Anya was still kneeling on the ground. She was alarmed and displeased to see Corinne standing beside Lucas. "Didn't you go to the company, Lucas? Why did you come back?"Lucas heard everything that Phoebe and Anya said about Corinne. He never liked Phoebe in the first place, and he was even more disgusted after what she felt. There was a stark look of disappointment in his eyes as he looked at his younger half-sister, whom he used to love so much."Corinne mentioned that she wanted to talk to you, so I figured I'd come back and hear what she has to say," Lucas said.Anya stood up from the ground. She blinked blankly and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"Corinne glanced at her uninterestedly and ignored her for the time being. She faced the elderly couple and smiled politely at them. "Grandpa Cedric, Grandma Beatrice, good morning, and sorry for bothering all of you."Phoebe and Anya's provocation led Cedric and Beatrice to somewhat doubt Corinne. However, they still h
Anya turned pale when Corinne revealed the photo of herself meeting Lilliana and Sherlyn. Phoebe saw the photo too, and she had a bad feeling about the whole thing.Corinne showed the photo to Lucas. "Mister Lucas, is this Anya in the photo?"Lucas took Corinne's phone and studied the photo. A frown appeared on his face as he then looked at the pale-faced Anya. "What were you doing there?" he asked her.Anya never thought she would be photographed, given how cautious she had been. 'Both Lilliana and Sherlyn must've aroused Corinne's suspicion!'Anya blinked guiltily. "Lucas, I… I didn't…"Lucas scoffed angrily. "Huh! You didn't, you say? How can you still deny any wrongdoing when you've been photographed meeting Lilliana and Sherlyn?""That photo might be fake, for all we know! Photo manipulation technology is so advanced right now. That photo could've been Photoshopped! I won't even be surprised if she used AI technology to create a deep-fake video about me. Lucas, you mustn't b
'It looks like she's not going to admit her wrongdoing unless I have some irrefutable evidence,' thought Corinne. She put her palm to her face and shook her head. 'Ugh, she and her mother are being ridiculous! The proof is right in front of them, yet they're still trying to worm their way out.'Looking at how helpless Corinne looked, Anya thought she was giving up. "Corinne, you should ask your stepmother and her daughter instead who they met in the park just now and what they got from the stranger. I can assure you that I wasn't the one who met up with them…" she advised kindly.Corinne smiled. "Miss Anya, it sounds like you and your mother will always label incriminating photos and videos of you and her as fake.""No, it's not that we want to label them as fake. It's just that you can't prove they're real, either. Plus, you've always been biased against me because of Jeremy. Not to mention, you see me as your love rival…" said Anya innocently.'Love rival? Ha!' Corinne never saw
They were disappointed Anya lied and was baffled as to why she would do that.Lucas narrowed his eyes at Anya after looking at the surveillance footage. "How do you explain this, Anya? Why is there a traffic record of you driving out of the city when you've insisted you didn't?"Anya became a little deflated when faced with Lucas. "That… That's because I didn't sleep well last night, so I went for a drive to cheer myself up. I thought I'd drive out of the city since it's a quieter route, but that doesn't mean I went to the park!"Corinne scoffed. "Miss Anya, didn't you insist you didn't go out this morning? Why the change in tune of your story? Which is the truth, then? Aren't you just contradicting yourself?"Anya's gaze darted around. "I… I…"Lucas frowned. He had completely given up on Anya."Why did you sneak out of the house and choose a car your family didn't even know you had if you were just going out for a drive to cheer yourself up?" asked Corinne. "Doesn't this just pr
Corinne picked up the cooled water and drank before turning to smile at the guilt-stricken Anya."But if I were to guess, that black leather case must be filled with cash, right? But why would Anya give my stepmother so much cash? Was she trying to be a good daughter in my stead? No. There's only one reason: Miss Anya bribed my stepmother, who never liked me, to bring Josephine and her mother to the Holdens' mansion to malign me so that I'd be kicked out of the house."But their plan failed, so Miss Anya asked my stepmother to teach Josephine and her mother to bring the matter online. Both Josephine and her mother don't look like people who know their way around online, so it was obvious someone must've guided them. Who'd be more qualified to do that than my stepmother? She had honed her skill of creating a buzz to make her precious daughter famous back then."But having my stepmother guide Josephine and her mother wasn't enough. The one surefire way of making sure the buzz doesn't
Anya cried as she shook her head woefully. "No! I didn't… Stop slandering me, Corinne! I swear, I only went for a drive and nothing more this morning. You seriously have to stop accusing me of things I didn't do!"Corinne expected her to react like that. "Tell me, Miss Anya. Between you and me, who is slandering whom? You were even willing to sacrifice Jeremy, the person you purportedly love the most, to destroy me. There seems to be no end to just how ruthless you can be!"After thinking it over, the only way for Anya to get out of this was to use the victim card since she lacked both logic and evidence. She quickly pretended to be on the verge of having a meltdown. "That's enough! Please, stop. I swear I didn't do any of the things you accused me of doing. I promise I won't ever try to steal Jeremy away from you again, so please just stop all this! Have some mercy, Corinne. I… I… Okay, how about I slap myself? Will that make you forgive me? Will that make you hate me less?"Withou
Lucas frowned, and his eyes darkened with annoyance. "So you resorted to hysterics once you ran out of counter-arguments? Do you think this will make you look innocent?"'Hysterics? Did he really use that word on me? No! I'm Anya Rivera, the second daughter of Maxwell Rivera. I'm not the one for hysterics! Plus, I was forced by Corinne to do this 'cause only by doing this can I get Grandpa, Grandma, and Lucas to stand on my side.'It might have worked on Cedric and Beatrice, but what Anya did not expect was that Lucas had changed. He no longer loved or accepted her unconditionally anymore.Tears poured out from Anya's eyes. "Lucas, I don't mean to behave this way, either… But Corinne left me with no choice. You were there when she insisted on calling me the mastermind behind her online scandal. I… I just feel so wronged…"Lucas' expression hardened. "It's not like she's throwing baseless accusations at you."Anya looked hurt. "Lucas, how can you not believe me? How can you believe
Before Phoebe got up, she put her hand over Anya's to remind her to stay calm and improvise no matter what would happen.Anya looked up at her with panicked eyes; it seemed like she would not be calming down anytime soon.As much as Phoebe wanted to stay, she had to follow Cedric and Beatrice back to their room. Corinne was the next to follow. Lucas threw a doubtful glance at Anya before going into the room, too.After they all went into the room, Corinne kept the door slightly ajar so they could all hear what was going on outside.A few moments later, Lilliana and Sherlyn were led into the grand living room by a servant. The two women looked confused as they did not know why Anya had asked them to come.Lilliana smiled charmingly at Anya, who sat alone on the sofa. "How can I help you, Miss Anya? Do you have any other instructions other than the ones you gave us this morning?"Sherlyn smiled, too. "Yes, Miss Anya. Just let us know if you want us to do anything else. Did you call