Read Novel Full Chapter 759: Danielle
Chapter 759: Chapter 759: Danielle
Seeing this, Asher’s expression immediately stiffened. ‘Here we go again.’
Without hesitation, he sidestepped, planning to avoid the inevitable collision.
To his complete surprise, the woman rushed right past him. She completely ignored him.
Instead, she ran toward the man walking several steps behind him.
Asher stopped and turned around. He recognized the man immediately. His name was Mason.
He was an ordinary soldier stationed at the base.
However, Asher remembered him quite well because Mason constantly made misogynistic and offensive remarks toward women.
Because of that behavior, Asher had personally punished him on several occasions. Watching the woman run toward Mason, Asher suddenly became curious.
Meanwhile, Mason’s expression instantly darkened.
The first thought that crossed his mind was that this troublesome woman had once again chosen the worst possible place to create a scene.
Asher had originally intended to continue walking inside. However, just as he reached the doorway, the conversation behind him made him stop.
“What are you doing here?” Mason shouted furiously. “Didn’t I tell you to stay at home and never show your face in front of me again?”
The young woman pouted, her eyes turning slightly red. “But… you haven’t sent me any money.”
She bit her lower lip before continuing. “How am I supposed to take care of your parents if you don’t give me anything?”
Mason frowned impatiently. “You should learn to earn money yourself.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Now that the zombie crisis has settled down, plenty of women are working and supporting themselves. If you opened a small shop or business, you’d earn enough to take care of my parents.”
The woman lowered her head sadly. “But… if I spend all my earnings on your parents…”
She hesitated before softly continuing, “…then what about my own parents? I am already using the little money I earn from my side jobs to support them, but it’s not enough.”
The moment those words fell, silence filled the surroundings. Then, Mason exploded. “What did you just say?”
His face twisted with fury. “You’ve been using my money to support your parents? How dare you!”
Without another word, he violently raised his hand. Smack! The loud slap echoed through the quiet street.
The young woman, Danielle was knocked to the ground, her cheek immediately turning bright red. Tears filled her eyes as she held her burning face, completely stunned by the sudden blow.
At that moment, Asher had seen enough. His eyes instantly turned cold.
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around, strode toward Mason, and threw a powerful punch directly into his face. Bang!
The force of the punch sent Mason stumbling backward several steps before he barely managed to keep himself from falling.
He looked up and saw Asher standing before him. The color instantly drained from his face. ‘Why is my luck always this terrible…?’
Suppressing the urge to cry, Mason quickly forced an extremely flattering smile. “C-Captain Asher… what are you doing here?”
Asher let out a cold chuckle. “What am I doing here?”
His eyes narrowed dangerously. “If I hadn’t been here today, I would’ve never known that one of my soldiers raises his hand against his own wife.”
Mason hurriedly waved both hands. “She’s not my wife!”
He pointed angrily toward the woman on the ground. “She’s just my mistress!”
The moment those words were spoken, Danielle immediately cried out. “You’re lying!”
She hurriedly pulled a folded document from her bag with trembling hands. “We have a marriage certificate!”
Mason immediately shouted back without any hesitation. “She’s lying!”
He pointed toward the document with complete confidence.
“Just check the certificate. You’ll realize it’s a fake! She made that certificate just to trap me!” Mason shouted anxiously, pointing at Danielle. “General, I swear I’m innocent this time!”
Hearing those words, Asher turned his cold gaze toward Danielle. “Show me the marriage certificate.”
Danielle hurriedly nodded. “Y-Yes.”
Her trembling fingers fumbled inside her worn handbag before she carefully took out the folded certificate.
The edges of the document had already become creased from being handled countless times over the years.
Asher unfolded the document and carefully examined every detail. The more he looked at it, the deeper his frown became.
After a long moment, he lowered the certificate and looked at Danielle. His expression turned cold. “You’re lying.”
Danielle froze. Asher continued in a stern voice, “This marriage certificate is fake.”
The color instantly drained from Danielle’s face. Her eyes widened in complete disbelief as she frantically shook her head.
