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Chapter 4

Penulis: Candy
The Thorne car had barely pulled away from the Lane estate when Harrison's sports car swerved in front of it.

Garrett's car blocked the way from behind.

Nathan walked to the rear door and knocked on the window.

"Vivienne, get out."

I didn't move.

Martin sat in the front passenger seat, his tone steady.

"Mr. Ward, please step aside."

Nathan stared at me through the glass.

"Give me ten minutes."

"I don't want to talk."

"Just let me explain."

"You've already wasted years of my life."

The color drained from his face.

Harrison wrenched the car door open. Cold air rushed in.

He reached for me.

"Vivienne, you're really going to burn every bridge?"

I shrank back, but he caught my wrist.

The next second, a black cane cracked down on his knuckles.

Harrison hissed and let go.

A black SUV had pulled up nearby without anyone noticing.

The door opened.

A man sat in a wheelchair, pushed slowly toward the car by a bodyguard.

He wore a dark overcoat, his features cool and remote, his presence so imposing that no one dared come closer.

Damian Thorne.

The ruthless head of the Thorne family, who supposedly couldn't walk.

Harrison's lip curled.

"Mr. Thorne, this is between us."

Damian lifted his gaze.

"Vivienne has accepted the Thorne family's marriage arrangement. You put your hands on her. Did you bother asking for her consent?"

Garrett stepped forward.

"She's just acting out."

Damian didn't acknowledge him. He turned to me instead.

"Miss Lane, would you like to get out?"

No pressure.

No answering on my behalf.

He just asked.

I looked at him and shook my head gently.

"I'm staying."

Damian raised his hand.

His bodyguards moved in immediately, separating Harrison and the others.

Just then, Chloe stumbled out of the snow and dropped to her knees in front of the car.

"Vivienne, I'm begging you. Don't marry Mr. Thorne. This is all my fault. I'll go to the Thornes instead."

She clutched the car door, sobbing.

"As long as you don't blame Harrison and the others, I'll do anything."

Harrison rushed to help her up.

Garrett took off his coat and wrapped it around her.

Nathan crouched down beside her, murmuring comfort.

"Don't kneel. The ground is freezing."

I watched the scene through the window.

The last flicker of feeling I'd held on to finally went out for good.

Damian turned his head slightly.

"Miss Lane, do you still want to wait for them?"

I shook my head.

"Let's go."

The car pulled away slowly.

Harrison chased it for a few steps.

But then Chloe suddenly collapsed in the snow.

All three of them turned back at once.

Not a single one kept running.

After the plane took off, Damian sat across from me and handed me a tablet.

"Surveillance footage from the lake."

On screen, Chloe had entered my studio beforehand and copied the design files.

Then she found a freelance photographer near the grounds and slipped him an envelope.

"When I jump in, only shoot from the angle that makes it look like Vivienne pushed me."

She stood at the edge of the lake, practicing her crying face for the camera.

"Once they turn on her, all three of them will be mine."

I stared at the screen, my fingers curling tighter and tighter.

Damian's voice was flat.

"The lake is on the Thorne charity grounds. She managed to delete the school's secret recording, but she couldn't touch the original backup on the park's security server."

I looked up.

"Why are you helping me?"

Damian was quiet for a moment.

Then he braced himself on the armrests of the wheelchair and stood up.

I froze.

He walked toward me, one steady step at a time.

There wasn't a trace of disability in his stride.

He took the marriage confirmation from my hands and flipped to the last page.

"Vivienne, the Thorne family never asked for Chloe Stevens."

My fingers went rigid.

"She wasn't replaced by you. The only person the Thornes ever wanted was you."

He reached into his coat and produced an old brass key, placing it in my palm.

The keyring bore a faded etching of a mountain.

"Your mother gave this to me before the accident. She said to return it to you when you were ready to choose your own path."

My throat tightened.

"What does it open?"

Damian looked at me, his voice dropping low.

