Irvin seemed genuinely baffled, almost annoyed, by my sudden push for him to be with Julianne. His frustration spilled over as he snapped, "Emilia, how many times do I have to tell you? There's nothing between Julianne and me. There's never been anything like that, and there never will be. Why do you keep dragging me into this nonsense with her?" I almost laughed at his words. I wanted to tell him it was because he was in love with her. Truly, deeply, stupidly in love. So much so that he didn't even care about her history, wasn't that what true love was all about? It was just like how Mom thought—if celebrities could marry their ex's parent, why couldn't Irvin?If Irvin really wanted to clear Julianne's name, he'd stop pretending and just marry her. That would do far more for her reputation than forcing me to publicly take the fall for something I didn't do. But I didn't bother saying any of that. Irvin wouldn't admit it. He refused to acknowledge what was obvious to
After Mr. Stern left to handle my bail paperwork, I returned to the holding cell. There wasn't much to do—nothing to pack—so I decided to lie down on the narrow cot and rest my mind for a bit. Before I could even close my eyes, someone lunged at me. The steel shelving behind me left no room to move. Even someone in perfect health would've been injured if they were shoved into it. And me? With steel plates and screws holding my body together, a hit like that could easily cripple me—if not kill me outright. I'd been caught completely off guard, too distracted by my thoughts to notice her approach. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge. Just as I braced for the worst, I felt a strong hand yank me backward. One of the women in the cell—the one who looked the most intimidating—grabbed me and pulled me out of the way. Her timing was perfect; I was inches away from colliding with the shelf. Before I could process what had just happened, she l
Some mothers didn't care about their own daughters, and there were mothers like her—willing to do anything for their children. I respected her. I respected her honesty. "Don't worry," I told her firmly. "No matter what happens to me, I'll make sure you and your daughter are taken care of for the rest of your lives." Her eyes reddened instantly, and I could see how much those words meant to her. She was a good mother—through and through. When she offered to protect me while I was here, saying she was willing to risk everything as long as I promised to help her daughter, I refused. I didn't want her to take unnecessary risks. She deserved a chance to live peacefully with her daughter without jeopardizing her future. Besides, I had my own way of handling things. I returned to my cot, but before lying down, I turned to the room. A few of the other women were already eyeing me, their expressions full of ill intent. "I don't care what anyone promised you or how muc
Mr. Stern handed his phone to me as he spoke, showing me the situation online.Juliane had paid off online trolls and even hired influencers to talk about the situation. The story of a "sister's" sudden turn into a stepmother was already scandalous enough. But with influencers talking about it, it quickly went viral.In the beginning, netizens' hate comments were directed only at Julianne. This was thanks to the effort of her army of trolls. Some called her shameless for treating Irvin as a brother when she was his stepmother. Some labeled her a gold digger who was willing to sleep with anyone for money. There were also comments saying it was bad enough that Julianne had left the son in favor of sleeping with his old man for the sake of money. But now the old man was dead, and the son was successful, she doubled back and wanted to be with the son despite already having been married once.She was criticized for being utterly shameless.There were even netizens who felt someone lik
Mr. Stern couldn't help but look at me with pity. I could already guess what he was thinking.What a tragedy. I had wasted a fortune supporting a man who turned out to be a scumbag. Even worse, my own family teamed up with the public in wishing for my death.But I wasn't affected by this at all because I had already anticipated it.Julianne had always hated seeing me happy after all. Yet, despite having a video that could ruin me, she hadn't exposed it earlier. Besides using the video to get my parents to hate me, I guessed she also wanted Irvin to think of me as a malicious person. That way, he would feel more remorseful toward her. He would then spoil her unconditionally to make up for it.Most importantly, Julianne didn't want anyone to know that she had once been with Irvin's father. This was so she could still have a chance to be with Irvin. But now everyone already knew about it, and she could no longer play the "childhood sweetheart" card. It also meant it was no longer
Irvin looked more tired than he did this morning. He was still wearing the same suit from the press conference. Yet, instead of looking noble and aloof, he looked worn out and impatient.He tugged on his already fully loosened tie and said, "I believe Mr. Stern has informed you of the current situation outside this place and how serious it is, Emilia.""Yes." My reply was calm and indifferent. He clearly didn't expect me to behave this way at this point."What are you thinking, Emilia?" he blurted. "Do you truly understand the severity of the situation right now? Even if you were to publicly apologize to Lianne now, It's already too late! Do you even understand this!""Yup," I responded with a single word.It made him so furious. He slammed his hand on the table so hard I thought he might break it.I didn't understand why he was angry. "Isn't this what you wanted?" I asked curiously.He was taken aback. "How is this something I wanted?" he quickly retorted."Didn't you tell the
