowly, his fingers closing around the handle of the baseball bat. His bodyguards immediately grasped his intentions and moved in to pin the limp Joseph and Ella securely to the floor.
Victor walked up to them step by step, his eyes wide with fury. "You actually dared to lay hands on Wanda and then framed her savior! You guys are truly something else! I'm going to let you experience a fate worse than death!"
