?<strong>Chapter 556:</strong>


    As the client rambled on, he gave Lina a slight nudge with his foot. Shey motionless on the floor, her face ghostly white, blood trickling steadily from a gash on her neck, forming a dark, spreading pool around her.


    “What should I do? It looks like she’s dead!”


    Shawn frowned.


    “If you’re too afraid to call the police, at least call an ambnce! She needs help.”


    “Yes, of course,” the man stammered, pping a hand to his forehead as if the idea of an ambnce hadn’t crossed his mind until that moment. “You’ve got toe to the hospital. I don’t know how to handle this alone!”


    Shawn’s jaw clenched as he took a sharp breath.


    “And what exactly do you want me to do? Should I call the police for you? Let me be clear; I know that woman. This looks like an assault gone wrong, pushing her to this. How do you expect me to help you clean this up?”


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    “It’s not as bad as you’re making it sound!” The client began pacing. “She came to me, asking for money! She knew what it was. She was all in—consensual!”


    “Who do you think you’re fooling?”


    Shawn knew this man too well—the bullying, the maniption, the barely hidden violence. He could imagine the horror Lina must have felt, backed into a corner by a man she couldn’t escape.


    Failing to justify himself, the client slumped into a chair, a look of desperation settling over him. “I’m in real trouble here! You’ve got to help me, or our whole business deal is finished!”


    Shawn’s eyes narrowed; he despised threats, especially from a man like this.


    “Turn yourself in, or if shees to consciousness, try settling things with her. She needs the money—pay her enough, and she might agree to let it go. Call me if you can’t manage it yourself.” With that, he hung up.


    A momentter, Katherine stepped out of the bedroom, noticing his troubled look.


    “What’s wrong?”


    “Nothing.”


    After saying that, Shawn realized he couldn’t keep Katherine in the dark, especially after thest time when his support of Lina at the hospital had left her hurt. He couldn’t let that rift open between them again.


    Taking a steadying breath, he recounted the events at the bar and the client’s despicable actions that had driven Lina to this desperate point.


    Katherine listened closely, her initial irritation towards Lina fading, reced by a touch of sympathy.


    “Aren’t you going to check on her?”


    “No! This has nothing to do with me.” Shawn guided Katherine back to bed. “Let’s sleep.”


    He tucked her in and turned off the lights, settling into peaceful sleep. But that calm shattered around three in the morning when his phone lit up with relentless calls from the client. Each insistent ring pierced the silence, rousing both him and Katherine.


    “Shawn, it’s not working. She won’t settle, no matter what I offer. I don’t know what to do. You have toe and help me! You know her, don’t you? Please, convince her—I can’t go to jail!” In the darkness, every desperate word was loud and unmistakable. Katheriney beside Shawn, wide awake. She sat up decisively.


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