"Holly Sinclair! Are you out of your mind?!"
Tristan Sterling rushed over and scooped up Vivian Linton, who had fallen to the ground.
Holly Sinclair frowned.
'I only meant to shake Vivian Linton's hand off. I barely used any force.'
"Tristan, it hurts so much…"
Vivian Linton clung tightly to Tristan Sterling's neck, sobbing softly. She looked utterly pitiful, on the verge of tears.
Tristan Sterling's piercing gaze shot toward Holly Sinclair.
A chill washed over Holly Sinclair.
'He thinks I pushed Vivian Linton.'
'We haven't seen each other in days. I never imagined this would be how we'd meet again.'
The day she had fainted in the ancestral hall, Tristan Sterling had carried her back to the villa at Azure Bay.
But when she woke up, Tristan Sterling was gone.
Ms. Beatrice had said, "After Sir brought you back, he took a call and left in a hurry…"
'And she knew exactly who had called him away.'
'It could only have been Vivian Linton.'
The atmosphere was fraught with tension.
Suddenly, a slender figure charged toward Holly Sinclair.
SLAP!
The figure had slapped her across the face.
"Holly Sinclair, you b—"
SLAP! SLAP!
Before her attacker could finish, Holly Sinclair reacted in a flash, striking back without hesitation.
She landed a crisp one-two, slapping both cheeks.
The two slaps were so sudden that Nicole Linton's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
Nicole Linton was Vivian Linton's younger sister.
"Holly Sinclair… You actually dared to hit me!"
'Twice!!'
Her cheeks burned and stung. Nicole Linton was so furious she was tongue-tied, glaring at Holly Sinclair as if she wanted to tear her to shreds.
"Interest."
Holly Sinclair massaged her tingling palm, uttering the single word with chilling indifference.
Nicole Linton went berserk.
"You bitch! I hit you because you tried to murder my sister in public!" Seething with uncontrollable rage, she pointed at Tristan Sterling's bodyguards and commanded imperiously, "You! Seize her for me!"
The bodyguards remained motionless.
"Are you all dead? I said, seize her!" Nicole Linton stomped her foot, her voice growing louder.
Still, no one moved.
Realization dawned on Nicole Linton. She turned to Tristan Sterling, shouting indignantly, "Brother-in-law, make them grab Holly Sinclair! Make her get on her knees and apologize to my sister!"
Tristan Sterling said nothing, his expression unreadable.
'Brother-in-law?'
A sharp pain lanced through Holly Sinclair's heart.
She glanced at Nicole Linton, who had said the title so naturally, then at Tristan Sterling, who hadn't denied it.
A sneer touched her lips.
'Looks like he already considers Vivian Linton his wife.'
'Otherwise, why would he let her sister call him brother-in-law?'
"Tristan."
Vivian Linton's voice was laced with grievance.
Holly Sinclair's sneer deepened.
'So, Vivian Linton wants Tristan to stand up for her.'
"Your leg is what's important," Tristan Sterling said softly.
With that, he carried her and strode quickly toward the elevator.
Unable to command the bodyguards and not daring to make another move herself, the indignant Nicole Linton resorted to verbal attacks on Holly Sinclair.
She crossed her arms, looking down her nose at Holly Sinclair with a triumphant sneer. "Holly Sinclair, did you really think you could win my brother-in-law's love by scheming your way into his bed and forcing my sister out? Dream on! The person my brother-in-law loves is my sister. That was true two years ago, and it's still true today. See? Now that my sister is back, you're nothing!
The title of Mrs. Sterling belongs to my sister. You're not worthy of it. I suggest you be smart and get the hell out now. Don't wait for my brother-in-law to throw you out on the street; you won't be able to show your face anywhere then."
Everyone knew that Holly Sinclair loved Tristan Sterling.
That was why Nicole Linton knew exactly what to say to hurt her.
However, Nicole Linton didn't get to see the heartbroken reaction she was hoping for from Holly Sinclair.
Instead, Holly shot back with a cold sneer, "Nicole Linton, who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to run your mouth about things between me and Tristan Sterling?"
"You!"
"He's just my secondhand goods. If your sister wants my leftovers so badly, she's welcome to them."
