In the back seat, Jett Sterling imdiately turned to look out the car window. His brow furrowed. "Stop the car!"
The driver stopped at once.
"Master Sterling, don’t worry. I’ll go get her!"
Easton Rivers grabbed an umbrella, got out of the car, and ran over to hold it over Vivian Quinn’s head. "Ma’am, why are you digging through the trash in such a heavy downpour? What are you looking for?"
"I lost a blanket."
"It’s just a blanket. We can just buy a new one. You’ll get sick standing in the rain like this!"
"This is the most important thing I own! It’s not sothing money can buy!" Vivian Quinn continued to dig through the trash can.
"Vivian," Jett Sterling said as he got out of the car. He maneuvered his wheelchair over, the driver holding an umbrella for him. "Describe what you’re looking for. I’ll have my n find it for you."
Vivian Quinn shook her head. "No, the trash will be collected soon. It’ll be even harder to find then."
Jett Sterling couldn’t sway her. He glanced at Easton Rivers.
Easton Rivers understood imdiately. He pushed the umbrella into Vivian Quinn’s hand. "Ma’am, you hold the umbrella for Master Sterling. The driver and I will help you look."
"It’s too dirty. You don’t need to get your hands filthy. I’ll find it myself."
Without another word, Easton Rivers guided her over to Jett Sterling’s side and started digging through the trash himself.
The driver also tossed his umbrella aside and went to help.
The two of them worked quickly, and the last trash can was soon emptied, but there was no blanket inside at all.
"How can it not be here..." Vivian Quinn’s face grew even paler. "Was it not thrown out here? Or has the garbage truck already co and gone?"
Jett Sterling ordered, "Easton Rivers, make a call and find out."
"Yes, sir." After the call, Easton Rivers reported, "Master Sterling, the property managent says the trash is collected at 4 a.m. every day. If it was thrown out after four, it should still be here."
The man made a swift decision. "Go to the next trash collection point and look."
"Yes, sir."
The group went to a more remote collection point. After rummaging through a few bins, Vivian suddenly spotted sothing and pointed excitedly. "That’s it!"
Easton Rivers pulled a brightly colored, gaudy blanket from the trash. "Ma’am, is this it?"
’It doesn’t look valuable at all.’
"Yes." Vivian Quinn took it and inspected it. It was covered in stains and had a hole torn in it by sothing sharp.
Vivian Quinn’s eyes welled up, and tears mixed with the rain as they stread down her face. "Thank you for helping find it."
The four of them quickly returned to the villa. Just as they opened the door, a maid’s snide voice drifted from inside. "Don’t tell you went digging through the trash? Don’t you dare step inside all filthy like that, you’ll get the place dirty... Mas... Master..."
The man’s gaze darkened instantly, a murderous aura flashing in his eyes that sent a chill down the spine.
Easton Rivers understood as well. He roared, "Insolent! How dare you speak to the Madam like that!"
The smitten maid was so frightened she dropped to her knees with a THUD. "Spare , Master! I didn’t do it on purpose!"
"Is this the kind of thing one does ’on purpose’ or ’by accident’? You saw Master Sterling leave and decided to start disrespecting the Madam, didn’t you?" It dawned on Easton Rivers. "Why was her blanket at the trash collection point?!"
’Seeing how frantic Vivian was just now, she wouldn’t have been so careless as to lose it.’
"I... I was helping the Madam tidy up the walk-in closet when I saw the blanket on the floor. It looked really old, so I thought she didn’t want it anymore and just tossed it out. I really didn’t know it was so important to her. Ma’am, I’m so sorry..."
Vivian Quinn said nothing. She took the blanket upstairs and put it in the washbasin to clean it.
A mont later, Jett Sterling ca in. "Go take a shower first, so you don’t catch a cold."
Vivian Quinn didn’t speak, stubbornly continuing to wash the blanket.
"Vivian Quinn, did you hear ?" The man ca forward and grabbed her by the wrist. "Either you take a shower yourself, or I’ll help you."
Vivian Quinn’s lips tightened. "I’ll do it myself."
Only then did Jett Sterling slowly release her and turn to leave.
Vivian Quinn turned on the shower. Warm water cascaded down from overhead, chasing away the chill from her body.
