Sharon lowered her head, her tears hitting the floor, but said nothing. Edmund knew that she was basically admitting to it."Why can't you tolerate one woman? She's Edward's ex-wife. They're already divorced. Your mother even personally told Mr. Fowler Senior last weekend that we want Edward to marry you," Edmund said, his voice low and firm. "She poses no threat to you. No influence over your life. Yet, you keep trying to have her killed."How can someone be this cruel? What kind of deep hatred could you possibly have against Macie?"Sharon stayed silent. All she could do was cry. There was nothing else left to cover herself with. She believed that Macie had to die. If Macie didn't, her very existence would threaten Sharon's position.Now that the truth was laid bare, Sharon didn't care how the Hale family scolded her. She was still their daughter. At worst, they'd yell at her and move on.What mattered now was that Elias had already figured it all out. So how could she possibl
Sharon's heart clenched, but on the surface, she stayed calm and steady as she replied, "It wasn't me. Elias, why would you even think that?"Elias studied her expression. He prided himself on being a good judge of character and was rarely wrong. But somehow, he had misjudged someone from his own family.Sharon had always been good at pretending. And the fact that she was his sister had blinded him more than once."Then the recent attempted abduction of Macie and the use of Devil's Breath, that drug—that wasn't you either?" Elias pressed again."Of course not. That wasn't me," Sharon said firmly.Seeing her still refuse to admit it, Elias reached over to the folder on his desk and pulled out several pages. Holding them upright, he showed them to her. "Then what is this? Care to explain?"Sharon stared at the printed chat logs. The familiar words struck her hard. She could no longer keep up the act. Her expression changed instantly.How was this possible? How did Elias get those
"Mom, why did you invite Sharon? Don't you know that I can't stand her?" Alice complained.Diana looked at her daughter and said, "How could we not invite her? The Hale family is back in the country, and our two families still have ties. It's only proper to include them."Hearing that, Alice didn't argue any further, even though she was clearly unhappy. It was her birthday party, but she couldn't do whatever she wanted. Business relationships still had to be considered."Just stay at home for the next couple of days. You need to start picking out your dress and matching jewelry for the party," Diana added.Alice nodded, then sent Macie a message to let her know that she'd be picking her up early the next morning. She also invited Macie to the party, but gave her a heads-up that Sharon would be attending as well.Thinking that one bad apple shouldn't have to ruin the whole bunch, she genuinely hoped that Macie could attend her birthday party."Just stay with me at the party. With
Sharon gripped her fork tightly, thinking of ways to keep Elias and Alice apart. There was no way she would let Alice marry into the Hale family.The three-hour-long dinner finally ended, and the Harts walked the Hale family out.The elders walked in front while the younger ones followed behind. Sharon held onto Elias' arm, Alice walked with her arms crossed, and Sean kept his hands in his pockets."I heard that Edward got into a car accident. Have you heard about it?" Sean asked."I have not," Elias replied.However, Sean didn't buy it, suspecting that Elias was lying. News of the accident had already spread across the upper management circles all day. There was no way Elias hadn't heard about it."Someone tried to kill Macie, but Edward took the hit for her. Who do you think hates her that much?" Sean continued.Elias pressed his lips together and didn't answer.Beside them, Sharon's fingers twitched slightly as she listened. So the plan had been carried out. But the one who
"Once Edward wakes up, just thank him. He doesn't need money anyway," Alice texted Macie."But he's not going to use this to guilt you, is he? Or try to force you to remarry him? If he does, I'll be the first to call him shameless," she added.Macie stared at Alice's message, her face devoid of emotion.She didn't want to owe him, but she also had no intention of walking into the fire a second time.Aside from that one line she had drawn, she would do her best to repay him in any other way. Even if it meant that she needed to work for a lifetime, it didn't matter.Edward had indeed saved her life. However, during those two years of marriage, she had become drained and worn out. She had suffered enough.That evening after work, Alice came to pick her up and dropped her off before heading back to the Hart residence for a dinner event.She knew that it would be with the Hale family again, and Sharon would be there. Nevertheless, she had to suck it up and go.Elias' parents had ret
When Macie and Sharon backed into a bedroom doorway in fear, Sharon opened the door.Macie turned her head, trying to run in with her, but the door was slammed shut and locked from the inside. She pounded on the door in a panic, terrified, as Owen kept getting closer.At first, Macie thought that he was going to hit her. But instead, he grabbed the hem of her shirt and reached underneath.At that moment, she realized his intentions. Terrified, she screamed for Sharon to open the door, but there was no response.Macie could only run wildly around the living room, throwing things to defend herself while pulling out her phone to call the police.She didn't know when they would arrive, so she quickly made another voice call before locking herself in another bedroom.Outside the door, Owen slammed it hard and cursed. Macie clutched her phone with both hands, her eyes shut tight in fear.Just when she thought she could hold out until the police came, she heard Owen walking away. Then