Chapter 596

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In the police department, the moment Aria entered the mediation room, Elena’s shrill wails assaulted her ears.
Elena cried out, “Aria assaulted me. I’m dizzy and aching all over-I’ll sue her into oblivion.”
Seeing Aria, Elena got so worked up she tried to stand, but Liam quickly held her back. “Mom, let’s just let the police handle it,” he urged.
Fryderyk motioned for Aria to sit down. “Long time no see,” he said with a wry smile. “And here I was hoping we’d finally have a quiet year.”
2
Aria muttered under her breath, “Can’t stop a mad snake from biting-what can you do?”
Aria was practically a regular at the police station by now. She simply pulled out a chair and sat down, as if she were in her own living room.
Fred was momentarily stunned by Aria’s nonchalant attitude, but quickly composed himself, hurriedly sat down beside her, and pulled out a USB drive.
Fred explained, “Here’s the surveillance footage. This lady first made fraudulent claims and spread malicious rumors, nearly causing a car accident. She even attempted to assault Ms. Saxon, who was merely acting in self-defense.”
Seeing Fred walk in, Liam finally let out a sigh of relief. He thought to himself, ‘With Fred here, he’ll definitely have my back and talk Aria into settling this peacefully.’
But Fred jumped straight to blaming his mother.
Liam’s face darkened. “Mr. Gardner, how could you also go along with Aria’s nonsense?”
Liam said with a hint of impatience, “All I want is an apology from her-nothing more. I’m not here to make trouble. This could all be settled with a simple ‘sorry,’ so why make such a big deal out of it?
“Don’t forget. It’s still the Cole Group that’s funding the Mandino University project.”
Elena shot to her feet. “I told you, I don’t want an apology. Liam, are you still hung up on that bitch? She—”
Fryderyk slammed the table-bang.
He fixed Elena with a sharp glare. “Silence. One more outburst and you’ll be detained.”
“Don’t think for a second I don’t know you’re from the Fletcher family, and that you’ve got a thing for Aria,” Elena snapped. “You’re completely unfit to handle this. I demand to see your chief.”
Fryderyk never expected that the offhand remark he’d made to dodge Amanda would still be causing trouble all this time later.
Fryderyk rubbed his temples and said to another officer, “As per her request, go fetch Chief Lawrence.”
The officer acknowledged with a quick nod and hurried inside.
< Allen arrived promptly. The moment he saw Aria, he instinctively began to speak, but caught himself mid-sentence. 22 Elena suddenly burst into theatrical sobs, pouring out her grievances in a shrill, dramatic voice. Allen’s face hardened. “Let’s review the surveillance footage first.” 1/2 12:40 am D 597 Fred detailed the source, time, and location of the surveillance footage. “The footage is authentic,” he stated firmly, “and we have eyewitness testimony to corroborate it.” The officer pulled up the surveillance footage on the computer. Elena fixed her eyes on the screen with not a shred of unease, utterly convinced she had done nothing wrong. ‘If it weren’t for Aria and Orlando scheming behind the scenes, I wouldn’t have had to chase them all the way to Mandino University,’ she wondered. The surveillance footage began playing, showing Elena suddenly charging forward. If Aria hadn’t reacted so quickly, the car would have plowed straight into her. Liam frowned, turning to his mother. “Mom, what were you thinking? That was so reckless.” Elena felt a wave of fear wash over her. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t realized how serious things were. “I just panicked,” she muttered defensively. Then came the kick-Aria’s foot connecting squarely with her. Just as Elena was about to protest, Allen, his face unreadable, cut her off: “You were the one who charged forward first. That was self-defense.” Elena bit her tongue. After the surveillance footage ended, the mediation room still resonated with Elena’s shrill declaration. “What man doesn’t stray these days, huh?” If it hadn’t been for that slap, her words would have grown even more vicious. Never before had Liam seen his mother spew such vitriolic abuse. Liam had always thought his mom was just blunt and not well-educated, but deep down, she wasn’t a bad person. Yet the woman he saw in the surveillance footage had a face twisted with malice. Fred stated firmly, “Mrs. Cole came to Mandino University to deliberately provoke trouble, and we will be pressing charges as well.” 28 598