Chapter 4

Irene lowered her eyelids, offering a faint smile that masked the bitterness and cold mockery in her eyes. "I don't love you anymore, Mr. Thorne. You don't need to repeatedly humiliate me to prove your charm."

With that, she turned and walked out of the study, leaving Gabriel standing alone, his brow furrowed, that inexplicable sense of irritability in his heart growing stronger.

She took a taxi to the art academy. There were still some visa documents for the project that needed signing.

Just as she stepped out of the administration building, she suddenly felt dozens of gazes snap toward her, followed by whispers and mocking laughter.

"God, is it true? The wealthy foster daughter is actually so shameless."

"She looks innocent on the surface, but privately she's seducing her guardian."

"Did you see Twitter? I've already thought of the headline: 'The Thorne Family's Lolita Scandal'."

Just as Irene was completely bewildered, a classmate she was usually on good terms with ran over in a panic to stop her. "Irene, look at the campus network and the trending topics on Twitter!"

She hurriedly pulled out her phone, and a headline news story popped up: "Elite Taboo: Foster Daughter Offers Herself to Climb the Social Ladder".

In disbelief, she clicked on it, only to find a heavily pixelated surveillance video and photos of several diary pages. The video was extremely blurry, allowing only the faint distinction of a man and a woman’s silhouettes, but those diary pages... they were the very private thoughts about her unrequited love for Gabriel that she had written in her journal.

The contents of the diary had been maliciously taken out of context and paired with explicit commentary, painting her as a scheming, promiscuous woman trying to wreck her guardian's relationship.

Irene’s face flushed red instantly, and she clenched her fists tightly. "The diary is mine, but the video is fake! I’ve never done anything like that!"

"I believe you, Irene. Someone is definitely out to get you. Only someone very close could get their hands on that diary, right?"

Hearing this, Irene immediately hailed a taxi back to the manor to clear things up with Gabriel. She always kept that diary locked in a drawer; aside from Chloe, no one entered her room.

But the moment she stepped onto the marble stairs of the manor, she found Gabriel standing at the top of the landing.

Before she could speak, he glared at her viciously. His voice was ice-cold and filled with contempt as he sneered, "Is this what you meant by not loving me anymore? As a young woman, to destroy your own reputation just to sabotage my wedding with Chloe... have you no shame?"

Irene bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. She wanted to open her mouth to defend herself, but the words stuck in her throat. She hadn't expected him to view her this way, to convict her without asking a single question.

Gabriel took her silence for guilt and let out a cold laugh. His expression grew even frostier as he continued, "If you think creating public pressure will force me to marry you, you are sorely mistaken."

"In this life, I, Gabriel Thorne, will marry no one but Chloe!"

Just after he announced this, Chloe walked out and heard everything.

Wearing a silk dressing gown, Chloe slowly walked up to Irene, her voice dripping with superior condescension. "Miss Lockhart, a woman should know self-respect, not rely on such low-class tactics to get ahead."

Irene opened her mouth to speak, but as they passed each other, Chloe shoved her hard in secret, knowing full well the steep spiral staircase was right behind her.

At the same time, Chloe pretended to twist her ankle and fell forward, letting out a hypocritical cry of alarm. Gabriel didn't hesitate to rush over and grab her hand.

It wasn't until the heavy sound of a body tumbling down the stairs echoed that he looked back to notice Irene.

She was curled up at the bottom of the stairs like a broken doll, her forehead having struck the banister post, blood flowing freely. She clutched her knees in agony; the old injury in her spine had relapsed under the violent impact, the pain nearly causing her to faint.

This scene tightened Gabriel’s heart, and he panicked, rushing down the stairs. "Irene, are you alright?"