His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 119: Standing Your Ground

"You're so pretty, but your heart's rotten. Why don't you just drop dead?"

"Your own life is a mess, so you hate seeing your brother and his wife happy? You won't stop until you tear their family apart, huh?"

"I've never seen such an evil woman. God's watching. Karma will catch up with you."

Iris clenched her fists so tight her knuckles whitened. Her blood felt like it was rushing the wrong way, and her body trembled with anger. She bit her lip and took deep breaths, calm on the outside but burning with fury inside.

She'd put up with Emily bashing her online. Now, the thing she'd feared most had finally happened.

Zoe and David ran out. When they saw the women ganging up on Iris, they hurried over to shield her and pull her back.

David stepped in front of the middle-aged women. "What do you think you're doing? Can't you talk like adults?"

The women pointed at Iris, screaming insults nonstop.

David tried to defend Iris, explain the situation, and shoo the women away.

Zoe felt terrible for her. She pulled out tissues to wipe Iris's face, muttering under her breath, "These crazy women. What the hell's wrong with them? Are they out of their minds?"

Zoe cleaned Iris's face, plucked the broken eggshells from her hair, and grabbed her arm. "Iris, let's go inside. If they throw another egg at you, I'll scratch their faces off."

"I'm fine." Iris gently pushed Zoe's hand away and pulled her phone out of her bag.

Zoe frowned, confused. "Iris, if you stay here, they'll keep insulting you. They might even hit you."

"Let them." Iris dialed a number and held the phone to her ear.

Zoe stared at her, even more confused.

Once the call connected, Iris said, "Hello, I need to report a crime..."

Relief washed over Zoe as soon as she heard that. That's my Iris.

Iris looked quiet and fragile, like an easy target. But anyone who crossed her would regret it.

If Iris had run inside the research institute to hide, the women would have gotten bored and left.

But she stayed put, standing quietly and waiting for the police. More and more onlookers gathered, snapping photos and recording videos.

Ten minutes later, the police showed up.

The women who'd attacked Iris thought their numbers made them right. They ranted to the police without holding back, making up all sorts of awful lies about Iris. They talked over each other, painting her as a monster.

The police figured it was just a catfight. They wanted to smooth things over and told the women to leave.

Iris refused to back down. "Please do your jobs fairly. If you brush this off, I'll get a lawyer and sue you too."

The police realized Iris wasn't someone to mess with. Their attitudes turned serious fast. Two police cars took all the women who caused trouble back to the station.

Iris, the victim, went with them.

Julian got a call from Zoe and rushed to the police station an hour later.

He ran into the lobby, breathless. When he saw Iris sitting on a chair in the corner, he sprinted over.

Iris jumped up, surprised to see him.

Julian was out of breath, his face tight with worry. He grabbed her arms and checked her over, his voice soft but frantic. "Did you get hurt?"

Why is he here?

His panicked reaction shocked her even more.

She froze for a second and then shook her head. "No, I'm okay."

Julian noticed her hair was dry and matted. He touched it gently. "What's this?"

"Egg."

Julian's face went dark, his eyes turning cold. He glanced at the women being questioned nearby. "Did they throw this at you?"

Iris nodded.

Julian pulled out his phone. "I'll call my lawyer."

Iris grabbed his wrist. "No need. It's just a bunch of people causing trouble. Charging them is easy. They'll get a few days in jail at most. I don't need a lawyer."

Just then, a police officer walked over, polite but hesitant. "Ms. Whitlow, these are just regular housewives. They saw some blogger's posts online and got mad at you. They acted foolishly. I scolded them and explained the law. They're really sorry and want to apologize properly. Can you settle this out of court..."

He didn't get to finish.

Iris and Julian cut him off together. "No."

The officer froze.

Iris and Julian looked at each other, both a little surprised.

They'd thought the same thing. A warm, comforting feeling settled in Iris's chest.

Iris turned back to the officer. "They're older than me. They should know right from wrong. No matter what kind of person I am or what I did, it's none of their business. If they're so free they want to play judge online, they need to take responsibility for their actions."

"Ms. Whitlow, actually..."

"We're strangers. Why should I go easy on them?"

The officer nodded, agreeing.

Julian's tone was sharp. "Fine them and jail them. Do whatever the law says. Is this really hard?"

"No, sir, it's not." The officer felt bad for the women. They'd just been misled. But the victim was firm, so he had to do his job. "Then Ms. Whitlow, come sign this, and you can head home."