The music ended. Vivienne had no memory of how she made it off the stage.
The wound on her chest had torn open during the violent spins, pain seeping through her until cold sweat beaded across her forehead.
But she swallowed it down, cutting quickly through the crowd, turning into the terrace at the far end of the corridor. The first thing she did was make a call, paying someone to move her mother's ashes out of Westhill Memorial Cemetery in secret.
This time, she would tell no one where her mother was buried. From now on, no one would ever use her mother against her again.
Vivienne gripped her phone so tightly her nails dug into her palm.
She couldn't understand it. In this life, she had never once told Tristram where her mother was buried. How had he found out?
She stayed on the terrace for a long time, turning it over and over in her mind, but no answer came.
When the gala began winding down, she decided to leave.
She didn't say goodbye to anyone. She just kept her head down and walked fast.
But at the end of the corridor, Noelle blocked her path.
She was leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for her.
When she saw Vivienne approaching, Noelle's lips curled upward, her smile dripping with undisguised malice.
“Your mother couldn't keep Dad, and you're just like her. The worthless spawn of a worthless woman. Your men, whether it's Tristram or Leslie, their hearts belong to me.”
“Tristram is nothing but my lapdog. I actually felt sorry for you, thought I'd toss you a man, let you marry into the Simmons family. But you didn't even want that. You just had to pick the frontier, that godforsaken place where they eat people alive.”
Noelle covered her mouth and laughed：
“When you're married off and they're making your life a living hell, don't come crawling back crying for Daddy to save you.”
Vivienne's hands clenched into fists at her sides. Looking at that vile face, she couldn't stop herself. Her hand came up and cracked across Noelle's cheek.
“You're right about one thing. Like mother, like daughter. Yours was the other woman, and so are you.”
The sharp crack of the slap echoed down the corridor. Noelle's head snapped to the side, a bright red handprint blooming across her pale cheek.
“You little bitch, you hit me?”
She shrieked and swung her hand back to return the blow.
But Vivienne caught her wrist, twisted, and shoved. Noelle stumbled back two steps in her heels, barely keeping her balance.
The rage inside her had nowhere to go. She glanced over her shoulder at the staircase behind her, and a calculating gleam flashed through her eyes. She took several steps backward and threw herself down.
“Aah——”
Her scream was shrill, piercing, her body crumpling like a dead leaf toward the bottom of the stairs.
“Noelle!”
Two figures bolted toward her at the same time. Tristram and Leslie reached out almost simultaneously, catching Noelle from either side.
Vivienne, who had instinctively reached out to grab Noelle, lost her footing from the momentum. Her balance gave way, and she tumbled down the stairs.
Pain.
Everything hurt.
It felt like every bone in her body had shattered. The old wound on her chest split open, blood soaking through.
She tried to push herself up, but the pain drained every ounce of strength from her limbs, and she couldn't manage it.
She lifted her head and looked up the stairs. Leslie was holding Noelle, murmuring soft reassurances. Tristram stood beside them, face cold, calling an ambulance.
By the time she finally braced herself against the wall and got to her feet, all three swept past her without a glance, as if she didn't exist.
Vivienne watched their retreating backs. A split second later, a hand struck her hard across the face.
A ringing filled her ears, and her father's voice came with it：
“You ungrateful wretch. You're about to be married off to the frontier. Can't you behave yourself for once?”
“Once you're there, remember this: keep your head down, don't bring trouble on this family, make them happy, and find ways to bring us more business.”
“I didn't raise you all these years just so you could make my life harder.”
Aldric let out a cold snort and walked away.
Vivienne stood where she was. The corridor was empty. She was the only one left.
She reached up and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, then limped out of the hotel.
Once she was married off to the frontier, she would make sure to mention the Whitmore family often.
But not a single kind word. She would lay bare every dirty, rotten thing they had done over the years.
Her father dreamed of expanding overseas. As long as she drew breath at the border, he would never see that dream come true.
