Chapter 4

Yvonne ignored me completely. She yanked her hand free and shouted, "Do you have any humanity left at all, Shane? You're actually driving a living person to his death!

"Tristan has already humbled himself, yet you still won't stop! I didn't know you were this twisted. I regret marrying you!"

I covered Kelly's ears, and my expression turned cold.

"That's enough! If you want to save him, then go for it. Just stop acting crazy in front of Kelly."

"If anything happens to Tristan, I won't let this matter go!" Yvonne threatened.

With that, she turned and walked away without glancing at Kelly, who was sobbing in fear.

My face darkened. It seemed that Yvonne was beyond redemption.

…

After Family Day ended, I took Kelly home.

When I checked my phone, Tristan's plagiarism scandal had vanished from the trending list. Every related tag had been wiped.

It was Yvonne's doing without a doubt. She was doubling down on her mistake.

I was about to put my phone away when another trending headline appeared.

Yvonne had held a press conference claiming that I was the real academic fraud. According to her, all of my research achievements were actually Tristan's work. She said that I had tried to destroy Tristan before he could expose the truth.

She even declared that she couldn't protect me simply because I was her husband, not when a genuine talent was being ruined.

Then, I received a message from the university. Yvonne had transferred my laboratory and my current research project to Tristan.

To further anger me, Tristan even took photos inside the lab and sent them to me.

They had thrown all my belongings into the trash. On the computer screen were my research notes and experimental data.

It was absurd. Apparently, I had been so lenient with Yvonne that she had come to believe that she could humiliate me however she pleased.

I immediately began planning my retaliation when I heard the nanny scream from downstairs. "Ms. Kelly is gone!"

I rushed out of my study. The nanny had said she had only stepped away to use the bathroom, and when she came back, Kelly had vanished.

I checked the security footage and discovered that Yvonne had taken Kelly out for dinner.

After tracking down the restaurant they had gone to, I drove there immediately.

The table was full of people smoking and drinking. They were even egging Kelly on, trying to make her drink alcohol.

Kelly was crying in fear as she tugged on Yvonne's sleeve. "Mom, I don't want to drink that."

Yvonne just smiled and said, "They're being so nice to you. Just take a tiny sip."

Then, Tristan grabbed a glass and forcefully poured the alcohol into Kelly's mouth.

Her face turned bright red as she choked and coughed uncontrollably.

Yvonne instinctively moved to check on her, but Tristan stopped her.

"You've got to teach kids how to drink when they're young. They'll be easy targets if you don't," he said.

Yvonne withdrew her hand and told Kelly, "He's right. It's for your own good. Stop being a snowflake."

I stormed over and scooped Kelly into my arms before slapping Yvonne across the face.

"She's three years old! What kind of mother are you?"

Faced with my fury, Yvonne tried to defend herself. "It was only a little sip. What's the big—"

"A little sip? That was an entire glass!" I cut her off, my expression turning frigid. "You can barely handle that much yourself, yet you stood by while someone forced it down the throat of a three-year-old child!"

I turned to Tristan. "He's a lost cause, but you're her mother. At least act like one!"

Tristan shrank back behind Yvonne. Yvonne gritted her teeth and glared at me. "Who are you calling a lost cause? We were only trying to—"

I held Kelly tight and said each word with finality.

"I'm sending the divorce papers to you tomorrow."