Joseph tried to open the car door and escape, but his arm was gripped tightly by William. It felt as if it were welded in place by a steel rod, leaving him unable to struggle free.
What was even more bizarre was that although he hadn’t started the car, it began moving on its own!
William didn’t know how to drive, but making the car move didn’t seem to be a problem. Joseph had already started the engine and hadn’t engaged the handbrake. William, using sheer will, got the car moving without even pressing the accelerator.
This scenario deepened Joseph’s terror, especially as the pressure on his arm from William’s grip kept increasing.
“Stop! What do you want?” Joseph exclaimed, “How about money? How much do you want?”
William remained silent, just staring at Joseph, increasing the pressure bit by bit, making a mental note of how much force was needed to ensure he wouldn’t accidentally injure someone in the future.
“Five hundred thousand dollars! How about five hundred thousand dollars?” As Joseph watched the car move without the steering wheel being touched, even making tight turns, his fear intensified. The pain in his arm became more pronounced, sweat dripped from his face, and he hoped that if he could appease William now, he might take his revenge later.
“One million dollars!” Joseph shouted, “I’ll give you one million dollars!”
William remained silent, sensing that with just a bit more pressure, the muscles in Joseph’s arm would rupture.
Panting heavily, Joseph started to sob, “What do you really want? Will it work if I give you the phone?”
Only then did William pause.
Joseph hurriedly pulled out his cellphone from his pocket and handed it to William.
William took the phone, putting it in his own pocket.
He then took out his own phone, opened the camera, switched it to video mode, and aimed it at Joseph. “Say into the phone what you intended to do to Lucy. Once you do, I’ll let you go.”
Joseph’s pupils shrank in horror. If this got out, his reputation would be ruined.
Without evidence, he could deny any accusations, claim it was slander. But if a video was uploaded online, there would be no explaining it away.
William chuckled, “Don’t worry,I promise I won’t post this video online.”
“Why should I believe you? I… I didn’t do anything. I just wanted to be friends with Lucy,” Joseph argued stubbornly, tears streaming down his face.
The pressure from William’s grip intensified.
“Ah!!” Joseph screamed in agony, his face smeared with tears and mucus. In sheer terror, he said, “Alright! I’ll tell! I’ll tell!”
Only then did William release Joseph’s arm. It seemed the hand was almost shattered, a compound fracture perhaps. However, with the current state of medical science and technology, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be healed.
“I mainly wanted Lucy to set up a meeting with Evelyn. I’m not actually interested in her,” Joseph said pitifully. “I really didn’t do anything to her.”
He probably thought William hadn’t heard what he’d said to Lucy in the car earlier and was trying to bluff his way out of it.
William nodded slightly, “I see. Why go through all this trouble? I can just call Evelyn for you.”
With that, he dialed Evelyn’s number.
Evelyn answered, asking, “William, you called?”
William replied, “It’s Joseph. He wants to meet you.”
“He reached out to you to set up a meeting with me?” Evelyn chuckled. “You know I’m not interested in him. If he’s trying to get close to Lucy, he might have ulterior motives. I should probably warn Lucy.”
“He actually intended to use some photos to blackmail Lucy into setting up the meeting, but I found out.”
There was silence from Evelyn’s end before she asked, “What photos?”
William answered, “I don’t know exactly. He had Lucy’s phone, but I took it back from him.”
“I understand!” Evelyn’s tone became icy. “You don’t need to deal with him; I know how to handle this.”
“Alright. I’ll let him go then.” William was well aware that when Evelyn took action, she could be just as formidable as he was. He’d better stick to being a simple college student. Just by informing Evelyn, he could predict Joseph’s impending fate.
“Just release him,” Evelyn said, ending the call without any more conversation with William.
William let Joseph go and got out of the car, not wanting to engage with him any further.
The car hadn’t driven far. Lucy, though usually a strong-willed girl, was visibly shaken and had been brought to tears by the day’s events.
Wyatt and the others were consoling Lucy, urging her to stop crying and continuously asking her about what had happened. As she sobbed, Lucy kept her gaze fixed on the slowly moving Mercedes.
As soon as the car stopped and William got out, she rushed over to him.
William closed the car door and handed Lucy’s phone back to her, “Don’t worry, I believe he won’t bother you again.”
“Thank you!” Lucy realized that William wasn’t as despicable as she’d initially thought.
At the very least, he was direct in his rejection, leaving her with no lingering hopes.
When a girl takes the initiative to pursue a boy, those with even a slightly flawed character might not decline her advances, as usually, it’s the girl who ends up getting hurt in the end.
“You don’t need to thank me. I told Evelyn about this, and she will handle it for you.” William didn’t want Lucy to feel indebted to him. The whole ‘knight in shining armor’ scenario was best if it didn’t involve him.
All credit goes to Evelyn,their actions for each other as friends were just a given.
William also sensed the bond Evelyn shared with Lucy. Regardless of any memories or legacies Evelyn might have received or how much her status had elevated, their relationship remained unchanging.
That’s wonderful!
“You told Evelyn?” Lucy, clutching her phone, said to William, “Regardless, I still want to thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” William smiled, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head to class.”
Clara stood there, completely clueless about what had transpired.
She’d only answered a call from Lucy’s phone and was asked to hand it over to Lucy. She had no idea who the people in the car were. All she saw was William’s somewhat frightening confrontation with the bodyguard.
Now, that bodyguard was still lying on the ground, surrounded by curious onlookers.
“You guys take her back to her dorm,” William said, glancing at Wyatt and the others.
Although these three weren’t particularly skilled at anything, they were of good nature. Tasked with playing the role of protectors, it was best suited for them.
Paul quickly interjected, “I need to head to class too, William. Let’s go together.”
Daniel chimed in, “Wyatt, you escort Lucy.”
The trio from the dormitory had great synergy. 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝑙.
Lucy’s mood was likely not the best, and comforting her on the way back would certainly earn some goodwill. However, they couldn’t all accompany her. So, with an unspoken agreement, Paul and Daniel left this opportunity to Wyatt.