Chapter 1324:
Unable to contain her anger any longer, she pointed directly at Melany and shouted, “This is all your fault, you shameless woman! Carlos had everything—a good career, a bright future, women chasing after him—and you led him on without ever committing to him. That violent man—he’s your ex, isn’t he?” She turned her finger toward Deandre. “You’re nothing but a liar and a cheat! My son showed you nothing but kindness, and this is how you repay him? I’ll drag both of you through court until you have nothing left!”
As the surrounding crowd began whispering and pointing, Melany pressed her lips together. There was no point in arguing—it would only make things worse.
Deandre suddenly stopped walking.
The officers pulled at his arms, but he didn’t move—solid and immovable as stone. Slowly, he turned his head, his bloodshot eyes locking directly onto the older woman.
“What exactly did you just say?” he asked quietly.
His voice was soft, almost calm, but the cold weight beneath it sent a shiver through everyone present.
The old woman instinctively stepped back, then caught herself and straightened. With officers on either side and neighbors watching from every direction, she convinced herself she had nothing to fear.
“I said she’s shameless!” the woman snapped, pointing at Melany as her voice climbed higher. “Dragging a child around, surrounded by men—and my son was foolish enough to fall for her!”
“Say that again,” Deandre interrupted, his tone unchanged, eerily level. He stepped forward, and the officers gripping his arms stumbled slightly, one already reaching for his baton.
The old woman froze. Her mouth opened—and nothing came out.
Because Deandre was smiling. Not a real smile. Only a faint, cold twitch at the corner of his lips beneath those bloodshot eyes—the expression of something that had already decided what it was going to do.
𝘈d𝘥𝘪𝖼𝘵і𝘃e 𝘴𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘴 𝘰n 𝗀𝘢𝗹ո𝘰𝗏e𝗅𝗌.𝖼om
“Your son,” he said, slowly and deliberately, “was drunk inside my wife’s apartment, attempting to assault her while a child was present in the room.” His voice remained soft, almost gentle—yet every word reached clearly into the ears of everyone gathered there.
“I broke his hands because he used them against her. I kicked his ribs because he forced her down while she screamed ‘no.'” He paused briefly, his gaze moving from the old woman to the neighbors watching in silence. “If anyone here believes I was wrong, step forward.”
Complete silence fell—heavy and absolute. The whispering neighbors looked away; some stepped back, others stared down at their phones as though nothing unusual was happening.
The old woman’s expression crumbled.
“Apologize to my wife,” Deandre said, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
Melany’s brow furrowed slightly, but she stayed quiet and did not correct him.
The old woman let out a sharp, mocking snort. “You’re insane! My son would never do something like that! You’ll pay for what you’ve done to him!”
A cold, humorless laugh escaped Deandre, his gaze turning glacial—the look of someone regarding a foregone conclusion. “I’ll make sure your son ends up in prison. And by the time you’ve lost everything, you’ll be the one begging my wife for forgiveness.”
Under that stare, Carlos’s mother began to tremble, stepping backward as though pushed by something invisible.
“Face forward,” one of the officers ordered, giving Deandre a firm shove. “Get in the car.”
Deandre pulled his gaze away and looked at Melany one last time, his voice steady. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”
He lowered himself into the police car without resistance.
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