Two days earlier, Zoey had helped Elise hire a professional live-in housekeeper through a domestic staffing agency.

Everyone called her Miss Miller.

She was a single woman in her forties with exceptional culinary skills, and after learning about Elise’s pregnancy, she became even more attentive, carefully preparing nourishing meals designed specifically for expectant mothers.

These past few days, Elise’s appetite hadn’t been very good.

Her morning sickness wasn’t severe, but the nausea and constant fatigue were becoming increasingly obvious.

Taking Elise’s condition into consideration, Miss Miller had spent every evening making light white porridge along with simple but balanced dishes of meat and vegetables.

Fortunately, with such a thoughtful and responsible housekeeper around, Elise managed to eat a little more at every meal.

At the dining table, Zoey and Elise sat across from each other eating dinner. At that moment, the phone lying beside Elise suddenly lit up.

She paused and slowly set down her silverware. She opened the messenger app and saw a message from Quinn.

Elise remembered that she still hadn’t blocked her. Not because she cared, but because she knew all too well that women who climbed into power through their bodies and dirty tactics often took pride in provoking the lawful wife.

And Quinn was exactly that kind of woman.

Elise tapped open the video Quinn had sent.

In the video, Dylan sat at the dining table while Robin sat obediently beside him, holding child-sized chopsticks as he quietly ate his dinner.

"Robin," Quinn’s voice sounded sweetly from behind the camera, "between this house and the one we usually live in, which one do you like better?"

"The houses are both big and pretty!" the child answered seriously. "But as long as Daddy and Mommy are with me, I like anywhere!"

"Our Robin is such a sweet boy." Quinn laughed softly.

"Then how about we stay here tonight instead?"

"Okay! Okay!"

The video ended there, and Elise calmly saved it to her phone.

Below it were several more text messages from Quinn.

Quinn: [Elise, Dylan said you moved out, so he told Robin and me we can stay here from now on! But honestly, after looking around, I still prefer Orchard Residence. You lived here before, and your children even died here... it feels unlucky somehow.]

Quinn: [Mrs. Lander told me you already cleared out all your belongings. Looks like you really don’t plan on coming back. That’s good too. Dylan told me long ago that he was tired of you. Seeing you finally act so sensibly honestly moved me.]

Quinn: [Don’t worry. You helped both Dylan and me in the past, so I already told him that out of consideration for old feelings, if you ever need anything in the future, you can always come to us. As long as it’s within our ability, we’ll definitely help you.]

Elise read every word in complete silence. Surprisingly, her heart remained utterly calm. The rage and resentment she’d once felt had long since faded.

Back then, she had financially supported Quinn. She had sincerely treated her like a younger sister.

But from the moment she discovered Quinn’s betrayal, all of that had become one enormous joke.

If genuine feelings had been misplaced... Then she would withdraw them completely.

And as for the financial support she once gave? She intended to collect it back with interest.

After saving all the videos and screenshots, Elise finally blocked Quinn.

Combined with the recordings and footage from Orchard Residence, plus everything Quinn had voluntarily sent today... It was enough.

Even if things eventually escalated all the way to court with Dylan, the signed divorce agreement and this evidence would be more than enough for a judge to approve the divorce.

Elise set down her phone and looked at Zoey. "It’s time to move against Quinn."

At those words, Zoey instantly perked up.

A girl like Quinn, who had clawed her way out of a small town, could have changed her destiny through education and hard work.

But instead, she had deliberately chosen the path of seducing powerful men and climbing into their beds.

And the most disgusting part of all—she had repaid kindness with betrayal.

Quinn had completely forgotten that the path from that remote town to the capital had been personally paved for her by Elise.

"I’ve been waiting so long I’m practically losing my mind!" Zoey snapped angrily, nearly biting through her chopsticks. "Trash like her makes me sick every extra day she gets to live comfortably!"

Elise calmly picked up a piece of greens.

"It’s fine," she said lightly. "The higher she’s being lifted right now... the more painful the fall will be later."

"...Okay." Zoey sighed heavily. "Hearing you say that makes me feel a little better."

Then her expression softened as she looked at Elise.

"I just hope when the thirty-day cooling-off period ends, Dylan cooperates properly and finalizes the divorce with you. Once that’s done, you can go abroad peacefully and focus on the pregnancy."

Her gaze dropped gently to Elise’s stomach. "This baby has to be born safely."

Elise rested a hand over her abdomen and nodded softly.

"This time..." she whispered, "I’ll protect my child no matter what. And I’ll make sure this baby comes safely into the world."

***

At three-thirty in the morning, explosive headlines suddenly erupted across the internet.

#Breaking! Bennett Corporation CEO Exposed for Affair with Wife’s Sponsored Student!#

#Breaking! Poor Student Betrays Her Benefactor and Becomes Mistress!#

The two stories spread across the internet at terrifying speed.

As the woman at the center of the scandal, Quinn’s photos and personal information quickly flooded every platform. Overnight, she became the target of nationwide condemnation.

The next morning, Quinn was woken abruptly by the ringing of her phone.

It was Naomi Clarke calling. Quinn frowned irritably.

Now that she had already left the company, Naomi no longer had any value to her. She had absolutely no interest in wasting energy maintaining contact.

But the calls kept coming one after another until Quinn finally snapped and answered impatiently.

"What is it?"

"Miss Foster, something huge happened online! Someone exposed you and Mr. Bennett!"

Quinn froze. "What do you mean?"

"Just open the internet and look—"

Before Naomi could finish speaking, Quinn had already hung up and immediately opened the news feed.

She didn’t even need to search. The entire internet was flooded with news about her and Dylan.

If it had only been rumors about her relationship with Dylan, she would’ve considered it a good thing.

She practically wished all of the city knew she belonged to Dylan.

But this... This was different. Whoever exposed the scandal had released everything.

Her background. Her hometown. The fact that she had only escaped poverty because Elise sponsored her education—all of it had been dragged into public view.

How was she supposed to face society after this?!

It had to be Elise. It was definitely her!

Furious, Quinn immediately called Dylan. The phone rang several times before finally connecting.

"Dylan..." The moment he answered, her voice instantly broke into sobs. "What do we do? Everyone online is attacking me..."

Her crying intensified.

"Dylan, Elise can hit me or yell at me if she wants, but she can’t do something like this! How am I supposed to live after this...?"

***

President’s Office, Bennett Corporation.

The office doors opened abruptly as Oliver hurried in carrying a tablet.

"Sir, we traced the original posts," he reported quickly, handing the device over. "The IP address is overseas."

Dylan accepted the tablet, glanced through the information, then calmly set it aside.

Removing his gold-rimmed glasses, he tossed them onto the desk and rubbed his brow.

"Sir," Oliver said gravely, "this is clearly targeting us. Our new AI energy project is about to launch, and a scandal like this surfacing now is extremely damaging. The stock market already started dropping this morning."

Dylan’s expression remained dark and unreadable.

After a moment, he asked quietly, "Who do you think did it?"

The man hesitated.

"I..."

The answer reached his lips but stopped there.

"You think it was Elise?" Dylan looked up at him directly.

Oliver pressed his lips together before finally nodding. "With Madam’s personality... I think she’s capable of something like this."

"It was her." Dylan paused. "But not entirely."

Oliver frowned in confusion. "Sir... what do you mean?"

Dylan rose from his chair and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the city skyline below.

"Grandmother hasn’t had surgery yet," he said quietly. "Elise would never release news about my affair at a time like this."

His voice was low, but certain. "So the posts targeting Quinn were Elise’s doing."

A faint chill entered his eyes. "But the scandal involving Quinn and me... came from someone else."