Holly Sinclair's tone was breezy, her lips curved into a careless smile.
Nicole Linton froze.
'What does she mean by that?'
'Does she mean…'
'Is she going to divorce him?'
'That would be fantastic!'
...
The elevator ascended slowly.
Holly Sinclair stood woodenly in the corner of the car.
The elevator doors opened on the fifth floor.
She glanced up and saw several nurses at the nurses' station, tending to Vivian Linton's injuries.
'It was just a tumble down three small steps. It couldn't have been more than a minor scrape.'
'Wait any longer and the wound would probably heal itself.'
"It hurts… It hurts so much…"
Vivian Linton clutched Tristan Sterling's hand, crying out pitifully with tear-filled eyes.
Tristan Sterling was murmuring something to her, his voice a gentle reassurance. The look of tender affection on his face was something Holly Sinclair had never seen before.
The elevator doors closed, and the car continued its ascent.
It soon reached the eighth floor. Holly Sinclair limped toward her brother's room.
Sitting down beside her brother's bed, she gently lifted the hem of her dress…
On her left calf was a gash about three centimeters long.
When Vivian Linton had fallen down the steps, her wheelchair had tilted and gashed Holly's leg.
The cut wasn't deep, but it had bled a lot, and it throbbed with pain.
She let the dress fall back into place and looked up at her sleeping brother.
As she watched him, tears began to stream down her face.
'Suddenly, she felt so wronged, so miserable.'
'If my brother were awake, no one would dare bully me like this.'
"Brother, it hurts so much…"
She placed her small hand in her brother's cool palm and choked back a sob.
'It really, really hurts.'
'Everything, everywhere on my body, hurts.'
"Brother, why aren't you waking up? Please, wake up soon, okay? I'm hurt. You need to get up and blow on it for me… You always said that if you blow on it, it won't hurt anymore…"
The more Holly Sinclair spoke, the more desolate she became, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
They splattered onto the back of her brother's hand.
...
"That bitch Holly Sinclair! How dare she attack you in public! Sis, let's call the police! We'll sue her for attempted murder!"
Nicole Linton shrieked, incandescent with rage, inside the hospital room.
"No, don't. She was probably just acting on impulse…"
Vivian Linton, propped up in the hospital bed, glanced at Tristan Sterling, who stood beside her as she spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
Tristan Sterling remained silent, his face a blank mask.
It was impossible to guess what he was thinking.
"Sis! Why are you always so nice? She's walking all over you, and you're still defending her?"
Nicole Linton was exasperated by her sister's soft-heartedness. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She grabbed her phone to dial. "No! I'm calling the police!
"Nicole!"
Vivian Linton stopped her sister, shaking her head with a look of pained compromise. "Let it go. It's just a small scratch…"
"Fine, we won't call the police, but she has to get on her knees and apologize to you!" Nicole Linton seethed, grinding her teeth.
Her own cheeks were now red, swollen, and burning with pain.
'I have to get revenge for this!'
Vivian Linton glanced at Tristan Sterling again.
Tristan Sterling still gave no indication of his thoughts.
"Alright, that's enough. Don't put Tristan in a difficult position…" Her eyes dimmed, and she forced a pained, bitter smile.
At this, Nicole Linton whirled toward Tristan Sterling and exclaimed resentfully, "Brother-in-law, Holly Sinclair is bullying my sister like this! You have to stand up for her!"
Tristan Sterling's eyes darkened.
"Nicole, watch your words," Vivian Linton chided gently, frowning at her sister.
But Nicole Linton was unfazed, retorting with self-righteous confidence, "What? Am I wrong? If Holly Sinclair hadn't broken you two up, he would have been my brother-in-law years ago."
In her heart, she had always considered herself Tristan Sterling's sister-in-law.
She was also convinced that one day, her sister would ascend to the throne of Mrs. Sterling.
Then, the Linton Family would be able to ride her coattails to a life of splendor and riches.
Throughout the Linton Sisters' performance, Tristan Sterling remained utterly silent.
Seeing that he still wasn't reacting, Nicole Linton suddenly whipped the thin blanket off her sister's legs.
"Nicole!"
Vivian Linton cried out in alarm.
The stump of her left leg was starkly exposed to the air.