Chapter 455
Changing only for her (Sophie and Tristan)
âNice to meet you, Ms. Tanner. Weâre the police in this area. Presently, your sister and mother are in a
room on the second floor. The suspect requests to meet with you.â
The hostages were still in the suspectâs hands, so the police didnât dare do anything drastic.
âGot it. Iâll go upstairs right away.â
âFor your safety, Ms. Tanner, Iâd advise you not to do so. Just entrust this matter to the police.â
Although the suspect put forth this demand, this lady was the one who handed the evidence of Clayton
Zalesâ crimes to us. Therefore, sheâll be in danger if she were to go upstairs now.
âItâs okay. Donât worry, for I know what Iâm doing!â
Iâm not afraid of him. Instead, Iâd like to see what else he wants from me.
âIn that case, put on a bulletproof vest, Ms. Tanner. Youâll have a layer of protection if the suspect is in
possession of a weapon.â
âNo, itâs fine.â
At the end of her patience, Sophie strode right up the stairs.
âAttention, everyone. Be on standby, and once thereâs an opportunity, take the suspect down at once!â
Initially, the plan was to arrest the suspect and bring him back to the station. But now that he poses a
threat to others, weâve got no choice but to eliminate him.
âBut thatâs Clayton Zales!â
The Zales family is a prominent family in Jipsdale. If we were to shoot to kill, theyâll probably demand
an explanation.
âLives are at stake here, so listen to me. If something really happens, Iâll bear the responsibility alone.â
So what if heâs a member of the Zales family? Clayton Zales committed a crime, so he still has to be
arrested.
At that exact moment, Eustace arrived.
âWhy are you here, Captain Sheppard?â
I donât think such a trivial case would be assigned to him.
âWhereâs Sophie? Has she gone upstairs?â
Eustace happened to overhear that something happened at the Tanner residence, so he immediately
put everything aside and rushed over.
Despite knowing that Sophie was pretty capable, he still couldnât help wanting to come over for a look
at such a time.
In truth, he hoped that he could be of some help.
âYes. The suspect requested to see her.â
âOkay, got it. Right now, have your subordinates obey my directives.â
Mere moments after Eustace arrived, Tristan and Felix arrived as well.
When Tristan didnât see any signs of Sophie in the living room, his expression darkened.
âWhereâs Sophie?â
âWho are you? This is a crime scene, and only authorized personnel are allowed!â a police officer
stated bluntly, for he didnât recognize Tristan.
âCalm down, Mr. Tristan. Sophie is highly capable, so sheâll be fine.â
He rushed over the instant he learned about the matter. And heâs currently looking grim, so he must be
worried sick.
âI only want to know where she is right now!â
No matter how capable Sophie was, she was an ordinary woman to Tristan, and he didnât want to see
her suffering the slightest harm.
âSheâs upstairs.â
This manâs aura is simply too strong that I canât handle him.
âDonât worry, Mr. Tristan. With me here, Sophie will be fine.â Eustace once dined with them, so he was
naturally aware of Tristanâs relationship with Sophie.
âIâll protect my woman myself.â
After saying that, Tristan made a beeline for the stairs.
âI know youâre anxious now, but youâd only anger Clayton if you were to go upstairs now. Letâs wait for a
bit more.â Felix promptly held him back.
Sophie isnât a brainless person. Since she dared to go in, Iâm sure she has a way of getting back out.
Meanwhile, Sophie had already entered the room bare-handed. At the sight of Charmaine on the floor,
a frown marred her countenance.
Clayton, on the other hand, cackled upon seeing that she had finally come.
âDo you find yourself incredibly capable, Sophie? Iâve already humbled myself and begged you, yet you
still sabotaged me? You donât intend on leaving me any way out, right? How could you be so cruel?â At
that juncture, he was filled with rage.
As he talked, he had his hand around Willowâs neck.
Willow had been beaten up badly, and she didnât say a single word even when she spotted Sophie.
After all, there wasnât much she could say then.
She couldnât possibly bring herself to admit that she had been blind in the past.
After a long while, Charmaine finally reacted. âSave us, Soph! I know I hadnât shown you sufficient care
in the past and was even biased. But no matter what, weâre a family. Please save us!â
âI know youâre exceedingly capable. Donât come close to me. Prepare a car for me and take me away
from here! Otherwise, Iâll kill Willow.â
However, Sophie merely got herself a chair and sat down.
In the face of such a situation, she remained calm and unruffled.
Seeing that, even Charmaine was stunned.
âWhat are you doing, Soph? Willow is your sister! You canât sit back and watch her die!â Charmaine
bellowed urgently.
âCan you please shut up? Youâve been rowdy ever since I arrived.â Sophie detested noisy
environments, finding them irritating beyond words.
Charmaine was promptly struck dumb.
Rage blazed within her.
What kind of attitude is this?
Unfortunately, she couldnât show her anger at that juncture.
âIt looks like you still donât know me all that well after so long, Clayton. I donât like being threatened.
Besides, my relationship with Willow has always been tense. What has her well-being got to do with
me?â
âReally? Since youâre not at all concerned about her well-being, Iâll just kill her.â
Claytonâs eyes brimmed with bloodthirsty murderous intent.
âSure! Go ahead if you so wish to do so. Anyway, the police are crawling all over the place outside.
Make your move if you think you can escape,â Sophie replied nonchalantly.
âWhy, Sophie? Why must you target me like this?â
âNo reason. I merely find you displeasing to the eye. Is that a problem?â Sophie was as arrogant,
cocky, and domineering as ever.
Wilbur almost fell to his knees before her.
âThere must be some misunderstanding here, Ms. Tanner. Clayton merely wants to marry Ms. Tanner.
Please explain things to the police!â
The man was on the verge of tears.
All I wanted was to keep this job, but I never thought that it would escalate to murder!
At the same time, despair inundated Clayton.
He felt as though he had lost all hope.
âAre you saying that all this has been Claytonâs doing and has nothing to do with you all?â Needless to
say, Sophie understood what Wilbur was trying to say.
Wilbur and a few bodyguards who were around instantly nodded.
âThis really has nothing to do with me! We arenât murderers!â
âIn this case, go downstairs. While youâre at it, help bring Mrs. Tanner downstairs.â That way, she wonât
affect my mood here.
âDonât you dare!â
Clayton had been beaten up by Sophie before, so he naturally knew the brutality of her methods.
If he were to go through it again, he really couldnât guarantee that he would survive.
âWe really didnât want things to get to this, but all we wanted was to make a living!â After saying that,
Wilbur hastily helped Charmaine up and went downstairs.
Charmaine initially didnât want to leave, but at the look in Sophieâs eyes, she had no choice but to follow
the others downstairs.
âAll right, weâre finally the only ones left here. Willow is your fiancée, so go ahead if you want to kill her.â
Willow closed her eyes.
From the very beginning, Iâm destined to be the loser. No one cares about my well-being!
âBut if you manage to escape today, Iâll concede defeat.â