I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 139: The Biker Gang

Grace Winslow froze for a moment, then realized she was being robbed by a snatch-and-grab thief.

’What rotten luck,’ she thought. ’To run into something like this right after leaving the post office.’

The man had clearly been watching from nearby. He knew she had withdrawn money and came for her immediately.

His target was clear.

The moment Grace registered what was happening, she planted her feet in a horse stance.

The thief was on a bicycle, and despite yanking with all his might, he couldn’t budge her.

It seemed Grace’s recent training had paid off.

She gripped the strap of her bag, gave it a sharp tug, and pulled the man right off his bicycle.

The man hit the ground hard and rolled twice, his hand instinctively letting go of Grace’s bag.

Grace walked over and planted her foot on his chest. "You’ve got some nerve, robbing someone in broad daylight."

Just then, people rushed out of the post office. The surrounding crowd of onlookers snapped to their senses and surged forward, restraining the bag-snatcher in moments.

"Miss, are you alright?"

Grace shook her head. "There’s a police station nearby. Let’s take him there."

"No, no, don’t take me to the police station! I—I was forced to do this! It was a desperate measure."

"My child is sick at home and needs a lot of money for treatment. I sold everything I own, spent all our family’s savings, and it still wasn’t enough. I truly had no other choice, so I thought of waiting here to rob someone. This is my first time! I swear I’ll never do it again! Please don’t take me to the police station, I’m begging you, please..."

The man was a blubbering mess of tears and snot.

Grace looked him up and down.

The man was wearing a navy blue polyester-blend shirt with a pair of black pants made of the same material.

Coronet wasn’t Prospera Town, where a failing garment factory might sell such clothes on the cheap. Buying a set like this at a department store would cost at least ten dollars.

And the clothes on the man looked quite new and clean.

They were either recently bought or stolen.

Either way, what he had just said wasn’t necessarily the truth.

Grace didn’t say anything. She just walked over, righted his bicycle, and brought it back to stand before him. "Is that so? Then what illness does your child have?"

The man froze, surprised that Grace would ask for details.

He opened his mouth but couldn’t come up with an answer.

An onlooker in the crowd couldn’t help but speak up. "Young lady, I see you haven’t lost anything. He tried to rob you, but he didn’t succeed, right?"

"As the saying goes, everyone deserves a second chance. We should give a comrade who’s made a mistake an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. Let’s just let him go this time."

"Yeah, his situation is so tragic. He must have been at the end of his rope to resort to this. If he had any other choice, he never would have done something like this."

Seeing others speaking up for him, the man’s eyes lit up. He nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I really had no other choice! You’re dressed so nicely, you must be a young lady from a wealthy family. You wouldn’t stoop to my level, would you?"

Grace sneered. "This set of clothes you’re wearing... it would cost twelve dollars at the department store, wouldn’t it?"

"This bicycle is practically new. You must have bought it recently too."

"You claim your child is hospitalized with a serious illness, but when I ask what it is, you dodge the question and won’t give a straight answer."

"Your child is supposedly gravely ill, yet you’re still wearing such nice clothes and have a bicycle? Shouldn’t you have sold everything you own to pay for the treatment?"

"Or is it that you were caught, and you’re afraid we’ll report you to the police, so you just fabricated an excuse? Are you trying to prey on everyone’s sympathy, to guilt-trip us into letting you go?"

Grace’s questions were clear and logical. She fired them off one by one, leaving the man speechless. He stood there with his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.

"That’s right! Your kid is sick? Which hospital is he in? What’s the illness? I happen to have a relative who works at a hospital. I can ask them if it’s treatable."

At this point, some people in the crowd started to catch on.

"I say, what’s wrong with you?" a woman of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight in the crowd suddenly spoke up, glaring at Grace. "He already said his child is sick! If he wasn’t desperate, would he be out here robbing people? That’s enough out of you. It’s not like you lost anything, so why do you keep hounding him?"

Grace recognized her.

When she was withdrawing money at the post office just now, she had seen this woman inside.

Her clothes looked like a post office employee’s uniform. It seemed she was likely the inside woman for the thief outside.

"Is that so?" Grace looked at her and gave a cold smile. "You feel so sorry for him. Why don’t you donate some money?"

"I... How can you be so heartless, young lady?" The woman stammered, then, seeing everyone looking at her, quickly continued, "His situation is already so tragic! If you send him to prison, what will happen to his child at home? You’d basically be killing someone!"

Grace couldn’t be bothered to waste time on her. "We don’t even know if any of that is true. What? Do you know him? Do you know for a fact that he has a sick child at home?"

"He can’t even say what illness the child has or which hospital he’s in. Heh, we don’t even know if he has a child."

With that, Grace turned directly to the crowd. "Sorry to trouble you all, but please take him to the police station."

"Today he dares to commit robbery on the street; tomorrow he’ll be breaking into houses to steal. You all live nearby. Since he’s committing crimes in this area, he probably lives around here too. Who knows, your house could be next."

As soon as Grace said this, everyone became agitated.

People can never truly empathize until something happens to them personally.

They had originally thought Grace was making a mountain out of a molehill.

But now, the thought that they could be his next target stirred them up.

A few people quickly grabbed the man and prepared to haul him off to the nearby police station.

Just then, two patrolling police officers saw the crowd and came over to see what was going on.

When one of them saw the man being held, he chuckled. "It’s you again, Edward Lowell! Robbing people again? Didn’t you just get out?"

Grace spoke up from the side. "Officer, I had just withdrawn money from the post office when he immediately found out. I think he might have an accomplice inside the post office. I suggest a thorough investigation."

"Oh, right. When I was getting my money, that woman was right next to me. She was also the most vocal in pleading his case just now. She looks very suspicious."

The woman who had been about to slip away in the confusion: "..."

Her face darkened.

And in the next moment, she was restrained by the surrounding onlookers.