Gill didn’t know how to respond to that.
Wendy was aware that she had the right to go ballistic at the moment, so she decided to lecture her first. “Speaking of things that aren’t faked, since you even managed to get a photo of me talking with my boyfriend, where’s the photo of me doing unspeakable things to him? You’ve got an education too, Gill, so you should know that you should back up your statements after presenting evidence. If not, everything you said is just speculation and baseless slander, and I’ll have you know you’re at the mercy of the law for that,” she sneered.
“How dare you stand there and tell me that you didn’t do anything to them,” Gill retorted as she lifted her chin. “You’re a literal social butterfly. All you’re good at is meet men and play cute in front of them. Did you honestly think that you could hide this from me forever?”
“Please be more mindful of your speech, Miss Clark. You’re basically verbally assaulting my client right now,” Wendy’s lawyer, who was standing at the side, suddenly piped up.
Gill gave him a glance then turned her attention back to Wendy,
totally throwing all caution to the wind.
“If talking to a man equals playing cute with him, then what does you seducing my ex-boyfriend and luring him into bed count as then? If you say that just talking to men means playing cute with them, then you’re no better than me, aren’t you? Seeing as you’re talking to all these male officers now?” Wendy snorted.
Gill fumed, “You-”
Wendy’s gaze flickered and she continued, not giving her a chance to speak. “I know you envy me, Gill. I know you’ve always looked down on me, but even you should know when you’ve gone too far. You were the one who snatched my boyfriend away from me and ruined my life, so how dare you sit there and tell me that I was the one who ruined you?
“Out of all the times you made me your target, I could let it all go, but this time you not only made up rumours and slandered me in public, you even leaked other people’s private information. For that, I’ve decided to take action. I’ll make sure you get punished for every single one of your wrongdoings,” she threatened.
“I doubt you have what it takes to land me in prison,” Gill snorted coldly.
“Of course I do, though the person who’ll be sending you to prison isn’t me, but Lady Justice herself. I didn’t think you’d still have it in your to be so arrogant, even after violating the law, Gill,” Wendy scoffed in reply.
She’d already did a background check before she came to see her, and she was sure that if she persisted in her investigation, and with the Henson’s lawyer’s help, she could send her to jail for at least three years.
After going through so much over the years, she decided that this would be the time that she finally stood up for herself.
After all, some people really didn’t deserve any sympathy at all.
Wendy then turned around to face her lawyer. “I’ll need you to conduct a thorough investigation towards the matter, Mr. Lawyer sir. Please help me so that everyone involved who broke the law can get what they deserve,” she requested.
“Will do, Miss Evans,” he answered.
It was after six when she left the police station.
With the day finally coming to a close, she looked up at the evening sky and gave a small sigh.
Not only did her former friend betray her, she also made her her lifelong enemy, which was why Wendy had to resort to the law just to protect herself. She was still at a loss of what went wrong over the years.
She always assumed that people would also treat her kindly if she did the same to them,
but to think that she received hatred in return, she’d finally understood that all her kind gestures were for naught. It wasn’t a nice feeling to get stabbed in the back after being nice to people indeed.
Humans had to stay strong so that they can disregard people with malicious intent or those who seek to harm them.
The thought of Henson being scoffed at and ridiculed by so many people in the world was enough to make her heart ache.
It must been really tough for him.
She thus decided to treat him more kindly moving forward.
‘Moving forward’?
She then lifted a hand to bonk herself on the head. Who’s to say if they’d even have a future together. Regardless, she vowed to take care of him well now.
It was just like what he said, the two of them had to stick together because only two broken hearts can understand how it feels to comfort one another.
The police report was posted on the university forums the next day.
However, even after the statement had been released and that Wendy had been proven to be the one who was defamed, the rumours floating around campus still didn’t cease.
When Howell returned to the villa at eight-thirty that night, he got off his car at the same time Henson’s car pulled into the driveway.
Henson then rolled down his car windows to stare at him. “How come you’re back this late,” he asked.
“I went to the bar to check on renovations,” Howell replied.
“I don’t see you this focused when it comes to your studies,” Henson replied with a stony expression.
“I’ll have you know that responsibilities and hobbies are two separate things altogether,” Howell huffed.
Henson glanced at him sideways and was about to bring his windows up when his brother suddenly pressed a hand on the glass, as if he just thought of something. “Oh, right. Sister Wendy’s been feeling a tad down these few days, so I thought I should tell you so that you could make her feel better,” he said.
“Did something happen again?” Henson asked.
“No, it’s still regarding the rumours on campus,” Howell said.
“Didn’t they release a statement to clear the air already?” Henson asked, confused.
“They did. They posted the police report on the forums, but still, those rascals on campus still continue to run their mouths. They’re treating it like some celebrity-status news, where people would still find a way to discredit them after the celebrities themselves have cleared the situation up.
“Wendy’s a pretty famous figure on campus, even during her time as a student here, so naturally there would be more discussion surrounding her compared to others. I figure it’ll take a long time till everything eventually settles down,” Howell said.
“Alright, run along home now,” Henson shooed him away.
Howell merely shrugged and returned to his building, while
Henson’s driver drove him back to his place.
“Where’d Wendy go?” was the first thing he asked Donald the butler when he entered his home.
“Miss Evans just finished her dinner and is hanging out upstairs as we speak,” Donald replied curtly.
Henson promptly scurried upstairs after handing him his outer coat.
He saw her immersed in a book upon arriving at their room. She smiled through pursed lips when she saw him at the door. “Donald told me that you had dinner plans elsewhere tonight, so I assumed you’d be back pretty late,” she said.
“How could I come back late, knowing that a gorgeous young lady’s hiding away in a tower waiting for me?” he joked.
She rolled her eyes at him. He was acting all silly again.
“Anyways, anything troubling you these past few days on campus?” he chuckled.
“Nope. I’ve already dealt with everything that needs to be dealt with, so now, I’m just waiting for Burke’s apology,” she gloated.
He raised an eyebrow at that. So, she was only telling him the good, and sparing him the bad.
Her response made him feel that she still had reservations in sharing her private affairs with him.
However, it wasn’t like he could leave it be, now that the rumours had started festering on campus grounds once more.
He then lifted a hand to caress her hair. “Oh, my sweet, sweet Wendy,” he cooed.
This was the first time he called her that, so
this caused her to lift her chin to look at him. “Yes?”
“From now on, I promise to stand by your side and protect you no matter when or where you are,” he declared firmly.
She looked at him with a quizzical look on her face.
He merely chuckled at that. “You continue reading your book. I’ll go take a shower now,” he said.
While sitting near the window, she stared as the bathroom door closed behind him. Her heart thumped so wildly it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest.
When Friday afternoon rolled around, Wendy and her other three colleagues stood in front of the basketball court, waiting for Henson’s arrival to give him a warm welcome as usual.
Henson arrived at the entrance five minutes before his lecture was scheduled to begin.
When his gaze landed on her upon getting out of the car, he flashed her a loving smile.
This smile was aimed at her. It couldn’t be more obvious.
When Carmen caught her smiling, she shot her a bewildered glance.
Wendy could only look down hastily in response.