Chapter 203: Something Happened Again
An hour later.
After Vivian Lowell went home to settle the Lion Cat and sent a message to Julian Faulkner, she headed to the Rhodes villa.
Eleanor Rhodes had already returned. She was in her bedroom, staring blankly out the window. Clearly, she still hadn’t recovered from the incident earlier.
"Eleanor," Vivian called softly.
Eleanor finally reacted. Her eyes were slightly red. She sniffled, stood up, and wrapped her arms around Vivian, whispering, "Vivian, it was terrifying."
Eleanor wasn’t a coward.
On the contrary, whenever she went out to rescue stray cats, she frequently encountered dangerous situations. If a cat was stranded outside a high-rise balcony, she would have to lean halfway over the railing just to reach it with her catchpole. It was a true test of courage and perseverance. While someone with a fear of heights wouldn’t even be able to stand near the edge for a few seconds, Eleanor often had to hold her ground like that for hours.
But dealing with heights was one thing; watching someone jump off a building right in front of you was another entirely.
That was the visceral terror of witnessing death firsthand.
The only silver lining was that the safety cushion set up by the firefighters had done its job. When Wendy Wynn jumped, she landed directly on the inflatable mat. She was rescued and immediately sent to the hospital; her life didn’t appear to be in danger.
"Don’t be afraid, everything’s going to be okay. That was her own choice, and it has nothing to do with you," Vivian comforted her, gently patting Eleanor’s back. "That woman has a screw loose. She’s nothing but a manipulative drama queen.
"If she really wanted to die, she would have jumped long before Henry Sterling and the firefighters arrived. Why did she insist on waiting until Henry got there and the safety measures were perfectly in place before finally making her leap?
"It’s obviously because she didn’t actually want to die! She just felt she had to resort to such extreme measures to achieve whatever ulterior motive she’s hiding.
"She’s too calculating for her own good! We won’t let her intimidate us, Eleanor."
Eleanor gradually quieted down in Vivian’s embrace. After a while, she looked up and said, "You’re right, Vivian.
"We aren’t afraid. But... what exactly is she trying to do?"
A deep wave of exhaustion washed over Eleanor. Wendy truly lingered like a haunting ghost.
"I have no idea." Vivian rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. After a moment’s thought, she guessed, "It’s probably for money, right? Back then, didn’t she choose to break up with Henry and stay abroad simply because someone offered to invest in her startup?
"Now that her company is bankrupt and she’s out of cash, she’s come crawling back. She’s only seeking Henry out because she knows the Sterling family is loaded."
Eleanor couldn’t find a single word to refute that. A trace of bitterness even flashed at the corner of her lips.
She wondered how she could have possibly lost to such a shallow woman. She found it absolutely ridiculous herself.
Seeing that Eleanor was still in a terrible state, Vivian said softly, "Alright, stop overthinking it. It’s getting late. Why don’t you wash up and get some rest?
"I’ll stay here and keep you company tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll head to the pet clinic together, and then I’ll go back to my own office. How does that sound?"
Eleanor nodded and turned to grab a change of clothes. "Thank you, Vivian. It’s so late, yet you rushed all the way over here just because you were worried about me."
"Don’t be silly!" Vivian affectionately ruffled Eleanor’s hair and said softly, "We’re best friends, aren’t we? We stick together through thick and thin."
"Yeah!" Eleanor nodded vigorously before turning away to wash up.
Vivian sat down on the edge of the bed and began straightening the sheets. Just then, Julian Faulkner called.
"Hello? Are you at the Rhodes villa?" Julian’s tone was incredibly gentle. He had likely arrived home by now, as the background was perfectly quiet.
Hearing this, Vivian gave him a brief rundown of the evening’s events. "Eleanor is really upset. Having to witness something like that completely terrified her.
"I’m going to stay at the Rhodes villa tonight to keep her company. Anyway, make sure you don’t overwork yourself either. Go to bed early, okay?"
"Alright," Julian agreed softly.
Vivian was just about to hang up the phone. Before she could press the button, Julian seemed to sense her intention through the line and quickly said, "Wait."
Hmm?
Vivian glanced at her phone in curiosity, only to find that Julian had switched their voice call to a video call. His handsome face appeared on the screen.
He was sitting on the sofa in their bedroom. Resting squarely on his lap was the white Lion Cat she had brought home earlier.
The Lion Cat was sprawled over Julian’s chest, its tail twitching back and forth and occasionally sweeping across his face. Its paws were equally unruly, constantly batting at his shirt. Julian stroked the little furball in his arms and complained, "It’s too clingy. It won’t get off me no matter what I do."
"Hahaha..." Vivian couldn’t help but laugh.
It was a rare sight to see Julian completely defenseless and overwhelmed. He clearly wanted to put the kitten down, but the stubborn little thing refused to leave. He didn’t dare use too much force, terrified he might accidentally hurt it.
"It’s fine, it’s fine," Vivian giggled, unable to contain her amusement. "The kitten just got to our house and isn’t familiar with the environment yet. The fact that it’s willing to stick to you means it really likes you!
"Alright, it’s getting late. Go to bed early. I’m hanging up now."
"Okay," Julian agreed rather reluctantly. There was a hint of faint gloominess in his tone. It was as if he were wondering why Vivian was still in such a rush to hang up when he had specifically used the kitten to grab her attention.
