The substitute bride is a mute

Chapter 20

Clark brought a sign language teacher in to help translate Judy's signs to facilitate communication.

Judy gritted her teeth and faced Max’s gaze.

"The person in the video is not me. Tell them," she gestured.

"How could it not be you?" said Max who insisted, "Back then, you were the one who came and seduced me."

"You're talking nonsense," Judy quickly gestured. "Why would I seduce you?"

After hearing the translations, Clark fell into contemplation. Despite the fact that she was mute, she was still the eldest daughter of the Blake family.

It was rather unbelievable that she would try to seduce such an unattractive P.E. teacher.

Max confidently refuted, "You needed excellent scores for all subjects including P.E. for your college application, but your P.E. sucked, so you resorted to seducing me and later threatening me with the clip. That was why I had to change your score."

Judy's face turned pale as she anxiously gestured in response to deny the allegation. She would never seduce a teacher for better scores.

The gaze Clark had on her changed.

As the two continued to argue over the matter, Clark said coldly, "Dig up the school records."

All the subject scores could be found in the school records. A look into it would reveal the truth.

Soon, the school records were presented in front of them.

Unexpectedly, Judy, though a mute, had achieved flying colors in all subjects, all except for P.E. in the second semester of 11th Grade.

The originally failing score was struck out and replaced with another that was excellent. It was obvious to anyone that something fishy was going on.

Instantly, Clark's already cold gaze became even more chilling.

Coldly, he questioned, "What else do you have to say?"

Her face now grew paler than the white walls which surrounded them. Judy helplessly shook her head.

With a bang, Clark slammed the table with the school records and declared, "From today onward, you're no longer my wife."

The room fell silent at his words.

Judy was panicking now. She could not believe that he had so easily trusted the words of others without hearing her argument.

No, she could not let him detest her! She needed to explain herself. She could not be driven out of the Reid family as her grandmother's life was still in Matthew's hands.

In a haste, she came in front of him to block his way and hurriedly gestured, "Let me find a classmate from back then to testify for me."

"No need. The Reid family is embarrassed enough!" Clark uttered coldly and glanced at her with disgust before striding off without hesitation.

"Mr. Reid, I'll see you off."

The principal quickly followed behind, and the other teachers also left.

Judy's mind went blank as she watched Clark leave.

Amid the commotion, somebody had bumped into her, not knowing whether intentional or not, causing her knee to knock onto the coffee table nearby. Crouching down, she winced in pain.

"Are you okay, Judy?" said a man’s voice behind her.

Snapping out from the pain, she turned around instinctively. Before she could get a hold of her footing, she immediately stepped backward when she saw the bald man in front of her with terror.

Everyone in the teacher's office was gone, except for her and Max.

"Stay away from me," she gestured.

"When Clark Reid came looking for me, I thought I was in trouble." Max sneered and continued, "Who knew it'd be this easy to settle the matter? Judy, it seems you're having a tough life after marrying into the Reid family, right?"

She found the direction of the exit from the side of her eye and rushed toward it, but Max was more agile.

He grabbed her arm, pulled her back forcefully, and pushed her onto the sofa, scolding, "We haven't finished our conversation. Why are you leaving so soon?"

Judy could see stars from the fall, and her heart dropped.

"Don't touch me! Somebody help me!" she mouthed, trying her best to scream for help, but no matter how hard she tried, only hoarse whimpering came out of her throat.

"Don't be afraid," said Max, shifting his gaze downward and staring at her heaving chest with a lecherous grin.

"If you had been obedient back then, I wouldn't have had to find a way to cover it up just in case you made a scene about it. Now that Clark no longer wants you, you might as well come home with me…"

Judy hopelessly shook her head and cowered in one corner of the sofa, her whole body trembling in fear.

The truth back then was plain and simple.

A lustful P.E. teacher wanted to take advantage of a mute girl but failed. To cover up the truth, he accused her first of seducing him.

The school went into an uproar, but nobody bothered about the truth since everyone only enjoyed spectating the bustle.

Today, even Clark refused to believe her.

As Max's hands reached toward her again, Judy desperately widened her eyes which were filled with terror.

"Don't come near me," she screamed inwardly.

Suddenly, the door to the teacher's office slammed against the wall with a loud bang. The force was so immense that it shook the room.

In the next second, Max yelled in pain as he was thrown to the ground.

When she finally came to her senses, she saw a shiny leather shoe stomping on Max's perverted face, crushing it like a piece of rag.

"Ah—!" he yelled as his face was crushed into distortion.

Judy looked up from the shoe and was taken aback.

Amidst the flying dust in the room, a huge shadow towered over her, enveloping her entirely. The man's stern face appeared somewhat blurry.

With a voice that was not so loud but resolute, he said, "Whichever hand that he just used to touch my woman just now, render it useless."

It was Clark. Didn't he leave?

Clark's assistant, Jeremy, retrieved a pinhole camera from behind a painting in the office and said, "Mr. Reid, it's all recorded."

It wasn't until Max was dragged out that Judy regained her senses.

She stared blankly at the man in front of her and gestured, "You've been here all along?"

Seeing the woman before him in such a sorry state, Clark furrowed his brows slightly.

There were too many loopholes in the reported news that it was utterly unbelievable. However, it was difficult to capture substantial evidence since the incident had happened a long time ago.

That was why he used this trick to ensnare his prey, but Judy had to suffer a little during the process.

Suffer? The moment this word flashed through his mind, the frown on his face deepened.

Judy had no idea what Clark was thinking. When the truth of the matter came to light, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She struggled to support herself by grabbing a corner of the sofa, but suddenly the pain in her knees struck, causing her to fall.

Amid her low, startled cry, a pair of large hands promptly caught her. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Seeing the bruises on her knees, Clark's eyes darkened and he asked, "Did you get injured just now?"

Judy felt uneasy, afraid that she might cause trouble for him again.

While leaning on the sofa, she carefully gestured, "I can walk on my own."

The tears in Judy’s eyes had not yet dried. Her face was pale and haggard. Clearly in pain, she gritted her teeth to feign composure, appearing increasingly pitiful.

Clark's heart tightened. As she was about to get up, he firmly pressed her shoulder, removed his suit jacket, and draped it over her.

Without a word, he picked her up and they left, under the gazes of the onlookers.