---- Chapter 126 Wendy nodded. "Yes." "T'm already dropping the matter, yet you still want to go through this?" Bryan stared at her, perplexed. Wendy didn't respond. She simply pulled out her bank card from her bag. "This payment can go through official channels and be enforced by distraint if necessary." With her making that request, the police naturally wouldn't refuse. Elias stared at her with an ugly expression.

"Do you have to do this?" Wendy answered calmly, "I'm just paying for my own mistake. What's wrong with that?" Feeling provoked, Bryan shouted angrily, "What's your problem? I said I would drop this matter, but you still insist on going against me?" 1 Entering her PIN, she said, "There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing. If you think otherwise, you're welcome to take legal action. But if you don't think so, I won't take responsibility for anything else once we leave the station today.

The police are my witnesses." After Wendy had completed the paperwork, the police told her ---- she was free to go. The other two, however, had to stay and finish some paperwork. It was getting late. By the time Wendy got up to leave, the city lights beyond the windows were already glowing in the dusk. Elias, who was outside the door, stopped her. "T talked Bryan down for you. His family's also in the medical field.

He won't make trouble for you even after your attitude today." Wendy stopped to look at him. "Oh." Elias' expression stiffened. "You're just going to say 'oh'?" "What do you want me to say? 'Thank you'? But as you saw, I've already paid the price for what I did, so there's no reason for me to be grateful to you." Her voice sounded distant and cold under the streetlight. Elias felt slightly unsettled. "Fine, I was wrong, okay? Now, can you stop acting like this, Wendy?

It really upsets me." "You've got it wrong. My attitude toward you hasn't changed at all, but something in you clearly has." It was his own guilty conscience that was making him feel like every word and expression from Wendy had a hidden implication. ---- Wendy glanced at the time. "I'm heading home." Without waiting for a response from Elias, she walked to the street and hailed a taxi. Throughout the entire exchange, Wendy never once looked at Elias. It was as if he didn't even exist.

As Elias watched the taxi disappear into the traffic, his hand clenched into a fist. Bryan came out, lit a cigarette, and asked, ''So that's the cousin you were talking about? She didn't seem like some innocent, fragile woman to me." Pursing his lips tightly, Elias chose not to respond to that. Instead, he said, "Thanks for your understanding, Bryan. Drinks are on me tonight." "Then we'll be getting quite a few. You'd better not try to weasel out." Bryan gave hima suggestive grin. Elias smiled.

"Of course. I'll keep you company today. Just consider it an apology for my wilful cousin." Unaware that Elias had taken it upon himself to fix things for her, Wendy immediately collapsed onto the couch the moment she got home, feeling completely wiped out. Tonight's events had drained every ounce of her strength. ---- Alas, even Liam's car had suffered damage. Her phone buzzed. It was a delayed notification for the payment she'd just made.

She had a decent amount of money in her account, but most of it came from part-time jobs when she was still in school and projects she'd worked on while abroad. 2 Of course, some of it had also come from James over the years. She hadn't returned it. Wendy had spent far more time taking care of the family than James had. Hence, she saw it as her rightful share, but paying the compensation today had cost her a good chunk of it.