"I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong!" Westin had never faced such a scene before. He was a man deeply afraid of death.
"Janelle! Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its own cubs! I just wanted to scare you! I never, ever intended to kill you!" he pleaded, voice trembling. "And... and all of this was Amber's idea! It had nothing to do with me! Really! I was wrong!" Westin collapsed, kneeling on the ground.
"..." Amber was utterly speechless. She hadn't anticipated Westin would throw her under the bus like this.
"Westin, you—!" Amber was livid.
But Janelle's gun muzzle was already pointed at her.
"I..." Panic seized Amber. Janelle was a madwoman. Facing her like this, reason was useless.
"How did you frame my mother five years ago?" Janelle's voice was icy.
Amber froze.
"Others might not know, but as her daughter, how could I not know how you pressured her? I'm giving you one last chance. Talk. Or not?"
Amber looked desperately at Westin. He refused to meet her gaze. When disaster strikes, husband and wife fly separate ways. His only thought now was saving his own skin.
"Yes! The incident five years ago was also her doing! She did it for the money, for control of Blue Whale Co., Ltd.!" Westin piled on.
"Westin, you've disappointed me beyond words." Amber felt like her five years of devotion had been fed to a dog. The man had no spine whatsoever.
"Amber, just admit it!" Westin urged. Didn't she claim to love him? If she loved him, couldn't she take the fall?
Amber found it bitterly funny. This was the reality of second marriages, wasn't it? They could only go so far. "Admit what? That you abandoned your wife and child, Westin? Janelle, what do you want to know? The past is past. What does it matter if I admit it now? Are you going to kill me?" Amber threw caution to the wind. This wasn't the border. Even if Janelle had a gun, would she actually kill someone here? Murder was illegal in China.
Janelle stood up and walked over to Amber. Amber tried to stand her ground despite the suffocating pressure. She didn't regret what she'd done five years ago. Some actions, once taken, were irreversible.
Janelle pressed the gun muzzle against Amber's temple. Amber's legs buckled.
"So," Janelle said coldly, "you admit it. Now, I want you to apologize to my mother."
"What? Unwilling?" Janelle pulled the trigger.
Click.
The gun was empty.
"Ahhh—!" Amber screamed in terror, then collapsed onto the floor, trembling.
"..." Amber stared, wide-eyed and breathless.
Janelle calmly ejected the empty magazine. "Oh, out of bullets. Wait a moment." She pulled out a fresh magazine and loaded it into the pistol right in front of Amber's horrified eyes. The snick of the magazine seating was unnervingly loud. "..." Amber couldn't utter a sound.
"Apologizing now?" Janelle asked, the loaded gun still aimed.
Amber nodded frantically. "Yes! I apologize! I apologize!"
Janelle took out her phone and pointed the camera at Amber. "Begin. Let me be clear: misspeak one word, and I fire. This magazine has enough bullets for you." She sounded almost reasonable. "I'm such a good person, still reminding you even now."
Amber seethed with resentment. But facing this direct, ruthless, and lethally dangerous Janelle, she was utterly powerless.
"Amber, just do as she says!" Westin pleaded, genuinely terrified of Janelle now.
Amber was consumed by bitterness. She'd fought so hard for everything; how could she surrender it now? But confronted by Janelle's icy danger, she had no choice.
"Fine. I'll talk."
Janelle sat back down, propping her phone up to record.
"Five years ago..." Amber began, recounting the sordid events one by one. Janelle's face remained impassive throughout.
When Amber finished, the living room was unnervingly silent.
"Your turn," Janelle said coldly to Westin.
Hearing those past events recounted, the pain for her tormented mother flared anew.
Westin spoke. Cornered, he dared not hide anything. He confessed everything too.
"Janelle, no matter what, I am your father! Spare me!" Westin begged on his knees. "Let bygones be bygones! We'll bring your mother back! We can be a proper family again! Okay?"
"..."
Be a proper family? Janelle almost laughed out loud. "Are you worthy?"
"Westin, death is too kind for you. I want you ruined." Janelle stated flatly. She called Simon.
Simon arrived promptly with his men. "Janelle, we're here."
"Throw them out. This is my mother's house." Janelle's voice was steel. "Everything that belonged to my mother, I will take back."
Simon signaled his men to enter.
Erik walked in as well, seeing Westin and Amber crumpled on the floor. He went straight to Janelle's side. "Done?"
"Yes."
Westin and Amber watched helplessly as strangers invaded their home. They wanted to resist, but the gun in Janelle's hand was a potent deterrent.
"Janelle! You can't do this! This is my home!" Westin protested weakly.
"Throw them out." Janelle was beyond discussion.
Simon gestured, and two men hauled Westin and Amber off the floor and towards the door.
Lillie arrived home just in time to see her parents being unceremoniously thrown out onto the pavement.
"What's going on?!" Lillie cried, rushing to them.
"Janelle's back. She kicked us out," Amber spat, brushing dirt off her clothes.
"What?! How can she? This is our home!" Lillie declared, utterly oblivious to the fact it had never truly belonged to them.
Amber didn't reply. Janelle had a gun. She was insane. But if the police came...
"Westin, call the police! We can't let this continue, or none of us will have peace!" Amber urged. Janelle was doing all this for Madalyn's revenge. Illegal possession of a firearm was a crime.
Westin didn't hesitate. He had been cowardly earlier, but who wouldn't be in that situation? He pulled out his phone and dialed 110.
"I want to report Janelle Rovella! She illegally possesses a firearm and tried to kill me!" he shouted into the phone.
"Evidence? Don't you find evidence? Isn't that your job?" he snapped at the dispatcher. "Yes! She's at my villa right now! She just threw me out!" Westin ground his teeth. If Janelle got arrested, Blue Whale Co., Ltd. would be his again.
Hanging up, Westin refused to leave. He would stay and watch the police take Janelle away.
"But... where are we supposed to live now?" Lillie asked the practical question.
Amber also looked at Westin. Hadn't he bought a villa for his little mistress?
"Once the police arrest Janelle, we can move back in here," Westin stated confidently.