Chapter 10

Half an hour later, Anne showed up at the inpatient department in her ink-soiled clothes. Ignoring the curious glances of the doctors and nurses, she headed straight to the VIP ward on the 8th floor.

She pushed open the door to Sophia's ward and saw her on the hospital bed. Sophia was bursting out in laughter as she watched something on her phone.

Anne strode over.

Sophia instinctively turned to look at her, the smile still on her lips. "Anne, you—"

Anne threw the bottle of ink at her without a word.

The next moment, Zachery, who was sitting beside the bed, leaned forward to shield Sophia. The bottle of ink smashed against his back, dyeing his white shirt black.

"Oh, my!" Sophia gasped in shock.

Zachery turned around in anger. "What the hell are you doing? You—"

He then noticed the ink stains on Anne. Taken aback, he asked, "What happened to you?"

Anne's chest was heaving as she breathed deeply. She felt stuffy in her chest, her nose stinging and her eyes wet with unshed tears. She had always been mild-tempered and rarely got this angry.

"Security! Get over here, security!" The sound came from Sophia's phone. She had been laughing at a video of Anne being doused in ink by her fans.

Zachery saw the video on her phone. He frowned and said, "Some fans are indeed irrational, but it's not like Sophia asked them to do this. Can't you be more rational?"

Anne couldn't believe he was calling her irrational now.

"That video was clearly edited to be misleading. Don't tell me this wasn't orchestrated by her team! Also, why didn't she clear up the rumors about me seducing you? I was attacked by her fans, but why is she getting off scot-free?" she yelled, losing her temper.

"I've told you—you're not a celebrity. So, what if people are cursing you online? It won't affect you anyway," Zachery said with a frown.

Anne said, "Why should I take the heat for her?"

"Because I said so! Just take it on her behalf!" he replied.

"Zachery!" she yelled. Her breath was caught in her throat, yet tears started falling. "So my biggest mistake was getting involved with you in the first place!"

Zachery was stunned seeing her cry. He then kicked away the chair behind him irritably. "A mistake? That's right. It truly was a mistake!"

Anne was crying out of anger rather than sadness. She took a deep breath before turning to Sophia.

"I hope you clear things up as soon as possible and restore my reputation. If you refuse to, I'll do it on my own. And if it ends up stirring something bigger and causing a public outcry, it won't be my problem then." She then turned around and left.

"Anne!" Sophia called out for her in a hurry. "I'll apologize on behalf of my fans. So, can you please just let this slide?"

"You think everything can be settled with just a few words from you?" Anne chuckled coldly. "I'm not your kiss-ass who's easy to placate!"

Zachery ran after her as she walked out. "Who the fuck are you calling a kiss-ass?"

"I'm talking about you!" Anne replied.

"Anne, you—"

Anne stopped in her tracks abruptly and turned to face Zachery. "Do you know who you are to me now?"

He sneered and asked, "What am I?"

"You're Sophia's fiancé," she replied.

Zachery's smile froze. He assumed she would be cursing him and calling him a bastard with the way she was currently seething in anger. Yet, all she did was calmly tell him that he was no longer related to her and was only Sophia's fiancé in her eyes.

"What about it?" he asked.

Anne took a step back, gesturing the space between them. "So, stop ordering me around and tell me what to do. Let's keep things polite and distant from now on."

As if worried she wasn't clear enough, she took a few steps backward.

Zachery's gaze darkened as he watched her slowly back away from him until they were standing at a stranger's distance.

…

Sophia personally posted a statement in the afternoon.

Her post read, "Regarding what happened today, I sincerely apologize to Dr. Stafford on behalf of my fans. I understand how my fans felt, but please don't come for my aid—I can handle my own matters.

"To Dr. Stafford, I offer my heartfelt apology and hope that my apology satisfies you. I do not wish to bring up the past again. My fiancé and I had always been in love, and that's what truly matters. Please look forward to our wedding announcement. Love, Sophia."

Mindy started cursing after reading through the statement.

"What kind of clarification is this? She's painting herself as the victim, seemingly sincere. Yet in reality she was just trying to show how kind she was despite feeling aggrieved and that her fiancé and her were madly in love and won't be affected by any mistresses!"

She was beyond upset, wanting nothing but to destroy the phone that carried Sophia's clarification.

"Look. She even attached a photo." Mindy opened the photo and showed it to Anne.

In the photo, Sophia sat cross-legged on the hospital bed, with an IV needle in her hand. She wore a tired smile as she rested her chin on her hands. Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a soft glow on her.

But that wasn't the focus of the photo—it was the patches of ink stains on her clothes and blanket.

As expected, the backlash had begun in the comments section under the photo.

"You deserved being doused in ink, bitch! I would've doused you in manure if I were that fan! Such a cheap woman you are!"

"You failed to seduce her fiancé, so you threatened to get money out of them. Yet, you're still so shameless even after getting the money. I can't believe someone as shameless as you actually existed!"

"Our dear Sophia is beautiful and kind. She didn't even hold it against you, yet a bitch like you still pushed your luck and doused her in ink. Us fans won't allow you to bully Sophia like this!"

"Remember, karma's always waiting for you! You'd better watch your step at night, lest you step onto a pile of shit!"

Anne wasn't reacting much, yet Mindy was beyond upset. "This is so infuriating!"

Anne felt surprisingly calm seeing the so-called clarification, the photo, and the vile comments. She had expected this—Sophia was never going to restore her reputation this easily.

Her phone buzzed at that moment.

It was a text from Harvey.

"Someone cursed at me today, so I cursed him back. He felt indignant and cursed me back again, so I punched him. He thought he could do anything he wanted, thinking that this was his turf, but I could make him submit as long as my punches were solid."

Anne was baffled, wondering what he was talking about. However, it almost felt like he was talking about her incident.

She replied, "Did you really get into a fight?"

Harvey replied, "Just speaking from experience. But honestly, most people dared not pick a fight with me. I've done time."

Anne's text read, "What?"

His reply came, "No one dared to mess with me anymore after I got out."

Mindy came back from work and saw that Anne was still staring blankly at her phone. "How about we just forget about it? There's a whole team of people behind Sophia. You can't win against them."

Anne shook her head and opened up her photo album on her phone. She found a photo and logged into her social media account before uploading it.