Chapter 157 Trap
As soon as Matthew stepped into the alley, something felt off.
The dim lighting cast obscure shadows ahead, where only a single store faintly glimmered in the lonely distance. Not a soul was in sight either ahead or behind. Hesitation gripped Matthew, but he pressed on.
Out of nowhere, he was suddenly struck by a club. Before he could react, he was pummeled mercilessly, his mouth was sealed with duct tape, then he was thrown into a car that sped off into the distance.
Bang!
Matthew was sprawled on the filthy ground, limbs bound by rope, immobilized, emitting only muffled noises.
Juliet Weaver approached, quickly rifling through his pockets, erasing every trace of their chat history and screenshots from his phone. Once done, she exhaled deeply in relief and gave Matthew a hard slap with the phone across his face.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're ugly?" She hissed at him.
"You really think I, Juliet Weaver, am in need of your petty millions to jump into bed with you?"
"Idiot!"
Matthew's eyes bulged with seething anger.
"Let's pretend we never saw each other after this, call it even. If not, I'll make sure you're dead!" Juliet barked fiercely. "Do you hear me?!"
Matthew looked at the fierce woman in front of him, who spat in his face when she was angry, and immediately felt his beautiful fantasy about her shattered.
How could he have ever imagined the woman he supported for months would be like this?
With a vicious yank, Juliet tore the duct tape from Matthew's mouth.
"Want to act like nothing happened? Fine, return my money."
He'd never been wealthy, and his intentions had been pure—he just didn't want his investment to go to waste.
"Return it?"
"I haven't even received it, why should I give it back to you?"
Her laughter mocked him.
"Besides, I never forced you to support me. You chose to spend your money. Whose fault is that?"
Matthew clenched his teeth in fury.
"What the hell are you trying to say, Juliet Weaver?"
"I bet all I had on you! Even the cash for my plane ticket was borrowed!"
Juliet looked down on his outraged face with disdain.
"Oh dear, you're that poor?"
"You talk of poverty, yet you play the big spender in livestreams?"
Matthew inhaled deeply, "Just tell me, will you return the money or not?"
"I'm not paying up, go ask the streaming platform if you're so capable! I've slogged all day without seeing a dime. Who am I supposed to reason with?” Juliet Weaver rolled her eyes, clearly unafraid of him.
"Alright, you play tough. If you don’t finish me off today, I swear I'll come after you another day! You think messing with me is fun, huh?" Matthew spat out venomously.
Juliet Weaver sneered, "We’ll see who takes down whom."
As long as Ally kept protecting her, she could just strut around here like she owned the place.
"Just stay put, alright?"
With that, Juliet Weaver got into her car.
Ally had been inside the vehicle all this while and hadn't heard their exchange.
But seeing Juliet exit so breezily, Ally frowned.
"Aren't you going to teach him a lesson? Letting him off just like that? What if he keeps harassing you?"
Juliet let out a pitiful whimper. “I... I can't... He said if I didn't let him off, he'd never let me off the hook..."
Ally casually scoffed and had one of their guys buy dozens of bottles of ice water, pouring them all into a tub.
" Dump it on him."
On Ally's command, someone stepped out of the car, carrying a large tub of freezing water, and splashed it all over Matthew.
The icy deluge gave him no chance to dodge, soaking him to the bone.
Chilled to the core, he shivered uncontrollably as the cold wind blew.
"Hmph, that should stop him from troubling other girls," Ally declared with a raised voice. "Let's roll!"
Juliet Weaver popped her head out of the car, looking triumphantly at Matthew.
Only once their car had vanished did Matthew manage to spit out a harsh curse.
"Juliet Weaver... you just wait!"
After this, Juliet's anxiety eased, and she couldn't help but ponder about Peter North.
"Ally, how's your brother been these past few days?"
"Luann Weaver must have the devil’s luck to have beaten your brother. He must be in a world of hurt now..."
Mentioning her brother, Ally couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.
"Yeah, he's been in bad shape, cooped up in his room clutching that necklace ever since the race."
Juliet frowned, "What necklace?"
"The diamond necklace for the race winner, he's been eyeing it forever. He even traded with Luann for it, gave away his favorite car and everything," sighed Ally.
A panic rushed through Juliet.
"Oh no, why would he want that necklace so badly? Please don't tell me it's for someone he’s sweet on?"
Ally immediately shook her head in firm dissent.
"Don't even joke about that; if my brother's never taken a liking to anyone, it's gotta be cars and only cars," she said dismissively.
Juliet Weaver breathed a sigh of relief, "Must be Luann Weaver riling him up, huh? How about we go and cheer him up?"
Ally responded by nodding.
On the way back to the the North family home, Ally couldn't stop bragging about how amazing Peter North had been abroad and how crucial this competition was for him. Yet, it was Luann Weaver who had found a chink in his armor, now the internet was abuzz with praise for her, casting doubts on Peter North's capabilities.
Juliet listened with growing impatience, turning to gaze out the window, only offering a noncommittal grunt when Ally engaged her.
Finally, they arrived at the Hodge residence. Juliet sprang from the car and dashed into the living room.
"Where's Peter North?" she asked.
"Upstairs," replied the servant.
Ally spread her hands helplessly, "See, just as I thought. Get my brother down here, will you? He hasn't eaten all day. Isn't he hungry?"
"I'll call him now."
Soon, Peter North descended the stairs at a leisurely pace, casting a measured look over the two women before settling onto the couch.
"Peter, are you okay?" asked Juliet in a soothing tone.
Peter nonchalantly flipped through the TV channels, ignoring her.
Juliet grew even more certain Peter North was deeply stung by Luann Weaver.
"Peter, I know how important the race was to you. It must be eating you up inside to lose to someone you don't even know," Juliet conveyed her sympathies.
"Anything that's hurting you, anything you can't bear, you can tell Ally and me. Maybe we can help you work it through."
