By the ti I finished giving my statent at the police station, it was almost dark.
I didn’t dare linger on the street, terrified of running into Serena’s crazy fans, so I rushed to hail a cab.
But the taxi driver imdiately recognized .
"Aren’t you that howrecker who stole soone’s husband?"
He spat, cursing, "Get out! Out! Don’t dirty my car."
I snapped a photo of his taxi license before getting out.
Right after, I called the taxi company to file a complaint against him.
Thankfully, the police station was close to where I lived.
And it was dark, so nobody paid attention to .
I deliberately avoided crowds the entire way back.
Just then, my phone rang—it was Victoria Monroe calling.
"Zoe, I’m so sorry..."
Her voice was thick with guilt, breaking as she choked out, "You did all this for , and yet they’re writing about you like this! This was planned—they’ve been following you for quite a while already."
I was utterly confused. Victoria continued, "Didn’t you see the latest trending topic?"
"I just left the police station, haven’t checked my phone yet."
I answered, then hurriedly opened X.
Turns out, the news about suing Serena’s fans had spread—not only that, the comnts were practically unanimous, calling a thief shouting ’stop thief.’
As retaliation, the whistleblower posted even juicier stuff.
There were photos of entering and leaving the hospital’s OB-GYN clinic, plus a signed abortion consent form.
The handwriting was mine, but that consent form was one I’d signed for Victoria after I rushed her to the ER—she couldn’t sign, so I signed on her behalf.
The whistleblower only released the consent form, omitting the ’authorization letter’ with Victoria’s fingerprint on it.
So, to anyone who didn’t know the truth, it looked like I’d had an abortion myself.
The comnt section was overflowing with all kinds of curses:
"Shaless! Stole Serena’s man, got pregnant with President Xavier’s child, secretly got an abortion. And now acting innocent, suing Serena’s fans!"
"Exactly, Serena’s way too kind—throughout this, she never attacked back. My heart aches for her! Who knows how much she’s suffering!"
"Heard Zoe Ellison is an orphan; her whole family died. Serves her right for being a howrecker!"
"..."
I know the saying "if you’re innocent, you stay clean," but words like these cut deeper than knives.
On my way ho, Mrs. Ellison called too.
She was crying nonstop, "Zoe, what are all those people online blabbering about? I’m so mad I could burst! I’ve called Timothy so many tis, but he won’t answer. Is he really done with you?"
"Mom, please don’t read that stuff online."
I said, feeling guilty, "I’m old enough, and yet I still make you worry about ."
Mrs. Ellison sighed. "I just hurt for you. Why don’t you co ho, honey? I really don’t like you living alone right now."
If it were before, maybe I’d have gone back.
But rembering my brother’s murky relationship with Serena, I really didn’t want to return to The Ellison Family.
I comforted Mrs. Ellison for a while, promising again and again that if I ever reached my breaking point, I’d co ho for sure.
Later, Mr. Ellison took the phone, his voice heavy: "Zoe, I know you’ve suffered terribly. But you mustn’t act rashly—don’t go public with your marriage to Timothy without his consent. If you do, it’ll have to be with his agreent. Don’t make decisions for yourself. Timothy has treated our family well over the years..."
A faint bitterness welled up in my heart—I knew the rule about not biting the hand that feeds you.
If I tore things open with Timothy Xavier, The Ellison Family would be the first to pay the price.
"Mm, I understand, Dad."
After hanging up with them, I arrived at my building.
Yet when I stepped out of the elevator, I found Timothy Xavier standing right at my door.
I halted, staring at his tired face.
He probably hadn’t had much easier of a day than I had.
After all, I was being called a howrecker, and he’d been slapped with the label of "cheater."
On top of that, Xavier Group’s stock price had plumted today.
"Open the door."
His jaw was clenched like iced steel.
I thought he was here to discuss a solution, at least—he was, after all, a key figure in all this.
So I pressed my fingerprint and let him in.
What I didn’t expect was, the mont I turned on the lights, he grabbed by the waist and yanked into his arms.
