Chapter 7

I remembered it vividly. At the end of the year before last, my mother's condition had suddenly worsened. She was already in a vegetative state, but her organs had abruptly started failing. Her life had hung by a thread.

Experts had said that a new medical device could replace her blood and provide cardiopulmonary support, potentially reversing her condition if used in time. Coincidentally, the device was developed by Timothy's company. It hadn't been on the market yet and was only accessible through internal channels.

I had thought that it would be easy enough for Timothy to arrange. But when I had called him, he had cut me off, barely giving me the chance to explain my mother's worsening condition. "Tell the doctors to do everything they can for your mother. Money's no issue. I've got something urgent going on here, so I need to go."

He hadn't even had the patience to hear me out before hanging up on me.

Money was the easiest thing for Timothy to offer. It was just like me—easy to obtain, and thus, no longer cherished.

At the time, I had been utterly hopeless. I had wondered what could possibly be more important than my mother's life.

Now, I had my answer. The "urgent matter" he had to attend to that day was taking Daphne to an amusement park.

While I had been in Seavale crying my heart out in desperation, he had been at the biggest amusement park in Davalea with Yasmin and Daphne.

Even though Jonathan had later managed to get the device, saving my mother's life for the time being, the despair and fear of losing her that day would stay with me forever.

I fought to contain the rage and pain threatening to burst forth. I quickly grabbed my laptop to screenshot Yasmin's posts as proof. Everything she used to provoke me that day would be used as evidence when I faced Timothy in court.

Seeing those photos, I suddenly remembered what Linda had said yesterday—that the leaked photos had originated from my workplace.

How was that possible?

I was the editor-in-chief at Seven Star Entertainment. I had to review every article that went out. Were Linda and Timothy mistaken, or had someone in my department acted on their own?

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Before I could tell them to come in, Timothy barged in and threw his phone onto the bed before me, looking ready to interrogate me. His voice was icy as he demanded, "How long are you going to keep this up?"

I picked up the phone in confusion to see that more photos of Yasmin had been exposed that day. They showed her with Timothy again, though his face was still blurry.

One thing was clear—these repeated leaks felt malicious.

I looked at him calmly. "I didn't do this. Can't you believe me just this once?"

At that moment, Daphne ran in, crying anxiously. "Daddy, Mommy's running away! Hurry up and stop her! Keep her here!"

Timothy's face grew serious at that. He scooped Daphne up and hurried out of my room. I followed them to the living room, wanting to clear things up with him.

There, I watched as he stopped Yasmin from leaving. Daphne clung to her, holding her hand tightly as she sobbed and begged her not to go.

I stood quietly in my corner, watching the family of three. The online community labeled Yasmin a talentless starlet, famous only for hype and her looks, lacking any real acting skills.

But I thought that she was a pretty good actress. After all, she could cry on cue and make it look good.

"Tim, just let me go. I can't take this anymore," she said, her voice full of grievance. "If this keeps up, my reputation will be ruined!"

Before Timothy could comfort her, I said coolly, "You've already brought your illegitimate daughter into my home, and you willingly became someone's mistress. Now, you're saying you're worried about your reputation?"

"Shut up, Josie!" Timothy snapped at me. Then, softening his tone, he said to Yasmin, "I'll handle this, alright? You can't leave. Daphne needs you."

Daphne was genuinely terrified that Yasmin would leave. She sobbed and said, "Mommy, if you go, take me and Daddy with you, okay?"

She pointed at me and said disdainfully, "This lady is so mean. I don't want to stay with her."

Yasmin picked her up as tears continued to stream down her face. "I don't want to leave you, too, sweetheart, but…"

I looked at Timothy calmly. "None of you needs to leave. I'll have a lawyer come over tomorrow to assess our marital assets. I'll take what's mine and go so that I won't keep scaring your precious daughter."

It was clear that Yasmin and Daphne wanted me gone, and I thought Timothy was backed into a corner with this. By leaving willingly, I was being so "understanding" that I was sure he would take the chance to let me go.

Unexpectedly, his eyes turned stormy. He snarled, "You're not going anywhere until this is sorted out!"

I was a bit disappointed, but Yasmin was even more so. She wasn't actually leaving, of course. After some theatrics, she was "convinced" by Timothy and Daphne to stay.

…

At dinner time, Laura knocked on my door and said cautiously, "Mrs. Grant, dinner's ready. Shall I bring it to your room?"

I knew that she'd overheard the argument in the living room and was afraid I'd face more hostility at the table. However, I couldn't let myself be falsely accused.

I wanted to leak all the photos I had and let the world see who exactly the mysterious man with Yasmin was. But since I hadn't done it, I refused to take the blame for it.

I didn't have Laura bring me the food. Instead, I went to the dining room.

Yasmin clearly didn't expect me to show up. She and Daphne sat on either side of Timothy, who was seated at the head of the table.

There was no place for me, huh?

I considered sitting at the far end, opposite Timothy, but that would have put me too far from the food. So, I calmly sat next to Daphne.

A second later, she jumped off her chair, looking startled as she scrambled to Yasmin's side. She looked at me like I was a monster.

Yasmin held her protectively and said to Timothy, "Tim, maybe Daphne and I should eat in the room."

She acted as if she and Daphne were both terrified of me and wanted to avoid me like the plague.

However, Timothy said, "You're not the one who should leave."

He turned to me and warned, "Enough with your jealous schemes, Josie. I told you that they're only staying here temporarily. They won't disturb you."

I curled my lip but didn't respond.

Yasmin put on a pleading look and said, "Ms. York, things between me and Tim really aren't like what you think. Please stop targeting me, and don't hurt Daphne. If her photos ever get leaked, I can't imagine the backlash she'd face."

Timothy's expression grew graver at the thought of Daphne being dragged into this. He gave me a look so sharp it was practically a blade.

I nodded. "You're right about her being innocent in this. Whoever's leaking these photos is shameless to exploit even a child. I'll look into it at work tomorrow and make sure there's an answer for this!"

Yasmin's eyes widened slightly, but she kept her voice gentle. "That might be hard to trace, won't it? Would the person leaking these photos be dumb enough to use their own phone for something like this?"

I smiled faintly. "Don't worry about that. I have my ways! I'll find out which backstabber is colluding with the culprit and playing the hypocrite!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, visible tension flashed across Yasmin's face.