Chapter 444: I Was the One Who Reported Him

Chapter 444: Chapter 444: I Was the One Who Reported Him

The power of those words needed no explanation. Arabella Donovan keenly felt the crowd behind her stir, and many of the onlookers began to scatter in different directions.

The few people she had mentally labeled as dangerous began to move in unison. But unlike the others who were dispersing, this group moved against the flow of people, closing in on Arabella and her brother.

If she had only been suspicious before, their movements now confirmed their identities. Arabella instantly shoved the little one she was holding into her brother’s arms, then strode forward and kicked the nearest trafficker square in the chest.

With a THUD, the man flew straight into a convenience store on the side of the street.

The trafficker’s accomplices all froze for a second. Realizing something was wrong, they turned to run, but they were a step too late.

THUD, THUD, THUD—after a few more dull impacts, all five traffickers, four men and one woman, were neatly kicked into the convenience store in under a minute.

The customers inside the convenience store, along with a few onlookers who had ducked inside to take cover after hearing the shouting, all jumped in fright as they watched the group get kicked in one by one.

"What’s going on? What’s with these people?"

"Yeah, why is she hitting them?"

To avoid getting involved, everyone just watched from a distance, not daring to step forward.

That is, until Arabella burst into the store and said concisely, "Sorry to barge in. I’ll pay for any damages later. These people are human traffickers who were trying to use the commotion to kidnap a child. I’ve already called the police, and they’ll be here soon. Until then, I hope you can all help me keep them under control."

When the people in the store heard that they were human traffickers, their expressions changed instantly.

A tall, muscular, shirtless man was the first to rush forward, pinning down one of the traffickers who was scrambling to get up and escape. Twisting the man’s arm, he cursed, "You dare try to snatch a kid around here? You’re like a guy carrying a lantern to the outhouse at night—looking for shit! You looking to die?! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you’ll really think the people here are easy targets!"

Oftentimes, when faced with injustice, what people lack isn’t a sense of righteousness, but that little bit of courage to be the first to act.

With the big guy taking the lead, the other customers—who had been confused by the sudden turn of events and only half-believed Arabella—were instantly spurred into action. Without needing to be told, they swarmed forward and pinned all the traffickers down.

A few middle-aged women who were a bit slow to react saw there was no room left for them to help, so they just walked up and kicked the traffickers a few times. Still not satisfied, they spat on the ground in disgust.

The others present pretended not to see, and some even snuck in a few cheap shots of their own. It was clear that no matter where they went, human traffickers were the most despised group of people.

Seeing that the traffickers were no longer a flight risk, Arabella quickly took out her phone and called her police contact from the previous night.

He picked up quickly. Even through the phone, she could hear a cacophony of noise and people shouting to maintain order in the background.

"Captain Wyatt, I’ve caught the traffickers on my end. There should be one more accomplice on your side. She’s a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties with curly hair, wearing a green plaid shirt, and she has a small black mole on the left corner of her upper lip."

Before Arabella had even finished speaking, and before Captain Wyatt could reply, the traffickers on the floor—beaten black and blue from the crowd’s cheap shots—cried out in shock, "How did you know... Dammit, you set us up!"

Arabella ignored them, confirmed the information with Captain Wyatt, gave him the address, and then hung up.

Not long after she hung up, the police officers assigned to coordinate with Arabella found the store and, without a word, handcuffed all the traffickers.

Seeing the police officers, the people in the store were now completely convinced of Arabella’s story. While the arresting officers weren’t looking, they snuck in a few more kicks.

The shopkeeper also refused Arabella’s offer to compensate him for the damages. After all, when Arabella kicked them into his store, all they did was knock over a few racks of mineral water. He could just pick them up and sell them, so there wasn’t really any loss.

Besides, Arabella was getting rid of a public menace by catching human traffickers, and they were caught right in his store. It would make for a great story later and might even attract more customers.

So, the shopkeeper was quite pragmatic about it. Not only did he not take Arabella’s money, but he also grabbed a few drinks from a nearby shelf and gave them to her.

Arabella, who had ended up with a big bag of drinks for her trouble: "..."

Just as the traffickers were being led away, a message came from Captain Wyatt. The last accomplice had been caught. The message was followed by a picture of the woman being led away in handcuffs.

Arabella confirmed it was the right person, sent him an "OK" emoji, and then headed back to find Hector Donovan and the others, carrying her bag of drinks.

’By now, Jude Underwood should be in custody, right?’

As expected, Arabella returned at just the right moment.

"Mr. Jude Underwood, you have been reported in connection with a child trafficking case. Please come with us."

The other guests, who had already evacuated and regrouped due to the emergency, were stunned by this unexpected, massive bombshell.

The show’s camera was shaking uncontrollably, as if the cameraman was afraid he’d be taken away along with Jude Underwood if he wasn’t careful.

Meanwhile, hundreds of meters away, the director watching everything on a monitor felt his mind go blank with a buzz. He was completely freaking out.

His was a childcare show, and now one of his guests had been exposed for being involved in a child trafficking case.

This wasn’t just the end for the guest; his show was finished, too. And along with it, his career as a director was over.

’It’s over. The heavens want me dead!’

Faye Collins and the others were also surprised. Seeing Arabella return, they all gathered around her. "Serena, where did you go? When we came back, we only saw your brother and the child. We were so worried when we couldn’t find you."

Then they noticed the drinks in Arabella’s arms and had a moment of realization. "Oh, did you go to buy us drinks? It’s so thoughtful of you to worry about us being thirsty at a time like this. Thank you, Serena."

Arabella felt a bit awkward but didn’t bother explaining. She just took out the drinks and handed them out, her eyes still fixed on the scene unfolding with Jude Underwood.

Milton Lambert saw her staring and assumed she had just gotten back and didn’t know what was going on. He thoughtfully lowered his voice and explained, "Something happened with Jude. Apparently, he was reported for being involved in a child trafficking case, so now he has to be taken in for questioning."

"I know."

"You know?" Milton Lambert and the others looked surprised.

"Yeah. Because the person who reported him... was me."

The other guests: "!!!"

The production crew: "!!!"

The viewers in the livestream chat: "!!!"