I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 174

The crowd parted to make room.

A woman in her fifties strode through the gap.

She wore khaki cargo pants and mud-caked hiking boots, her hair woven into a thick braid that rested on her shoulder, framing temples streaked with silver.

Her skin was tanned to a deep bronze, highlighting striking bone structure.

She must have been absolutely stunning in her youth.

Sienna stared at her, struck by an inexplicable sense of familiarity, though she couldn't quite place who she reminded her of.

The woman was carrying a medical kit in her right hand and a roll of gauze in her left.

Dried, dark red flakes were caked beneath her fingernails.

She crouched down and popped open her kit.

Standing right next to the fawn was a man in his forties, decked out in designer outdoor gear, tightly gripping a hiking pole.

Next to him stood a woman, likely his wife, holding up her phone to record a video.

"Hey guys, look at this little deer! Isn't it just adorable?"

She pointed the camera at the fawn, then panned over to her husband.

The man smirked, casually tapping the tip of his hiking pole against the dirt.

"I just wanted to take a picture with it, but it wouldn't cooperate."

He said it with a laugh in his voice.

But Sienna could clearly see fresh blood staining the metal tip of his pole.

Maeve examined the deer's mangled leg, then abruptly snapped her head up and pointed squarely at the man.

"You're the one who shattered its leg."

The man let out a nonchalant chuckle.

"Do you have any proof?"

"There's blood on the tip of your pole, and the wound perfectly matches the shape of it."

The man glanced down at the pole. Without missing a beat, he brazenly scraped the tip against the rocky ground, grinding away the blood in front of everyone.

He looked back up at her, a smug grin on his face.

"How about now?"

A heavy silence fell over the onlookers.

"No proof now, is there? What are you gonna do, call the cops? Hahaha!" He paused, his tone oozing arrogance. "I actually know the director over at the Forestry Bureau. We literally had dinner together last night. Who do you think he's gonna side with?"

Maeve glared at him.

"Do you even know what you just attacked?"

"It's just a freaking deer."

"It's a nationally protected species."

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