Blood flooded my vision as my consciousness slipped out from under me.
I came to when a bucket of cold water was dumped straight over my head, and every part of my body hurt badly.
The park was still packed with people, men and women, old and young alike. When they saw how close I was to dying, some of them started to back off.
"At least he's still alive. I think we've gone far enough."
"Yeah, it's the holidays. Nobody wants to get dragged into a murder case."
Jonathan clearly had no intention of letting things end there. He pulled out his phone and tapped into an e-commerce app. "I found his account. Just like I said, he's been stealing women's underwear and selling it online. It's disgusting."
He deliberately angled the screen toward a few of the women nearby, and they were instantly outraged.
"Wait, that's the lingerie I lost a few days ago!"
Her husband immediately stepped forward and slammed his fist into my face. "You've got some nerve stealing my wife's underwear. I'll kill you!"
The people who had been hesitating got worked up all over again.
"A pervert like him deserves to be beaten to death!"
"He looks decent enough, but he's done such repulsive things. Don't let him off easy!"
A bitter taste rose up my throat, thick and metallic.
Victoria was leaning against Jonathan, and the two of them stood at the very front of the crowd like they were enjoying a sideshow.
Jonathan spoke, pleased. "Michael, do you get it now? If you beg for forgiveness and buy Diana a brand-new gold bracelet to make up for this, I might consider asking everyone to let you off."
My voice was hoarse, but my tone was filled with scorn.
"You made all of this up, set me up, and even brought in fake cops to play along. If you think you can get away with that, you're out of your mind!"
Jonathan's jaw clenched. He yanked the leash from around my neck, threw it over a tree branch, then pulled hard.
"You're still being stubborn, huh? I guess you won't learn your lesson until I knock some sense into you!"
I felt myself choking at once and could only barely hold myself up with the tips of my toes.
Jonathan looked at Victoria, his expression turning troubled.
"Guys like him don't change," he said. "He's a repeat offender. Let him off now, and he'll just keep doing it."
Victoria spoke up, her tone calm, almost indifferent, yet every word she uttered was dripping with cruelty.
"Then break his hands. If he doesn't have hands, he won't be able to steal anymore, and he won't get the chance to hurt anyone else."
The moment she said that, the crowd erupted in agreement.
"Yeah, break his hands! Let's see how he steals after that!"
"People like him won't learn unless you make it hurt!"
It struck me that Victoria was utterly ruthless.
It didn't matter that I had treated her like everything or that I had given her whatever she asked for. She could still say something like that without even hesitating.
At that moment, I realized just how ridiculous I had been to fall for someone like her.
Before long, Jonathan came back with an iron rod. As he dragged it across the ground, the scraping sound was harsh and grating.
"Michael, if you start begging for forgiveness, I might go easy on you."
I struggled and shouted, "Jonathan Zane, don't you dare! This is assault. It's a crime!"
"A crime?" Jonathan repeated, like it was the funniest thing he'd heard all day. "You're a thief, and you have the nerve to bring up the law? If anything, we're breaking your hands to stop you from committing more crimes."
As his words landed, several people grabbed my hands and pinned them down. Jonathan lifted the iron rod and brought it down upon me.
In the nick of time, Jonathan was thrown to the ground by a brutal kick.
"Everyone, hands on your heads!"
A group of uniformed officers rushed into the neighborhood and surrounded everyone.
The police chief, Brandon Norris, pushed his way to the front. When he saw me covered in injuries and barely conscious, his face darkened.
"Have you all lost your minds?" he thundered. "How dare you beat up a judge? Arrest every single one of them!"
