Chapter 62 - 62: Kick Out

Several bodyguards emerge from the front door of the house, carrying two large suitcases. Unceremoniously, they dump the luggage onto the ground. Leonie follows her luggage, crying pitifully. When she sees Evan, she kneels on the ground in front of him.

"Evan, why did you throw my luggage out?" Leonie asks.

After Evan kicked her out of the car she caught a cab back to the Howel mansion. She immediately went to find Mrs. Florence Howel to win her pity but found that she'd left the house to play cards with her friends. Leonie went to sulk in her room but was interrupted by several rude bodyguards who began packing her things for her.

"Why did you lock Avery in the dressing room?" Evan snaps.

"What? Avery was locked in the dressing room? When? How?" Leonie asks.

"Don't play innocent," Evan says disgustedly, "You and Avery were the only people in the room. I can check the security footage and show you."

"Please Evan, I don't know what the footage shows, but I swear I didn't do anything," Leonie begs, "You have to believe me: I was looking for Avery, but I couldn't find her in the dressing room."

"Avery didn't send me any message, and yet I got a text from her," Evan scowls, "You were the only person who had access to her phone. How do you explain that?"

"I don't know about any text," Leonie whimpers, "Maybe she's lying to you."

"You're the one who's lying, Leonie," Evan raises his chin and calls an order over his shoulder, "Whip her and see if it makes her tell the truth!"

A bodyguard quickly appears with a whip in hand.

"Please, please, brother Evan. I didn't do anything—-ahhh" Leonie screams as the whip descends on her back. The bodyguard is strong and the single stroke tears through her clothes and leaves a red welt on her back.

The whip descends again with a brutal crack and Leonie screams.

"You were waiting just outside the dressing room," Leonie whimpers, "Why would I do something so stupid when it would be so easy to catch me?"

The guard raises the whip to hit her again.

"Stop it," a dignified voice rings out across the yard.

"Grandma, please, I'm innocent," Leonie begs, "I swear I didn't lock Avery up in the hotel dressing room. Oh, it hurts so badly"

Leonie writhes on the ground and m.o.a.ns, there are two visible marks on her back.

"Evan, Leonie is our guest. How dare you have her beaten with a whip?" Florence Howel scolds, "If the Summers saw her like this, how could you possibly explain yourself?"

"I don't need to explain myself to anyone," Evan responds.

"Evan, Grandma, I didn't do it, really," Leonie m.o.a.ns.

"Leonie is a good, honorable young woman and she never lies," Florence Howel says, "If she says she didn't do, that's the truth. Evan, I forbid you from having her whipped again."

Evan folds his hands behind his back and nods at the bodyguard to continue. As the bodyguard raises his arm, Florence Howel runs and covers Leonie's body with her own.

"Evan, if you want to hit Leonie, you have to hit me first."

Evan frowns slightly, "Pull my grandmother away."

Florence Howel grips Leonie tightly and prepares to resist the bodyguard. "Evan, if you hate Leonie, it means you hate me," she says with a tremble in her voice, "If you want to hit Leonie, you'll have to hit me first."

The bodyguard doesn't dare risk accidentally whipping Florence Howel, but he can't defy Evan's request either. He hesitates, unsure of what to do.

Leonie seizes the opportunity, "Please Evan," she pleads and wipes tears from her cheek.

"Evan, Leonie is still young," Florence Howel says, "Even if she did something wrong, you should forgive her. The whip beats so painfully on such a young back."

Evan glares at his grandmother. In three years, she's had Avery whipped many times. Is Avery's back not as sensitive as Leonie's?

"Leonie dear, tell me what happened," Florence Howel says, examining the welts on Leonie's back.

"Grandma, in the afternoon, Avery and I went to the hotel dressing room together. I couldn't find her after my shower so I thought she'd left. I told Evan she was gone. Somehow Evan got the idea that I looked her in the dressing room, but I swear I didn't do it," Leonie starts to cry as if her life depends on it.

Robert approaches Evan and whispers, "Mr. Howel, there may have been a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Evan asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I've just received information that suggests it was Michelle Cindy who locked Avery in the dressing room," Robert explains, "I have already asked others to punish her."

Florence Howel overheard Robert and she becomes bolder.

"I'm right. Leonie would never do such a thing," she said smugly, "Evan, your wife is a strange and rude woman. She probably offended someone."

"Grandma, Evan is just anxious," Leonie says artfully, "But I do feel rather uncomfortable about the misunderstanding. I think I'd like to move back to my family."

As she speaks, her hand unconsciously forms into a fist. She blames Avery for her whipping and she vows to see Avery punished in the same way.

"Leonie please, you can't go anywhere dear," Florence Howel cajoles, "Evan whipped you and accused you of something you didn't do, but that's his fault, not yours. You can live here as long as you want and as long as you live."

She turns to her grandson, "Evan, say something."

"No matter how long you live?" Evan says in a strange tone, "Fine, take Miss Summers' luggage to my grandmother's rooms."

The bodyguards immediately begin to work.

Avery is lying on the sofa and checking her emails on her phone. Ever since she sent the email to Diana, she can't help but check her emails every few minutes. She sighs—there still isn't a reply.

She looks across the room and sees that Lucky hasn't moved an inch since Evan ordered him to stay, but he's gazing at her with friendly intensity.

"Lucky, come here," she calls.

Lucky barks and wags his tail in response, but he doesn't move.

"God, he's a monster," Avery says aloud, "Even his dog is terrified of him."

Suddenly a maid rushes into the room in a panic.

"Yes?" Avery asks.

The maid stumbles over her words, "I thought you'd want to know that Miss Summers is being punished."

"What? Why?" Avery asks.

"Mr. Howel accused her of locking you in the dressing room and causing you to get hurt. He's furious."

"Oh," Avery finally manages to say.

"Leonie has bullied and tortured me for years and Evan has never intervened," Leonie thinks, "Now suddenly, he's having her punished?"

She can't help but recall what the clerk said in the pharmacy. She struggles to her feet and winces with pain in her waist.

"Mrs. Howel, what are you trying to do?" the maid asks with sudden concern, "Mr. Howel made it very clear to us that we weren't supposed to let you leave this sofa. He'd very concerned about your injury."

"I want to see her punishment for myself," Avery says.

"Mrs. Howel, don't move, please. Mr. Howel will punish us severely," the maid begs, "Besides, it's already over. I'll tell you what happened. Mr. Howel had Miss Summers' luggage thrown out of the house and then he ordered the guards to whip her. And then, Mrs. Florence Howel arrived."

Avery raises her eyebrows. Of course, Florence Howel would be by Leonie's side.

"So, she protected Leonie from the punishment?" Avery asks, suddenly bored.

"Yes. She covered Miss Summers' body with her own and insisted on her innocence," the maid explains, "Then Robert said that Miss Summers didn't do it; instead, it was someone who works at the hotel. Evan was still angry and he ordered Miss Summers to stay in Mrs. Florence Howel's room."

"Miss Summers is a good person and everyone likes her," Avery says sarcastically, "Of course she found someone willing to take the fall for her."

Avery sighs. She knows that Evan won't go against his grandmother and insist on punishing Leonie. What's more, if Florence Howel continued to champion Leonie, things might become even more dangerous for Avery. Avery knows that as long as she stays in the Howel house, she's in danger.

She can understand it. Grandma is a grandma. So, if grandma is here, she will be in danger.

"I happen to agree with that," a cold voice says from the door.