His cool lips crashed down on mine without warning—whiskey and mint burning into my mouth, forceful and invasive.
"Mmm..."
My eyes widened in shock.
Was Timothy Xavier insane?
Ever since he started believing in Buddhism three years ago, he’d been completely cold to ; even when we did have sex, it was always taking the initiative.
But now—what the hell was he doing?
"Let go!"
My protest was crushed by the punishing violence of his kiss.
My heels lashed uselessly at his leg, only to be pinned by his knee.
At last, when I bit down hard, he finally released .
In the next instant, I slapped him across the face.
Timothy turned his face aside, blood trickling from where I’d bitten his lip—but he didn’t wipe it away.
His icy features seed encased in frost; sparks flew in his eyes, shattering his usual cool detachnt.
I gritted my teeth: "Timothy Xavier, if you’re so desperate to get laid, why don’t you go find Serena! I’m not your damn vessel for relief—get out!"
He still had trapped between himself and the door, pinning my shoulders: "If it weren’t for that news leak, I’d never have known my wife got an abortion right under my nose. Whose kid is it? Ethan’s?"
So that’s why he’d snapped tonight.
I wanted to smash his face in.
But this ti, before my hand could reach him, he gripped my wrist tight.
"Zoe Ellison, if I’ve left you lonely enough to cheat, let satisfy you tonight. Make sure you’re not empty anymore."
As he spoke, he twisted my hands behind my back, yanked at my collar with the other.
His hand slipped under my clothes, scorching hot.
But how could I let him touch now?
Never mind that I was pregnant—there was no way I could do this.
More than anything, this disgusting man—who knew how many tis he’d touched Serena with those sa hands?
"Timothy Xavier, I’m begging you, let go, I don’t want this!"
Seeing beg seed to make him even angrier.
Timothy’s long fingers gripped my chin, eyes storming darker than ever—"Zoe Ellison, weren’t you so tough before? Refusing to let touch you for my sake, and now what, you’re actually begging?"
My voice cracked, raw with tears. I nodded desperately: "Yes, I’m begging you. Timothy Xavier, please don’t touch !"
He seed to realize sothing, staring at in disbelief.
Of course, he couldn’t accept it—a woman who’d chased after him shalessly just a month ago, now pleading so humbly not to be touched.
Just then, the doorbell rang behind us.
Through the cara, Timothy saw Ethan Xavier standing outside.
He said, "No wonder you moved out on your own—you wanted to shack up with him."
I didn’t want to explain—didn’t want to argue. Timothy Xavier didn’t deserve it.
His dark gaze was like shattered ice. "I don’t need a wife who can’t even keep her chastity. In a few days, I’ll have the lawyer send the divorce papers."
At that mont, I smiled for the first ti in relief. "Just like you, I don’t need a tainted husband. I’ll be ho for the next few days—bring the papers whenever you’re ready."
Timothy stared at for a long, long ti, then suddenly opened the door.
Ethan was still standing outside.
Seeing Timothy there, he looked at the two of us in shock.
After all, I looked pretty disheveled right now.
Anyone with half a brain could tell what had just happened, especially soone like Ethan who’d seen it all before.
"Timothy Xavier, what the hell did you do to her?"
Ethan went straight for Timothy’s collar, grabbing him.
He’d forgotten Timothy used to be in the army—Timothy was excellent in a fight.
Before Ethan’s fist could even connect, Timothy reversed and threw him aside.
"Ethan Xavier, within a month, I’ll make sure you’re out of Veridia for good."
Timothy dropped the threat and strode off.
I hurried to help Ethan up from the floor.
Ethan didn’t seem to care about Timothy’s words at all, asking instead, "Are you alright?"
"He agreed to the divorce."
I forced a smile, but for so reason, hot tears spilled uncontrollably down my cheeks.
Ethan, usually all grins, handed a tissue, comforting , "It’s normal to feel upset. You loved him for so many years. I’m sure, once, he must have loved you too."