Irvin was an overly proud man. I had also spoiled him too much in the past. Naturally, he was angered when I belittled him.He laughed bitterly. "Yes, your biggest mistake was falling in love with me!" He finally said what he had buried deep in his heart. "You made Lianne suffer when you stole me—her childhood sweetheart—away from her.""You had set up all sorts of chance encounters just so I'd fall for you," Irvin added accusingly. "But I bet you never expected to fall in love with me in the process, right? This is your karma for playing with someone's genuine feelings and treating them like a fool!"I frowned. "Setting up chance encounters? Stealing you from Julianne? Ew! I disinfect my hands when I accidentally touch something of hers. Why would I ever steal her belongings?"My words angered Irvin. His breathing became noticeably heavier."Stop pretending, Emilia," he snapped. "Stop denying it! I know you deliberately made me fall for you back then!" His heart ached when he
Irvin probably thought I would be moved to tears by his affection. But in reality, I was put off by it. I was disgusted by his touch. It felt gross.I yanked my hand back forcefully. "Don't bother. It's unnecessary and it's not going to happen! I don't need your help, Irvin, nor will I ever start over with you! I, Emilia Quill, will never admit to something I didn't do!"I'd rather remain in this detention center than be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a crime I didn't commit!Irvin thought the arrangements he had made were what was best for me. He had repeatedly made compromises because he loved me. However, upon hearing me reject his kindness yet again, he couldn't contain his anger."Emilia!" he yelled. "Could you stop being so stubborn! Do you really want to end up in prison? With the way things are right now, it's no longer just between you, me, and Lianne! It's pointless for you to keep denying it! You'll only end up destroying yourself if you continue like this!"Tra
I was feeling extremely frustrated by the whole situation.And somehow, Irvin chose this exact momIn her eyes, Emilia wanting the divorce was perfect.ent to bother me at my home.With Julianne acquitted, I no longer had any bargaining leverage over him. Everything we had discussed was now moot.Unless it was about collecting our divorce certificate, I didn't want to say another word to him.Oblivious to my frustration, he said, "I told you Lianne wouldn't intentionally hurt you! But you refused to believe me!"It was obvious Irvin was especially relieved by the outcome of the investigation. He was glad Julianne hadn't hurt me on purpose. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to face me.I looked at him in exasperation.Just as I was about to ask him to get lost, he spoke again. "I've calculated all the assets under my name, babe. Here's the voluntary asset transfer memorandum. And this is the newly drafted divorce agreement per your request. "I've already signed it, so only your s
Upon seeing the look in Julianne's eyes, I was sure of my suspicions.She definitely did try to set me up all those years ago. She just hadn't anticipated that I would suddenly regain awareness and leave the hotel.Julianne had always been meticulous. As such, the depths of her mind were unfathomable.Right now, she had failed to harm me and ended up harming herself instead. Still, it was possible she had anticipated this current outcome when she schemed to gain control over Phillip.Her goal had been to climb into his bed, and she needed to figure out a way to do so. In the end, Phillip had unknowingly helped her by drugging and seducing her.Regardless of how she achieved her goal, she was going to make herself out to be the victim.And given this, she probably figured she would harm me in the process if she could. Even if she couldn't, she would still walk away from this situation unscathed.I had to admit, Julianne really had thought everything out thoroughly. Every step was
I was deep in thought after learning all this new information. "Who sent the video to Julianne?" I asked. "What was their purpose?"I refused to believe Julianne wasn't the one behind it. "The man who sent the video died in a car accident last year," Mark replied. "Because of that, we have no way to verify if he had edited the surveillance video himself. We also can't determine his purpose behind sending the video to her." This lead turned out to be a dead end.I fell silent again.A short while later, I asked, "What about the other evidence? Like the one where Mr. Sawyer had drugged Julianne? Is it authentic?""It is. We've verified its authenticity," Mark responded.I didn't know what to say.Mark was the best lawyer around—sharp and meticulous. If he had verified the evidence, there was no doubting its legitimacy. Had I really misunderstood Julianne? Was she truly not the culprit?All this time, I thought that she had intentionally conspired with Dad to have me appear
