Chapter 6

As soon as Cecily finished her words, the room fell into a dead silence.

Emily shrank back behind Chris, and her sobs intensified. "Cecily, what are you talking about? I know you are angry now. Aren't we all here today to discuss your wedding with Chris?"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. "You're upset because I'm here. Right? I just haven't seen Dad in so long and wanted to have dinner with him."

Chris became angrier after he heard Emily's words. "Cecily, if you have any grievances, direct them at me. Why do you take it out on Emily?"

Chris's mother, Lucy Lambert, intervened to calm the situation. "Cecily, whatever the issue is, let's talk it through calmly. Don't act rashly."

Cecily didn't want to stay a moment longer and got up to leave.

However, as soon as she stepped out of the room, Chris grabbed her.

He stood in front of her and said firmly, "Apologize to Emily."

Cecily looked puzzled. "Why should I apologize to her? The dress she is wearing is the gift my dad left for me."

Chris was stunned. His demeanor softened slightly. "I didn't know it was from your father."

But he turned back and glanced at Emily. "But you've left it unworn for so long. It's a waste. It fits Emily perfectly, so why not let her have it?"

So he just showed his affection to Emily with Cecily's dress.

Cecily directly addressed Emily. "If you're smart enough, take it off in some place and give it to me."

Emily blinked innocently. "Cecily, it's just a dress, isn't it? You usually give away hundreds of outfits to male students from other departments. Why are you so stingy with me?"

Cecily gave clothes for others to wear because they worked as models for her art.

All the clothes she gave away were samples from some brands.

Yet Emily deliberately twisted the facts. "Professor Lambert is so good to you. You shouldn't see many other guys." She paused. "By the way, the day of the art exhibition incident, a particularly handsome man took you to the hospital."

Chris frowned. "Who was it?"

Emily flicked her hair. "I saw it. That man scooped Cecily up and protected her so tightly."

Chris's voice was low. "Cecily, who was he?"

Cecily found herself unable to explain.

At that time, she was drowning in the betrayal by Chris.

She was not in the mood to notice who had saved her.

Even the surveillance footage didn't reveal his face clearly.

Seeing Cecily at a loss for words, Emily seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "But it's not surprising. Ellen was quite the flirt when she was young. You've inherited her talent well, Cecily."

"Emily!" Cecily was furious and slapped Emily hard.

She could tolerate slander, but she would never allow anyone to insult Ellen.

Emily staggered back a few steps and clutched her stomach. She wailed, "Professor Lambert, my stomach hurts..."

Chris exploded in anger and shoved Cecily aside. "What have you done? If anything happens to Emily, I won't let you off."

He scooped Emily up and rushed out.

Cecily stood there, stunned.

She saw blood where Emily had stood moments ago.

She felt no anger or sadness.

Her mind went blank.

Chris and she had a relationship for twenty years. They grew up together and nearly got married, but they ended up so absurdly.

Cecily suddenly laughed for a long, long time.

So she had never had real love.

Chris was never tender only to her.

He could do the same thing to Emily.

But Cecily had been like a fool and had clung to their relationship that had long changed.

She truly understood it at that moment.

Before Chris could look for trouble, Cecily found herself besieged by problems.

The accusations against her father online grew once again.

It wasn't just anonymous revealing this time.

Several accounts claiming to be victims of the "fake medicine case" appeared.

They tearfully accused the Warren family of ruining their lives in live streams.

Even though the court case years ago cleared her father's name, the public thought it was because he used money to buy it.

Cecily had taken great effort to work on her account, but she lost eight million followers overnight.

Every post was filled with vicious curses.

"The rich really have it easy. They can even wash clean their murder."

"Cecily is no better. I heard her private life is a mess."

"Her mom was a homewrecker. So it's natural that her daughter is not good."

Netizens constantly dug into her family's background. They kept sending her threatening messages and making harassing phone calls.

Under immense pressure, Cecily braced herself and held her art exhibition in the second place.

She tried to use her work to speak for herself.

But midway through the exhibition, someone maliciously cut the venue's power.

In the ensuing darkness, several of her key artworks were ruined.

The exhibition was forcibly halted.

With others' blame, Cecily stood alone in front of her ruined paintings. She was utterly drained.

While dealing with the mess of the art exhibition, she received an urgent call from the hospital. "Is this Ms. Cecily Warren? Your mother has had a sudden heart attack and is in critical condition. We need you to come and sign the consent forms for the operation."