That night, Vivian shared a bed with Eleanor. Before going to sleep, the two of them watched a thrilling American sci-fi monster blockbuster. By the time the credits rolled, they were completely exhausted and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning.
When Vivian woke up, it was already past six o’clock.
Being used to early mornings, Vivian blinked at the unfamiliar ceiling for a moment before remembering she was at the Rhodes villa. She turned to look at the space beside her. Eleanor was still sound asleep, sprawled out comfortably with her arms wrapped tightly around a stuffed animal.
Not wanting to disturb her friend, Vivian decided to just stay in bed and browse her phone for a while.
Vivian opened X.
To her shock, her notifications had completely blown up. Confused, she navigated to the trending page before even checking her mentions. A series of hashtags immediately caught her eye.
#Did Wendy Wynn Jump Because Aethelburg University Professor Henry Sterling Cheated?#
#Henry Sterling’s Affair Partner Is Eleanor Rhodes#
#Years of Romance End Not in Devotion, But Infidelity#
Seeing these trending topics, Vivian’s expression darkened completely.
There were numerous similar hashtags. They were all dissecting Wendy’s suicide attempt from the previous night and dragging up the tangled history between Wendy, Henry, and Eleanor.
As it always went on the internet, whenever a scandalous piece of news broke, netizens would instinctively rally behind whoever appeared to be the "weaker" party. In this scenario, the definitive victim was the woman who had jumped off a building. Wendy had nearly lost her life; naturally, she had garnered immense sympathy from the public.
The online narrative was incredibly uniform. Rumor had it that Wendy and Henry had fallen in love while studying abroad but were forced to separate due to unforeseen circumstances. Supposedly, Henry had remained single for years just waiting for Wendy’s return.
And the result?
Wendy had finally come back, and Henry had seemingly gotten his wish. Yet, because "men were inherently scum," he had somehow fallen in love with his former student—the very same Eleanor Rhodes who had recently gone viral for her stray cat rescue charities!
Everyone involved in this gossip was a prominent figure. Henry was the youngest professor at Aethelburg University. Meanwhile, the incident between Eleanor’s pet clinic and the "Raincoat Couple" had made major waves online just a short time ago. The internet always kept receipts, and people perfectly remembered that scandal.
Now that the news of this supposed love triangle had broken, the internet practically exploded.
The comments were predominantly bashing Eleanor and Henry. People claimed that Henry was unworthy of being a professor at Aethelburg University and that all cheaters were absolute scum. The hatred directed at Eleanor branded her as a homewrecker who had shamelessly destroyed another woman’s relationship. Critics speculated that her previous cat rescue efforts were nothing more than a calculated PR stunt to build a virtuous persona, insisting that she was actually a terrible person behind closed doors!
There were thousands of replies in the threads. Several individuals who had previously adopted kittens from her pet clinic expressed their outrage, claiming that their sympathy had been exploited and demanding to return the cats!
Of course, there was still a fraction of users who believed in Eleanor. They expressed skepticism regarding the rumors, maintaining that Eleanor was a genuinely kind soul who would never willingly insert herself into someone else’s relationship.
However, the rebuttals were swift and vicious. Naysayers argued that saving stray cats and being a mistress were two entirely different things. They stated that the world was full of massive hypocrites, and having a charitable hobby didn’t preclude someone from being a terrible person.
The online arguments were endless.
Vivian only scrolled through a few posts before her head began to throb. She quickly realized the simple reason why her own X account had been bombarded: due to the "Raincoat Couple" incident, a large portion of the internet already knew that she and Eleanor were close friends.
The mob that despised Eleanor had swarmed her page to hurl abuse, with some even speculating whether Vivian had resorted to shameless, underhanded tactics to marry Julian Faulkner.
Vivian merely skimmed the vitriol before directly blocking the users and disabling her direct messages entirely. Out of sight, out of mind.
As a public figure, she occasionally had to deal with online hate. She had long stopped taking the cyberbullying of random strangers to heart.
But Eleanor was innocent.
Vivian let out a heavy sigh and glanced over at Eleanor. She was still fast asleep, completely unaware that the internet had devolved into an absolute warzone overnight.
Vivian knew she had to figure out a plan. She immediately sent a text to Vance Wyatt, asking him to pull some strings with his media contacts to suppress the trending hashtags. She couldn’t allow this slander to continue fermenting at the top of the search charts.
In addition to that, Vivian sent a message to Mrs. Sterling.
Mrs. Sterling had thoroughly investigated Wendy Wynn in the past. She knew exactly what kind of person Wendy was, who she had associated with abroad, and even possessed the official bankruptcy records of Wendy’s company. As long as Vivian could get her hands on that evidence, she could expose Wendy’s true colors to the world. Once the truth was out, the vicious cyberbullying aimed at Eleanor would naturally dissipate.
Coincidentally, the moment Vivian hit send, Mrs. Sterling replied.
"I’m already aware of the situation. Henry rushed over there last night precisely because that woman threatened to jump. She really is something else. She’s still lying comatose in a hospital bed, yet she’s managed to blow up the entire internet.
"A lot of the Sterling family’s business partners actually messaged me today to ask what on earth was going on. Her little stunt nearly ruined our family’s business deals!
"Rest assured, Vivian. I will make certain that everyone finds out exactly what kind of person she truly is."