The receptionist seemed quite shocked and a little scared to hear that there was a high-profile criminal in their hotel. So she stepped back, wisely deciding not to question them after that point.
Dave confidently led his colleagues to the elevator, and some questions began to appear in their mind…
Most of them were suspicious about what Dave's real motives were, because even though the receptionist had not asked them for any documents, they couldn't exactly arrest anyone without a warrant!
It seemed like he was being vague on purpose. Was it his plan to take advantage of his position and his authority to ruin Julia's wedding?
As they reached the fifth floor and Dave started to walk towards the ballroom doors, one of the officers decided to speak up;
"Walters, just be honest. Are you just trying to interrupt their ceremony because you want revenge!?"
Because of the courage of one person, everyone else also suddenly felt bold enough to speak up.
"Yeah, we decided to come with you as your colleagues, but we won't support you for something so petty and personal."
"If your intentions are good, then why are you not telling us anything? It just looks like you want to splash mud on the couple because you can't digest the fact that she moved on and found someone else."
"Walters, don't drag us into the mud with you!"
Even though the officers had invitations for the wedding, they could still be thrown out for causing disturbance.
In fact, their careers as police officers might also be at risk!
Dave felt slightly annoyed at their questions, and said,
"I asked you to just trust me and follow me here. If you now feel that you don't trust me anymore, then you are free to leave."
Mark stepped forward and tried to explain,
"No no, it's just that… we don't want to do anything impulsive that we all might regret later."
"Lee is right, even if you feel upset, don't forget that we are still servants of the law and we have taken an oath."
Although Dave could understand why they had these doubts, he really couldn't explain the situation to them right now.
If he told his colleagues that he had unlocked a supernatural system a few minutes ago, which had confirmed the criminal record of Noah Stone… he had a feeling that they would probably carry him out of there and dump him into a mental institution.
He just shook his head and tried to reassure them;
"Guys, you all know me well. Even if I haven't been the best or more heroic officer, you know I don't take stupid risks. I would never put my career at risk just for the sake of an ex- girlfriend, and I would never bring you here if I didn't know exactly what I am doing."
There was a tense silence in the hallway as he finished speaking, and Peter decided to intervene.
"I completely support Dave, if he insists, then I'm sure he is really here to arrest someone. But this situation might be more complicated than it seems. So before we enter, can you tell us, which guest we are trying to arrest?"
With a smile on his face, Dave revealed;
"It's not a guest, but the groom."
"The groom! Walters, I swear if you are trying to take your frustration out on an innocent person–"
"And he is a wealthy businessman, he might even have political connections–"
"This one mistake can land us in major trouble with the authorities–"
Several people tried to speak at the same time, but Dave interrupted them with a wry smile.
"There is no mistake, and I'm confident that nothing will go wrong. I felt that something was wrong, when I first saw Julia's engagement photo with him in the newspaper. But I brushed it off at that time…"
Everyone was listening quietly, as the atmosphere of suspense heightened.
"I am sure you remember that three months ago, we were supposed to be on duty at the Annual City Fundraising Auction at the G&K Museum. And at that auction, a lot of precious gold and diamond jewelry worth millions of dollars had gone missing."
He continued, knowing that everyone's attention was focused on his words.
"At that time, we had to file a missing case because the person who had stolen the jewelry turned out to have some powerful connections and he managed to escape before the trial."
"Walters, what are you trying to say!"
"Just come here and see for yourself."
Dave said as he opened the door a little bit, inviting Lee to step forward, so that he could see the stage where the wedding ceremony was taking place right now.
Meanwhile, Dave stood beside him and pointed;
"Look carefully at the man standing on the stage, in the navy blue suit. Don't you think he looks somewhat similar to the culprit who had managed to flee from prison?"
There was a stunned silence as Lee finally exclaimed,
"Holy shit! That's him… I can see the similarities!"
As soon as the other officers heard this, they rushed forward to crowd around the door and took turns to press against the door, trying to get a look for themselves.
Their disbelief was reaching new heights, as they saw the man smiling under the lights like an angel… somehow, it was difficult to believe that this was the same guy!
"Whoa… I can't believe that he actually looks like that criminal!"
"If not for Walters, I would never have paid enough attention to figure it out! Maybe I would have taken one look at this man and thought he reminded me of someone… without ever realizing the truth!"
"Do you think he got plastic surgery to change his facial features? Because his height and body build certainly seem eerily similar…"
Seeing that his team had seen the truth with their own eyes now, Dave pushed open the double doors of the ballroom, causing many pairs of eyes to turn towards the newcomers.
The entrance of Dave and his team plunged the entire ballroom into a tense atmosphere.
A collective hush swept through the crowd of guests as they exchanged confused glances, trying to figure out the reason behind the unexpected appearance of the police officers, at what was meant to be a cheerful wedding celebration.
