Although Tricia was weak, she had gathered all her strength to slap Lise.

Lise looked at Tricia in disbelief and anger, not expecting the slap. “How dare you hit me?”

Tricia coughed, her pale face twisted with contempt. “You did this to me. A slap is nothing compared to what you’ve put me through.”

Delmar quickly stepped in front of Tricia, his voice booming with anger. “Get out of here, now!”

Lise’s hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails bit into her palms. Her face contorted with rage. “You’ll pay for this. All of you will pay!”

She had involved the Guerrero family, trusting them with her plans, only to have it all backfire.

The consistent slaps she had received over the past few days twisted Lise’s heart with resentment. The moment she got home, she began smashing everything in the room.

Expensive cosmetics and luxurious items lay shattered on the floor, but the wreckage didn’t faze her. She stamped on the pieces, her rage only growing.

“Die! All of you go to hell!” she screamed, her voice trembling with unhinged fury.

But Lise didn’t notice the figure standing in the doorway. Neil watched silently, his feelings tangled, as he witnessed the woman he once knew unraveling before him.

Neil found himself struggling to understand who this woman really was.

Was she the caring, considerate Lise who always seemed to think about his feelings?

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Or was she the cold, calculating person who would go to any lengths, even if it meant destroying someone, to achieve her goal?

As if sensing the shift in the room, Lise turned quickly and met Neil’s intense stare.

A flicker of fear crossed her face, her eyes narrowing in alarm. But she quickly masked it with a smile as she approached him. “Neil, why are you here?”

She reached out, but Neil recoiled, avoiding her touch. Her smile wavered.

With a hard look, Neil took another step back, widening the space between them.

“I need to know if what Tricia said is true.”

Lise’s head shook rapidly, her tone defensive. “No, it’s not true! Katelyn and Tricia are conspiring to ruin me. Neil, you’ve known me for so long. Don’t you know my character by now?”

Her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Do you really think I’d do something like that? Your doubt hurts more than their lies. God, Neil!”

Her voice quivered as if she were on the verge of breaking. In that moment, Neil felt his certainty begin to slip.

Public opinion online could be easily manipulated. Neil had known Lise for years and believed he understood her well. To him, she was the embodiment of purity and kindness. He scolded himself internally for doubting the woman he had loved for so long, letting the words of others cloud his judgment.

With this in mind, Neil’s tone softened.

“I don’t want to doubt you,” he said. “I just need to hear the truth from you.”

Lise pouted, throwing herself into his arms as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Neil, you’re all I have left. If even you can’t trust me, I might as well be dead. Maybe that’s the only way to prove I’m innocent. I just… I was so furious earlier.”

She didn’t know how much of her earlier meltdown Neil had witnessed, but she couldn’t afford for him to start doubting her now. Everything she had worked for would fall apart if Neil lost faith in her.

And if she couldn’t have someone like Vincent, Neil was her last lifeline.

Neil held her tightly, his voice firm. “Don’t say things like that. The truth will come out in time.”

Lise nodded eagerly, but as Neil looked away, a cold, vengeful light flickered in her eyes.

Katelyn. Tricia. She would make them suffer, dragging them into a nightmare from which they would never escape.

Meanwhile, in Vincent’s hospital room, Katelyn had been by Vincent’s side all afternoon, her presence steady while Annette left to handle personal errands.

With her laptop in front of her, Katelyn focused on sketching out a design draft, her brows furrowed in concentration. Vincent, propped against the headboard, was intently reading through a stack of documents.

Then, Katelyn’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the caller ID, her face clouding with hesitation as she debated whether or not to answer the call.

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.

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