“No… that’s impossible!”
She grabbed the certificate back with trembling hands and repeatedly examined it herself. “It can’t be fake… it can’t…”
Tears instantly welled up in her eyes. “If… if you don’t believe me, then come to my house.”
She pointed toward Mason with tear-filled eyes. “His parents are still living in my house.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Mason hurriedly interrupted. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
He let out a mocking laugh before looking at Asher. “General, she’s deliberately twisting the truth.”
He pointed accusingly toward Danielle.
“I hired her as a caretaker to look after my parents while I was away. In return, I promised to pay her ten thousand zombie crystals.”
He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
“But this woman refused to accept the payment. She insisted that she wanted to help voluntarily and kept saying she was doing everything of her own free will.”
Danielle’s face turned bright red with anger. “You’re lying! How can you lie so shamelessly?”
She lowered her head and stared at the marriage certificate again. “No…”
Her lips trembled. “This marriage certificate… it shouldn’t be fake.”
Unable to bear the injustice any longer, she suddenly rushed toward Asher. Before anyone could react, she dropped to her knees and tightly grabbed his leg.
“Please… Officer… please help me!”
Her tears soaked the fabric of his trousers. “He cheated me! He left his parents in my care. For the past ten years… ever since I turned fifteen… I’ve taken care of them. I earned money. I cooked. I looked after both his parents and my own family.”
She wiped away her tears and continued,
“He kept telling me that he needed time. He said he wanted to build a stable future. He promised that once he earned enough money and established himself in another city, he’d take me with him.”
Her shoulders shook violently as sobs escaped her throat. “But now, he has abandoned me because he has become successful.”
The more Asher listened, the more suspicious the entire situation became. Something about the story simply did not add up.
And considering Mason’s terrible disciplinary record, Asher no longer trusted his words. He looked down at the crying woman.
“What’s your name?”
The woman hurriedly wiped away her tears. “My… my name is Danielle.”
Asher nodded. “Danielle.”
He sighed before speaking calmly. “Here’s what we’re going to do. But first… Please let go.”
Danielle immediately released him and hurriedly stepped backward. Seeing how obediently she complied, Asher’s opinion of her improved ever so slightly.
He then turned toward Mason. “I’ll personally investigate this matter.”
His voice became ice cold. “And if everything Danielle has said turns out to be true then remember this. You’re finished.”
Without waiting for either of them to respond, Asher turned around and walked back into his residence.
……………………………….
The very next morning, Asher immediately assigned several trusted subordinates to conduct a thorough investigation.
Fortunately, the investigation was far easier than expected. Danielle had already provided almost everything they needed.
She gave them addresses. Witnesses. Financial records. Receipts.
Even the locations where Mason’s parents had been living.
Most importantly, there was testimony from Mason’s own parents. Initially, they had tried to remain silent.
However, after witnessing Danielle’s unwavering dedication over the past decade, guilt had long since settled into their hearts.
It wasn’t that they wanted to betray their son.
Rather,the investigators sent by Asher possessed an overwhelming presence. The elderly couple feared becoming involved in an official criminal investigation themselves.
In the end, their conscience prevailed. They told the investigators everything.
…………………………..
When the completed investigation report was finally placed on Asher’s desk, he remained silent for a very long time.
After reading every page, he was genuinely stunned.
“This woman…”
He leaned back in his chair before letting out a long sigh. “…is truly a fool.”
From the age of fifteen until twenty-five… she had worked tirelessly. She had supported two families with her own earnings.
She had taken care of Mason’s elderly parents as though they were her own. She had neglected herself completely.
Had she spent all those years working solely for herself, she would’ve been wealthy by now.
Taking a deep breath, Asher ordered both Danielle and Mason to appear before him.
…………………………….
Inside the office, Danielle stood quietly with her head lowered. She looked exhausted.
Beside her stood Mason. Unlike Danielle, he wore a relaxed smile.
He was convinced that some private agreement must have been reached between him and Danielle.
Asher slowly placed the investigation report onto the table. “Do you know what kind of report I received?”