Chapter 31

Before long, the cops showed up.

They took Duke away, and I told Benjamin and Ruben to head back first. Zoey and I would stay with Lally until the ambulance got here.

Since we found her, there was no need to stick to the original plan. Plus, Lally had been through hell, and the jerk who did it was her own boyfriend.

When people shot up, their brains went into overdrive, and they lost control. They became fixated on sex and violence. Duke probably raped Lally after getting high.

I didn't want to ask her anything right now. I grabbed a tissue and gently wiped her wounds.

Her face was pale, lips dry and tightly shut. She was silent, her whole body cold and shaking. Her pale fingers clutched her clothes, trying to cover herself.

"Don't worry, the guy's gone. You're safe now. The ambulance is on its way. Just try to relax," Zoey said softly. I kept glancing at the door, wondering why the doctor wasn't here yet.

Lally shook her head, opened her mouth, and said hoarsely, "Hospital... costs money... go home."

She started shaking more, her breathing getting faster. I began to panic. This didn't seem like just psychological trauma; it looked physical too.

But when I cleaned her wounds earlier, there was only a small cut on her forehead, no other visible injuries. This reaction seemed too severe.

Then it hit me. From the moment we got here, Lally had been squatting in the corner. Benjamin tried to help her up before he left, but she clung to her clothes and wouldn't move.

"Lally, where are you hurt? Lally? Lally?"

She passed out.

Right then, the doctor arrived.

The medics put her on a stretcher, and her clothes fell to the ground, revealing large bite marks, bruises on her arms, and several needle marks still bleeding.

In the corner she had been guarding, there were two disposable syringes.

Duke had forced Lally to inject a ton of drugs. Even in her confused and near-fainting state, she still tried to protect him by hiding the syringes.

"Bastard!" Zoey's angry shout echoed in the room. I stared at the syringes in the corner, unable to calm down.

In the ambulance, Zoey and I were silent.

I wanted Zoey to go home. This was a lot to handle, and she was still young. But then I thought, as a journalist, she'd have to face stuff like this eventually. Besides, Zoey wouldn't leave until she saw Lally wake up.

The ambulance got to the hospital fast, and Lally was rushed to the emergency room.

Zoey and I waited outside. Benjamin called to check in. I told him what happened. There was a long silence on the other end, then Benjamin said, "Got it." He hung up, and just before the call ended, I heard him say, "Fuck."

Even a seasoned detective would be pissed at such a vile act. He was holding back.

Duke's crazy behavior had ruined not just himself but Lally too.

Zoey and I watched the light outside the emergency room, time dragging on.

"Mrs. Smith, why do you think Lally still protected Duke even now?" Zoey asked after a long silence.

Yeah, why? This guy, who was basically a zombie, why did she still protect him? And at the cost of her own life?

I shook my head, clueless.

To make things worse, an employee from the Entertainment Club had filmed the whole incident and posted it online.

Zoey handed me her phone. In less than two hours, it had blown up on various platforms.

What I didn't expect was that most people were bashing Lally, calling her brainless, uneducated, manipulated, saying she deserved it for sticking with such a guy, and that she lacked love.

I was stunned. Without any evidence, the internet had already started judging.

Public opinion and the internet always claimed to be fair and rational. Everyone acted like a god, using extreme moralism as a disguise, mercilessly judging what they saw.

From the so-called "none of my business" to actively joining the discussion, people shouted for justice, claiming it as a great progress of the times. In reality, it was a huge moral decline. Everyone hid their insecurities and cowardice behind a delicate facade, pretending to be invincible giants in the virtual space.

These people criticized all that was beautiful and sincere as worthless, equating love and ideals with stupidity. The rationality and fairness they spoke of were extreme selfishness and despicability.

This kind of info wouldn't continue to spread. Based on my experience, the relevant authorities would quickly block such information and wait for the final announcement from the police.

I handed the phone back to Zoey and fell silent again.

After a long time, I asked, "Zoey, why do you think?"

Zoey thought for a moment and said, "If it's in the name of love, it kinda makes sense."

I nodded.

Even facing death, she stubbornly protected Duke, even though he had subjected her to violence, rape, and forced drug injection. Such a person might not be smart, might be stubborn, might not know how to adapt, or as netizens said, foolishly loyal to love.

If it was in the name of love, then there was another conclusion: she might be kind.

Why would such a kind person commit perjury in court?

I couldn't understand.

The light outside the emergency room went out, and the doctor came out, asking, "Who is the patient's family?"

"Hi, we're journalists. The patient's family hasn't been contacted yet. How is she?" Zoey and I quickly stood up and ran over.

The doctor took off his mask and let out a long breath. "You two did a great job. The timely rescue saved her life, but she's still unconscious and will need to stay in the ICU for a while for observation."

"However, I must ask, from the patient's condition, there are bruises on her arms and thighs, indicating she was forcibly restrained for some time. There are also signs of vaginal tearing, indicating sexual assault. Additionally..."

The doctor looked serious. "From the symptoms, it appears to be her first time injecting morphine-like drugs, and the overdose caused convulsions and shock. In all my years of practice, this is the first time I've seen such a case. What exactly did the patient go through to suffer such abuse?"