Chapter 4

By the time I returned to my bedroom, it was almost dawn.

After booking an expedited visa application, I collapsed onto the bed, feeling groggy.

But I hadn’t slept long before I vaguely sensed someone sitting by my bed.

It was Kate.

He was staring down at the floor, his expression heavy with something I couldn’t quite make out.

I’d never seen him like this before.

In all my memories, Kate always maintained his composed demeanor.

Unflappable, with a steady voice.

Even when a catastrophe struck the family, he stood there like an unbending pillar.

But now, there was a deeply hidden trace of panic on his face.

Just as I was about to speak, he spoke first.

“Fiona, I’m asking you.”

His voice was very low, but his words were sharply articulated.

“Audrey had dirt leaked about her online. Was this your doing?”

I said nothing.

He stood up, looking down at me, his eyes full of a certainty that already held a conclusion.

“You’ve always disliked her. You’ve given her a hard time ever since she entered the Brown family.”

“Now that our wedding is set, you can’t sit still.”

“Playing dirty tricks behind people’s backs is the most despicable thing.”

He paused, lowering his voice a notch, as if giving me one last chance.

“Tell me honestly, how involved were you in this?”

I leaned against the headboard, looking at him.

Wind outside ruffled the curtains, then let them fall.

I waited for him to finish before I spoke.

“No.”

“Fiona.”

“I said no, it was not me.”

My voice was very calm, so calm that he frowned.

Kate probably didn’t expect this reaction from me.

Usually, I would either cry or make a fuss, but I would never speak to him in such a calm tone.

He looked at me again, then pushed his phone screen in front of me.

“The comments are over ten thousand. The time the posts went out perfectly matches when you returned to your room after dinner.”

“You were alone in your room; no one saw you, no one knew what you were doing.”

I glanced down at the screen, then pushed his hand away.

“A matched time doesn’t mean it was me.”

“Then who was it?”

His voice turned cold.

“Who would be targeting Audrey and post at exactly that time?”

I didn’t answer.

Because no matter how I answered that question, he already had his own answer.

Silence stretched for a few seconds. I sat up from the bed and folded the blankets neatly.

“Kate.”

“Call me Kate.” He immediately interrupted, his voice harsh.

I paused, then spoke again.

“Kate, are you done?”

His eyes subtly changed, his frown deepening.

“Fiona, what is with your attitude?”

“I don’t have an attitude.”

I stood up, pushing his hand away. “I just find it a bit odd,”

“You come into my bedroom in the middle of the night just to ask me this?”

Kate was silent for a moment.

That silence stung more than any words.

I looked in the mirror and saw him standing behind me,

His expression shifting through several emotions like a revolving lantern, finally settling into a complex look I couldn’t decipher.

He quickly averted his gaze.

“Audrey is very upset. You should go on a trip to another city for now, and come back after the wedding.”

But before he finished, the door was abruptly pushed open.