Chapter 1 An Old Photo

"Help! Mrs. Xiao pushed Miss Song down the stairs!"

A servant's shout resounded through the whole mansion. Standing at the top of the stairs, Tracey Zhao stared at Jade Song, who was lying on the floor.

Jade was bleeding, and her forehead was sweaty, but Tracey saw that there was a smug smile on her lips as well. The next moment, however, it disappeared, and Jade whined, "Tracey, why did you do this to me? It's no use. Even if I die, Weston will never love you.

How can you be so vicious? I thought we were best friends!"

"I... I didn't..." Tracy started, but as soon as she opened her mouth to explain, she was interrupted by Amy, the maid. "You are really too vicious! Miss Song is so kind to you. How could you do that? I have to tell Mr. Xiao."

Amy took out her phone, but Jade stopped her and shook her head. "No, Amy. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come here."

"Miss Song, you are too kind," the maid said.

"It's okay. It's none of your business anyway. Just don't tell Weston what happened," Jade said.

Just at that time, Weston's cold voice came from the doorway. "Don't tell me what?"

Weston Xiao was a strong, tall man, with a commanding presence. Slowly, he walked into the mansion, but when he saw Jade covered in blood, his eyes flashed with anger. He walked up to her and lifted her in his arms. "Amy, take Miss Song to the hospital," he said firmly.

In the commotion, no one noticed a blood-stained photo fall out of Jade's pocket. It fell to the floor slowly, landing in a small pool of blood.

In his arms now, Jade reached out and held onto Weston.

Her beautiful face was extremely pale, and her usually red lips were almost white. "Weston... Won't you come with me?" she asked pitifully.

"Good girl..." Weston said, kissing her gently on the forehead. "Amy, take good care of Miss Song. I have something to deal with, but I will be there as soon as possible."

"Weston, please don't be angry at Tracey. It's all my fault," Jade said, but when she saw Tracey rush toward the door, she lowered her head, trying to hide the hatred in her eyes.

She had always known how to provoke Weston's anger and direct it towards Tracey.

"Honey, you stay out of this," Weston said, his tone low and angry.

When Jade was gone, he turned around and glared at Tracey. His face was cold and merciless.

"Weston, please believe me. I had nothing to do with it."

Tracey tried to explain, but she knew her husband preferred Jade. He had been so tender with Jade just now.

But he had never been that gentle with her, even though they had been married for three years.

The moment she saw him with Jade, Tracey finally saw her husband's kind and gentle side, but she also realized that he had never shown it to her.

"I didn't push her. It was an accident."

She continued to explain, but her voice died when Weston grabbed her wrists tightly. Before she could react, her body was thrown down on the cobblestone path leading to the mansion. He leaned over and grabbed her chin, as if he wanted to crush her to pieces.

"Tracey, don't you see that you are ridiculous?" he asked. His voice was low and attractive, but it had no warmth whatsoever.

"You don't believe me," Tracey said softly. She wasn't surprised. She knew he wouldn't believe her, but she couldn't help feeling heartbroken.

"Believe you?" The cold aura that emitted from the man as he spoke was frightening. He continued, "You want me to believe... that Jade threw herself down the stairs just to frame you?"

"Yes..." Tracey said and nodded. She was under the false impression that he finally saw that she was telling the truth, but the next moment, she felt a hard slap on her face. She covered her burning cheek with her hand. "Why would she do that?" he asked.

Stunned, Tracey wondered the same thing herself.

Jade had always been Weston's favorite, so why would she feel the need to do this to her?

For a moment, Tracey even questioned her own memory and her own sanity.

"Weston, we've been married for three years. I thought you would at least trust me a bit..."

The next second, Weston grabbed her hair and pressed her head down onto the ground. In front of her, there were blood stains. "Look at it! That's Jade's blood. And she even defended you! And you, what have you done? Aren't you her best friend?

How can you say that she would risk her life just to hurt you?"

Tracey was overwhelmed by the smell of blood and the pain in her scalp. Still, her heart seemed to hurt more than her body.

Then, a chill ran from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

"If anything happens to Jade, your whole family will pay for it," Weston threatened.

Tracey still tried to explain, "No, please. Jade's injury had nothing to do with me. Why don't you believe me?" Weston didn't reply. Instead, he pulled her hair even stronger and then brought her head down towards the ground. Tracey's head hit the hard ground paved with cobblestones, again and again.

Her forehead was bleeding, and she could feel the hot stream of blood run down her face and into the corner of her mouth. The smell of blood was everywhere, and she didn't even know whose blood it was anymore. Soon, the world slowly started fading to black, but before she lost consciousness, she could see the menacing smile on Weston's face.

"Mr. Xiao, please stop. If you don't stop, she will die," Henry, the old housekeeper, intervened. He couldn't watch Weston hurt Tracey so anymore.

He stepped forward and pulled Weston off her. Weston stopped and looked at Tracey, lying in her own blood, his eyes holding something inscrutable.

"Mr. Xiao, Mrs. Xiao really isn't a bad person," Henry said, trying to appease Weston. In his opinion, Tracey was a kind, lovely woman, while Jade was much, much different.

"How dare you defend her! I know very well what kind of person she is," Weston said, his words and expression dripping with disgust.

"Mr. Xiao..."

"That's enough." With that, Weston gave Tracey another disgusted look and went back into the mansion. He washed his hands and changed into clean clothes.

Then he came downstairs, where Henry was just about to call an ambulance.

"Don't call an ambulance. Just let her lie there," he ordered.

"But... Mr. Xiao, it's raining outside," Henry said, trying to somehow get Weston to allow him to get help for Tracey. He couldn't bear seeing her lying like that.

However, Weston said simply, "Maybe it will wake her up. Anyway, no one is allowed to help Tracey until we are sure that Jade is fine."

"Mr. Xiao..."

Henry wanted to say something, but he was interrupted when Weston noticed the photo lying on the floor.

It made Weston even angrier. "Henry, look at this photo. This is her true face."

Weston turned around and left. He couldn't stand to look at that woman for a second longer.