"Ah!"
Vivian Linton was stunned by the slap.
She instinctively clutched her stinging cheek, staring in disbelief at the frosty-faced Holly Sinclair.
"Holly, are you crazy?!"
Tristan Sterling grabbed Holly Sinclair's wrist, his brows furrowed as he gritted his teeth.
"Vivian Linton, Yvonne Thorne already confessed!"
Holly Sinclair ignored him, her eyes locked on Vivian Linton as she spoke directly.
"Wh... What?"
Vivian Linton froze, a flash of panic crossing her eyes.
"You're the one who told Yvonne Thorne to ruin my hand!"
"Holly, I don't know what you're talking about..."
"The witness is right here, Vivian Linton. You can't deny it!"
"Holly, what are you saying? How could I possibly hurt you? We're best friends!" Vivian Linton's eyes reddened, and she began to cry a river of tears as if she'd been terribly wronged.
"Yvonne Thorne already confessed!!"
The sight of her act made Holly Sinclair want to vomit.
Vivian Linton immediately turned to Yvonne Thorne. "Yvonne, why would you say that? Did someone offer you something to slander me like this?"
"No, Vivian, didn't you say..." Yvonne Thorne cried out in shock.
"Yvonne!!"
Vivian Linton shouted sharply, a warning flashing in her eyes, yet her tone remained full of grievance. "I never said anything to you. You must be delusional. How can you blame me for your own mistake?!"
"I... You..." Yvonne Thorne was dumbfounded.
"Yvonne, you'd better tell the truth. If you dare spout nonsense and frame me, the Second Master won't let you off!" Vivian Linton stared coldly at Yvonne Thorne, her words laced with a hidden meaning.
Upon hearing this, Yvonne Thorne's face turned ashen.
She was so full of regret she could have bitten her own tongue off.
'How could I have let Holly Sinclair intimidate me just now?!'
'Holly Sinclair is just Mrs. Sterling in name only. Even so, Tristan Sterling was willing to destroy the Thorne Family just for her.'
'And everyone knows Tristan Sterling loves Vivian Linton. If I accuse Vivian now, I'm afraid even nine lives wouldn't be enough to save me.'
Her eyes filled with despair, Yvonne Thorne mumbled hopelessly, "Yes, it was me. I held a grudge against Holly Sinclair..."
Seeing Yvonne Thorne suddenly retract her confession, Holly Sinclair's face changed drastically. She roared, "Yvonne, that's not what you said before! You clearly said—"
"I didn't say anything! It was me! I did it all by myself!"
Yvonne Thorne screamed in a panic, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Then, with a THUD, she fell to her knees and began kowtowing forcefully to Holly Sinclair. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. "Holly, I was wrong! I'm sorry, I'm kowtowing to you! Please spare me this once, I'm begging you, please spare me..."
Her forehead broke open, and fresh blood streamed down.
Watching Yvonne Thorne's miserable state with cold eyes, Holly Sinclair felt a chill spread through her heart.
'She knew Yvonne Thorne would never point the finger at Vivian Linton again.'
Still unwilling to give up, Holly Sinclair raised her head, her fierce gaze shooting toward Vivian Linton's face.
'She wished she could pounce on her and tear her to shreds.'
As if frightened, Vivian Linton hid behind Tristan Sterling, looking utterly pitiful.
"That's enough."
Tristan Sterling said coldly.
"It was her!" Holly Sinclair pointed at Vivian Linton, her eyes red with fury.
'Vivian Linton is so vicious, is he still going to protect her without distinguishing right from wrong?'
"Where's the proof?" Tristan Sterling scoffed.
Holly Sinclair pointed again at the blood-soaked Yvonne Thorne. "She is—"
Before she could finish, Tristan Sterling coolly cut her off. "Vivian wouldn't do something like that."
"..."
The air froze.
His words were like sharp daggers, stabbing viciously into her heart until it was riddled with holes and dripping with blood.
Holly Sinclair's eyes reddened.