However, the actual couple had no idea of the upcoming storm, and they were reciting their vows to each other.
"I, Julia, take you, Noah, as my husband for life and I promise to…"
Her speech was cut short as the background music was abruptly shut off, and the bride and groom turned towards the entrance, trying to understand what was going on.
The bride's face carried a sweet smile, even though she could sense the unusual tension… but the moment her eyes fell on Dave Walters, her expression turned sour.
Julia clenched her hands in anger, crushing the poor flowers in her bridal bouquet.
She thought she had made it very clear that she had no interest in him anymore, after that shitty proposal he had planned.
He hadn't even tried to contact her once since then, which led her to believe that he must be hiding his face in shame. And yet, this man had the audacity to show up to her wedding!
"Dave! What the hell are you doing here?"
She blurted out in disbelief, and by now, even her relatives had started whispering amongst themselves.
"Dave… isn't that the name of her ex-boyfriend?"
"Yes, I think that's him! She brought him to my daughter's graduation party once…"
"Is that him, the cop? Whoa, I wonder what drama he is going to create."
Julia could hear these whispers, and she couldn't control her temper.
"Are you here to beg for me? Or are you just trying to gather some sympathy? Let me tell you, nobody here will have pity on you! A penniless man like you, who has no self-respect, you can never get any respect in society!"
As far as her past with Dave was concerned, Julia had no feelings for him apart from anger and frustration.
Instead of feeling thankful that she had decided to spend five precious years of her life with him, he had the guts to make a scene on the most important day of her life?
There was not a drop of regret in her heart, because she knew from the very beginning that she was just with him until she found someone better.
And now that she had met her current husband, who was easily a hundred times richer than him, why would she even look in Dave's direction?
She had met Noah Stone before, a handful of times at some high-profile parties. She had just flirted with him lightly, but obviously, Noah wanted to see her more often– after all, given how young and beautiful she was, how could anyone not be interested in her?
Ever since then, he had been trying to get her number and invite her out on dates.
When Dave decided to stupidly propose to her, she understood that this was the best time for her to leave him and find someone else.
Otherwise, she would be stuck with this loser for the rest of her life!
So, she had called Noah that night, and accepted his invitation for a date. When he proposed to her a week later, she had no reason to say no!
But it looked like this unlucky charm named Dave Walters just couldn't see her happy.
Even now, he was slowly walking towards the stage, and Julia warned him with a cold expression;
"If you have any misunderstanding that you will be able to scare me with these cheap stunts, then you are wrong! You should be ashamed of these childish tricks, do you think that you will really convince me to marry you by crashing my fucking wedding?"
On hearing her words, a sarcastic smile appeared on Dave's face, as he took one look at her.
At first, he had thought that he would feel sad or hurt on seeing her as a bride, with some other man standing beside her.
But right now, he couldn't understand what his past self had seen in her. She wasn't even that beautiful, nor did she have any class… so where did she find the confidence to boast?
"Miss, I am perfectly capable of seeing the truth, but I think you are under some delusion. Not everyone is obsessed with you, so just move aside. I haven't come here for you!"
On hearing Dave's bold claim that he was not there for her, Julia felt like someone had poured gasoline all over her and set her on fire.During the five years of their relationship, he used to dote on her completely, rushing to fulfill her every need before the words left her mouth, and praising her endlessly. And now, all of a sudden he was calling her self- obsessed? What did he mean, he wasn't here for her? "What is the meaning of this? You dare to show up at MY WEDDING, and then claim that it's not about me? Then, who is it about? Are you here to celebrate your fucking birthday–""I am here on important business."The guests, who were concerned till now, were slowly getting more and more intrigued by the drama. At first, they were scared and concerned about what was going to happen, but now they felt like this was turning out to be quite an unexpectedly entertaining ex- boyfriend drama. "In the movies, the hero always makes an entry at the last moment, and takes the heroine w
Thomas Kennedy, Julia's father, stepped on the stage, ready to deal with whoever had the guts to spoil his daughter's wedding ceremony."Dave Walters! Is this a joke? You know damn well that you can't abuse your authority in this way!""Daddy!" Julia suddenly ran towards her father, clutching his arm with a pitiful expression. She whined,"Daddy, he is just jealous because he is a loser whom I dumped! And now, he wants to take revenge from me by embarrassing our family in front of all our guests!"Thomas glared at Dave, and if he could shoot missiles through his eyes, Dave would already be on his journey to the afterlife. Seeing that Julia's family was getting riled up, Noah also decided to open his mouth, even though he was already getting anxious. "Yes… yes! How can you expect us to believe that this is not an attempt to punish me for marrying Julia? I haven't done anything, so on what grounds are you arresting me?"Without even giving Dave a chance to speak, Thomas began to bera
