Chapter 82
Herman reacted swiftly, firing off another round. This time, the bullet found its mark, landing straight in Fidelia’s heart.
After Fidelia fell to the ground, Herman quickly moved to the window to get a glimpse of what’s going on inside the house.
Fidelia’s body lay strewn on the ground, with Balch right next to her, silently taking in the scene. Underneath him was a chaotic mess of blood.
Seeing this, Herman quickly returned to Leandro and Seraphina, “How are you holding up, Leandro?”
Leandro held Seraphina tightly, his gaze fixed on her face. His body was stiff and his expression cold.
“She took a bullet for you?” Herman asked, while quickly dialing for an ambulance on his phone.
Suddenly, Seraphina in Leandro’s arms made a sound, “Ugh…”
Leandro looked down. Seraphina slowly opened her eyes, but the pain was clearly etched on her face, “It hurts so much…”
Herman leaned over to her, concern filling his voice. “Where are you hurt? Can you feel anything?”
“It hurts…” Seraphina managed to wheeze out before continuing, “Why does it hurt so much even with a bulletproof vest on…”
Upon hearing the words “bulletproof vest“, Leandro quickly unbuttoned her shirt to reveal the vest. His hand reached around to her back, feeling for something, and pulled out a bullet.
There was no blood, which meant the bullet didn’t penetrate the vest.
Herman watched in surprise, throwing Seraphina a perplexed look.
This lady was full of surprises. Who would’ve thought she was wearing a bulletproof vest?
Leandro silently looked at the bullet in his hand for a moment before finally shifting his gaze to Seraphina.
Seraphina was still gasping for breath, looking at Leandro with a forced smile. “Mr. Reynolds, were you actually planning to take a bullet for me just now? Am I really worth it to you?”
Hearing this, Leandro abruptly pushed Seraphina away, got up, dusted off his clothes with a cold expression, and walked towards his villa.
“Ouch…” Seraphina cried out in pain, still lying on the ground.
Edgar and Victor hesitated before stepping out of the house. As they headed towards the scene, Leandro simply walked past them and into his villa.
“Stay back” Herman warned while on the phone, “Don’t mess up the crime scene.”
Looking at Seraphina still on the ground, Edgar couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, “This is a bit too dramatic…”
Meanwhile, Leandro went inside, removed his dark suit jacket, revealing his white shirt underneath.
The red mark on his arm was particularly noticeable.
Seeing him, Karan, who had come downstairs, was startled and immediately asked, “What happened? What was that sound just now? Gunshots? Were you hit?‘
“It’s just a graze Leandro replied, “There was a bit of trouble next door. Stay home and take care of Valerio, don’t worry about anything else.”
Ten minutes later, police cars and ambulances arrived at the scene.
Balch, who was critically injured, was rushed into the first ambulance. Shortly after, Seraphina was lifted i
into the second one.
In that moment, Seraphina spotted Leandro. He was looking clean and well–dressed in a fresh outfit, but his face was cold.
He seemed to be looking at her too, but he was too far away for her to see his eyes clearly.
Seraphina couldn’t help but remember the pair of eyes she saw when she woke up.
She had taken a bullet for him, but his eyes were so cold….
The incident that night was severe and quickly caused a stir in Sunburst City
The most shocking part was that Fidelia, armed and dangerous, was killed by an off–duty cop who happened to be at the scene.
The news was unbelievable but it was an irrefutable fact.
Soon, the internet was buzzing with discussions and various comments, with no signs of dying down.
Seraphina had anticipated the aftermath of the incident, but she didn’t expect Fidelia to die.
As a victim and a participant in the incident, Seraphina, who wasn’t seriously injured, provided a statement to the police as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Balch, who was also hospitalized, was in a coma due to severe blood loss and didn’t wake up until the third day
Given the severity of the case, Balch was immediately interrogated by the police when he woke up. It took nearly half a day to finish questioning him.
Finally, after the police left, Seraphina was allowed to enter the ward
Balch looked pale and weak, but he smiled faintly at her and reached out his hand
Seraphina’s hand was cold, and her face was stiff.
Seeing her, Balch’s low voice filled the room, “I’m relieved to see you’re okay. Were you scared?”
Seraphina sat quietly by the bed, looking at him for a while before speaking, “I’ve told the police everything.”
“Oh?”
“Everything Fidelia said that day. I’ve told the police.” Seraphina said, “Including the things about your wife.”
Hearing this, Balch just smiled faintly. It’s the truth anyway.”
Seraphina looked at him, remained silent for a while, and then said, “You already knew
After a while, Balch slowly nodded.
Seraphina looked at him in shock, “Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you help her hide it? Could it be…”
As she was speaking, she seemed to think of something terrifying. She suddenly pulled her hand from Balch’s, taking two steps back.
Balch’s hand was still outstretched towards her, hanging in the air.
Seraphina looked at him, her eyes slowly welling up with tears.
After a while, she returned to sit by the bed, but didn’t hold his hand nor look at him, she just said, “Go ahead, I’m listening to your explanation”
Balch gazed at her profile for a moment before slowly beginning, “I met Fidelia four years ago. I had been married to Jane for three years by then. I thought we were tight, until her birthday that year. That’s when I found out she had someone else in her heart all along…
“So, you cheated on Jane with Fidelia?” Seraphina asked.
Balch slowly closed his eyes, as if he didn’t want to revisit those painful memories.
Seraphina watched him, slowly speaking for him, “You love your wife deeply, but you got involved with Fidelia on a whim. And she, well, she fell head over
heels.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to go on like this. I wanted to have a heart–to–heart with Jane, keep our marriage on track. So, I broke up with Fidelia… But before! could talk to Jane, tragedy struck…
“Do you know if Fidelia was the murderer?”
Balch remained silent for a long time before he finally said, “I didn’t know at the time. When Jane suddenly passed, it took me a long time to come to terms with it. It wasn’t until a year later when Fidelia lost control after a few drinks that I realized what she had done…”
“So why didn’t you spill the beans?” Seraphina looked at him. “Why did you cover for her?”
“Because… nothing could change what happened,” Balch said. “Even if I ratted her out, none of it could ever go back to the way it was.”
