Chapter 6 Tea brewer (6)

'The lack of love from her biological father and then from her mother led her to fall in love with the wrong person who had raped her.'

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Night gradually invaded the whole city. Stores were also closed at the same time. They had just had a horrible day when they witnessed a tragic car accident at the Salva tea shop. The police were still standing there to monitor the situation. After hearing the news, Lance's team quickly re-emerged there. A decorated tea shop now only remained in ruins.

Joel watched silently as police cars drove past his tea shop to the scene. He flipped the closed-door sign and went inside the red curtain. His eyes slowly turned to anger. The teacup on the table was thrown to the ground. The five girls sitting on the bench immediately shrank, their faces filling with fear. Joel pounded the table with both hands, facing each of the five girls.

"Can't you just leave me alone for a few days? The other day, I deliberately leaked my business card in front of the police so they could come here. Yesterday, I took out the police to threaten me. Today, use the lives of innocent people to kill the enemy. Do you think carefully before doing it?" - He loudly shouted.

"Sir, we're sorry." - Jenny pursed her lips and softly said.

Joel laughed loudly, then said nothing but pointed the black umbrella at Jenny. This action caused others to protect Jenny, and Jenny was so shocked that her soul seemed to want to disappear. Five girls burst into tears.

"Sir, please don't do that."

Joel saw the situation in front of him and coldly snorted. He put the nose of the umbrella on the ground with a heavy heart, then glanced at Jenny.

"Don't try to get past me, Jenny. I know every plan is yours. Put that soft look away."

Hearing Lance's sentence, Jenny put her head down. The next instant she looked up with a completely different expression. Her face was wrinkled with fear, and a smile spread from ear to ear. The sheets of paper wrapping around her shaking body made everything even more terrifying. Jenny stood up slowly, in a moment she was standing behind Joel. Her hand rested on Joel's shoulder and moved to his chest. Jenny's wide mouth was close to Joel's ear.

"Sir, if you don't help us, we can only do it ourselves. You also understand that if justice is not returned, we will not be able to escape. Isn't that what your job stands for, to help us die as peacefully as possible?"

Joel turned around and put his hand around Jenny's neck. He smiled cruelly, a voice that carried the breath of death.

"Jenny, are you threatening me?"

Jenny felt uncomfortable and the heat wrapped around her nape, but still refused to give up. This was the only chance for the five of them to close their eyes forever and not mind anything. The remaining four souls immediately surrounded Joel.

"Sir, we know that on the first day we met, you noticed the danger was upon us. Your cup of tea at that time was the antidote that helped us extend our lives. However, because we were stupid, believing in the words of the bad men leading to this end." - They begged him to soften his hand.

"When we were alive, you were kind enough to help us. So why do you stand looking at us with such restless hatred now?" - Another soul spoke up.

Joel did not respond to the spirits' words. He squeezed Jenny's neck tighter, his face still terrifyingly calmed. Jenny began to beg for forgiveness.

"Sir, I am willing to sell my soul to you if you help us bring the culprit to light."

When Joel heard that, he raised his eyebrows, and his hand was also less forceful. The remaining four souls saw this and said in unison.

"Yes, we are willing to sell our souls to you. You can do whatever you want to us, just help us."

Joel thought for an instant, and then released Jenny. The other four girls immediately helped her onto the bench. He took out five contracts to sell souls and presented contracts to them.

"I accept this condition. You just need to sign. I promise to bring that killer to you for treatment."

Five souls looked at each other. They volunteered to sign the contract. The five papers quickly turned black, symbolizing the contract with the devil. Joel put it in the inventory. This time, he returned to his usual laziness.

"First, have to get in touch with that senior inspector," he said.

One of the five girls immediately handed out Lance's business card. She pulled it out while clinging to Lance. Joel nodded.

"Oh, very quick. Let's see. Senior Inspector Lance Norwood..."

The five souls were still panicking about the situation, so they did not notice Joel's strangeness. They peeked at him, but at this point, he had restored his normal appearance and casually dialed the mobile number on the business card. The other end of the line rang with each ring, and Joel again said in a lazy voice.

