Before I could say anything, William said, "Someone will hand the child over to the police."Then, he instructed his driver to depart.We traveled some distance before William turned to me."If I really did intentionally destroy that man's family like he claimed, would you think I deserved to die?" he asked.I was caught off guard. I hadn't expected him to ask that kind of question.When I didn't respond right away, William pressed, "Well?"Seeing that he really wanted an answer, I thought it over for a moment and then said, "I don't know how to judge whether or not you deserve to die. To me, you're a good person, Mr. Ashford. "You've raised Noah well too. That alone makes me think you're not someone who would intentionally destroy another family. Even if you did, I'm sure you must have had your reasons."William huffed. "You think I'm a good person?"It seemed this was the first time someone had said that about him."You do know the only reason I've helped you is because of
I froze for a moment before immediately meeting Agatha's fierce and hateful gaze.I knew something was about to go down right then.Sure enough, the moment she stepped imposingly onto the stage, Agatha said, "I refuse to present this award to Emilia Quill!"Her words triggered an instant uproar in the room.After the way I had cleared my reputation during the Global Technology Forum, the press turnout for this award show was massive upon learning I was a nominee. Additionally, many of them were also livestreaming the event.And, of course, the media lived for drama. I was a person of hot interest, so my winning an award was headline-worthy. But when the award presenter publicly refused to present the trophy to me? That was explosive news.Hence, the reporters on the scene clamored to the front once their shock wore off, making the situation even more chaotic.Snapping out of his shock too, the host quickly tried to smooth things over. "That was a joke, right, Madam Hardwell? You
In short, Grace was claiming neither I nor Agatha were at fault for what happened to her. Instead, she was the one to blame because she had failed as a mother.Grace was a delicate and ethereal beauty. She had worn a white dress in the video, which had only made her look even more delicate and pure.Her eyes had also been red with unshed tears when she said it was all her fault, which created a touching image so strong that anyone who watched her video couldn't help but cry.Everyone who watched her video felt Grace was pitiful and hadn't had it easy. They also felt she was too forgiving.The surveillance footage clearly showed me pushing her. Yet, she claimed she had fallen because she had lost her balance. On top of that, she even took full accountability for her miscarriage. Hence, people felt she was too kind of a person.For a time, people on the internet felt sorry for Grace. They all felt she was too good-hearted for this world.But then, someone asked, "Didn't Emilia Quil
Back in Lestoria, after Irvin had all the trending searches related to me taken down, he grabbed a tablet playing Grace's clarification and apology video and went to find her.His gaze was cold as he said, "Grace, I should've told you before—our first condition for working together is that you stay away from my wife!"Hearing this, Grace's eyes instantly turned red. "Did I do anything to her? I'm just trying to clear her name!"Before Irvin could respond, she hurriedly added, "If you think this wasn't the right way to do it, you can tell me what to do. I'll do whatever you want to help clear her name!" She sounded so serious and sincere—like she was truly willing to do anything to salvage my reputation. Because she knew that in a situation like this, no matter how much she tried to explain, it wouldn't make a difference. Irvin stared at her silently. His gaze grew colder and more menacing by the second.…Grandma always loved seeing me win awards. She'd be over the moon e
After pulling myself together, I packed up and headed back to the Quill residence with Cordelia. I never came back often these past two years—only showing up during the holidays for a family dinner, and even then, I didn't stay long. Under Jeremy's pressure, Mom no longer acted like she wanted me dead the way she did right after Julianne left. But every time she saw me, she still looked at me like I was her worst enemy. Today was no different. When Mom saw me, her face lit up with a gloating smile. "Karma finally caught up with you, didn't it? I told you before—someone as vicious as you was bound to get what's coming!" She must have seen the news online. Seeing me dragged through the mud, hated by everyone—worse than even a rat in the gutter—seemed to fill her with pure joy. It was as if she'd been waiting for this day forever. I ignored her.But Cordelia couldn't hold back anymore and blurted, "Mrs. Quill, Emi's your biological daughter! How could you be so cruel to her?
