Chapter 42: Talon's Trouble
It was Monday, the time of day when many people were heading to work. There were four households on this floor, and Talon's disturbance had caused all of their doors to swing open. "What's all this noise? This isn't a marketplace, take your quarrels outside!"
"What's the matter with security? How can they let just anyone in? I was up late filming yesterday and now I've been woken by all this noise. I must have words with security!" "Keep it down! If you disturb my rest again, I'm calling the police!"
Hugo, hearing the complaints from his neighbors, apologized to them one after another before pulling Talon into his home.
"What on earth are you trying to do so early in the morning, Talon?" Hugo frowned.
"What am I doing?" Talon barked back, his face twisted with anger, "I should be asking you all that! Hugo, this is your darling daughter, drugging me and spreading those sordid pictures everywhere, she's trying to drive me to the grave!" "Mind your words!" Hugo was about to speak when Jennie sharply interjected, "It was clearly you who drugged Tina yesterday, only to end up drugged yourself. Now you're trying to shift the blame. Tina is just nineteen and you pin this crime on her, what is your intention?"
"Jennie, shut up! This isn't your place to speak! Just because you married my brother, don't think you're something special. The affairs of the Reed family are not your concern!"
"You be the one to shut up!" Hugo suddenly shouted, "She is my wife! I will not tolerateanyone insulting her!"
He hadn't wanted to make a scene with Talon, but after all, Talon was his brother. Yet, here he was, bullying Hugo's wife right in front of him. How could he tolerate that?
Talon, taken aback by the normally compliant Hugo's outburst, was stunned for a moment before retorting, "Fine! You dare to speak to me like this, I see you've been led astray by Jennie and Tina."
"Talon! I made it clear to mom yesterday that from now on, we will mind our own business and you will mind yours. We will not interfere with each other, and you're not welcome to show up uninvited," Hugo asserted with uncharacteristic firmness. "As for what happened yesterday, that has nothing to do with Tina. You should be questioning mom! If she hadn't asked Amber to drug Tina, none of this would have happened. And don't tell me you didn't know about it. Tina is the victim here; you have no right to come here and berate her!"
Talon was at a loss for words. He had indeed known about the plan all along. He had been in cahoots with Elizabeth to execute it. But never had he imagined the drug would end up affecting him, especially that it would be discovered while he and May were in the act. May was the babysitter last night. He had kept this secret very carefully, so no one should have found out. But the commotion last night had blown the lid off the scandal, and now the media was all over it. He couldn't cover it up. What was worse, Ivy had gone to the trouble of getting a paternity test for the child, and after it was confirmed they were biologically related, she demanded a divorce and compensation.
Now, Ivy's entire family was camped out at Moon Gate Estate, demanding an explanation. In a state of utter disarray, he had sneaked out to find Tina.
"I don't care what it takes; it's all because of Tina that Ivy wants to divorce me. She has to explain herself to me, or else, if I can't live peacefully, neither will your family," Talon declared with the recklessness of a cornered beast. "You!" Hugo was taken aback by his shamelessness, speechless for a moment.
Tina scoffed, "What exactly do you want me to explain to you?"
"Of course, it's about..." Talon began, but Tina cut him off, "Whether you haven't committed adultery, don't have an illegitimate child, or haven't brought your mistress home?"
"I..." Talon's face turned red with shame, and he was at a loss for words.
"Uncle Talon! You make plans louder than thunder. You want Aunt Ivy to maintain your dignity and your mistress to enjoy the status of a legitimate wife. Tch, do you take Aunt Ivy for a fool?"
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She wasn't the one who had exposed Talon's private matters online, nor did she deign to do such things.
"You wretch! I'm your elder, how dare you speak to me like this?" Talon, unable to refute Tina's words, was furious with embarrassment.
"I'm not just daring to talk to you like this, I dare to drug you again!" Tina's eyes turned cold, her voice as frosty as ice, "Would you like to try me?"
"You, you, you!" Talon, pointing at Tina, stammered, "It was you! You were the one who drugged me, you little wretch!"
As he raised his hand to strike Tina, his body suddenly went limp and he collapsed to the ground. He fell seated, unable to muster the strength to get up.
He glared at Tina, grinding his teeth, "What have you done to me this time?"
Hugo and Jennie were stunned by the scene. They could never have imagined that it was really Tina who had drugged him. And what shocked them even more was that as Talon was about to hit Tina, Hugo instinctively moved to protect her, only to see Talon collapse without warning.
Tina hadn't moved a muscle from beginning to end.
Had they just witnessed something supernatural? Was Tina a ghost?
Tina remained silent, of course, she had acted! How else could she have drugged Talon? It's just that her movements were so swift that few could see them clearly.
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Tina squatted down in front of Talon, her face expressionless as she looked at him, "I don't believe in repaying evil with kindness. I prefer to settle scores on the spot. Uncle Talon, when I was five, you snuck into my mother's room trying to violate her. Has it only been a few years, and you've forgotten?"
"What!!" Hugo's eyes widened in shock, and he quickly stepped forward, anxiously asking, "Tina, are you telling the truth? Did Talon really..."
Talon, too, was visibly shaken, having not expected Tina to be aware of that incident.
Tina let out a cold laugh, looking down at Talon, "If Aunt Ivy hadn't appeared just in time, you would've succeeded, right?"
Back then, her mother had been living incognito in the Reed family for some reason, never revealing to anyone her profound knowledge of cultivation and medicine. The Reeds simply thought her mother was an uneducated country woman. So when Talon made his unwelcome advances, she had merely dodged.
What no one knew was, had Talon not stopped, her mother could have killed him on the spot, leaving no trace of who had done it.
The person Talon should have been most grateful to was Ivy, who, by sheer coincidence, had arrived just in time to save her.
Of course, Ivy hadn't witnessed the incident.
"You!" Talon gaped, his face a mask of horror, "How did you know?"
Tina smiled at him, a radiant yet chilling smile, "I was behind the door!"
Her smile was bright, but it sent shivers down one's spine.