Pausing to draw breath, I continued. “I would rather die or go to prison than to let you get away with this.”
If Crystal had not appeared as early as she did, things would have gone down one of two ways. I would have either smashed Mr. Wilson’s skull in and be charged for first-degree murder, or I would have had been raped and had my name dragged through the mud whilst being sedated.
“I did nothing of the sort!” Lyle exclaimed, shaking in fear. He glanced at Mr. Wilson on the floor and at the cuts along my arm, looking genuinely confused. Did he learn how to put on an expression like this from Crystal?
“Congratulations, you’ve failed to make yourself look like a cuckold,” I said as with as much venom I could muster, sneering at him as I did so with zero regard for his embarrassment.
“Yvonne, you can’t say things like that to Lyle,” Crystal exclaimed with shock. This must have been a misunderstanding. You danced with Mr. Wilson at the ball, didn’t you? How could you slander Lyle for something you did?” She played her trump card.
I gazed unblinkingly at her without a word. My expression was probably terrifying to behold, as I had just beaten a man unconscious. Crystal was taken aback at the intensity of my countenance.
“Lyle, I have never met a more despicable man than you. How could you call yourself a man with the way you’re making things difficult for a woman who is your wife? Even if you don’t love her anymore, do you have to destroy her reputation?” Sabrina shouted, her face contorted in rage. She pushed me into Christopher’s arms and dashed forward to slap Lyle twice across the face.
“It’s bad enough that you have another woman in your cheating heart, and you still plot to ruin Eve’s life. What has she done to you to make you want to go to such lengths to make her miserable?” Sabrina dropped all pretenses at being a lady to slap and claw at Lyle like a madwoman, which I found oddly admirable.
Though I still felt slightly dizzy, it was comforting being in Christopher’s arms with my eyes half shut. He hugged me tightly as he quivered with rage. His entire being looked as though it was going to explode under the intensity of the fury he was keeping under control. I knew that he was worried for me and my heart ached with sorrow for his pain.
It was a rare sight to see him trying to suppress his volcanic rage.
Lyle did not attempt to avoid Sabrina’s strikes as he was still in a state of disbelief. Crystal could not bear to watch any longer. Rushing forward to stop Sabrina, she demanded, “Why are you hitting Lyle, Sabrina? Are you insane?”
“I’m going to slap you too!” Sabrina bellowed as she raised her arm. Unfortunately, Crystal had many protectors. Benjamin and Benson both stepped out in unison to shield Crystal from Sabrina.
“Sabrina, you’re godd*mn insane,” Benjamin shouted angrily. “What does this have to do with Crystal? It’s all Yvonne’s fault for being indecent and bringing misfortune onto herself.”
“Misfortune, my ass!” Sabrina yelled. “You boys are being played like a fiddle by Crystal and you don’t even know it! Don’t regret it when it’s too late.” Being unable to strike Crystal, Sabrina settled for lashing back verbally.
“Mind your own business, Sabrina,” Benjamin retorted coldly. “Don’t assume that you can do whatever you want just because you’re a Zimmer.”
The doctor arrived promptly and got to work treating my wounds. He had even had the unconscious Mr. Wilson carried away. I called out to Sabrina to cease her assault as she was being outnumbered. It was about time that this fiasco ended.
“I had drunk something with some kind of a sedative in it. Please would you summon me a doctor?” I turned to address the man holding me in his arms. Take me away, I silently pleaded. As soon as I spoke, my vision went dark.
I slept deeply. Perhaps due to being aware that Christopher was always watching over me, I cast the traumatic events of the evening to the back of my mind and slept without worry.
Upon waking, I sat up on my bed groggily, without a clue as to where I was. I saw the familiar silhouette by the window and watched him silently, as if in a trance. The silvery moonlight fell weightlessly against his body, encasing him a pale wispy glow. It was faint, but the moonlight made him appear warm.
I said nothing, content with staring at him forever. Sometime after, my involuntary laughter broke the silence. Christopher jumped and looked behind him, striding quickly over to me when he saw that I was up. “How’re you feeling?” he asked urgently.
