7
Over the next seven days, I remained cold towards Lucas.
But he became increasingly attentive to me.
He would come to check on me during work breaks, and even repeatedly refused Natalie’s dinner invitations to return home on time to
accompany me.
Natalie sulked several times, but Lucas remained oblivious.
Finally, the day of the company’s IPO celebration arrived.
Lucas, dressed in a sharp suit, was on stage delivering a speech about the company’s future prospects.
Charlie, as a business partner, had also taken the stage with Natalie.
Lucas operated a remote control, showcasing the company’s major achievements on the huge screen behind him for the audience.
But the moment the images appeared, the crowd below erupted into chaos.
“What is this?!
The guests and media stared wide–eyed at the content on the screen.
Because what was playing were all the records I had collected of Lucas colluding with Charlie in business crimes.
This was just the opening act.
Next, the screen began to automatically play a video of Natalie and Lucas kissing passionately at Natalie’s welcome–back party.
The three of them turned around, frozen in shock.
Old Mr. Foster, seeing this scene, immediately suffered a heart attack and was hurriedly escorted away by Lucas’s stepmother.
Lucas’s first reaction was to look at me.
His face turned pale as he frantically tried to explain into the microphone:
“It’s not what it looks like, Chloe. This, this is all a misunderstanding! Don’t believe it.”
I stood below the stage, looking at him from afar, calmly replying:
“Lucas Foster, you don’t need to lie to cover this up, because this video… I was the one who recorded it!”
Natalie, who had just snatched the remote control from Lucas and was desperately trying to stop the video, turned to look at me when she heard this.
She widened her eyes and rushed down from the stage to attack me.
“So it was all your doing! Chloe Hayes, you crazy woman, how dare you set us up at an event like this. Do you want to be run out of Ocean City?”
Lucas quickly chased after her and held her back, warning her in a cold voice:
“Calm down. Don’t touch her!”
Then he turned to me, his eyes filled with guilt and fear.
“No wonder you’ve been so cold to me these past few days. Is it because this video made you misunderstand my relationship with Natalie?”
“Chloe, I can explain. My feelings for her are just lingering affection and protectiveness from our younger days. But I can promise that I’ve never truly betrayed you. If you’re willing to forgive me this once, I’ll pay any price.”
I couldn’t help but laugh scornfully, shaking my head.
Then I pressed the remote control in my hand, and Lucas and Natalie’s past email records appeared on the screen.
[Claire Hayes’s heart has been with me for four years now, with no adverse reactions. Thanks to you and Charlie, I’ve been given a new lease on life.]
[it’s just a pity that you have to be forced to stay with Chloe to keep her from causing trouble.]
[As long as you’re happy, I’m willing to do anything, sis.]
Lucas stared blankly at the content on the screen and my knowing expression, the color draining from his face completely.
Amidst the murmurs of discussion from the crowd below, I calmly asked him:
“Lucas Foster, how dare you say you’ve never betrayed me? From the very beginning, your approach to me was a lie, just to transplant my sister’s heart to your sister!”
“What right does a scum like you have to discuss feelings with me?!”
i spoke these words clearly, loudly, and directly.
Combined with the chat records on the screen, everyone quickly understood the ins and outs of the situation.
The reporters Lucas had invited to promote the company’s products all smelled a headline story and started snapping photos of Lucas and
D
<
Creating public opinion, this was enough.
As for the evidence I had collected over four years of Lucas and his two accomplices taking my sister’s life, and their company’s rise through illegal means, I had already sent it to the police station under my real name early this morning.
