Not until he was out of sight,
did he finally roll up the car window, take out a cigarette from the drawer, place it between his thin lips, skillfully light it, and pick up the phone lying nearby to make a call to Beijing.
"Tell Lincoln Hoffman, if he keeps causing trouble, he’ll join Phoebe Hoffman in jail. I’ll make sure of it, so their whole family can have a reunion behind bars."
*
With Amadeus Yancey’s warning, Lincoln Hoffman didn’t dare to pull any strings anymore, and a deadly silence enveloped the Hoffman family.
A week later, Phoebe Hoffman’s sentencing ca through—fifteen years to be served imdiately.
The verdict was heavier than anyone in the Hoffman family had anticipated.
With no suspended sentence, that ant Amadeus had left them no wiggle room—Phoebe was definitely going to prison.
The day the court judgnt was handed down,
the Hoffmans were all there. As soon as the judge announced the sentence, Mrs. Hoffman fainted on the spot and was taken away by ambulance, with Mr. Hoffman following her to the hospital.
Old Mr. Hoffman had beco frail and exhausted after several days of turmoil, yet stronger than Mr. or Mrs. Hoffman. On hearing the verdict, he simply collapsed into a seat in the courtroom, closed his eyes, and took a deep, harsh breath. Although his face was bloodless, at least he did not faint, as he had when the incident first occurred.
Phoebe Hoffman, however, caused a commotion in court, first refusing to admit her guilt, then later desperately pleading with the court for leniency.
But with the higher-ups already inford of her case, who would dare give her a lighter sentence?
Before the police could transfer her to prison, Old Mr. Hoffman and Lincoln Hoffman, after running around for several days, finally got the chance to see her in private.
Upon seeing them, Phoebe’s red and swollen eyes suddenly sparked with a desperate will to live, and disregarding the police’s restraint, she reached out with both hands towards the unsteady Old Mr. Hoffman: "Grandfather, please help..."
She had barely uttered a word,
when Old Mr. Hoffman pushed aside Lincoln Hoffman who was supporting him, took a firm step forward, raised his hand, and in front of everyone present, slapped her across the face.
"Slap!"
Phoebe’s left cheek was violently jerked to the side. Clutching her face, she was utterly dumbstruck.
After hitting her, Old Mr. Hoffman’s body swayed, his fingertips trembling, nearly losing his balance and falling.
Thankfully, the quick-reacting Lincoln Hoffman was there to catch him before he could fall flat.
Even so, Old Mr. Hoffman’s aged face lost all color, looking as pale and ghastly as Mrs. Hoffman, who had fainted and was urgently taken to the hospital.
He raised his trembling hand, pointing at Phoebe, who was holding her face in shock—with difficulty he scolded her: "You’re the scourge of the Hoffman family! How could our family have produced such a scourge like you! There, you got your wish, fifteen years, are you satisfied now!"
"Grandfather, I, I didn’t think it would co to this. I just wanted to teach her a lesson, I didn’t an for things to get this far," Phoebe’s tears stread down her face as she struggled against her handcuffs, pressed down firmly, now truly understanding fear. She shook her head frantically, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked towards Old Mr. Hoffman and Lincoln Hoffman, completely petrified: "I, I don’t want to go to jail, Grandfather, please think of sothing, have the family figure out a way to help !"
Nathalie Quinlan was just a high school student from McKinney, and from what Phoebe had investigated, she had no significant background, just an ordinary person.
It was relying on this fact that she dared to have soone "teach her a lesson," but who would have expected things to end like this? Nathalie Quinlan was unscathed while Phoebe was caught, and sentenced to fifteen years.
Fifteen years—if she went in, her life would be ruined!
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