When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

"Alright, I'll get you free now."

Clyde's eyes were rimmed red, his hands slightly shaking - a far cry from the tough guy who was throwing punches just moments ago. But in the next second, a roar of anger came from behind him.

The guy he had knocked to the ground earlier got up, sneaked past the bodyguard unnoticed, and charged at us with a shovel in hand. "Clyde, watch out!"

I tried to stand up, but it was too late. Clyde wrapped me in his arms, shielding me.

I heard a loud bang.

The sound of the shovel colliding with a head echoed, and I saw Clyde's eyes fill with blood.

"Clyde, Clyde, are you okay? Please, don't scare me!"

I struggled to prop Clyde up, but he kept slipping from my grasp.

"Son of a gun, dared to mess with me, damn it!"

The man kept yelling from behind as the bodyguard subdued him, but I couldn't hear anything. All I could do was watch as Clyde slowly closed his eyes.

The sound of police sirens filled the air, and I finally managed to shout, "Over here, we need help!"

The police quickly loaded Clyde and me into the car and rushed us to the hospital.

Along the way, the officer asked me questions, but I could barely respond, my eyes fixed on unconscious Clyde.

He had a huge bump on the back of his head, and I knew that was worse than any bleeding.

"Do you know who hired them?"

"Talbot, I heard them mention Mr. Crawford."

"Officer, please, can you go faster? He's got a serious head injury, he..."

Tears blurred my vision, and I felt like I was talking nonsense.

Clyde had saved me again, just like he always does, throwing himself into danger. Thinking about all the scrapes we've been through over the years, I felt like there was a lump in my throat I couldn't swallow.

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Upon reaching the hospital, Clyde was quickly wheeled into surgery, and as I tried to follow, a police officer stopped me.

An older officer in uniform saluted me. I noticed he had three stars on his shoulder, a sign of high rank, and everyone around treated him with respect. "Hello, I'm Deputy Chief Henson. I've taken charge of Clyde's case."

I nodded blankly, not sure how to react.

He patted my shoulder, "Melanie, right? You should get checked out, and then we can talk."

"Don't worry, we've got the best doctors here. Clyde will be alright."

His voice was steady, instilling a sense of trust. I found myself nodding again and followed the nurse to get examined.

I was only slightly bruised, but they decided to keep me in the hospital nheless.

Henson came back, accompanied by two other officers.

"Melanie, I was aware of your family situation a few years ago. Clyde has been investigating since then."

"He is stubborn. If he hadn't persisted..."

Henson told me a completely different story.

When my father had trouble, Clyde had just returned to the Patterson family, and at that time Henson wasn't yet a deputy chief.

There was a major case back then; a

criminal responsible for three deaths eventually fled to the Patterson Group headquarters and took

Henson's son, who had just joined

the Patterson Group, as a hostage.

It was Clyde who stepped forward, exchanged himself for Henson's son, and helped the police subdue the criminal. That's how our families got connected.

"He always insisted there was

something fishy about your dad's death and kept investigating. Over the years, he's passed all the evidence he gathered to me."

"Just a few days ago, he sent me more evidence. We never stopped the investigation; we just lacked evidence."

"What about now? Talbot, and Garfield, and Marilyn..." My voice trembled as I stared unblinkingly at Henson.

He snorted coldly, "They're all facing serious charges. The police have already taken action."