Although I believed that Irvin had an ulterior motive when he said he would transfer all his assets to me, he most likely thought that I was still the same as before and couldn't bear to see him being treated unfairly. He might have thought that as long as he showed me enough love, I would give in and listen to him without needing him to actually do anything. That I would do whatever he asked me to do.In the end, he wouldn't have to pay any price to have me withdraw the lawsuit and publicly declare that Julianne was innocent.He never truly intended to give me all his assets.However, this wouldn't stop me from my sweet goal of making sure he would leave our marriage with nothing to his name. Both he and Julianne would suffer in misery. As I listened to music, I drifted to sleep in a great mood.I felt that no matter what Irvin was plotting, I wouldn't be losing out on this. However, I forgot that whenever Irvin told me to wait, it had never led to something good.Just like
"Why did I give birth to someone like you!"Just as Mom was about to grab me, Shaun stepped forward, placing himself in between us. As he stood in front of Mom with his tall frame, she felt intimidated and didn't dare to move."Mrs. Quill, Emi and I are just classmates. Please don't insult your own daughter like this! If she's a shameless cheater, what does that make you?" He added, "And did she say something wrong online? Aren't you just like that? To be honest, I'm curious like everyone else. Why would you help an adopted daughter and harm your very own?"Shaun really was curious like the other netizens, wanting to know Mom's reasoning. He couldn't understand how she could treat the daughter she carried in her womb for ten months this way.Mom instinctively snapped back, "I never helped Lianne harm her! She's the one who's so wicked and…"As she spoke, her voice gradually softened. It was as if she suddenly realized I had never actually done any of the horrible things she said
After eating a mouthful of stew, I got up to open the door. Given how urgently this person was knocking, I thought it was my mom who had come to confront me.After all, many people had been cursing her out for helping her adopted daughter frame her own child after my public statement.Mom cared a lot about her reputation. I think she must be on the verge of losing it now, with the whole internet firing away at her. Afraid that she would hit me the moment she saw me, I didn't open the door fully and just left a small crack open.After Irvin had yanked off the chain lock on my door last time, I immediately had the sturdiest and most expensive one installed. The locksmith told me that no one would be able to break this lock.I prepared for the worst and finally opened the door.To my surprise, it wasn't Mom. It was Shaun.I was stunned for a moment.Outside the door, Shaun also froze at the sight of the chain lock in my house.After snapping out of it, I smiled awkwardly and f
It didn't matter whether he truly wanted to make amends or had other intentions. There was no harm in giving him a "chance" as long as he transferred his assets to me.Hearing this, Irvin's eyes lit up instantly, even brighter than before. He must have thought that, just like before, I would forget everything and fall in love blindly with him again after his gentle comfort.He was so excited that he wanted to hug me.I lowered my gaze to hide the disgust in my eyes and stepped back. "There's no need to rush. Let's handle the important matters first."Go have your assets evaluated with a lawyer. Once you've transferred them to me and signed a new divorce agreement stating that you'll voluntarily leave the marriage with nothing, I'll immediately withdraw the charges."Of course, right after that, I would charge Julianne with attempted murder for hiring a crime organization. She wouldn't even have the chance to leave the detention center!And if he chose to save Julianne, it would b
"What condition?" Irvin instinctively asked."We get a divorce, and you leave with nothing," I answered. "As soon as we get the divorce certificate, I'll drop the charges." Didn't he love her so much that he was willing to do anything for her?So be it! Let me see if you're willing to give everything up for your true love.He expected me to drop the charges and feel bad for his mistress just by listening to his words? He must be delusional!Julianne had never worked in years, yet she had the money to hire a crime organization to kill me. Whose money did she use? It was so obvious that there was no need to guess.Even though Irvin and I had a frosty relationship, his money was still our shared possession. Julianne had actually used my money to kill me. How pathetic must I have been?And now, he had the audacity to ask me to drop the charges. Not only did he expect me to let her off the hook, but he also wanted me to make an announcement online that everything had been a misund
"Trust me, there's no way Lianne has set you up like that to do you harm," Irvin said. "I know she doesn't like seeing you do well, and she's not exactly a great person. But the reason her mind is so twisted is because she misunderstood you."He added, "Even if we assume the worst, maybe she isn't like this because of the misunderstanding but because she's truly a bad person, no matter how bad she is, she wouldn't ruin her own chastity and her life just to hurt you!"Julianne's long-standing feelings for Irvin made him believe that no matter how terrible she was or how much she wished me harm, she wouldn't sacrifice her chastity to harm me.After all, he deeply believed that Julianne wasn't such a terrible person."Emi, I misunderstood you before and hurt you. You know how painful it is to be misunderstood. Please don't inflict the same pain on someone else, okay?" he pleaded.Irvin wanted me to remember how painful it felt when I was misunderstood and detained so that I could fee