"Thank you."
I gathered myself, then asked, "Why are you here so late?"
Ethan’s gaze was serious. "So much happened today—I wanted to see how you were holding up."
I murmured, "I’m okay."
Ethan spat, "That Serena woman is terrifying! She even fabricated an abortion story!"
A slow sadness spread through .
Even Ethan, who hadn’t seen for years, could tell it was a sar job. But Timothy Xavier still wouldn’t believe . Ethan was still scrolling through X, telling , "I paid for so bots to see if we can swing the comnts around. But your best bet now is posting the marriage certificate."
My voice was hoarse, depleted. "You know my mom’s and The Ellison Family’s situation."
"Yeah, I know."
Ethan sighed. "Timothy Xavier is ruthless as hell; he might actually destroy The Ellison Family and your mother if he wants to."
Rembering Timothy’s parting threat, I warned Ethan: "Let’s keep so distance between us from now on. Watch out for yourself—I’m scared he’ll screw you over later."
"First part—I disagree. Second part, I’ll just take it as proof you care about . ans you have in your heart."
Ethan grinned, heading straight for my kitchen.
I sprang up and followed him. "What are you doing?"
"Making you so food."
Ethan was already digging through my fridge. "Let guess—you haven’t had a proper al all day, have you?"
Truthfully, I was exhausted—too tired to even cook.
So I let Ethan take the reins, and he stayed to eat dinner with .
Later, Katherine Sheldon showed up in person to take Ethan ho.
She exchanged a few reassuring words, telling not to be too affected by outside gossip, but ultimately, she was just here to get her son.
After all, no mother wants her son tangled up with a married woman.
Especially when I was technically Ethan’s sister-in-law.
...
Though I wasn’t going to the office for now, hiding out at ho to avoid the storm,
The mont morning ca, I got to work on my own report.
I went online and dug up every paper Miles Sawyer ever published, then started cross-checking their validity, one by one.
Sure enough, after a full day’s work, I found tons of flaws in them.
I marked every problem, compiled them, and sent the file to Victoria Monroe.
And so, following the "Miles Sawyer’s Fake Credentials" scandal, the second exposé was born—"Miles Sawyer’s Academic Fraud."
Victoria checked over my report and published it that very night.
Before she posted, she asked if I wanted her to put her own na on it instead.
She was worried that if my na went out again, Serena’s fans would retaliate even harder.
I said, "No. Use my na. If we’re right, I’m not afraid. I want to see how Miles Sawyer tries to explain his way out of this."
So the report went out under my na. Overnight, it didn’t get much traffic yet, but thanks to the ti difference, a few international scholars saw it.
To my surprise, they started posting under my article, confirming that several of Miles’s papers did, in fact, contain data and image discrepancies.
These papers had appeared in so of the most prestigious journals in the world, cited thousands of tis.
If those original reports turned out to be fraudulent, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The next morning, before I even opened my eyes, Victoria’s call ca in.
Her voice was electrified: "Zoe, did you see? University of Veridia and Veridia Municipal Oversight have ford a joint investigation group—Miles Sawyer has been suspended!"
"Zoe Ellison, you did it! We did it!"
Victoria’s voice lifted , joy spilling through the phone: "Your article just knocked yesterday’s sar campaign off the trending list."
I logged onto X, and saw the piece I wrote yesterday had hit number one on trending—and in the comnts section, all kinds of academic heavyweights were verifying my findings.
Finally, those experts drew a clear conclusion: Miles Sawyer was indeed suspected of academic fraud.
That directly vindicated my report.
anwhile, posts saring still flooded with comnts:
"So pissed! This howrecker just won’t let our Serena go!"
"Zoe Ellison will never end well! Too bad all her family’s dead—if she had parents, they’d be dead tonight! Stole soone’s man and now wants to drag their whole family down too!"
"Exactly! She’s been exposed as a howrecker and abortionist, yet dares to keep hurting Serena and her family. Does she think Serena’s fans are just sheep?"
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