Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 411

Tricia’s eyes flashed with irritation. “Why are you bothering me? Do I even know you?”

The woman with the cropped hair dropped her forced smile and stood abruptly, striding over to Tricia. Without a word, she slapped her hard across the face.

The blow knocked Tricia to the floor. By the time she regained her bearings, the three women had already surrounded her.

The short-haired woman yanked her up by the hair, forcing Tricia to look her in the eye. “Do you even know where you are? You’re already in here—what are you acting so high and mighty for?”

“You…You must have the wrong person,” Tricia stammered, catching the malice in their eyes. Her bravado vanished in an instant.

“Oh, we know exactly who you are.” The woman sneered, tightening her grip on Tricia’s chin until it hurt. “Your name’s Tricia, isn’t it? Or do you want me to remind you what you’ve done?”

Tricia’s shoulder trembled. She shoved the woman away with sudden force. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! This is the police station—if you touch me, you’ll regret it!”

The heavyset woman folded her arms. “So you do know you’re at the police station? Funny—didn’t you do the same thing to someone else before?”

“What do you mean—” Tricia’s words caught in her throat as realization began to dawn.

The short-haired woman didn’t give her a chance to piece things together. She kicked Tricia hard, sending her reeling. The three women descended on her, fists and feet flying. Tricia curled up, crying out for mercy, but the blows kept coming. At some point, the security camera in the corner—no one knew when—had been quietly turned off.

Not until Tricia was barely conscious did a guard rush in, shouting, “What’s going on in here?”

Tricia lay on the floor, every inch of her body throbbing with pain. Her ears rang so loud she could barely make out any voices around her. All she knew was agony—her bones felt shattered, and something hot and wet trickled down from her brow across her cheek.

In that moment, one name flashed through her mind.

Hiram.

…

After leaving the station, Charlotte headed to Mrs. Rivers’ home, accepting her invitation to join a card game. Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Chamberlain were already there.

It was Charlotte’s first time playing; Mrs. Rivers explained the rules, and after a few rounds, Charlotte quickly got the hang of it. Before long, she’d won a tidy sum.

Mrs. Chamberlain teased, “Beginner’s luck! If we were playing for high stakes, none of us would be leaving with our wallets intact tonight.”

The implication wasn’t lost on Charlotte. “Does she have some sort of relationship with the Vinterbergs?”

“I’m not sure about that,” Mrs. Rivers replied thoughtfully. “All I know is there’s definitely something going on between her and Neely. Otherwise, Neely wouldn’t have divorced his wife for her.”

Charlotte lowered her gaze, debating whether to ask the question that had been on her mind. Finally, she spoke. “Mrs. Rivers, do you know much about Neely?”

Mrs. Rivers considered. “I haven’t met him that often, but my husband has mentioned him. He’s…smooth. Knows how to play the game, socially speaking. That’s how he’s built such a strong network and climbed to where he is now. Odd, though—after all that, he just quit his job out of the blue and cut ties with everyone.”

Charlotte said nothing.

In her mind’s eye, she kept seeing that faceless man in a raincoat, his features blurred by the storm.

At that moment, her phone began to ring.

Charlotte picked up. It was Vera. “Tricia’s been brought to the hospital—she’s in the ICU!”