Outside the hospital’s emergency room, Yvonne's sister-in-law, Winona Johnson, stormed in with her people. The moment she saw Yvonne, she walked over and slapped her hard across the face.Nina immediately pulled Yvonne behind her, glaring at Winona with anger in her eyes."Do you know why I hit you?" Winona's voice was icy cold.Yvonne nodded slightly. She could guess that it was because of Joe. If it weren’t for her, Joe wouldn’t be in the emergency room."Since you know, why are you still letting your friend protect you?" Winona's tone became even colder.Yvonne stepped forward, her voice trembling as she apologized, "I’m sorry.""Sorry?" Winona let out a bitter laugh. "Do you think sorry is enough? If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be like this. Yvonne, you’re the root of all evil."Unable to stand it any longer, Nina pulled Yvonne behind her again and confronted Winona directly. "Mrs. Turner, I think you need to understand something first. It was Mr. Turner who—""Nina, do
In her memory, Joe had controlled every aspect of her life, dictating what she could wear and where she could go. It wasn’t about him helping or making her successful."Mrs. Turner, what’s your point? Even if what you say is true, does that justify hurting Yvonne?" Nina snapped, still convinced that Joe’s obsession with Yvonne was the reason for her suffering.After seeing Joe's erratic behavior today, Nina was more certain than ever that Yvonne needed to get away from him.Winona scoffed coldly, rising to her feet, and pointed at Yvonne. "Didn’t you say you were leaving? Then go. Leave for good. I want to see if you’re really going to walk away or if this is just another one of your games."I’m not like Joe. I have no feelings for you," Winona said, her tone harsh and emotionless, which was exactly what Yvonne had been hoping for.But still, she hesitated. Joe was in the emergency room, and she couldn’t just leave him behind. She couldn’t bring herself to walk away."Fine, we’ll
Not wanting to disappoint her fan, Yvonne reluctantly agreed to the additional exhibit. The meeting had not gone the way she had planned, and during the rest of the conversation, she was half-engaged, eager for it to be over.Finally, the investor took a phone call and excused himself, leaving Yvonne to breathe a sigh of relief.Nina pouted. "What am I going to do with you? You don’t want to keep benefiting from Joe’s protection, but you also can’t bear to let your fans down.""It’s fine. Joe hasn’t woken up yet, right? I can’t leave anyway, so I might as well go along with the investor’s plans. If we cooperate this time, next time they won’t give us any trouble," Yvonne said with a bitter smile, though she had little confidence in her words.She had been ready to breach her contract and pay the penalty, but now she was caught in organizing yet another exhibit. Yvonne sighed deeply.Nina shot her an exasperated look.As they were heading downstairs, Nina caught sight of the woman
On the day of the art exhibit, as soon as the host made the announcement, fans rushed into the gallery."What’s going on? There’s not a single painting here! What kind of exhibit is this? We want a refund!""Refund! Refund immediately!"The demands grew louder, and soon everyone was calling for their money back.The host was stunned, and so was Yvonne.She had spent countless sleepless nights painting, producing a total of 99 pieces. The 100th painting had been damaged, preventing her from completing the collection. But now, none of her paintings were at the exhibit.It did not make sense.The investors arrived after hearing the commotion. Seeing the crowd gathered at the entrance, one of them went inside to investigate, convinced there must be a misunderstanding. But after walking through the exhibit, he confirmed that there wasn’t a single painting on display.Angry, the investor snapped, "I don’t care what happened, but this is the height of unprofessionalism. You can expect
"Thank you for the ride, and for helping me out today," Yvonne said as she got out of the car in front of Nina’s house.There was no hesitation in her actions, so swift and final that it left Nigel, momentarily stunned. He was used to girls eagerly wanting to establish a connection with him, but Yvonne was different. She seemed eager to distance herself.Feeling a pang of disappointment, Nigel called out, "Aren’t you going to invite me in for a moment?"When Yvonne turned to look at him, he flashed his most charming smile. "I’m suddenly really thirsty. How about a cup of tea?"Yvonne frowned slightly. "Sorry, I’m just a guest here too. It wouldn’t be appropriate. You should head home, Mr. Gibson."With that, Yvonne turned and quickly walked away without another word.Watching her retreating figure, Nigel felt a wave of frustration, muttering under his breath, "I’m such an idiot." He realized too late that Yvonne wasn’t like the other girls. The usual lines he used didn’t work on
Nina thought for a moment before adding, "Don’t worry, I’ll settle this score for you. If they dare to mess with you, they’re messing with me. I refuse to believe Winona can cause that much trouble here in Birkham."Yvonne felt comforted by Nina’s support and hugged her tightly, whispering multiple thank-yous. No matter how many times she said it, she couldn’t express her full gratitude. Right now, the only thing she could give Nina was her heartfelt thanks.Now that they knew Winona was behind the sabotage of the art exhibit, Nina decided it was time to stop being passive. After leaving Yvonne’s room, she went straight to Nash and shared her plan to gather evidence and present it to the investors so they would go after Winona instead.But Nash shook his head. "Gathering evidence will take too long. The investors won’t give Yvonne the time she needs, considering the scale of their losses. We need to make the enemy confess.""You’ve got a plan?" Nina asked with a knowing smile, sens
Nigel watched with envy as Nina and Nash shared an easy, close rapport. He couldn’t help but wonder when he might occupy a similar place in Yvonne’s heart and when she might see him as someone she could lean on."Oh, right," he said, snapping out of his thoughts. "It sounded like you had an idea of who’s behind this. Tell me, and I’ll help you get justice."Yvonne let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. "How could I know who it is? I just don’t understand why someone would do this. What’s in it for them?""Everything has a motive," Nigel said thoughtfully. "Whoever did this clearly wants to ruin you, but the benefit they gain depends on their relationship with you."He walked over and ran his fingers over the red letters on the wall. "This message doesn’t feel like it’s from a competitor."Yvonne gave another bitter smile and walked over to join Nina and Nash, who were deep in discussion. They both seemed to agree that Winona was behind it all, but to pin it on her, they needed
Yvonne showed Nina the message, and the commanding tone in Joe’s words was unmistakable."You’re not going," Nina said firmly. "What’s he going to do about it? Even if he somehow finds this place, we have Nash here, and worst-case scenario, Nigel can help too, right?"Nina’s instincts told her there was something unspoken and troubling between Yvonne and Joe. She didn’t push for details, but she wasn’t about to let her friend fall deeper into a bad situation.Yvonne, who deep down had no desire to see Joe, hesitated for a moment before deleting the message.Back in the hotel lobby, Nigel approached them, holding a bouquet of roses behind his back."Yvonne, I wish you happiness every day and a handsome guy like me to brighten your life," he said with a playful grin, handing her the flowers."I’ve been wanting to give you roses for a while but could never find the right moment. Then I heard from Mr. York that you had a close call recently, and it really shook me. So I figured, why