Chapter 18
The woman at the center of the scandal was exposed through a series of anonymous videos that surfaced online.
Charles’s fingers trembled as he tapped the screen to play them, his brows furrowed into a deep crease.
He immediately recognized the backdrop-it was inside the Foster Estate. But the angles were strange, like footage. captured by hidden surveillance.
In the first video, Diana Schuyler already looked mentally unstable.
She was sitting alone in a room, but suddenly shot to her feet as if seeing something invisible. She pointed at the air in front of her and screamed, “An intern like you thinks you’re good enough to be personally driven home by Mr. Foster? Filthy little thing. Let me show you what real luxury looks like-fine wine… for a fine woman! Drink it!!”
In the second video, Diana was curled up under the covers, her face twisted in sheer terror, as if witnessing something
unspeakable.
“You two worthless lives are dead, so just stay dead! Yes, I killed you-but it’s not my fault! Blame your slutty daughter who used her body to climb her way up and stole what belonged to me! Aaaaahhhh-!”
The third video showed someone Charles had never seen before.
A new housekeeper, apparently. Diana must have hired her recently.
For a moment, Charles thought he was hallucinating-the woman’s long, straight black hair, her slim figure… she bore an uncanny resemblance to Vivian.
In the footage, the new housekeeper gently handed Diana a glass of warm milk, her voice soft and even: “Miss Schuyler,
drink this. It’ll help you sleep.”
Out of nowhere, Diana leapt up, slammed the woman down, and wrapped her hands around her throat in a vicious choke.
“You bitch! You left-so why did you come back?! It’s your fault Charles left me! Why didn’t that snake finish you off?! Why are you still alive?! Die! Just die!!”
The video cut off.
The screen went black, and in its reflection, Charles saw his own eyes-cold as ice.
He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, his voice low and frigid like the dead of winter.
“That lunatic… Where is she now?”
He had barely finished speaking when the office door slammed open.
Diana strutted in on high heels.
Her head was wrapped in a silk scarf, oversized black sunglasses covered half her face, and a mask hid the rest, clearly trying to avoid being recognized. She quickly shut the door behind her.
Then, as if she hadn’t just caused a public scandal, she casually took off her sunglasses, sat down across from Charles, and crossed her legs.
“Charles, you wanted to see me.”
He stared at her, his gaze darkening.
Chapter 18
12.95%
She was utterly oblivious.
Pulling out a compact, she began fixing her makeup, her tone dismissive.
“I know you’re upset that I can’t give you a legitimate marriage, but come on-we were husband and wife once. You loved
me for years.”
“Now that things have blown up, just get me out of the country before they drag me down any further. When this all dies down, I’ll come back to visit you and Evan.”
“I know you pulled strings to help me once-you can do it again, right?”
A thin curl of smoke wafted from Charles’s cigarette.
His voice was quiet.
“You don’t have anything else you want to say?”
Diana frowned. “About what?”
“About the lies you told me.”
Charles shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, exhausted.
“You told me that intern tried to drug you and offer you to one of our partners in exchange for your job. That’s why I
apologized to her family and sold part of the company-to buy a life for you.”
“You told me Vivian’s mother died from a fall. Her father… that it was an accident, your hand slipped and you broke the
rope by mistake. And I believed you. I didn’t want you to suffer in a detention center, so I covered it all up.”
His voice cracked, heavy with disappointment.
“But now, in that video-you admitted you killed them.”
He stared at her.
“You were the one who walked away from me. Then you came crawling back. You never cared about me, fine. But what
did Vivian ever do to deserve this?”
“You paid a fortune to find a venomous snake just to kill her. Why?”
“Diana Schuyler-after everything that’s happened, after the videos are all over the internet, you’re still going to stand here
and lie to my face?”
Diana turned pale. She dodged the question.
“Those videos? You believe those? I was just rambling! They found traces of hallucinogens in my system-it’s a setup. Charles! Someone’s trying to frame me! Isn’t it suspicious how those videos were even recorded in the first place? We’re being targeted!”
Charles stared at her coldly.
“Fine. So you’re still not going to tell the truth.”
He pulled out his phone.
“Then I’ll let the police do the asking. Three lives, Diana-that’s more than enough to earn you the death penalty.”
Chapter 18
12.95%
