She gripped Annabelle Linton's hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Annabelle, I'm so sorry. I didn't know this would happen. I didn't say a thing, I really didn't."
"I can't even imagine what would have happened if the servants had been a moment later. Please, don't try to take your own life again, okay? I know this is my fault, so I'm apologizing to you. Please don't scare me like this ever again, all right?"
Seeing Vivian Yates's pitiful, tearful display as she apologized nonstop, Leona Grant was instantly filled with utter disgust for Annabelle Linton.
Leona Grant suddenly stepped in front of Vivian Yates, his face cold. "Annabelle Linton, have you had enough? You're the one who pushed Vivian, and now you're making her apologize? How can a woman like you even exist!"
"…"
'What did I do?'
'I haven't said a single word since they walked in, so how did this become me making her apologize?'
'So this was her husband. He'd blame her without ever trying to learn the truth. In his eyes, Vivian Yates was a precious treasure, and she was just a weed.'
'It was like this in her past life, and it was still the same in this one.'
A wave of sorrow washed over Annabelle Linton. 'If only time could turn back two years, she never would have married Leona Grant.'
Annabelle Linton's lips curved into a subtle smile, the look of distress from moments ago vanishing completely. She said faintly, "You're reading too much into this. I just accidentally took a few too many sleeping pills, which is why I passed out. Why would you think it was a suicide attempt?"
"If I had wanted to take my own life, would I be here now? Madam King is the one who brought me to the hospital. Go on, ask her if you don't believe me." Annabelle Linton smiled as she turned to Madam King.
Madam King met Annabelle Linton's meaningful gaze and froze for a second.
Then, she instantly understood and stepped in to smooth things over. "Yes, Miss Yates. I was the one who brought the Young Madam here. But the doctor said it was just a slight overdose of sleeping pills combined with the Young Madam's frail health. That's what caused her to lose consciousness. There was no indication of a suicide attempt."
Grandpa breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, so that's what happened. That's a relief."
Annabelle Linton smiled elegantly. Looking at Vivian Yates with a puzzled expression, she asked, "By the way, Miss Yates, how exactly did you fall down the stairs yesterday?"
"I..." Vivian Yates stammered, though inwardly she was completely stunned.
'How is this idiot so quick on the uptake today!'
"What's wrong? Is it something you can't bring yourself to say?" Annabelle Linton asked calmly.
"No... It's in the past, so let's just leave it at that. As long as everyone is all right..." As Vivian Yates spoke, her eyes flickered almost imperceptibly toward Annabelle Linton.
Her eyes were rimmed with red, as if she were suffering some great, unspeakable injustice. She acted as if she didn't intend to pursue the matter, but anyone could tell she was holding something back.
You had to admit, the effect of leaving a sentence half-finished was quite potent. It let people's imaginations run wild.
A sharp glint flashed in Annabelle Linton's eyes.
'What a classic case of feigning retreat to advance!'
'Silence speaks louder than words. Is this her way of cementing the idea that I framed her, that I pushed her down the stairs?'
'Vivian Yates's words just now might have sounded like an apology, like she was concerned for my well-being, but she was clearly just trying to smear my name!'
'She was feigning retreat, dodging the important questions, and completely avoiding the topic of how she actually fell down the stairs.'
'But her act indirectly implied one thing.'
'That I, Annabelle, had melodramatically attempted suicide to frame Vivian, and when I failed to die, I blamed her for it!'
In her past life, Annabelle Linton had been quiet and gentle, but also incredibly stubborn.
Faced with Leona Grant's accusations, she would feel wronged and burst into hysterical tears in front of everyone. She'd refuse to back down when she knew she was right, which only made Leona Grant despise her more.
Seeing this spectacle, the servants also grew to resent her. 'Making the person she supposedly pushed down the stairs apologize, and she still cries like that? It's no wonder the Young Master can't stand her!'