Julia was stunned to hear his stern scolding, as he always used to speak to her in a soft tone. But had he just asked her to shut up?! She was dumbfounded, wondering how the hell he had changed this much in just seconds! Meanwhile, Noah's fists were clenched in anger, and if he hadn't been handcuffed, he would have shut her up with a tight slap! Instead of feeling apologetic that he was in all this mess because of her, this girl was running her mouth to get him in more trouble?! "How dare you speak to my daughter like that?!" Before anyone could do anything, Thomas roared out. "Just be honest, have you been deceiving us all along? What have you done, answer me!" Noah was guiltily biting the inside of his cheek without saying anything. It wasn't just that he was embarrassed in front of everyone, but he also didn't want to say too much and get himself more tangled up in the web. But Dave was smiling sarcastically, understanding his thoughts. Even if Noah tried his best to hide
Dave came back to the present moment when he heard the screech of brakes of the police jeep, only to realize that they had arrived at the precinct.Feeling proud, he got down and escorted Noah out of the jeep, only to be greeted by his colleagues."I guess Dave finally opened his arrest record with a bang, huh?""Getting a high profile criminal and getting his revenge, now that's something else!""Yeah man, I guess all he needed to jump into action was a little push from our side!"By this time, they had entered the precinct, and Dave was enjoying the attention and flattery quite a bit.He handed Noah Stone over to one of the constables and instructed him to put him in lock- up."He is an A- list criminal from the auction theft, who managed to escape from prison. Lock him up for now, and we will be getting the statements from people tomorrow morning.""Yes sir!"The constable saluted him and led Noah inside, who felt even more humiliated, being dragged around like cattle."Leave me, y
Dave was feeling like everything he had done today, had amounted to nothing in the end.Before he could feel any worse about his fate, his phone began to ring. But the moment he saw his sister's name on the screen, he knew he had to compose himself.He never wanted to show his negative emotions or concerns in front of her, as he didn't want her to worry about him. "Hello?""Brother?" Her shaky voice echoed through the phone speakers, as if she was scared of something."Morgan? What's wrong?""Brother… can you please come and pick me up? I am near our school, just please come quickly…""Okay, I'll be there in no time. I'm just coming, don't be scared, okay? Whatever it is, I'll take care of it. "Saying this, he didn't even wait for a reply before he climbed behind the steering wheel of the police jeep and sped off to Claren High School, leaving his colleagues in confusion about what just happened.He didn't have much trouble in spotting them; as soon as he turned the jeep towards the
Tears started streaming down Morgan's face as she said,"I called you because I want to help my friend… but I don't want anything to happen to you!""Oh, Morgan… nothing is going to happen to me, just trust me. I know exactly how to handle such people. You trust your brother, don't you?"Morgan nodded even though her face was covered with tears, and Dave continued;"Then, be a good girl and listen to me carefully. Take your friend and go to my apartment, you already have the keys, right? Good. Neither of you are supposed to go to school until I tell you it is safe to, okay?And don't let your mind wander even for a second, I'm going to be perfectly fine, and so are you two. Understood? If anything happens, just call me."As soon as the girls' disappeared from Dave's sight, his anger returned with ten times the previous intensity. Yesterday, he had seen with his own eyes how the person on the most wanted list had gotten a chance to humiliate him in the police station, while his teamma
As soon as Matt managed to stand up on his own two feet, he ran towards Dave like an angry bull charging at his target. Although Dave managed to dodge his first attack, he gripped his collar and the two of them were locked in a struggle where each one was trying to push the other back. As the struggle intensified, the teacher, fueled by desperation, pulled out a gun from the pocket of his robe that was hanging loosely over his shoulders till now. "Get away from me, whoever the hell you are! You hear me? Stay away or I won't be responsible for the consequences!"He threatened while brandishing the gun menacingly. A cold shiver ran down Dave's spine as the weapon gleamed ominously in the light.Numb with shock, Dave hesitated for a moment… but just then, inspiration struck him as his hand reached into his pocket and gripped a cold blade.In one forceful arc, he hurled a knife towards Matt, who was not expecting this at all. The blade whizzed through the air, finding its mark with pre
As the teacher lay on the floor, taking his last breaths, a new announcement from the system rang in Dave's ears.[Ding! Host, you have completed the first level successfully. Access to the second level has been granted.][Congratulations! You have received one reward. Open it now?]Dave knew he just had to think about his answer in his mind, and the system would automatically follow the command. And that was exactly what happened, as the voice echoed;[Host, you have received power- up: Truth Sense. This ability will allow the host to find out if someone is lying, and help uncover their hidden motives.]The air in the room was weighed down by an eerie stillness, after Dave's tumultuous encounter with the high school teacher. Everything was too calm, with only the sound of the microwave going off in the background. Although a sense of relief washed over him, knowing that this leech won't be able to touch any other girl without her consent ever again, there was another unsettling real