Chapter 4

I placed a voice recorder in my bag before heading to the agreed-upon café.

"When do I get the money?" she asked immediately.

"Isn't it a bit too early to ask for money before we've even talked? Tell me, how much do you know about the inside story of my plastic surgery five years ago."

"...I only know that your disfigurement wasn't an accident."

I calmly sipped my coffee. "I guessed as much. Who did it?"

"I overheard a conversation between Dr. Carter and a woman, something about paying to get a job done. Dr. Carter gave her a box, and later, your surgery was scheduled ahead of all others."

I pressed my lips together, not saying a word.

She urgently prompted, "Where's the money!"

I took out my phone and let her enter her account number, then transferred the money to her.

After confirming the money had arrived, she looked at me with pity in her eyes.

"You're a pitiful woman too. I never thought Dr. Carter would do such a thing. Afterwards, he paid to keep me quiet. My family urgently needed money at the time, so I had no choice."

She hurriedly left after saying this.

I sat there, my mind racing.

The person who threw the acid five years ago had already been arrested.

After discovering the secret room, I had my suspicions, but hearing it confirmed still made my heart skip a beat.

I took out the voice recorder from my bag and pressed stop.

My phone screen lit up with a message from Lucas.

[The new hospital is opening this week. You must attend tomorrow's banquet, or I'll have someone bring Candy back.]

If it hadn't been for my family providing funds to Lucas, his hospital would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Now he still needed my status to network with the upper class.

I stared at the message for a long time before replying [Okay].

I dressed up for the banquet.

I linked arms with Lucas, pretending to be a loving couple smiling at others.

He was coaxed into giving a speech on stage, and I picked up a glass of wine, watching him impassively.

Once upon a time, he had stood on stage like this, speaking eloquently.

When he looked at me then, his eyes were full of love.

But now I realized he had only been looking through me at someone else.

I tilted my head back and drained my glass.

Looking back at him, I noticed his gaze fixed on a spot in the crowd.

Following his line of sight, I saw a woman wearing a mask standing among the people. The mole at the corner of her eye told me it was Vanessa.

She had come too, and was even holding a little boy's hand.

She had actually brought the illegitimate son.

I turned and walked towards the backstage, sending the photos on my phone to someone.

Immediately, a photo appeared on the big screen on stage.

It was the paternity test of Tommy and Lucas.

People in the audience began to discuss after seeing the screen.

"Who's Tommy? I thought the director's daughter was named Candy?"

"I don't know, does the director have another child?"

"Is it a second child?"

Lucas sensed something was wrong and turned to look at the big screen, his face instantly darkening.

By this time, I had already approached the boy.

I gave him a contemptuous smile, then shouted loudly, "Tommy!"

All eyes in the room turned towards us.