I didn't know how to explain everything to Jeremy, and when I saw Henry helping Grandma out, I decided I didn't want her to find out about the mess online.So I just said, "I'll handle it, okay? You don't have to worry about it right now. Let's just focus on celebrating Grandma's birthday."Jeremy looked like he still wanted to say something, but when he saw Grandma coming, he swallowed his words.Henry smiled when he saw me. "Emi, you're back."It was strange.Back when Julianne was still around, Henry adored her—he practically worshiped her. He even went out of his way to sabotage me just to get Mom to like Julianne more. And when Julianne "died", he hated me so much that he looked ready to kill me.But after finally accepting her death, it was like he turned into a different person. He wasn't like Mom, still stuck in the past, hating me for Julianne. Instead, he seemed almost guilty.Henry started acting like he wanted to make it up to me—always checking in and being overly k
Jeremy immediately lit up, smiling as he warmly welcomed Julianne—no, Lumi—into the family. His sudden change of attitude made Julianne even more smug. She looked at me with a mocking glint in her eye as if to say, "Emilia, you're pathetic. You had two years, and you still ended up a joke. The moment I showed up, your family stopped caring about you again." My eyes darkened, and my hands, hanging loosely at my sides, slowly curled into fists. I didn't care about these so-called family members anymore. But that didn't mean I could stomach Julianne. She had repeatedly tried to get me killed. The reason I had suffered a life-threatening injury in the first place was because of her. Even if I couldn't kill her outright, I still wanted her to suffer as much as possible. It made my blood boil to see someone who should be rotting in prison walking around free and proud. But Noah once told me that Julianne wasn't William's real savior or his girlfriend. The only reason William ke
When I reached the ballroom, the once lively and elegant room was a complete disaster. Grandma was being yanked around by Amara, forcing Grandma to watch a video on her phone. Cordelia was shoved to her knees off to the side, her mouth covered by two men in black suits.Mom, Henry, Jeremy, and the rest of the guests were huddled on the floor, squeezed against the walls under the pressure of two rows of bodyguards, too scared to move. "You old hag, open your eyes! Look at what your precious granddaughter's done—seducing a married man, pushing his pregnant wife down, and causing a miscarriage! She was five months pregnant, and Emilia still shoved her! How vicious! How evil! She deserves to die!" Amara yanked at Grandma so hard she could barely stay on her feet. "Stop spouting nonsense! Emi would never do something like that! Let me go—let me go!" Grandma shouted.She fought to break free, but Amara only tightened her grip. Seeing Grandma stumble like she was about to fall,
"Ms. Quill, you—" Grace sputtered.From her expression, I could tell she wanted to say, "You really will say anything to save your pride. How will you get in if you won't follow us?"Just then, a few people walked out of the hall. At the lead was an elderly man with white hair.Upon seeing me, the elderly man's stern expression morphed into a smile. "Emilia! You're here!"I returned the smile and walked up to greet him, "Hello, Professor Weiss."I had met several influential figures during the Global Technology Forum in Lestoria. Among them, I had gotten along best with this man, Professor Richard Weiss.After exchanging pleasantries, Professor Weiss turned to Mitchell and asked, "Who is this man? What gives him the right to bar you from attending the conference and call you an academic fraud?"Professor Weiss was the biggest name in the physics field. He was someone everyone respected and dared not offend.Hearing this, Mitchell quickly explained, "It was a misunderstanding! I
"Of course!" Grace said.Moving to my side, she linked her arm with mine in a friendly gesture. It was as though we were on very good terms.She continued, "Not only is she an incredibly skilled researcher, but she's also my sister-in-law—which means she's also a member of the Hardwell family. So, Mr. Slate, any accusations of her being an academic fraud must be a misunderstanding!"Upon hearing how solemn Grace was, Mitchell couldn't help but look at me."If you aren't an academic fraud, then why would Ms. Calder say that about you?" he asked.I coolly returned his gaze. "That's a question for Ms. Calder, not me."Mitchell frowned and looked displeased. He clearly hadn't expected that answer.Grace turned to me and said, "Alright, Emi. Let's go inside together!"Her expression read, "Come on. I'll bring you in."Irvin didn't understand why I hadn't been allowed in despite having an invitation. He also didn't know why I had been mistaken for an academic fraud and was being bar
I looked down at my phone and was zooming in on the image of the data. But before I could even take a good look at it, Emma squeezed my arm."Holy crap! Emilia. Isn't that your ex-husband's brother!" she exclaimed.I instinctively looked up—just in time to see Irvin opening the car door and courteously helping Grace get down.Grace flashed a gentle smile at Irvin, then linked arms with him. To onlookers, that intimate gesture made them look like a loving married couple.I thought back to how Irvin had been near tears when we had met on the first snowfall of the season. Yet now, he was holding another woman's arm and playing the role of her devoted husband.I couldn't even describe how I felt at that moment.Then, I recalled how much Irvin had despised Grace before. Yet, in just a month, he managed to make it look like they were happily married. I feared it wouldn't be long before he began to feel sympathy for her. And then, per Grace's scheme, Irvin would eventually truly becom
