Chapter 262 That's Ember's Problem
Katniss showed up so fast and in her pajamas that Jessica figured she must live in the same building.
But right now, Jessica didn't care about that. She cried out, "Katniss, you have to save Rupert!"
"What happened to him?" Katniss saw the panic in Jessica's eyes and felt a knot form in her stomach. "Where is he?"
Jessica's tears flowed. Rupert was her husband, and he had always been good to her.
She explained, "Mom gambled and borrowed money from loan sharks. She couldn't pay it back, so she came to you for money. But they wouldn't let her leave, so she left Rupert as collateral."
Katniss's mind was racing. Ember's situation had already drained her, and the sleepless nights were catching up. Now, with Jessica's cries echoing in her ears, she felt like she might pass out.
Just then, Tristan stepped out of the elevator and quickly supported her, glaring at Jessica. "You still have the nerve to show up here? Are you looking for trouble?"
His anger was palpable, making Jessica's legs go weak. She stumbled back and sat on the floor.
Through her sobs, she pleaded, "Katniss, no matter what, you have to save Rupert. They only gave us seven days, and today is the last day!"
Jessica hadn't brought Ember along, fearing her sharp tongue would anger Katniss.
What if Katniss got mad and decided not to help Rupert?
Katniss took a deep breath and asked, "Where exactly is Rupert? Give me the contact info for the loan sharks Ember borrowed from."
Jessica's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope. "He's in a small town in Harmony City. The main guy there is Robert Davis. He handles stuff like this and has connections. He's managed to dodge serious trouble even after almost causing deaths a few times."
She pulled out her phone and shared the contact info with Katniss.
Katniss jotted it down and replied coldly, "You can leave now. I'll handle this. Don't come back here, or else..."
"I'll leave!" Jessica got up, wiping her tears and nose, and walked out. While waiting for the elevator, she added, "Katniss, Mom owes $70,000. Even though you're saving Rupert, you're paying off Mom's debt."
In other words, she only owed Katniss a favor at most.
She didn't have any money, so don't expect her to pay it back in the future!
Having seen Jessica's cold-hearted calculations before, Katniss wasn't surprised by her words.
Katniss shot back, "Who said I was going to pay the money? I have my own ways to save Rupert. As for the money, that's Ember's problem!"
Harmony City was a small place with weak law enforcement. One person could dominate while ordinary people suffered.To most folks, Robert might seem like a big shot, but if he ever faced someone who knew their stuff and understood the law, he'd crumble pretty fast.
The flight from Velvet City to Harmony City took about two hours. Katniss decided to go herself because she needed to see Rupert right away.
The worst part of this whole mess wasn't Ember borrowing from loan sharks; it was that she left Rupert as collateral with those thugs!
How could Ember even call herself a mother?
It was hard to imagine what Rupert had gone through during those seven days with those people.
When the plane landed in Harmony City, Tristan had already arranged for a car. After more than an hour of navigating the winding mountain roads, they finally reached the outskirts of the small town.
The place was nice, and getting around was easy. If you were willing to work hard, you could easily support a family here.
That's why Katniss had encouraged Rupert to settle down in this area.
And those loan sharks? If people lived right and didn't borrow from them, they couldn't force anyone. They didn't mess with most regular folks.
The bumpy mountain roads made Katniss feel queasy. The ride was so rough she thought she might throw up.
Tristan took care of her the whole way. He hadn't wanted her to come, but she insisted.
He wasn't sure if she wanted to see Rupert first or if she just didn't want him worrying about her anymore.
Tristan respected her decision but wouldn't let her come alone. Katniss understood his intentions, so she didn't refuse his company.
Tristan had quietly smoothed things over in advance.
So when they got to the local police station and mentioned anything about loan sharks and Robert, the cops immediately followed Katniss to arrest him.
As it turned out, Katniss didn't even need to use the professional knowledge she'd learned from Benjamin.
The police were relentless, giving Robert no chance to resist. He muttered curses under his breath but had no one to call for help. A stern look from a cop quickly shut him up.
Robert's hideout looked like a small factory on the outside, but there was a casino in the back. The police rounded up about twenty people.
When Katniss asked about Rupert, Robert realized Ember hadn't brought him money but trouble.
"Fine, I admit it's illegal to detain someone privately. I'll plead guilty. You can take the guy, but Ember owes me money, and there's a promissory note. She..." Robert wanted to argue that the law prohibited loan sharking, but he also knew he had the right to recover the $14,000 principal.
He'd been in this game a long time and would sometimes back down when he ran into tough people, only taking the principal.
With his gambling and other shady actions, he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison.But Katniss wasn't interested in how Ember would handle the loan shark mess with Robert. She cut him off, "I'm taking him with me. Any issues you have with Ember, you can sort out on your own!"