She leaned her back against the wall, her body slowly sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. Unable to suppress the bitterness in her heart any longer, she began to sob quietly.
Outside the bathroom, through the glass door, Jett Sterling could clearly hear the girl’s sobs mixed with the sound of the running water.
She seed to be holding back, not daring to cry her heart out. But the more she restrained herself, the more Jett Sterling’s heart ached.
’Is staying by my side really this painful for her?’
After her shower, Vivian Quinn went back to washing the blanket. Once it was clean, she took it out to the balcony to dry.
"Ma’am." Easton Rivers walked over and bowed respectfully. "Master Sterling is downstairs investigating the matter of the blanket. The maid insists she threw it away by accident."
’Easton Rivers couldn’t understand it. The amount of money Master Sterling could make in a minute was more than an ordinary person might earn in a lifeti, yet here he was, personally handling such a trivial matter.’
’Could this be what they call being in love?’
’The realization dawned on him belatedly. Maybe it really was!’
"She did it on purpose. I had put the blanket away properly; it would never have been on the floor." A coldness filled Vivian Quinn’s eyes. "This isn’t sothing she can get away with just by denying it. I’ll go confront her myself."
When Vivian Quinn went downstairs, she saw four maids kneeling neatly on the floor. Seeing her, they imdiately began to kowtow and beg for rcy. "Ma’am, we really didn’t throw your blanket away on purpose!"
Vivian Quinn said nothing. She took her phone out of her pocket and played an audio file.
Voices soon ca from the phone.
"With a face like that, it’s useless even if she wears nice clothes. They’d be better off on ."
"Just try it on and take it right off. It’s her stuff, after all."
"There are so many new clothes. She won’t notice if I take one or two pieces. You all should pick a couple of outfits, too. When I beco the new Madam, I’ll definitely treat you well."
The maids’ faces instantly turned pale.
"You... you actually recorded it!"
Vivian Quinn sneered. "I don’t need to waste my breath on people like you. Easton Rivers, they probably haven’t had ti to return the clothes they stole. Call the police."
Easton Rivers subconsciously glanced at Jett Sterling. Seeing his impassive expression, he quickly understood and bowed his head. "Ma’am, jail is too good for them. Let handle this."
Vivian Quinn pointed at the smitten maid. "She’s the one who went through my suitcase and threw the blanket away on purpose. She’s also the one who wants to take my place."
Easton Rivers scoffed. "What a joke. A re maid, fantasizing about becoming the mistress of the house? Who gave you the audacity!"
"I didn’t!" The maid kowtowed heavily. "Master, I didn’t!"
Jett Sterling’s thin lips parted as he said in a low voice, "Drag her out."
"Yes, sir." Easton Rivers snapped his fingers, and two bodyguards imdiately entered and dragged the maid out.
"Master, spare ! What are you doing? Help! Ahhh—"
Heart-wrenching screams of pain ca from outside.
The other three maids trembled in fear.
Easton Rivers continued to interrogate them. "Speak. How have you been mistreating the Madam these past few days? If you don’t talk, you’ll be next."
The three maids scrambled over each other to speak first.
"It wasn’t us, it was her! She said if soone like the Madam could marry the Master, then she could too!"
"She told the chefs not to co in for the past few days because she didn’t want them to cook for the Madam. The Madam has only been able to eat takeout!"
"She encouraged us to take clothes from the walk-in closet. She’s also the one who took the Madam’s blanket out of the suitcase and threw it away. She said that since the Madam had put it away so carefully, it must be important, so she had to throw it out to make her miserable!"
"Master, please spare us, she really was the one who instigated us! She also said the Madam was shalessly clinging on and refusing to get a divorce, that she deserved to die!"
The mont Jett Sterling heard the word "divorce," his gaze turned ice-cold. He glanced at Easton Rivers.
The bodyguards quickly ca in and dragged the other three maids out as well.
The sound of heart-wrenching screams echoed outside the villa for a long ti...
...
Vivian Quinn didn’t know what was happening downstairs. Her head was spinning, and she had gone to bed half an hour ago, but she only felt colder and colder the longer she slept.
"Vivian?"
A familiar voice sounded in her ear, and a large, cool palm rested on her forehead. Vivian Quinn subconsciously grabbed the hand. "Cold... so cold..."
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