As if afraid of waking her, his palm brushed feather-light across my mother's face.
He let out a long sigh：“Violet, why couldn't you have been the one who came to save me with that money? I loved you so much. Why did you have to betray me?”
【You idiot! The supporting character sold everything she owned, down to her mother's last piece of dowry jewelry, converted it all to cash, and handed it to her best friend to bring to you. What more was she supposed to do?】
【Betrayed you? If it weren't for what the supporting character did, you'd have been crippled years ago. And that rotten son of yours should've died in a car crash three years back, right on schedule with the plot!】
I pressed myself into the corner of the wall, reading the truth scrolling across the floating text, biting down on my sleeve so I wouldn't make a sound.
So that was it. Back then, everyone had been deceived.
【Final day of the countdown.】
The next morning, before dawn had even broken, my brother barged in and tossed two sets of clothes at me.
“Tomorrow, Father is holding a wedding with Mother.”
“Father's worried Mother will be looked down on, so he specifically wants you and Violet there as witnesses. That's the only way the other high-society wives will truly accept her.”
The fact that my mother had remarried back then was one thing. People had always scorned her for it.
But a best friend inserting herself into a marriage on the verge of collapse wasn't exactly a badge of honor either.
Over the years, neither of them had escaped the whispers.
That was exactly why Eileen reacted so violently whenever anyone called her the other woman.
I stood frozen, aching for my mother.
If what the floating text said last night was true.
Then Eileen hadn't just hidden the truth about what happened back then. She'd stolen my mother's husband while she was at it.
How could the victim stand as witness for the person who destroyed her?
I couldn't contain my fury. I grabbed the clothes and hurled them to the floor：“Absolutely not! Get out! Eileen IS the other woman, and I will never stand there and vouch for her!”
“Mother carried you for nine months and gave birth to you. How can you treat her like this!”
My brother seized me by the throat, rage flickering in his eyes.
“Effie, I'll say it one more time. Eileen is my mother. That woman lying in bed who abandoned her husband and child without a shred of loyalty is NOT.”
“You're right. I'm certainly not your mother.”
My mother had come out of the room at some point. She picked up the clothes from the floor, her voice quiet and even：“I'll attend the wedding tomorrow. You can go now.”
She hadn't even finished speaking when several servants burst through the door.
“Young Master, something terrible has happened! The Madam tried to kill herself!”
My brother's expression changed instantly. He flew out of the room and nearly collided with my father, who was already rushing toward us.
His eyes were dark, his face terrifyingly grim.
He shoved the door open and slapped my mother across the face：“Violet, I was still too soft on you.”
Ignoring how white her face had gone, he closed his hand around her throat：“How dare you post something like that online?! How do you have the nerve?!”
A few hours earlier, an anonymous user had published a post titled 《After My Best Friend Stole My Husband, I Found Someone New》.
It shot to the top of the trending charts almost immediately.
The post not only confirmed that Eileen had inserted herself into the marriage, but described in graphic detail the thrill and forbidden excitement of the affair with another man.
The author hadn't named names, but anyone paying attention could tell exactly who it was about.
“Sleeping with someone else was that thrilling for you? Violet, are you really that shameless?”
【Let go of her! The supporting character is about to die!】
I saw the text flashing above and threw myself at my father like I'd lost my mind, sinking my teeth into his hand.
He flinched from the pain and finally released his grip on my mother's throat.
He pointed at me and roared：“Beat this brat to death!”
“No!”
My mother screamed and threw her arms around me：“Don't touch the child! Whatever anger you have, take it out on me. Don't touch the child.”
