My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 42: Clue

Chloe Joyce’s screams were endless, and people soon came running.

Some tried to forcibly pull Nina Wynn away, but she was like a feral little animal, viciously clamped onto Chloe Joyce’s neck. No matter how hard they pulled, they couldn’t pry her off. It was as if she intended to bite Chloe to death right then and there.

Chloe screamed in pain, kicking and hitting Nina Wynn relentlessly, but Nina wouldn’t let go. Chloe’s cries grew weaker.

When Caleb Rhodes rushed over, he saw Nina Wynn latched onto Chloe Joyce’s neck like a feral animal. Her eyes, completely devoid of their usual timidity, seemed to have lost focus, holding no reflection.

Chloe was cursing and hitting her while others were yanking hard on her arms, but Nina seemed oblivious to it all, knowing only to hold on tight and keep biting Chloe.

He pushed through the crowd, stepped forward, and took Nina Wynn’s hand, calling her name in a low voice, "Nina Wynn, Nina Wynn, Nina..."

A cool, strong hand. A familiar voice. Nina Wynn froze for a moment, like a robot that had suddenly seized up, then released her bite.

Her eyes slowly regained their focus, and the person before her gradually came into view.

A handsome, noble face was staring at her expressionlessly, the black ice in his eyes almost enough to freeze her solid.

Nina Wynn instinctively lowered her head and saw Chloe Joyce on the ground.

Chloe’s face and neck were covered in blood. She had no strength left to curse, and could only stare at Nina Wynn with terrified eyes.

Nina Wynn’s body trembled. Just as she stood up, she heard the sound of approaching sirens.

It turned out someone had called the police. This was a central area, so a police car arrived in less than two minutes.

Nina Wynn stared in horror at the flashing lights of the police car, her mind a chaotic mess.

In a daze, she seemed to see her mother beaten half to death by her father. A neighbor had called the police, and a car had come, sirens wailing, to take her father away.

The same flashing red and blue lights, the same wailing sirens. Her mother had leaped from the window, and blood had pooled on the ground.

When Caleb Rhodes saw the police car, he pulled Nina Wynn behind him and said in a low voice, "Don’t be afraid. I’ll handle it."

Nina Wynn stared at the strobing lights, her forehead and palms drenched in cold sweat.

She heard her mother’s voice in her head. ’Nina, run! He’s going to beat you to death! Run, just run...!’

She took a step back, then suddenly turned and bolted.

Caleb Rhodes only felt his palm go empty as Nina Wynn tore free from his grasp and dashed toward the main gate.

The onlookers, unaware of the full story, began to shout, "Go after her! The attacker is getting away!"

"Hurry, chase her!"

Nina Wynn fled toward the gate, her mind a blur of red, her eyes unable to see anything clearly.

The police and Caleb Rhodes both gave chase.

Outside the gate was the hundred-meter-wide Serenity Avenue, where traffic flowed like a river at this time of day.

Nina Wynn rushed to the side of the street with no intention of stopping. Without a single glance at anyone, she plunged headfirst into the stream of traffic.

A series of sharp screeches from braking cars rang out. Caleb Rhodes stood on the curb, staring at the small figure in the traffic, the veins on his forehead bulging.

Suddenly, his expression darkened, and he roared, "Nina Wynn!!"

Another piercing screech of brakes, and Nina Wynn’s small body was struck by a bus that couldn’t stop in time, sending her flying several meters into a roadside greenbelt.

Caleb Rhodes’s vision went black. It felt as if the world had fallen silent.

He stared at the small, motionless figure in the greenbelt, his heart feeling as if it had been struck by a heavy blow. His body swayed, and he nearly lost his footing before someone next to him quickly steadied him.

Just then, the person in the greenbelt stirred and slowly got to their feet.

She didn’t look up at him. Instead, she grabbed a nearby railing for support, turned, and climbed out of the greenbelt.

The crowd was a flowing tide. In the blink of an eye, Nina Wynn had vanished into the sea of people.

Nina Wynn was gone!

The police and security personnel searched the entire area three times and reviewed all the surveillance footage, but found no trace of Nina Wynn.

A living person, injured no less, had seemingly vanished into thin air.

The Joyce Family, naturally, was not about to let it go. Their daughter, whom they had doted on since childhood, had been brutally attacked by Nina Wynn. Her head was bashed, two chunks of flesh were bitten from her neck, and her face was horribly scratched. To make matters worse, someone had filmed the incident and posted it online, with a caption saying the heiress of Reboot Technologies was being pinned down and thrashed.

Putting aside their daughter’s injuries, which were severe enough to require hospitalization for infection and bone reconstruction surgery, the sheer loss of face—which caused instability in Reboot Technologies’ stock—was enough to make them furious.

Although Nina Wynn had come from the Rhodes Family, a few discreet inquiries revealed that she was merely the niece of Leo Rhodes’s second wife. She was a poor wretch who Crystal Rhodes and Zyler Rhodes had bullied for sport since childhood. An orphan with no parents, she was also a constant target for bullies at school. A person like that merely bore the Rhodes family name and was treated worse than a servant.

Even so, Dustin Joyce still called Leo Rhodes and vaguely described the situation. Leo flew into a rage, tore into Lana Shaw, and then told the Joyce Family that Nina Wynn had nothing to do with them.

This completely reassured the Joyce Family. They became overbearing at the police station, threatening to sue the entire department if the culprit wasn’t found within three days. They also put out the word that whoever found Nina Wynn would receive a 500,000 reward.

Overnight, Nina Wynn became the talk of Elysian City.

The little niece brought over by the Rhodes family’s "other woman," Lana Shaw; a marginalized figure the family didn’t care about; had grievously injured the heiress of Reboot Technologies. Now, she was wanted by the police—a stray with nowhere to go.

Not only that, but an even uglier version of the rumor began to circulate: Nina Wynn’s mother had also been a homewrecker who destroyed someone’s family, only to be abandoned and ultimately commit suicide.

Once this rumor started, it immediately received overwhelming support from the circle of high-society wives. They acted as if they had been there themselves, vividly describing how Nina’s mother had supposedly pestered someone else’s husband, become a homewrecker, and raised such a shameless daughter.

It all boiled down to one thing: like mother, like daughter. Both Nina Wynn and Lana Shaw were nothing but social climbers.

These rumors made Lana Shaw, who had originally considered standing up for Nina Wynn, completely abandon any thought of finding her. Instead, she began to blame and resent her niece. ’That damned girl is just an orphan, why did she have to pick a fight with a real heiress? Just great. The social circle I worked so hard to break into, and now it’s all back to square one.’

Eventually, she even started to hope that Nina Wynn would die out there somewhere.

On the fourth day of the swirling rumors, Caleb Rhodes got a lead on Nina Wynn’s whereabouts.

There had been no news at all, but a little before 7:00 AM on the fourth day, Willson Lawson called. He said a second-hand luxury goods store had taken in the dress Nina Wynn had been wearing that day.

Caleb Rhodes, who hadn’t slept for nearly three nights, immediately tracked the store’s location.

When he arrived, the shop owner was already waiting. Faced with the legendary Valorian Crown Prince, the owner was trembling with reverence and fear.