THE TRAMPH WHO BECAME AN HEIR TO A FORTUNE

Chapter 5

Dylan opened his heavy eyes. The sound of a woman crying was so close. He trembled, wondering if it was the sound of a ghost. Dylan forced his eyes open.

"You've done this to me!" the woman's voice sobbed.

"What? Done what?" Dylan lifted his body, his eyes wide with disbelief. His hands lifted the brown blanket that covered him.

"Hah! What did you do to me?" His body tensed, demanding answers from the girl in front of him.

"You defiled me, Sir! You took my honor!" The woman's sobs echoed again.

"No, no." Dylan shifted his body and fell off the bed. He quickly covered his lower body when he saw his pants scattered on the floor.

The bedroom door swung open. Several reporters, along with a beautiful woman, were in tears.

"Dylan? What are you doing with her?" the voice screamed, followed by flashes from the reporters' cameras blinding him. The reporters snapped photos of Dylan, topless, and the woman in the bed, naked and crying.

Valerie's hand shot up, quickly aiming for Dylan's cheek. "Coward! Hypocrite! Bloodsucker of the Haroldson family!" Valerie's eyes bulged after slapping Dylan's cheek hard.

"Val? This... this is not what it looks like. Reporters, get out of here!" Dylan shouted in anger.

"Shut up, you cunning man!" Dylan also grabbed the shoulder of the crying woman in the bed. He raised his fingers as he noticed the woman intensifying her sobs while cameras flashed again.

Two police officers shook their heads. Dylan was forcibly taken, completely naked. He covered his face as camera flashes continued to hit him. Dylan struggled, begging to get his clothes, but Valerie grabbed his clothes and threw them.

"Police! Take this good-for-nothing man to the station immediately! I am charging him with falsehood and filing for divorce!" Valerie screamed loudly, then threw Dylan's clothes out the 16th-floor window.

Dylan was stunned. So, this was Valerie's plot against him because he refused to sign the divorce papers. Cunning. The beautiful Valerie turned out to be like a snake. Dylan clenched his fists, his teeth grinding. His gaze at Valerie was sharp.

Valerie flinched at the look in Dylan's eyes. Dylan, who had always been a gentle and kind man, now showed a different personality in his gaze. Valerie looked away, wiping her remaining tears.

Dylan smirked, wondering where those tears had come from. He could not believe it. Finally, Dylan resigned himself to being a spectacle as he was dragged out of the hotel. Curious faces, some with disgust, made Dylan lower his head.

His fists clenched. Bill's bowed head, Alicia, and Grandpa Andreas flashed in his mind. This malicious slander was certainly an embarrassment to the Harrison family. Dylan needed to use his phone to ask Bill for help. He regretted his foolishness for rejecting Bill's offer for protection. He reached for his pants pocket, but what could he do when his hands were handcuffed like a criminal? He couldn't reach his phone.

Headline news: "Dylan, known as the Haroldson family's beggar son-in-law, was caught red-handed in a hotel room with a woman. There has been no press conference from either party. Only Valerie's tears and curses were recorded by the camera as she was shocked to find her husband with another woman in the room."

In minutes, Dylan's face was all over the news. The story spread throughout the country that Dylan Haroldson, the beggar son-in-law, had been unfaithful. Now, accusations of fraud and Valerie's divorce lawsuit were in the hands of the police.

---

It had only been half an hour since Dylan arrived at the police station. After the cold jail cell, he was now in an interrogation room.

"Answer me. Who is that woman, and what were you two doing naked?" The police officer shouted angrily. His large body looked ready to crush Dylan.

"I refuse to speak and want to exercise my right to a lawyer!" Dylan insisted, closing his mouth.

"Hahaha, do you think offending Mr. Max will give you a chance to be defended by a lawyer? Listen, beggar, you're going to rot in jail forever!" The officer slammed his fist on the table in frustration.

"Besides, a beggar with nowhere to stay could never afford a lawyer." Laughter filled the room as another officer made a mocking remark. The atmosphere was now full of laughter, but suddenly the officer who was interrogating Dylan stopped. He seemed to have heard an instruction through his earpiece and rushed out. His face was panic-stricken, and another officer followed him, leaving Dylan alone in the room, freezing without clothes in the air-conditioned room.

Bill rushed into the room, bringing a set of clothes for Dylan, which he quickly put on, trying to warm his cold body.

"Young Master, forgive us. We have failed to protect you!"

Dylan put on his clothes without a smile. "Bill, please clear my name! Can you do that?" Dylan looked at Bill with a serious expression.

"That's an easy task, Young Master. The digital footprint of your news has been deleted instantly. All TV stations have stopped airing this story. Young Master, let's go home." Bill spoke politely.

"Walk quickly. Once the door opens, our bodyguards will cover your face," Bill whispered to Dylan, who wore glasses and a mask that had been prepared in Bill's jacket pocket. It seemed Bill had prepared everything.

The interrogation room door opened. Several bodyguards quickly opened their jackets and covered Dylan's face while continuing to walk fast around him. Dylan also used a special elevator, so the reporters were misled.

"I want to take revenge on the slander and cruelty they've done to me, Bill! Can you help me?" Dylan gazed at the police station getting further away. He was now in a limousine, driven by a chauffeur. Bill sat next to the driver and nodded.

"The woman who trapped you and pretended to cry next to you has been found, Young Master. She admitted everything was Mr. Max's order to set you up and make you stay away from Mrs. Valerie."

"I suspected as much. What about the lawsuit?" Dylan held back his frustration.

"With his power, Max will make your divorce decree valid tomorrow in court. But we will stop all of that. Tomorrow, you can decide what you want with Mrs. Valerie. Will you continue your marriage with Mrs. Valerie, Young Master?"

Dylan shook his head quickly. "I thought I could change Valerie, but this is intolerable. Valerie will get what she wants. She will marry Max as soon as possible. It doesn't matter to me. Let's see how lucky the Haroldson family will be after releasing Dylan into prison."

After years of tolerating the insults from the Haroldson family, it seemed Dylan's patience had reached its limit. After Max's attempt to kill him and now the malicious slander from Valerie, his own wife.

"Okay, Young Master, I understand. Now, shall we go to Mr. Andreas' house, or will you stay in one of your homes?"

"Take me to visit my foster mother in the hospital. I want to check on her condition. I need to calm down and stay at the hospital tonight." Dylan stared blankly at the road. For a moment, Valerie's beautiful face appeared in his mind, but he quickly erased the image.

"Tomorrow, I will grant the divorce petition filed against Dylan Haroldson. After that, prepare my ID as Ethan Harrison!" Dylan spoke firmly.

Bill nodded obediently.