Robert was taken aback. So she wasn't here to kill him, just to take Rupert away?
He quickly pointed to a small, shabby room in the back. "No problem, Rupert's right there. You can take him now."
The place was a dump, with trash and broken tree roots everywhere.
The small, shabby room didn't even have a window, and the door was locked. Rupert could have broken the door and escaped if he wanted to.
But when the door opened, Katniss understood why Rupert hadn't run.
He was too scared.
As soon as he heard the door open, Rupert fell to the ground, hands clasped together, trembling and pleading, "I didn't borrow the money; it was my mom. Please, just let me go. I'll save up and pay it back, I swear. Or just end it! Please stop hitting me."
The once slightly chubby Rupert was now thin. Even though it was late autumn and the room was only in the forties, he was wearing just a short-sleeved shirt.
His bare forearms were marked with scars, both fresh and old.
He was covered in dust, ash, and dried grass. The room had no bed, and the floor was cold and damp.
Who knows how he had survived these last few days?
"Rupert..." Katniss could only call his name, unable to say anything else.
Rupert's body went rigid, and his pleas stopped suddenly. He glanced up quickly.
Tristan and Katniss were framed in the doorway, backlit by the bright daylight, making it hard for Rupert to see their expressions.
He stared in terror, unable to believe it, and called out, "Katniss? This can't be!"
"I was just trying to scare him a bit, not really hurt him," Robert shouted from outside the door. "Rupert, what are you playing at? She's right here!"
With Robert's shout, Rupert trembled again, curling up and only daring to glance sideways to see if it was really Katniss.
Katniss turned her head sharply and gave Robert a cold look, making him shut up immediately.
With that turn, Rupert saw clearly and immediately broke down in tears, losing all the dignity of a man in his twenties. In an instant, all his grievances came flooding out.
He didn't even have the strength to stand up, crawling to Katniss and hugging her leg, sobbing hard.
Robert remarked, "All your kindness to her wasn't in vain. She really came when you were in trouble. If you had called her earlier as I suggested, you wouldn't have had to suffer."
He tried to appear like the good guy in front of Katniss and Tristan. "Miss Grey, I heard from your mom that she went looking for you. I asked Rupert if he had your contact information and told him to call you for money, but he refused. I had to teach him a lesson a few times, but he wouldn't budge and even smashed his phone, refusing to reach out to you."What he said made Katniss's heart ache, and her eyes blurred with tears.
"I'm not leaving. The money wasn't borrowed by Katniss, so her paying it back doesn't count!" Rupert thought Katniss had paid off the debt for Ember, which was why he could leave.
He went back to the corner and sat down, leaving a stubborn and heartbreaking silhouette. "Katniss, let this be the last time I call you. From now on, you have nothing to do with me or Ember!"
Katniss's voice shook as she said, "Let Ember pay it back herself. I'm just here to take you away."
Hearing this, Rupert moved, looked back at her a few times, and then looked at Robert.
Robert said, "I'll go after your mom for it later."
Only then did Rupert believe it, and he started crying again, not knowing if it was out of sadness or grievance.
This wasn't the place for a reunion. Katniss walked over, bent down, and pulled Rupert up. "Stop crying. I'm taking you away from here."
She couldn't manage to move Rupert on her own, so Tristan stepped in to help, and Rupert barely managed to stand.
Rupert hadn't been deprived of food or water over the past few days; he had just been in a poor environment and endured some beatings. As a result, he had no internal injuries and was able to walk.
Noticing how dirty he was compared to Katniss and Tristan, he quickly recoiled his hand, refusing their support.
"I can walk," he insisted.
Rupert was quite clumsy, to the point where Katniss sometimes found his awkwardness infuriating.
Yet, he was also incredibly considerate, to the extent that it often made people feel sorry for him.
Katniss clearly remembered that Rupert had a small house in Harmony City, but he took her to a 200-square-foot one-bedroom apartment.
The environment was terrible, with a musty and rusty smell in the air, and the few pieces of furniture were in disrepair.
Because Rupert hadn't paid the water bill, there was no water at home.
Rupert couldn't even manage to clean himself up. He wiped down two relatively clean chairs with a cloth and gestured for Katniss and Tristan to sit.
Seeing this, Katniss hesitated, overwhelmed by sadness and unable to find the words, so she chose not to sit down. She wanted to ask Rupert what he had endured over the past year.
But she couldn't bring herself to ask.
However, her silence and stillness made Rupert think she found him repulsive.
Rupert's hands clenched the fabric tightly. "Katniss, you need to leave. Don't come back. No matter what Mom and Jessica say, don't worry about me. Just pretend you don't have that mother or this brother."
Even though Katniss hadn't paid for it, she had journeyed all the way from Velvet City, filled with concern.
Given Ember's behavior, who knew how much more trouble she might create for Katniss in the future.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