"A list of everyone responsible for your mother's death."
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    Six months later, verdicts were handed down in the Clearwater case.My mother's fatal car crash was officially ruled to have been deliberately caused.Every dollar embezzled from the Summit Foundation was recovered.The damages paid by the Hale, Grant, and Ward families went into the foundation's account as well.Robert Stevens had played a role in the falsified books, and he bore responsibility for that.But the fact that the three families had pinned the entire blame on him alone, covering up where the money actually went, was laid bare in the verdict.Chloe was convicted of stealing commercial records, defamation, obstruction of an investigation, and related offenses.She had suffered.But suffering didn't give her the right to weaponize her pain against another innocent person.A year later, the Summit Foundation officially relaunched.I stood at the podium, and behind me sat dozens of women creators.One had been a laid-off factory worker.One was raising a child on her own.One h

  • After Three CEOs Abandoned Me, I Married the Disabled Billionaire   Chapter 11

    After the old case was reopened, senior members of the Hale, Grant, and Ward families were taken in for investigation.The original ledger, Chloe's livestream recording, and the evidence Damian had collected over the years formed a complete chain of evidence.The truth about the three families embezzling the Summit Foundation, staging the car accident, and framing Robert Stevens finally came to light.Harrison, Garrett, and Nathan turned over evidence of their own.They couldn't atone for what their families' elders had done.And they couldn't erase the fact that they'd hurt me.But at least they stopped running from it.At the press conference, Harrison publicly admitted that he had pushed me into the frozen lake without a shred of evidence.Garrett admitted he had held back a bodyguard who'd tried to rescue me.Nathan admitted that he'd known I was hurt and had chosen to comfort Chloe anyway.They lost their positions at the heart of their families' businesses.The three young CEOs w

  • After Three CEOs Abandoned Me, I Married the Disabled Billionaire   Chapter 10

    The wind at the frozen lake was colder than it had been three years ago.Chloe stood on a wooden platform in the middle of the ice.The ledger was strapped beside a makeshift burner.The livestream camera faced her. It also faced me.The viewer count was climbing fast.She changed the stream title to:The truth about heiress Vivienne Lane driving a scholarship student to her death.I stopped at the safety line."Chloe, give me the ledger."She laughed."Give it to you? Why should I? You've had everything since the day you were born. The Lane family, Harrison, Garrett, Nathan, and now even Damian Thorne is standing beside you. What about me? My father died. My mother ran away. I put myself through school on scholarships, and people still looked down on me."I looked at her."It's not my money you hate. What you hate is that you won't admit some roads can only be walked alone."Chloe's face twisted."Don't lecture me! If your mother hadn't gone after those accounts, my father would never

  • After Three CEOs Abandoned Me, I Married the Disabled Billionaire   Chapter 9

    The next day, Chloe sent me a location pin.Harrison, Garrett, and Nathan received the same message.Chloe had deliberately lured everyone to the old factory in the northern outskirts.She wanted to see whether that ledger would make everyone turn against me once more.Damian turned over the coordinates, the account records, and Chloe's background file to the police.The police determined she might be in possession of original evidence and could potentially retaliate against me, so they set up a perimeter in advance.The old factory had been abandoned for years.The iron gates were rusted, the walls were peeling, and wind blew through the broken windows.I didn't come alone.I was sharing my live location.Police were stationed around the perimeter.Damian was in a car not far away.But I still walked inside.Because the person Chloe had asked to meet was me.Footsteps echoed from the second floor.I'd barely looked up when I heard Harrison's voice."The original ledger has to go strai

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    I didn't shut down the studio, and I didn't retreat into the Thorne estate.I took the Summit team and started going through every record of the artisans my mother had supported years ago.Some had lost their orders and ended up cleaning buildings for a living.Some had been stiffed by business partners and were raising their children in basement apartments.Others had kept small workshops on the verge of collapse running for a decade, too afraid to close the doors.They were like Chloe in a way. None of them had ever had a safety net.But none of them had stolen someone else's life.On the day of the livestream, I sat in front of the camera.An embroiderer drew her needle through the fabric, her fingers covered in calluses."My mother taught me this stitch. Nobody used to want to buy my work. But now I want to use it to put my daughter through college."In the first hour, total sales barely hit three thousand dollars.The comment section was still full of venom."The heiress puts on a

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    The next day, news that Damian Thorne had "faked a disability to trick Vivienne into marrying him" spread everywhere.Harrison gave an interview, his tone rigid."Damian Thorne deliberately concealed his physical condition. Vivienne was kept in the dark."Garrett had his lawyers issue a statement claiming the Thornes had used the marriage arrangement to gain access to Lane family resources, alleging commercial fraud.They were doing it under the banner of "protecting me."Once again, they went around me and made decisions on my behalf.I didn't hold a press conference.I just had Summit's official account post a video.In it, I sat at my worktable, my first batch of handcrafted jewelry arranged behind me."Whether or not Damian Thorne is disabled is his private matter. Whether I marry or divorce is my choice. I will not allow anyone to interfere with my life under the guise of protecting me."After the video went up, public opinion flipped instantly.By the time Harrison and the others

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