Chapter 142: Blown Out of Proportion
It was past eleven at night.
When Vivian Lowell went to bed, Julian Faulkner was still dealing with work in the study next door.
Vivian tossed and turned in bed. She scrolled through X and found that the online discussions regarding the Faulkner Family’s past were still brewing.
"I didn’t expect Julian Faulkner’s father to be such a romantic. I heard the miscarriage of this woman named Annie is related to Madam Faulkner. Could it be that Madam Faulkner remembered her past resentment and actually pushed her?"
"Bah! Mistresses deserve a million deaths!"
"..."
There were many other similar discussions.
It gave Vivian a headache. What exactly was Annie trying to do? With her pulling a stunt like this, it would be difficult for the two sides to continue negotiating.
After some thought, Vivian decided to send Vance Wyatt a message first.
"Is there any way to restore the hospital surveillance footage?"
Vance replied two minutes later, "Based on the information we’ve gathered so far, the surveillance footage seems to have been deliberately destroyed.
"We found the footage from the period leading up to the incident. Someone made strange movements when passing by the area. As it stands now... it will be very difficult to restore the footage from the exact moment of the incident.
"We can only try to see if we can find the person who sabotaged the cameras."
Seeing Vance’s reply, Vivian understood clearly in her heart. It seemed Annie had indeed done it on purpose. She must have anticipated that given Grandma Faulkner’s personality, it would be unlikely for her to push someone down the stairs. So, she simply directed and acted in her own play—falling and losing the baby herself, then blaming Grandma Faulkner for the push.
Vivian had managed to get some information about this Annie from Julian. She knew that Annie had previously been pregnant with Felix Faulkner’s child, but it didn’t survive. Later, she got married, but she didn’t have any children with that wealthy minor tycoon either.
At her age, this was supposed to be the last child she would ever have. The doctors had also said that after this miscarriage, it would be very difficult for her to conceive again.
For a mother who wished for a child of her own, this was actually incredibly cruel.
However, Annie clearly didn’t look like someone with strong maternal instincts. To her, a child was merely a weapon to be used. If she could smoothly get the ten million through this incident, she might have considered her child’s "sacrifice" to be worth it.
Yet, she didn’t get the money and had even completely fallen out with the Faulkner Family.
It was too abnormal. Vivian’s intuition told her there was more to the story.
Pondering for a moment, Vivian sent another message to Vance.
"Annie has lived abroad all this time and doesn’t have many friends in the country. For her to direct such a huge drama this time, it’s really not simple.
"When you have time, look into who leaked all this information and who Annie has been associating with. Also... investigate the baby Annie was carrying.
"Could it be that she couldn’t keep the baby in the first place, so she decided to use it to maximize her benefits?"
Vivian had found inspiration from the historical royal intrigue dramas she used to watch.
According to history, back in the day, to eliminate Empress Ward and ascend to the throne herself, Cleopatra strangled her own infant daughter right after Empress Ward had visited the baby. Then, she pinned the blame entirely on Empress Ward, claiming the Empress had strangled the child. Emperor Valerius believed it. Empress Ward was subsequently deposed, and Cleopatra finally ascended to her long-coveted position as Empress.
Annie had also sacrificed her own child.
Perhaps, just like Anne Boleyn in the TV shows, who, knowing she couldn’t save her child, deliberately "maximized its residual value" by claiming the Queen had pushed her.
What did Annie want to gain? The Faulkner Family’s money? Then why would she make such a huge scene out of it?
After going around in circles, the issue circled back to the beginning. Vivian felt that everything could only be resolved if they found the person hiding behind Annie.
Vance replied very quickly.
"Don’t worry, Ma’am. We are already investigating these matters. At the same time, we are doing damage control, striving to minimize the impact of this incident on the Faulkner Family.
"By the way. Tomorrow, the lawyers from the Faulkner Group will come in person to discuss the lawsuit against the Lowell Family with you. However... that designer you previously accused of plagiarism is actually claiming that you plagiarized too.
"He even posted a picture of one of your past works, saying it is identical to a piece by that Miss Nox from the International Designers Association.
"Ma’am, this matter... has also sparked quite a bit of discussion online right now."
Vivian almost choked when she saw this message. She plagiarized herself?
She opened X and took a look. Sure enough, she saw that the designer had counterattacked on his X account, posting pictures of Vivian’s previous design work. One of the bow elements was somewhat similar to a design blueprint she had previously published on a foreign designer forum under the name Nox.
Tsk.
Vivian couldn’t help but shake her head. It seemed this designer had really gone to great lengths to divert public opinion elsewhere!
Vivian pursed her lips into a soft smile and texted Vance, "How about this: help me organize a press conference. The matter between me and the Lowell Family has been causing a massive uproar for quite a while now.
"And it’s also time to clear up the matter regarding that designer.
"Let’s schedule it for eight o’clock tomorrow night at the Grand West Aethelburg Hotel, the usual place and location."
Vance quickly replied, "Understood, Ma’am. I will arrange it for you."
"Mhm."
Vivian replied with a sticker and yawned. Seeing that it was almost midnight, she sent Vance one last message telling him to get some rest early.
Vance returned a sticker of a respectful military salute, looking very serious.
Vivian found Vance to be a truly amusing person. Then she remembered that as Vance’s boss, Julian was much more unsmiling and stern by comparison.
Julian.
The study opposite was still dead silent. He wasn’t done with work yet.
Vivian sighed. After exiting the chat with Vance, she sent a message to Julian: "Rest early. Good night."
"Good night."
Julian replied almost instantly.
Seeing his two-word reply, Vivian felt much of her exhaustion melt away. Closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep not long after.
Early the next morning.
When Vivian woke up, the sky was just starting to brighten. She checked her phone and saw it was only a little past five.
She was still a bit sleepy.
Vivian rolled over, and her hand coincidentally brushed against Julian, who was sleeping beside her.
A jolt went through her.
She was still groggy from sleep and had almost forgotten that she and Julian had actually been sharing the same bed recently.
Did she wake him up?
Feeling a bit nervous, Vivian carefully shifted her body and wiggled under the covers like a caterpillar, inching closer to Julian.
His eyes were closed.
The light in the room was very dim, yet Vivian could still make out his long eyelashes. He looked somewhat gentle.
Vivian didn’t know who she had heard it from, but men with long eyelashes supposedly appeared gentler.
Normally during the day, Julian didn’t like to smile. He kept a straight face and was incredibly serious. His aura was so imposing that others didn’t even dare to get too close to him.
But Vivian felt that when you approached and got close to Julian, you would find that although he was strict, he was a pragmatic person who dealt with things objectively. As long as you did what you were supposed to do, he wouldn’t give you a hard time.
But at night...
Listening to Julian’s even breathing and seeing the slight upward curve of his lips in the night, Vivian looked at his long eyelashes and high-bridged nose, feeling a sudden urge to lean in and kiss him.
It was too sinful.
Vivian reflected on her thoughts. How could she do such a thing while he was asleep?