"Hello, is that the phone number for senior inspector Lance Norwood?... I'm Joel, the former suspect... I'm calling to say if you accept, I can help you in this case... Okay, see you tomorrow morning."

Joel hung up the phone and stretched out to sleep despite the question that flooded the faces of the five girls.

The next morning, Lance drove up to Joel's tea shop. He leaned against the car and inhaled a cigarette. He was still trying to calm himself after receiving a sudden call from Joel yesterday. What made Joel change his mind so quickly? Or was Joel the culprit with Dave, so he wanted to follow Lance to erase the evidence?

Thinking about these theories, Joel suddenly appeared behind Lance and tapped him on the shoulder. This made him startle.

"What do you think is so wistful? Hurry up and get in the car, my umbrella will not be able to replace the sun this early in the morning," Joel said in a lazy voice.

Joel naturally went around to the other side and climbed into the car. Lance extinguished his cigarette and got into the car. In the car, Joel had fastened his seat belt and closed his eyes, leaving Lance speechless.

"Where do you want to take me?" Joel asked while his eyes were closing.

"Didn't you say you can see spirits? I take you to a place to see if you can see anything strange." Lance turned the wheel while saying to Joel.

A few hours later, Lance drove Joel to the house where the rape case had taken place. Along the way, Lance did not reveal anything to Joel. He wanted to see if Joel's psychic abilities were true. If true, Joel would know why they were here.

Lance again asked her mother's permission to enter her room with a do-not-disturb request. Her mother led the two to that room and then went to do something else. Lance opened the door, cold air suddenly rushed out. This made him surprising. The first time he came here, there was no such unusual situation. He suspiciously turned to look at Joel, could it be Joel's magic trick to cover his eyes?

From the moment Joel entered the room, he was still staring at the school desk of the missing girl. What he saw was the spirit of a very adolescent girl with a pretty face bent over writing something on the table. The girl turned and smiled mischievously at Joel. Joel approached the table. His hand touched the girl's head and gently rubbed it.

Pain hit him hard in his mind. Each line of her memory started again as a slow-motion movie. The family fell apart because her mother could not stand the blows from her father. Later, her mother went a step further and married a well-off man. At first, she was glad that her mother had finally found happiness in life, but in return, she had to pay the price of being raped by her stepfather. The lack of love from her biological father and then from her mother led the girl to fall in love with the person who had raped her. The joke began when her mother knew it all but chose to protect her honor when she did not want to be known as her daughter snatching her husband away. After a few seconds of waiting for Lance to watch Joel's strange actions, Joel said.

"The girl is no longer in this world."

The crash sounded behind Lance and Joel. The little girl's mother stayed clutching her mouth with a mournful expression. The shards of shiny glass at her feet illuminated Joel's calm face. Joel picked up the black umbrella and unfolded it to hide the reflection then invited the spirit of a young girl to stand inside the umbrella.

"Don't worry, I will pass the word on to your mother." - Joel whispered in a low thump just enough for him and her to hear.

Joel folded up his umbrella and walked over to where her mother was standing. She grabbed his shoulder.

"What you say is not the truth, is it? Is my girl still alive?" She said in a trembling voice.

Lance walked over and helped her mother sit down on the bed. Joel took a book from the shelf and flipped through the pages.

"I wonder if you always wanted to find your daughter back because you genuinely adored her, or because you felt guilty for protecting your honor and ignored her confession."

"That year, I abandoned her because of my career and honor. I don't want to be laughed at for losing my husband to my daughter. But, I was wrong. Nothing mattered without her by my side. I abandoned the child I gave birth to." - The girl's mother sobbed and said.

Her mother's loud cry made the umbrella in Joel's hand shook. Joel gently stroked the umbrella as comfort to the little girl's soul inside.

"She forgave you a long time ago. That year, she was also the one in the wrong. She knows you did it because you didn't want her to be abused again. She is always here, always wants her mother to be able to live happily for the rest of your life without regretting anything." - He said.

Joel gave her mother the book he was holding. The flipped page was filled with pencil solutions. At the bottom of the page were the words 'I love you'. The little girl's mother hugged the book and cried loudly.

"I bought this book a month ago. My child is always with me. She wants to make me happy."

"Rest assured, I will help her as peacefully as possible." Joel nodded and said.