After I left Grandpa’s side, I strolled down the long, polished corridor of the mansion. My heels clicked softly against the marble floor, but my thoughts were louder than any sound. Grandpa had told me weeks ago about a new garden being built on the east wing. He had sounded so proud, like a child showing off his treasure. I thought maybe walking there would clear my mind.

But then—

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Around the corner, faint voices carried through the stillness. At first, I wanted to ignore it, until one particular name and one particular tone froze me in place.

“I said publicly humiliate her,not just some simple dismissal,” Lilian’s voice hissed. Her tone was laced with venom, sharp and cutting.

My breath caught. Lilian.

I leaned closer to the wall, pressing myself silently against it, straining to hear.

The other voice was quieter, hushed, like whoever was on the other end of the line didn’t want to be overheard.

“Do you think I didn’t try that? The news was out earlier this morning. I don’t know who managed to pull it down.”

My pulse spiked. So it was true—there had been a scheme against me. Someone had suppressed it, but not before the damage spread.

“I put so much hope in you, Janella.” Lilian groaned in frustration. “Don’t you know who Alice is? Your fiancé is already having feelings for her.”

The name dropped like a stone in a pond. Janella. Her fiancé? My mind instantly went to Adrian, Morgan’s cousin. Could Lilian mean him?

“That bitch,” Janella cursed through the speaker.

Lilian smirked, her voice softening like silk. “Whatever. Don’t contact me again. At least not for now.”

There was a click. Silence. Then Lilian’s fingers moved swiftly across her phone, deleting the call history.

I stumbled slightly, my body betraying me with the noise.

Her head whipped around. Our eyes met. For a moment, her face registered shock—but just as quickly, it morphed into a smug, satisfied smirk.

“So… you heard everything,” she drawled.

“You vile human!” My voice cracked with rage. “Why did you do that?”

She tilted her head with mock innocence. “Oh, dear sister. How could you say that? I wasn’t the one who attacked JB Company.”

“You had a hand in it!” My voice trembled, my fists clenched tight. “Don’t you dare deny it. Do you think there won’t be retribution for all this one day?”

“Retribution?” she scoffed, her laugh cold and cutting. “If there’s such a thing, then why hasn’t your father faced it yet? That worthless man has been lying on a hospital bed for years. Why hasn’t he fa—”

“Enough!”

My hand moved before my mind did. The sound of my palm striking her cheek echoed in the corridor. Her head snapped sideways. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

My rage didn’t stop there. I grabbed a fistful of her perfectly styled hair and yanked, hard. She shrieked in pain, clawing at my hands.

“Let me go! Let me go, you bitch!” she screamed.

“Now you want me to let you go?” My voice was deadly calm, though my chest heaved. “I thought you weren’t scared of anyone.”

“All you do is scream and act cunning,” I sneered, tightening my grip.

“Let her go,” a deep voice suddenly cut through the tension.

I froze.

Vincent.

I didn’t need to look behind me; I knew that voice too well. The calm menace, the authority woven into each word.

“What if I don’t?” I asked defiantly, refusing to release Lilian.

I could feel his eyes on me, burning holes into my back. I braced myself for his fury. Instead, I caught a smirk curling at the corner of his lips when I finally turned my head slightly.

“Brother Vincent,” Lilian whimpered weakly, milking her pain. She reached out toward him, her face pale and pitiful.

I nearly gagged. Disgusted, I shoved her away, releasing my grip with force. She stumbled but quickly recovered, rushing into Vincent’s arms like a stray dog finding shelter.

I dusted my hands, glaring at the pathetic sight. “Perfect,” I muttered under my breath. “The dog couple.”

Their little act made bile rise in my throat.

“I’ll start work first thing Monday morning,” I said coldly, fixing Vincent with a hard stare. “As for the project in my hand—you can have someone else do it.”

I turned to leave, but before I could take more than two steps, Vincent’s hand shot out. He grabbed my arm, yanking me backward so hard I nearly stumbled. My free hand instinctively flew to my stomach, shielding it.

“Let go!” I snapped, panic and anger flooding me at once. My eyes darted to his grip, his fingers digging into my skin.

In a surge of fury, I slapped him. Hard.

For a second, he looked stunned, his eyes flashing wide. Then his face hardened, his jaw clenched, and his gaze turned icy. Without warning, he shoved me against the wall, his body pinning me there.

“You’ve become more daring,” he said coldly, his lips dangerously close to mine. His voice was so chilling it sent shivers crawling across my skin.

I turned my face away, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me tremble.

“Look at me, Alice,” he ordered.

I scoffed, my voice sharp. “Hmph.”

Behind him, Lilian spoke softly, her fake innocence dripping like honey. “Sister, please listen to Brother Vincent. He cares about you.”

I snapped my gaze to her. “Shut your mouth.”

She gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. “I’m sorry I said those things earlier,” she whimpered. “I was just angry that you left KNT Company. They’ve been helping you for the past two years… and you went to a rival company…”

Her crocodile tears were already forming.

I stared at her with nothing but disgust.

And then she kneeled.

“If I have to kneel here until the end of the day, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to earn your forgiveness.”

“Stand up, Lily,” Vincent said sharply.

“No!” She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Not until my sister forgives me.”

I caught the quick motion of her hand, the way she pinched her own skin discreetly. A second later, redness bloomed on her knees, as if she had been suffering there for hours. Her eyes glistened, her lips trembled. It was a performance worthy of an award.

Vincent’s patience finally snapped. He roared at me, his voice echoing in the corridor. “Even with this, you still won’t say anything, will you?”

I smirked, my heart beating painfully in my chest. “If she wants to kneel, then she should. I don’t care.”

I shoved Vincent off me, my voice steady though my insides were trembling. My eyes fell on the pathetic sight of him rushing to her side as her knee bled faintly.

A memory hit me—two years ago, when I first married him. I had pricked my finger while trying to knit. He had scolded me, cold and harsh as always, but he had also cleaned the wound with his own hands. For one brief moment, I had thought he cared.

But watching him now, tending to Lilian as if she were fragile glass, I wanted nothing more than to erase that memory forever.

“Disgusting,” I muttered, turning on my heel.

That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, I saw Vincent’s car pull out of the driveway. Lilian sat in the passenger seat, smiling brightly as if she owned the world.

“Dog couple,” I spat under my breath, heading back toward Grandpa’s chambers.

“Was that Vincent?” Grandpa asked when I entered.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “I think he had something to do at the company.”

“Hmm,” Grandpa scoffed. “He came here to visit me, but apparently, work is more important.”

I smiled faintly, trying to ease his displeasure.

But later that night, when Vincent returned, he was drunk. His tall frame slumped heavily against Lilian as she half-dragged, half-carried him into our room.

The butler and the maids exchanged shocked glances. Their eyes widened when Lilian casually announced, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Vincent tonight.”

My chest tightened. The sheer audacity.

The staff looked at me nervously, waiting for my reaction.

I simply scoffed, brushing past them all. “Do what you want.”

And with that, I left the room for both of them.