William wasn't the type to repay a life-saving favor. So, for the past two years, Julianne had always wondered why he treated her so well and was especially attentive to her health.It was only after she returned to Claudeville that she finally understood.It turned out William had a sickly niece he cherished dearly—one whose survival depended on Julianne. Upon learning this, she suddenly felt she had the upper hand again.While she still couldn't figure William out entirely, she had come to understand him somewhat. She knew he would continue to tolerate her—for the sake of his sickly niece—as long as she didn't do anything out of line.To be clear, Julianne made my life difficult because she hated me. But as long as she didn't harm me, she knew no one would hold it against her. After all, William's niece needed her blood to live.The more she thought about this, the more pleased she became.I could see it plainly in her eyes. Her expression seemed to say that even after all thes
Seeing how determined I was, Emma didn't press any further.Just as we were about to leave in the car, another car pulled up beside ours. When I saw who stepped out of it, my eyes widened in shock.Emma saw them too and tugged at my sleeve in surprise. "Emilia, isn't that your ex-husband's brother and sister-in-law?"I was just about to say yes when Grace suddenly collapsed into Irvin's arms. He picked her up and rushed toward the hospital.Seeing this reminded me of how I had wished that Irvin would come and save me when I was drowning.I chuckled mockingly.Noticing something was off with me, Emma turned to me. "Emilia, what's wrong?"I withdrew my gaze. "Nothing."Then I told the driver to start driving.As the car drove out of the hospital, Emma stared at me. She hesitated at first, but then curiosity got the better of her "Emilia, looking at how you reacted to your ex-husband's brother… Is it true that he's actually not Timothy, but Irvin?" she asked.She had been with
Only after our car had driven far into the distance did William finally withdraw his gaze from Noah's car."Was Ms. Quill's assistant rescued?" he asked.Matthew immediately replied, "Yes, she's been taken to the hospital. She's out of danger."William hummed indifferently in response, then got into the car and left.…By the time I woke up in the hospital, night had already fallen.I was surprised to see Noah sitting at my bedside—surprised that I was still alive and that it was Noah who had come to save me.Seeing me awake, Noah stood up excitedly. "Emi, how are you feeling? I'll get the doctor!"I wanted to tell him I was fine, but my voice came out hoarse when I opened my mouth.Suddenly, I remembered something and quickly reached out to grab Noah before he could leave to call the doctor.Before I could even ask, he already knew what I was going to ask. "Your assistant's fine. She woke up even earlier than you," he said. Hearing that, I breathed a sigh of relief.Noah
Emma was also quite smart. Once she calmed down, she immediately understood what I meant. She wanted to say something, but I had already opened the car door and pushed her out.Seeing several people swimming toward us, I shoved her again, urging her to leave quickly.In the face of life and death, survival would become an instinct for everyone. So even though she didn't wish me harm or want to leave me behind, she swam away with tears in her eyes. Not long after she left, those so-called "rescuers" surrounded me.When they noticed someone had swum away, they exchanged hand signals underwater, planning to send some after her and others to capture me. Realizing this, I quickly pointed at myself, trying to tell them that I was the one they were looking for. Then I turned and swam in the opposite direction, hoping to lure them away and buy her more time to escape. But even though they understood my gesture, they didn't believe me. They still sent people after her.They were very
There was only one road from the airport to the city, and William's car was right behind ours.Matthew, who was driving, immediately sensed something was wrong when he saw our car suddenly accelerating at an alarming speed.He quickly said, "Mr. Ashford, something's wrong with Ms. Quill's car!"William, who was busy reading the documents, immediately looked up. His gaze darkened when he saw how recklessly the car in front was moving."Catch up with them!" he ordered. At that moment, his phone rang. It was Noah calling, and he sounded anxious on the other end. "Uncle Will, are you with Emi right now? I just heard that Madeleine is planning to kill her! "I don't know the exact plan, but I heard they're making a move on the way from the airport to the city. You need to be careful! I'm heading to the airport right now!"Noah's words made William's expression grow even darker. …While Emma was still processing the situation, I noticed something strange about the driver. If the
Just like that, we came back alive from the brink of death in an instant. It felt like we were in hell one moment and in heaven the next.Perhaps I was still too scared. So scared that even after the plane had stabilized for a while, I still couldn't find any strength in my body. I was still shaken by the fear and couldn't fully snap out of it.William was also holding me tightly the entire time, not letting go. The softness of my body in his arms stirred something in him that he couldn't describe. He instinctively didn't want to let go.It wasn't until a flight attendant knocked on the door to check on us that I finally returned to my senses.William also let go of me instantly. The sudden emptiness in his arms left him feeling rather hollow.He came to realize something, and his already deep gaze darkened even more, making it even harder to read.After the flight attendant tidied up the cabin and left, William, who had been perfectly fine and warm just moments ago, suddenly tur