Chapter 310: Could Mija have been reborn?
Papers flew, lawyers stumbled back, children screamed. The guards and Linera rushed forward, but the couple was already locked in combat. They were wealthy and powerful but consumed by resentment. The briefcase with the rattle toppled, spilling its contents: an old but polished yellow, green and red rattle, with a wooden handle. It was absurdly small amidst the chaos.
Roy roared. "It is mine!"
Albana hissed, "Over my dead body!"
Mija whispered to Sienna. "This is the cliff where pride meets ruin."
Sienna raised her hand to call for order, but the office erupted into deeper chaos. Roy had mental strength, Albana had physical strength, and they had both unleashed their abilities. The guards were holding them away from each other, but the growling had not stopped, and neither had their struggle to reach each other.
Sienna’s voice thundered, "Stop this madness immediately!"
But the couple was beyond reason. The sounds coming from them were more beastly than ever.
In the midst of the fight, Mika rushed to Sienna, handing her a watch. It was his communication device. A message had come in from Wayo, asking Mika to inform her that Betty Ardente was dead. She had been murdered.
The watch fell from her hands and gasp was torn from her mouth. She took off running, leaving the chaotic couple behind. Her departure was made them stop fighting.
"Where are you going?" Albana screamed. "We are not done here."
They didn’t get a response from Sienna. Not even Mija addressed them. Mika took charge, explaining that an emergency had come up.
****
The streets of the quaint town where Betty Ardente had run to seek peace away from her family were quiet, except for the chaos outside her pharmacy. Betty’s body lay sprawled on ground, her yellow dress soaked red. Her husband knelt beside her, his white clothes drenched in blood, his hands shaking as he pressed against the wounds that had stolen her life.
Sienna’s heart clenched. Just yesterday, Betty had come to her office to thank her for the help she rendered and show her the official restraining order against her sister issued by the court. And now this.
Happy Ardente sat on the steps leading to the pharmacy, screaming in agony. Her right arm had been ripped off by Betty’s husband in a desperate attempt to disarm her and save his wife.
Standing tall amidst the chaos was Wayo, directing fox guards and maintaining order. He was also talking to the enforcers with clipped authority, ensuring that Happy Ardente got medical care first before she was hauled off to prison.
He jogged over to Sienna with a grim face. "You came quickly. Her husband mentioned that they had come to see you because his wife was scared for her life. He showed me the restraining order. I guess it was not enough."
Sienna’s voice was low. "How did this happen? I didn’t actually think that Happy could murder her own sister. It was one thing to frame her for this and that but to kill her!!"
At that moment, three people arrived at the scene, pushing through the barrier. As soon as their identities were confirmed, they were allowed through. It was the Ardente couple and their son-in-law Martin. Immediately, Happy cried out for her mother.
Mrs. Ardente rushed to Happy, sobbing uncontrollably as she looked at the enforcers. "She didn’t mean it! My Happy is pregnant, she is confused, she is not a murderer!"
Mr. Ardente crouched over Betty’s body, his hands trembling as he brushed blood from her face. His voice was broke, "My child...my child, my pride. She is gone. Why did this happen?"
Sienna felt his grief. He might not have been loud in supporting Betty, but he loved her. For the rest of his life, he would regret not having nipped Happy’s entitlement in the bud.
Betty’s husband slapped Mr. Ardente’s hand away from her cold face. "Don’t touch her. If you had not allowed favoritism in your house, this would not happened. You are asking why this happened, that’s why. Because you were not man enough to stop your wife. Happy shot my wife. I was stepping down from the car when it happened. I tore that monster’s arm from her body when I was trying to stop her. I would have torn her heart out if the tribal guards had not reached quickly."
His first priority had been to save Betty, but Happy’s shots had been fatal. Three, straight to the heart. They bullets had been further coated in poison to ensure no survival. His wife had died within less than a minute of being shot.
Martin stood nearby, silent, frozen like a statue. His eyes were empty. his body rigid. He did not move, did not speak.
Sienna studied him. Was it shock? Or guilt?
The enforcers hovered, waiting for Sienna’s command. Betty’s husband had denied them entry into the pharmacy. Happy was still bleeding heavily, her pregnancy complicating everything. If treatment was delayed, she might die before trial. If they rushed to her to prison now, she might miscarry.
Mija shook Sienna’s hand. "You have to save the murderer."
Sienna didn’t respond.
Mija sighed. "She must live to face trial."
Sienna nodded to the enforcers. "You have my permission to enter the pharmacy despite his refusal. Treat her wounds. Then take her. If her arm can be restored, take her to a hospital. Not one of the major ones, a small one."
As the enforcers rushed off, Wayo stepped closer, his voice low but urgent. "My lady, you will need to go to the city to give a statement, or the enforcers will visit your office. They will require records of the legal procedures you followed when overseeing the case between the two sisters. Everyone that was there will be questioned. When the trial comes, you will be called as a witness. Happy killed the wife of a noble, this case cannot be tried in the tribe. She will be taken to the capital."
Mija’s eyes widened. "That’s it! Happy wanted Betty to leave her husband because he is a noble. She was jealous because her sister’s status had changed. Betty was a noble by marriage. Her children would be noble. We should have known that Happy would never let this go."
For a moment, they all kept quiet.
Mrs. Ardente crawled toward Sienna, clutching her cloak. "Please, spare her. She is my child. She carries life within her. She did not mean it. She was jealous, yes, but jealousy is not murder. She was lost on rage."
Sienna’s eyes remained hard. "She pulled the trigger three times, aiming for the heart. She ended her sister’s life. That cannot be undone."