Chapter 168 Why Not Just Tell Him
Isabella soaked in the bathtub, lost in her thoughts.
Nina, worried she might do something drastic, stayed close by.
After half an hour, Isabella finally broke the silence. "Nina, Raymond didn't do anything to me, did he?"
Isabella had a hunch. There were no marks on her body, and she felt no discomfort. But she needed to hear it to be sure.
Nina shook her head. "No, he didn't. Deborah took off your clothes. Luckily, Leo showed up in time, and you called the cops yourself. Otherwise, who knows what could've happened."
Isabella closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek.
She had called the police on her way there, but she was too worried about Nina at the time, thinking it would be fine if she went up first.
Who could have thought that Deborah and Raymond would do such a despicable thing?
Even though Raymond didn't touch her, the thought of Deborah using her filthy hands to take off her clothes made Isabella feel utterly disgusted.
She had indeed underestimated how evil people could be!
Nina said, "It was Charlie who deceived me. He used the pretext of discussing divorce to tie me up. Bella, I almost got you hurt!"
If Isabella had really been raped by Raymond today, Nina wouldn't have been able to live with herself.
Isabella, with tears on her face, asked, "Charlie didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Nina replied, "No. Fortunately, Zaire came to find me, otherwise, who knows what would have happened."
Actually, Nina didn't tell the truth.
Back then, she was in real danger. Charlie tied her up and locked the warehouse door. Originally, Charlie intended to wait until Raymond succeeded before releasing her. However, later, Charlie even tried to force Nina to have sex with him in the warehouse.
The one who broke in to save her wasn't Zaire, but one of Richard's men. Zaire had also just come to find her.
Nina didn't have time to dwell on the fact that Richard had sent someone to monitor her. She and Zaire talked, and they brought Charlie back to save Isabella.
However, they were still a step too late.
When they arrived, Leo had already brought the police into the house and had Raymond and Deborah under control.
With the situation exposed, Deborah quickly confessed everything, saying she was the one who took off Isabella's clothes.
Raymond, at that time, had only taken off his pants halfway.
Even so, Nina was furious.
How could Isabella be treated so badly by someone like that?
It was already midnight when Isabella finished her bath.
She crawled into bed, and her phone rang again.
Seeing the name "Seb" on the screen, Isabella's nose tingled; she couldn't help but shed tears.
Nina, watching from the side, couldn't bear it and said, "Answer it."
Isabella wiped away her tears before answering the call.
The moment the call connected, Seb fell silent on the other end.
Isabella didn't speak either, but her fingers tightened around the phone.
She thought, 'Seb must care a lot about this, right?'
Even she felt humiliated, let alone Seb.
After a dozen seconds, Seb's voice came through, heavy and clearly suppressing a surge of anger. But he was still afraid of scaring her, so he softened his tone as much as possible. "It's okay now. I'm on my way back. You can sleep peacefully, and you'll see me first thing in the morning."
Isabella wanted to say something, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't speak.
After hanging up, Isabella just kept crying.
Nina felt a pang in her heart. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said, "You're already showing; why not tell him about the baby?"
Isabella looked at her.
Nina explained, "Originally, there was no rush, but after what happened, I don't want there anything else to come between you and Seb."
The baby was already a barrier; if this incident made things worse, Nina didn't dare to think about it.
After much thought, she felt the best way to fix things was to tell Seb the truth about the baby.
Isabella understood Nina's point, but wouldn't mentioning it now make her seem even more guilty?
Isabella shook her head. "No, I can't tell him now!"
Isabella had never thought of using the baby as a bargaining chip. It could be discussed at any time, but not now! Not when she needed Seb's complete trust!
"What will you do then?" Nina asked, worried.
Isabella turned her back to Nina, wrapped in the blanket, and said in a muffled voice, "I need to think it over."
Zaire came by late at night.
Isabella was already asleep.
To avoid waking her, Nina and Zaire went to the outer room to talk.
Nina asked, "How is it? Enough to press charges?"
Zaire said, "Raymond has been detained; the judicial process is underway. Since you and Charlie are still legally married, and he didn't cause you actual harm, it's considered a family issue. After giving his statement, he was released from the police station."
Nina gritted her teeth. "But if it weren't for Charlie, how could Bella have come to the house to find me? If she hadn't gone to the house, she wouldn't have fallen into their trap. This has everything to do with Charlie!"
Letting Charlie go like this was a real shame!
Nina now regretted it every time she thought of Charlie. She should have listened to Bella earlier. If she had divorced Charlie before having a child, none of this would have happened.
Zaire said, "I understand how you feel. But we have no evidence. From start to finish, Charlie just answered a phone call."
Zaire added, "But don't worry, I'll have someone keep an eye on Charlie."
This meant that Charlie better not make any mistakes elsewhere. Otherwise, Charlie wouldn't escape.
"That's all we can do," Nina said.
Zaire asked a few more questions about Isabella. It was very late; he and Leo, being men, were of no use there. The hotel was under the Jose group. Zaire had already spoken to the staff to ensure absolute safety.
Leo and Zaire left the hotel together.
Just as Leo was about to get in the car, Zaire called out to him, "Leo."
Leo turned around.
Zaire didn't speak, just stared at him.
"What's up?" Leo asked.
Zaire asked, "Why were you at Green Valley Community?"
Leo's eyes flickered, and he said, "I followed Isabella there."
"You followed Isabella?" Zaire was a bit surprised and puzzled. "Why?"
Leo said, "We visited Samantha at the psychiatric hospital during the day. After I took Isabella back, she seemed emotionally unstable and looked unwell. I was worried, so after work, I went to check on her. Just as I arrived, I saw her driving out of the neighborhood. So I followed her."
Zaire pondered for a moment and nodded. "Sounds reasonable."
Leo said, "It's the truth."
Zaire gave him a deep look. "I hope Seb will believe you when he asks."
After saying that, he got in the car and left.
Leo stood there for a moment before getting in his car and leaving as well.
