"Victoria, you've met Ivan too. How many people can resist his charm and not fall in love with him? I thought I was an exception. After all these years, there haven't been any other women around him. I was the only one who could get close to him."

Grace said with a bitter smile, "I know he doesn't love me, but I can't help being attracted to him and deeply falling for him. I thought about giving up, but haven't I already let go? Suddenly hearing that he has a girlfriend, I can't control my jealousy."

"I used to think he was just a man who seemed warm but was cold inside, indifferent to any woman. Now I understand that he's only heartless to people like us. When he meets a girl he likes, he's incredibly devoted."

Victoria said to her, "Why do you still not understand? Yes, I admit Ivan is a very charming man, but not everyone can resist his charm. I wouldn't foolishly fall for him. So many women can't get his favor, so it's clear he's not a man we can control. Grace, one must have self-awareness; knowing it's impossible, why harm yourself?"

Grace looked at her friend dazedly.

She couldn't be as clear-minded as her friend, and it was also because her friend rarely interacted with Ivan. If her friend had as many opportunities to be close to Ivan and caught his eye, could her friend resist?

"Grace, you haven't finished talking. Tell me, what did you do afterwards?"

Grace's face turned even paler, but she still told her friend about the foolish things she did, hoping for her friend's approval, thinking she wasn't wrong. She said, "His girlfriend has such an unseemly background. I just wanted to make him aware, so he wouldn't marry Lia Aiken and end up being ridiculed."

Victoria looked at her friend like she was a fool, truly wise for a lifetime but foolish for a moment.

"Ivan, with his status, surely knows who his girlfriend is. Do you think what you did helped him? You offended him and erased whatever little relationship you had. Even if Ivan didn't know, it's between him and his girlfriend. Why are you interfering? In what capacity are you interfering?"

"Victoria, you're my friend. Why are you only speaking for others?"

"I follow logic, not people."

Victoria, criticized by her friend, was also angry.

"Grace, I can't help you with this matter, but I suggest you go apologize to Mr. Horne now. Apologize sincerely, and considering the years you've known him, maybe he won't hold it against you. Even if he does, your apology might minimize the damage to you. Also, to that Miss Aiken, you should apologize because what you did caused her considerable harm."

Victoria, as an outsider, calmly advised her friend to apologize first, regardless of whether Ivan and Lia Aiken forgive her. At least, if she admits her mistake bravely, Ivan might still look at her differently.

"I'm scared."

"If you were scared, why did you do that?"

"I was drunk at the time."

Victoria glared at her for a moment, then sighed and said, "We're good friends. I can't ignore you. Go change clothes now, do your hair, and I'll accompany you to see Mr. Horne and Miss Aiken."

Presumably, Ivan is with Lia Aiken at this moment.

Grace thought for a long time before nodding.

She doesn't want to lose everything; the only option is to apologize to Lia Aiken.

Lia Aiken doesn't know who put those photos online. She rushed back to the hotel with Ivan accompanying her, intending to ask Tom Aiken for clarification.

Lia knows about the incident, and naturally, Tom Aiken knows as well, and he knew before Lia because Violet told him.

When Tom Aiken saw those reports, he was furious, his face darkened, and he smashed quite a few things in the room. This wasn't their home, and breaking so many things would require compensation. In his fury, Tom Aiken didn't care about these, while Violet was eager for her father to lose his temper, hoping he'd beat Lia to death, so she'd inherit everything that belonged to Lia, not to mention Ivan would be hers!

Such a naive thought from this little girl.

"Dad, is my sister really my uncle's illegitimate daughter?" Violet cautiously inquired after her father smashed things, "My uncle was really inappropriate. How could he have an affair with his sister-in-law?"

In fact, Violet had never met her own uncle.

She heard there was a younger brother, but she never met him, and at home, whenever someone mentioned the uncle, her father would get angry. Her mother told her it was probably because her father had a falling out with his brother, so they rarely mentioned him. If not for this scandal, Violet wouldn't have remembered she had an uncle.

"My sister's mom really is..." what a slut.

Violet noticed her father's face was still dark with anger as he stood by the window, smoking continuously, so she wisely stopped speaking. Yet inside, like Lia, she suddenly understood why her father was so bad to Lia, knowing full well that she and her mother bullied Lia yet wouldn't intervene—it was because Lia wasn't his biological daughter.

If Ivan hadn't fallen for Lia, Lia would've already been packed and sent to Ethan Aibileen's bed by her father for the sake of the Aiken family's business.

To her father, Lia only had that bit of use.

Violet thought it was only right. Lia wasn't her father's daughter, yet he still raised her, so Lia should repay her father by using her body to help him.

Given Lia's lineage was now exposed, and she wasn't the Aiken family's eldest daughter, would Ivan still want her?

"You, get out. I need to be alone. If Lia comes back, stop her; don't let her in. I don't want to see her now," Tom Aiken instructed his youngest daughter coldly.

Violet gleefully promised, "Dad, don't be too upset. I'll stop my sister from bothering you."

Tom Aiken weakly waved his hand, signaling his daughter to leave quickly.

Violet exited, thoughtfully closing the door for him, then stood at the door, waiting for Lia to return so she could block her path.

Inside, Tom Aiken stared at the blue sky and white clouds, took a deep drag from his cigarette, closed his eyes, and the smoke exhaled from his nose.

When his eyes closed, those photos flashed in Tom Aiken's mind. He had caught them in the act back then, although they had finished by that time. The scene wasn't as intense as in the photos. Even though it had been nineteen years, the content of the photos still made Tom Aiken so angry he wanted to kill someone.

He still couldn't let go,

otherwise, he wouldn't have hated for nineteen years.

The woman he loved most, along with his biological brother, betrayed him together.

He only found out after catching them that his wife used to be his brother's girlfriend. If he had known they were once lovers, he wouldn't have contested with his own brother.