Faye Jennings finished speaking, covering her mouth with her hand to hide a smile. She discreetly observed Sandra’s expression, and seeing the thoughtful look on her face, knew her words had hit their mark.

So, she smoothly changed the subject once more.

After filming wrapped up, while removing her makeup, she found an opportunity to secretly place a miniature listening device in Sandra’s shoulder bag.

Sure enough, that night, she overheard Sandra making a call to buy "something." She then found another opportunity to check Sandra’s phone, noted the number, and contacted the seller. After offering a high price, she struck a deal with them.

And so, what Sandra brought back, believing they were just prank items, turned out to be real bullets. Faye then secretly swapped them into the gun.

After all, someone who has never seen a bullet wouldn’t be able to tell a real one from a fake just by looking. Plus, the seller had been so insistent, promising they were absolutely fake. It was only natural that Sandra never suspected a thing.

Of course, with a brain like Sandra’s, suspicion wasn’t her strong suit!

At this thought, the cold smile on Faye Jennings’s lips widened.

But in an instant, the cold smile vanished. It was replaced by the frustration of having her plan fail at the final hurdle, along with a pang of heartache for Seth Quinn, who had been hurt by mistake.

She had planned for everything, but she hadn’t calculated that the bullet would hit Seth Quinn instead of Clara Grant! She never imagined Seth would disregard his own safety for Clara!

’Seth... he’s not going to be in any real danger, is he?’

The thought of Seth made Faye Jennings feel dizzy for a moment. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself.

In that moment, the depth of her hatred for Clara Grant was matched only by the intensity of her heartache and pity for Seth!

’It’s all Clara’s fault. All of it. If it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened today. Seth wouldn’t have been hurt.’

’So, Clara Grant is the one to blame for all of this!’

’But that culprit, Clara Grant, got to follow him to the hospital. She gets to be by Seth’s side. And me? I’m stuck here, able to do nothing but silently worry about the man I love!’

After a moment, Faye Jennings’s gaze shifted back to Sandra, who was standing in the distance.

’If I help Seth find the "real culprit"... wouldn’t he see me in a new light?’

’Even if he doesn’t fall in love with me right away, it would be a start if his impression of me just improved, if his attitude toward me softened!’

...

In the car heading toward the city, Clara Grant cradled Seth Quinn. Her entire costume was soaked with his blood. It stained her hands and even splattered onto her face, but she paid it no mind. She was terrified he’d drift off if she fell silent, so she kept talking, doing everything she could to keep him conscious.

Holly Summers, in the front passenger seat, turned to look back. Her heart ached at the sight: Clara, so worried her tears wouldn’t stop, and Seth, lying motionless but forcing his eyes open to offer Clara a faint smile.

’Clara and President Quinn just got together... It can’t end like this, can it...?’

Unable to watch any longer, she averted her gaze and looked at Miles Quinn. "Miles," she began, "the nearest hospital is XX Hospital, but its facilities and doctors aren’t the best. The top hospital, XXX Hospital, is the farthest away. What should we do?"

Miles Quinn kept his eyes on the road, his focus entirely on driving. "We have no choice," he replied. "We have to go to XX Hospital first. My brother has already lost so much blood. I’m afraid he can’t hold on long enough to get anywhere else."

Hearing the name XXX Hospital, Clara Grant looked up from the back seat. "Isn’t Rowan Linden at XXX Hospital?" she said to Miles. "He must know all the doctors there. Call him! Ask him to bring the best surgeon from his hospital to meet us at XX Hospital to operate on Seth!"

Miles Quinn’s eyes lit up. He was familiar with all of his older brother’s friends, so of course, he knew Rowan Linden. "Right," he responded immediately. "I’ll call him now."

...

They had just arrived at the hospital when Rowan Linden pulled up right behind them with the doctors. Clara Grant let out a small sigh of relief.

The moment Seth was wheeled into the operating room, however, her vision went black. Unsteady on her feet, she started to collapse.