Nia Mitchell was taken aback by the murmuring of the surrounding crowd. Was Robert Perez really going to pin this on her? Had there been some mistake? "I think you’ve got it wrong. Since seeing Victoria Perez leave the Madgar Pavilion that day, I haven’t met her again." Nia Mitchell frowned, utterly disgusted by Robert Perez’s words. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲·𝗻𝗲𝘁 "Miss Mitchell, I beg you!" Upon hearing Nia’s words, Robert Perez knelt once more. Tears streamed down his face, yet even that failed to capture his wretched state. The commotion was immense, drawing an ever-larger crowd of spectators. "I really haven’t seen your daughter! Why are you hounding me ?" The surrounding din was so loud that Nia had to raise her voice, her small face flushing red with anxiety. It was one thing for Robert Perez to kneel and beg, but now he had actually started grabbing her hand and clinging to her leg, refusing to let her leave. "Let me go, or I’m calling the cops!" Nia exclaimed, pulling out her phone to dial. Seeing this, Robert Perez lunged forward, snatched her phone, and threw it aside. He couldn’t let Nia call the police; they would undoubtedly side with her, and he still needed to find his daughter. He had to fight for his daughter here; he couldn’t just give up. "Hey! What are you doing?" Nia was startled by Robert Perez’s actions. It reminded her of how Victoria Perez had done the exact same thing at the Madgar Pavilion, snatching her phone without a word to stop her from calling the police. Thankfully, her phone hadn’t broken that time; it only had a few scratches but was still usable. Sure enough, like father, like daughter. They were undeniably related. "Robert Perez, let go of me!" Nia struggled, finally wrenching herself free, and lunged for her phone. Loud murmurs erupted from the onlookers. Then, someone, as if intentionally, stuck out a foot and kicked her phone hard. Instantly, Nia lost sight of it. "AH! What do you think you’re doing?" Nia glared at the culprit, her face contorted with resentment, eyes blazing with fury. The man in the crowd simply shrugged. "Sorry, I didn’t notice that was your phone." He said it so casually, his tone implying that since it wasn’t intentional, there was nothing she could do about it. Nia clenched her fists. She turned and tried to search in the direction her phone had flown, but the onlookers had formed a tight, dense circle around the area. Surrounded by a wall of people, she couldn’t see her phone anywhere. "Did anyone see my phone?" Nia anxiously rushed to the edge of the crowd, trying to push through and search, but then she heard Robert Perez roar from behind her again. "You murderer! Don’t you run! Someone stop her, don’t let her get away! My daughter!" In his eyes, all of Nia’s explanations were just pathetic excuses. He had already humbled himself, practically groveling as he begged her. Yet, she remained ungrateful and refused to spare Victoria Perez. Since that was the case, why should he bother being polite anymore? "You murderer! Tell me where my daughter is! Otherwise, I swear I won’t let you off the hook! I’ll make sure you get the punishment you deserve!" Robert Perez naturally had a resonant voice. With such a roar, most of the onlookers were swayed to his side, concluding that Nia must be in the wrong. After all, no matter what someone might have done, it was never acceptable to harm another person’s daughter.