The officers were cold, but Vivian knew it wasn’t personal. They’d seen too many cases like this—it was just routine to them now.She headed to the storage room, which thankfully the maid had tidied before leaving. Everything was neat, even if the house itself felt like a shell of what it once was.Vivian gathered all the usable suitcases she could find. Pride forgotten, she dragged them upstairs and began packing.According to the court order, she could only take essential items and a few valuables—antiques and collectibles had to be left behind.She’d never packed a suitcase in her life. She had no idea what went where, couldn’t even fold clothes properly. Most of what she owned were high-end designer pieces—things that needed dry cleaning and careful storage, not cramming into luggage.But now wasn’t the time to be picky. She packed whatever she could, knowing she might resell some of it to make ends meet.After more than 40 minutes, she barely managed to stuff everything into
She had paid the butler, Mr. Ford, more than enough—enough to cover all the staff’s wages. Whatever was left, the Wilson family more than deserved in return for his service.“Miss?” the housekeeper called out, seeing Vivian standing there in a daze, eyes wide open. She waved a hand in front of her anxiously. “Are you alright?”Vivian finally snapped out of it. She closed her eyes briefly, then let out a long breath and asked calmly, “How much are you owed in back wages?”The housekeeper’s eyes lit up. She quickly pulled a wrinkled note from her handbag. “Miss, here—this is the list of expenses from the past month. It’s not much different from what I’m owed in wages. If you could reimburse this, that’ll be enough.”Vivian took the note, but her brows furrowed. “Why are the expenses so high? According to this, you were only in charge of the garden. How could it cost this much?”Afraid she wouldn’t get paid, the housekeeper rushed to explain, “Miss, since you haven’t been managing th
Vivian had heard of Professor Ark’s reputation. A flicker of embarrassment crossed her face, but the doctor didn’t seem to notice. She just nodded and muttered, “Got it. I’ll figure something out. For now, just keep going with the conservative treatment.”She turned back and sat by the old man’s bedside, quiet and still.The doctor didn’t say anything more. He simply stepped out and closed the door behind him.Later that day, the investigator assigned to track Vivian reported her movements back to Zachary.Zachary gave a short nod. “And the surveillance footage—any progress?”The detective shook his head. “Nothing yet.”Zachary’s expression darkened. After a moment of silence, he said, “Put more people on it. I don’t care if you have to flip East Coast inside out—find something.”The detective was relentless by nature and immediately agreed. With two of the city’s biggest corporations involved, even the police weren’t taking any chances.Following a lead, they quickly found the
The other board members exchanged glances before finally speaking up in agreement with Leon’s final suggestion.Back in her office, Vivian was still fuming. She flung the proposal she had spent days working on straight into the trash and snapped, “Bunch of stubborn old fossils.”Leon watched her for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. “Something’s off. I expected resistance, sure—but that was beyond predictable opposition. It felt coordinated.”Vivian rubbed her temples and sank into the sofa, exhausted. “I’ll have someone look into it discreetly. But what do we do now? We can’t keep locking horns like this forever.”Leon leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, a glint of sarcasm in his eyes. “You’re usually full of ideas. If you’d put half the ruthlessness into this as you did with Scarlett and Sarah, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”Vivian’s face instantly turned cold, the anger building behind her tightly pressed lips. But she swallowed it down, remembering how desperate
Scarlett seemed to calm down at his words. She looked at Steven cautiously and asked in a soft voice, “Will you let Steven go?”“I will.”That was all it took—Scarlett broke down in sobs. The sound of her crying shattered Steven. His heart just... caved in.Out in the hallway, hearing them both cry, Sarah couldn’t take it anymore. She turned away from the door and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.Zachary followed. “You’re not gonna offer me one too?”Sarah didn’t even look at him. “Letting you and Steven in was already generous. Don’t forget what happened before. I haven’t.”Zachary’s expression darkened. He knew she meant every word.“How long is he staying? Scarlett needs rest. If he doesn’t come out soon, I’m kicking him out,” she said, her tone growing colder by the second.“He won’t last much longer,” Zachary replied after checking the time. “He needs to get to the hospital soon anyway.”Just then, there was a heavy thud from inside the room.Sarah and Zach
Steven's dry lips moved slightly—just enough for a crack to split open, blood blooming red against the pale skin. His lips parted.“She’s waiting for me.”He exhaled shakily and looked up at Sarah with pleading eyes. “Please… let me go in. Let me see her.”Sarah hesitated. Her expression was pained, but in the end, she nodded.She, too, wanted to know—was Scarlett truly waiting for Steven?Steven slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. Zachary and Sarah didn’t follow—they stood silently outside, watching from the hallway.Through the narrow gap in the door, Sarah observed the room closely. She was prepared to rush in at the first sign Scarlett was triggered.But Steven didn’t notice her vigilance.His eyes were filled with only one person—Scarlett.Every step sent shocks of pain up his body, but he pushed through, each movement deliberate and cautious. He let out a low groan, but Scarlett didn’t react.He knelt in front of her, the pain almost unbearable.“Scarlett,”