The maid fell onto her knees pathetically. “B-But Madame Brighthall, Miss McKinsey’s going to marry Mr. Brighthall! She’s going to be our mistress very soon, and we… We can’t possibly say no to someone like that! What if Miss McKinsey holds grudges against us—”“You’re telling me… You cower before her so-called authority while I’m still alive!?”“Madame Brighthall?”A soft, quiet voice flitted through the room from upstairs. The older woman turned around.Deirdre was standing at the stairs, her expression placid. Her eyes were not even red. “Madame Brighthall, it was not a big deal at all.” She continued flatly. “They aren’t wrong to think twice about keeping her out. Charli’s going to be the next mistress of the family, and if they refuse her entrance on your behalf, it’s only going to become a point of conflict between you and your daughter-in-law.”“Dee!” Madame Brighthall felt her words choking in her throat. She could imagine just how smug Charlene had been when she deliberat
”Deirdre is the one you truly love! So what’s with this…. wedding with Charlene? God, it’s like I don’t even know my own son anymore!”Brendan was silent. Then, almost languidly, he said, “This is between Deirdre and me, mom. You don’t have to care.”“I don’t have to care?” Madame Brighthall took a deep breath to maintain her composure. “I would love to turn away, Bren! I even wish you could just marry Charlene already, and then what happened? You would put yourself at death’s reach if it meant you could keep Deirdre by your side. But now that you have her back with you, you… go ahead and do these things that just don’t make any sense!” “This whole thing is hard to explain.”Madame Brighthall felt her heart chilled. “So, you’re not even going to attempt to explain it, are you? Or are you telling me that the one you love has always been Charlene McKinney, and the only reason you did so much to get Deirdre back was that you’re just that possessive?”Brendan thinned his lips. The mo
Charlene entered while stretching her waist. She said, “You are indeed putting up with it that you don’t even turn on the light. So, this is how you are being treated? It seems that you don’t have a great life anyway.”Faking a smile, Deirdre replied, “For sure, I’m not as honorable as you are, that you have thousands of supporters just to celebrate a birthday. I’m just staying here in the mansion.”Feeling rather proud, Charlene teased, “So, Deirdre, what’s the meaning of you living in this world? You should have taken a look at yourself, whether you are capable of snatching Brendan away from me. Whether it's the wedding in the near future or the birthday party today, Brendan will give me whatever I request. He has been accompanying me these few days too—”Charlene didn’t continue but cast a meaningful look.Accompanied? How had he been accompanying her?Thinking of the possibility Brendan might have done it with Charlene, Deirdre felt badly nauseous and thought about how unclean
Deirdre was on the brink of collapse. “Charlene McKinney! You vicious woman! How could you attack a patient with mental health and an unsound mind!? Why aren’t you dead yet!?”Charlene was forced to retreat to the balcony, yet she kept provoking Deirdre, “You can’t blame me only, can you? You should blame yourself for falling in love with Brendan. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have needed to deal with a fool, would I?“Thankfully, Brendan arranged for your mother to be there, where all his men were my subordinates. Hence, I could easily approach her and even delete all scenes recorded by the monitoring cameras except the scene when your mother jumped down. To put it bluntly, Brendan was the accomplice.”Taking a deep breath, Deirdre felt so painful that she was trembling.“Deirdre, don’t you think that you’re such a j*rk? The man you love not only sent you to suffer in prison but also loves the culprit responsible for your mother’s death.”“Shut up!” Deirdre looked up with her eyes turned
Charlene must not die. Otherwise, Deirdre couldn’t explain herself under so many eyewitnesses.Seeing the scene, Brendan held tightly on the rail, so tightly that his veins were bulging.He had taken a lot of precautions, but he didn’t manage to prevent Charlene from provoking Deirdre.When he saw someone taking pictures, Brendan subconsciously stood before Deirdre to protect her while his eyes filled with coldness.“If I do remember correctly, you must be the chief editor of the Entertainment Weekly Magazine.” Squinting his eyes while looking at the man with the camera, Brendan warned, “If any photos are leaked today, I guarantee that Entertainment Weekly Magazine will vanish completely from Neve! You can try if you don’t believe it.”The Entertainment Weekly Magazine was the largest media outlet in Neve. As the chief editor, the man had a lot of connections, so he could stop all media outlets from publishing the news as quickly as possible.That was the reason Brendan purposely
With a loud noise, the cover of the lamp shattered on the ground.Slowly, Brendan put down his arm, which had a long and narrow cut on it. Blood gushed out, but he didn’t even frown. He was merely stunned.For Deirdre to really attack him, she must really hate him.He even believed that Deirdre would push him down the balcony, just like how she had pushed Charlene if she were powerful enough.Madame Brighthall rushed upstairs toward them. When she saw Brendan’s bleeding arm at the door, she was startled for a moment and hurriedly went forward.“W-What’s wrong? Deirdre… Brendan… What—”Brendan’s phone rang out suddenly. When he saw the caller on the screen, he accepted it with his uninjured arm.“Mr. Brighthall.” Sam’s tone sounded serious. “Have you solved the problem of the banquet? Would you like to come over? Charlene is—”“Okay, I’ll be there immediately.”Brendan immediately cut off the call and was prepared to depart. His action pulled up short Madame Brighthall for a mo
After Deirdre’s wounds were dressed, Madame Brighthall kept her company for a while. Deirdre lay on the bed after Madame Brighthall left, yet she was having difficulty falling asleep. She dreamt of her mother sitting cross-legged under the apricot tree and waving to her when she finally fell asleep. Her smile was just as kind and gentle as before. “You’re late. Put down your school bag quickly. I don’t want my precious daughter to be tired.”She ran forward with tears down her face, yet the scene changed to the rooftop instantly. She watched as her mother jumped from the rooftop and screamed hysterically, but there was nothing she could do.“Miss McKinnon! Miss McKinnon!”Deirdre was awakened by the sound of someone knocking on the door. She sat upright in shock, breathing heavily, and her face was drenched in tears.“What’s going on?”She felt her way to open the door. The maid said in a panicked tone, “Miss McKinnon, the police are here.”Deirdre sat in the living room and
Brendan signaled the caregiver to leave. He asked coldly after the door was shut, “Did you call the police?”Charlene blinked innocently upon hearing that, and her expression turned so grievous instantly that she was almost tearing up.“Hmm… Brendan, I know you must think I’m at fault. However, I can’t help it because Miss McKinnon is truly terrifying! She shoved me down the stairs with her own hands! Had the grass not cushioned my fall, it’s possible that I wouldn't be alive anymore. I’m lucky I only broke a leg, but I don’t have the courage to think what Miss McKinnon would do to me in the future. So, I can only let her face the consequences she deserves.”“Consequences that she deserves?” Brendan narrowed his eyes.Meanwhile, Sam’s call came. “Sir, the situation is looking very bad now. It’s apparent that Charlene is well prepared in her plan. There is a drone recording of Miss McKinnon pushing Charlene down the stairs, and it is posted online. The online community is already