'The truth was right in front of him, yet he still went against his conscience to side with Vivian Linton.'
'He really is blind in both his eyes and his heart!'
Hiding behind Tristan Sterling, Vivian Linton shot Holly Sinclair a triumphant smirk.
Before the aggrieved tears could fall, Holly Sinclair turned and walked away.
...
「Outside the police station.」
Justin Schofield's car was parked by the roadside.
He was leaning casually against the hood, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
When he saw Holly Sinclair come out, he immediately dropped the cigarette and crushed it with the tip of his shoe.
He strode quickly to meet her.
"What's wrong?"
He asked hurriedly when he saw her red-rimmed eyes.
It would have been better if he hadn't asked. The moment he did, the tears Holly Sinclair had been holding back began to stream down her face.
"Whoa! Don't cry!"
Justin Schofield immediately panicked, flustered like a child who'd done something wrong. "Please don't cry, I'm no good at comforting people..."
"I'm fine," Holly Sinclair said, shaking her head as she wiped her tears away fiercely with her sleeve.
Her voice was hoarse and broken.
It was heartbreaking to hear.
She got into the car and sat in the passenger seat.
Justin Schofield quickly followed her into the car.
He fumbled around for some tissues and handed them to her.
Just as Tristan Sterling and Vivian Linton came out, they happened to see this scene.
Justin Schofield's back was to them, and with the distance, they couldn't clearly see him passing her tissues. Instead, it looked like he was helping Holly Sinclair wipe away her tears...
Tristan Sterling's handsome face darkened, a storm brewing in his expression.
His deep, dark eyes narrowed slightly, a raging inferno leaping within them that seemed capable of burning someone to ashes.
...
「Two days later.」
「The hospital.」
"Don't let it get wet, don't lift anything heavy, and remember to come back on time for your dressing change."
The female doctor instructed gently after changing the dressing on Holly Sinclair's hand.
"Okay, thank you." Holly Sinclair stood up to leave.
"How is your body recovering?"
But the female doctor suddenly blurted out the question, seemingly out of nowhere.
"...What?" Holly Sinclair froze.
The doctor pushed up the glasses on her nose and looked at her with a gentle gaze. "I was the one who performed your surgery for the ruptured corpus luteum cyst."
Holly Sinclair suddenly understood.
'No wonder the doctor had looked a bit familiar when she first came in.'
"Ah... It's all healed now." Her cheeks grew hot as she nodded awkwardly.
"It's not a small matter. You need to take good care of your body. Don't be in a rush to be intimate with your husband. Give yourself more time to recover," the doctor advised softly.
'This young woman was so beautiful—so fresh and lovely, it made one feel protective of her. And she was about the same age as her own daughter, which was why the doctor couldn't help but offer a few extra words of advice.'
"Mhm, okay. Thank you, Doctor."
Holly Sinclair nodded repeatedly.
'Now that she and Tristan Sterling were separated, she could recover for as long as she wanted.'
The topic was ultimately a bit embarrassing for her.
Holly Sinclair said goodbye to the doctor with a blush and quickly left the treatment room.
In her embarrassment, she failed to notice a tall, upright man standing by the door of the treatment room.
He had heard every word of her conversation with the doctor.
...
After leaving the hospital, Holly Sinclair made a trip to the supermarket.
She bought some daily necessities and instant noodles.
There were only three days left before the deadline to submit her restoration piece.
She hadn't even started working on it because of her hand injury.
Therefore, she would have to work overtime for the next three days.
After returning home, Holly Sinclair put her things down and began to prepare the tools and materials needed for the restoration.
A set of tools she rarely used was stored on the top shelf of a cabinet.
She brought over a stool and stepped onto it.
After getting the tools, she was about to step down but accidentally missed her footing.
"Ah!"
Her body tilted, and she fell toward the floor.
However, the expected pain never came.
She fell into a warm embrace.
She looked up and met a pair of eyes as deep and dark as ink.
"What are you doing in my house?!"