Chapter 5

Vivian grabbed the bottle of red wine from the table, raised it over her head, and poured it straight over herself.

Red wine streamed down her body, instantly staining her white blouse a shocking crimson.

Everyone at the booth froze.

Vivian dropped the empty bottle onto the table and looked at Nathan.

The corner of her mouth curved slightly, her voice hoarse.

“Is that enough?”

Serena immediately put on a worried expression.

“Vivian, you don’t have to do this to yourself. Mr. Hayes will feel terrible.”

Nathan’s gaze remained on Serena, who was shivering from the cold.

He didn’t even look at Vivian.

“I don’t want this happening again.”

The bar door opened and closed.

A gust of cold night air swept inside, dispersing the heavy smell of alcohol.

Vivian remained where she was, wine still dripping from the ends of her hair.

Lena took off her jacket and draped it around Vivian’s shoulders.

“Vivian…”

Vivian shook her head.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

She picked up her bag and walked away, leaving wet footprints behind her.

Her back remained perfectly straight.

Not a single tear fell.

Over the next few days, Vivian and Nathan barely spoke.

He started coming home later and later.

Sometimes, he didn’t come home at all.

At the office, he and Serena were spending more and more time together.

Serena sat beside him during meetings.

They went downstairs for lunch alone.

Whenever they worked late, Nathan drove her home.

Rumors quickly spread through the company.

“Are Mr. Hayes and Serena together now? Ms. Grant doesn’t care?”

“Ms. Grant already gave Serena some of her shares. Isn’t that obvious enough?”

“I actually feel bad for Ms. Grant. She built this company with Mr. Hayes, and now someone else gets to enjoy everything she worked for.”

Whenever Vivian overheard them, she simply smiled and went back to organizing the documents in her hands.

She was almost finished handing over her work.

Her visa had been approved too.

None of it mattered anymore.

There was only one important thing left to do before she left.

She needed to make sure her parents were taken care of so the Grant family wouldn’t suffer the same downfall as they had in her previous life.

This time, Vivian had prepared in advance.

She had moved part of the family’s assets into an overseas trust.

She had also insulated her father’s business dealings from potential liabilities.

She had even stocked extra supplies of her mother’s emergency medication.

Vivian thought she had covered everything.

She thought she could finally leave without worrying.

Then one day, she received an urgent call from her father’s assistant.

“Ms. Grant, something terrible happened! Your mother was rushed to the hospital, your father has been taken in for questioning, and both the company and the family home have been seized!”

Vivian’s mind went blank.

How could this have happened?

She had taken precautions against everything.

There was no time to think.

She grabbed her bag and rushed out.

When she reached the hospital, her father’s assistant was waiting outside the emergency room.

At that exact moment, a doctor came out and pulled off his mask.

His gaze swept over the people in the hallway.

“The patient is in critical condition. The surgical deposit needs to be paid immediately. We can’t delay the operation any longer.”

Vivian immediately opened her banking app.

But none of the money in her accounts could be moved.

The funds in the overseas trust were still locked under a ninety-day restriction period.

Vivian spun around and grabbed her father’s assistant by the arm.

“What happened?

“How did my father’s company end up like this?”

He lowered his head, his voice strained.

“It was Serena Lane.

“She said she was helping Mr. Hayes organize information on the company’s business partners, so she gained access to your father’s key client list and financial records.

“She leaked the information to a competitor.

“But Mr. Hayes stepped in for her. He said it had only been a mistake and refused to pursue the matter.”

Vivian slowly released his arm.

So that was what had happened.

All her precautions.

All her careful planning.

None of it had mattered against Nathan’s determination to protect Serena.

In her previous life, Nathan had solved every problem for her.

He had been the one ray of light in the darkest period of her life.

But now, Serena had caused the Grant family to collapse overnight.

And instead of holding her accountable,

Nathan had stepped in to protect her.

Vivian turned toward the closed doors of the emergency room.

Behind them, the faint beeping of her mother’s life-support equipment sounded like a thread that could snap at any moment.

She forced herself to stay calm and called Nathan.

The phone rang several times.

But when someone finally answered,

it was Serena.

Her voice was soft and sleepy, as though she had just woken up.

“Hello?”