When they arrived at the Jiang Estate, they were welcod by Mother Wang and Uncle Mo. The place was unusually silent since Adrienne’s father and relatives had already left the day before. Such a welcoming peace that had eluded Adrienne for a long ti. The only thing missing was her mother welcoming her ho after her long day outside.
"Mother Wang, check the inventory of Mom’s belongings. Anything that is missing will be charged to my father’s account." Adrienne said as she went upstairs with Hunter. She looked extrely pale this ti, making Mother Wang and Uncle Mo worry.
At this rate, Adrienne would fall sick. Mother Wang held Hunter’s arm in worry.
"Can you convince Addie to stay at ho for a while? She doesn’t look good these days."
"I cannot promise you anything, Mother Wang. I tried to convince her to go ho after her classes this afternoon, but she insisted we go to Jingling instead." Hunter replied, giving their miss a worried look. How would he, who had been beside her all this while, not notice that Adrienne’s health was deteriorating?
Ever since the birthday banquet, sothing had changed in Adrienne. She started having night terrors, which kept her awake in the middle of the night. Mother Wang and Hunter would usually ask her about the nightmares, but Adrienne kept silent.
Adrienne was aware of her condition. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she would imdiately fall into a dreamless sleep until the nightmares started showing up, replaying her darkest mories from her previous life. She knew her recent encounter with Alistair Han had triggered her night terrors, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
She jolted on her mother’s bed for the umpteenth ti. Adrienne wrapped her arms around her knees as she silently wept. She knew these nightmares would persist unless she did sothing.
"Hah... even now, you still think I owe you everything. Damn you to hell, Alistair Han. I won’t allow you to control my life anymore."
How could she not notice how Alistair had watched her like a hawk during the banquet? The thought of him staring at her made her hair stand on end. The feeling of being watched by him wasn’t new to Adrienne.
At school, Adrienne acted as if the news about the Jiang family didn’t affect her. She glanced at her schoolmates without saying a word, and only her deskmate, Valerie Xia was brave enough to ask her about her stepmother.
"Is it true that she tried to bribe soone to keep your mother in a coma?" She asked, knowing that their classmates were eager to hear Adrienne’s answer.
"The nurse is already apprehended. Only the jury could decide whether she’s telling the truth or not."
Adrienne responded to Valerie’s questions without reservation and only stopped when the bell rang, forcing everyone back to their seats.
The preliminary exams were just around the corner, so Adrienne was spending more ti studying than sleeping at night. Because the result of the exams was important, the class teachers had been stressing its importance.
This was a chance for Adrienne, who was an erging genius in her batch, to prove that she wasn’t falling behind her cousins in academics. She knew Ayla and Sierra would use this chance to increase their disparity.
At the sa ti, the news of Camilla and Elise’s involvent in drugging Rosemary Zhao had spread like wildfire throughout the country. Many pieces of evidence were released online, including how Camilla bribed several reporters to harass and marr Adrienne’s reputation in public. The power of rumors and gossip within Springfield Academy was unparalleled. Cayden’s involvent with a loan shark and Camilla’s recent sches had beco common knowledge in just a few days.
It was unclear who left all the information, and even though the Jiang family’s PR team had tried their best to get the post off the internet, all of them sprung back like wild mushrooms. As soon as they got one off, ten more would appear out of nowhere.
Adrienne had no idea that Lennox was the one behind all of it. The mont she attacked Cayden and Camilla during the banquet, Lennox and Gavin had utilized their machinations to amplify the scandals involving the Jiang family. Those watching the entire incident found it ridiculous that soone would be as shaless as this cheating couple. Not only did they try to murder the first wife, who was in a coma, they were also trying to destroy the eldest miss of the Jiang family.
The netizens were strongly condemning both Camilla and Lewis Jiang. All of them thought that the accident wouldn’t happen if it weren’t because of him. The Jiang Corporation suffered a massive blow from all these scandals, and the price of their shares continued to plumt.
Camilla almost blacked out at the new estate, where Lewis and his family moved to, due to the shock from the sudden turn of events. The cup in her hands fell and shattered on the floor as she trembled. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that the series of scandals were all part of Adrienne’s sche to get even with her. She couldn’t believe a young girl like Adrienne could outwit her and push her into a corner like this.
"How could this be...?" She mumbled as she read the articles and news criticizing her and her children. She’d tried to contact the madams she befriended during the banquet, but none of them were willing to lend her a hand to deal with the issue.
Of course, Adrienne had missed the honor of seeing her stepmother like this as she sat in her car headed towards Jinxiu Garden. Her complexion wasn’t improving, which was why Hunter kept glancing at the dashboard mirror to check on her.
Lennox Qin was in the garden, seated in his wheelchair, busy flipping through the docunts in his hands, when Adrienne arrived with Hunter. It was Adrienne’s first sight of him outside the hospital. She could already tell he was faring better at ho.
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