Cindy Lynn gently raised her hand, tenderly touched the crease between Vincent Hawthorne’s brows, and then restrained herself from continuing.
"If taking on this bad reputation can relieve you a little, make you furrow your brows less..." She gazed deeply at Vincent Hawthorne, forcing a smile, "Then I don’t mind being the bad person."
Vincent Hawthorne was momentarily speechless, exhaled heavily, with a dry mouth: "Cindy, that’s not what I meant."
"It’s okay." Cindy Lynn smiled strongly, "You don’t need to explain to me. After all, Ms. Tanya has been your wife for so many years; it’s normal for you to trust her over me."
Cindy Lynn fell silent for a moment and then spoke up for Tanya Sinclair.
"As a woman, I can actually understand Ms. Tanya. She originally came from a bad background, married you after much difficulty, only to become a vegetative state on the day of childbirth, and woke up after five years. And her husband has become even more outstanding compared to before... Ms. Tanya’s lack of security is normal. If it were me..."
Vincent Hawthorne gazed at her intensely, "What if it were you?"
Cindy Lynn lowered her head and laughed, then shook her head, "I don’t have that luck. Working by your side, I’m already quite content."
Seeing her humble, gentle demeanor, not competing or demanding.
Vincent Hawthorne felt a wave of guilt; he shouldn’t have doubted Cindy Lynn .
Indeed, he had known Tanya Sinclair since they were young, but his years with Cindy Lynn were not short either.
Moreover, Cindy Lynn’s words had reminded him—Tanya Sinclair now, after five years as a vegetative state, her inner self was probably completely distorted!
The current Tanya Sinclair was no longer like the Tanya Sinclair from five years ago!
Vincent Hawthorne secretly recalled the changes in Tanya Sinclair since she woke up, his gaze growing colder bit by bit.
The Tanya Sinclair of the past lacked security too, but the way she compensated for it was by pouring every ounce of effort into being good to him, even pleasing his family and friends.
Vincent Hawthorne looked at his phone expressionlessly.
It was already twelve thirty, well past the time he promised her.
The Tanya Sinclair from the past would definitely worry, be anxious if something had happened to him, even take a taxi to the hospital based on the address from his screenshot.
But now, she hadn’t sent even a single message or made a call!
Tonight, she even audaciously used "divorce" to act superior with him!
Cindy Lynn wiped her tears away, turning her head to look at the window beside her.
The tinted car window reflected the woman’s exquisite face, her lips slightly uptilted, hinting at an almost imperceptible cold smile.
The car stopped below the high-end apartment building where Cindy Lynn lived.
"Vincent, thank you for bringing me back." Cindy Lynn took an amulet from her bag, "This is a peace charm my mom prayed for at the temple, for safety and health..."
Vincent Hawthorne was about to decline, but Cindy Lynn seemed to perceive his thought, smiled with her eyes curved, "I want you to take it back for Joy. Just say Aunt Cindy misses her a lot, and once she’s well, Aunt Cindy will take her shopping for princess dresses."
Vincent Hawthorne felt a rare hint of awkwardness, "I’ll deliver it to Joy; thank you for thinking of her."
Cindy Lynn blinked at him, holding back laughter, playfully asking, "Did you think I wanted to give it to you?"
"... Not at all." Vincent Hawthorne naturally denied.
Cindy Lynn stopped smiling, took out a purple gold-edged amulet from her bag, earnestly handed it to him.
"This is something I asked for you. I’ve been keeping it with me, wanting to find a chance to give it to you."
Vincent Hawthorne frowned slightly, hesitating to accept it immediately, "Cindy, I..."
"If you don’t like it, you can just throw it away." Cindy Lynn quickly said, opening the car door, leaving quickly, her figure soon disappearing from Vincent Hawthorne’s sight.
Vincent Hawthorne contemplated the purple amulet she left on the seat.
He recognized it as a unique amulet from The Skyreach Temple atop Mount Azurewing.
To request this amulet, one must be sincere and kneel a hundred and ninety-nine steps...
Ultimately, Vincent Hawthorne picked up the amulet and tucked it into the inner pocket near his chest.
"Let’s go home." He instructed the driver calmly.
He glanced at his phone again; there was no call or message from Tanya Sinclair, and the messages he sent to her had no response, like stones sinking into the sea.
Vincent Hawthorne’s gaze grew cold, filled with deep disappointment.
Nearly two in the morning, Tanya Sinclair heard the faint sound of a door opening; she woke but didn’t open her eyes.
The man’s heavy, slow footsteps pressed on the floor, slowly approaching. Thɪs chapter is updated by n0velfire.net
She knew Vincent Hawthorne had arrived, and she even caught a whiff of Cindy Lynn’s perfume on him.
It wasn’t particularly strong, rather a refreshing tea scent, yet it made her nauseous.
Vincent Hawthorne stopped beside the bed, looked at the sleeping Joy, then moved his gaze to Tanya Sinclair’s face, his expression growing colder, with a barely noticeable hint of annoyance.
Her phone was clearly beside her; she purposefully ignored him!
Vincent Hawthorne glanced at Caden and left the room.
After he left, Tanya Sinclair didn’t open her eyes, adjusted her position, and continued sleeping.
At seven in the morning, Tanya Sinclair woke up.
She gingerly withdrew her arm, which Joy had been hugging all night, feeling both pain and numbness.
Yet her heart was filled with happiness.
Being relied on by her daughter, any mother would feel warmth.
Especially since she hadn’t been close to Joy for five years.
Tanya Sinclair used her other hand to check Joy’s pulse.
Fortunately, the little one had a weak constitution, but she had been well nurtured by The Hawthorne Family over the years. After a night’s rest, she’d mostly recovered.
She rubbed her arm, got up and walked to the small desk, picking up a pen and paper to write a prescription, took a photo, and sent it to Ian Sullivan, asking him to prepare two days’ worth of medicine at the pharmacy and bring it for Joy to take.
After finishing this, Tanya Sinclair quietly went downstairs.
Today was the day to meet Second Young Master Pierce at Westgard Pharmaceuticals, marking the start of her own career away from Zenith Group!
She also needed to go back to her rental to fetch the collaboration plan she had prepared for so long.
"Madam, you’re up so early?" Aunt Tawny had just come out of her room when she saw Tanya Sinclair downstairs, a bit surprised, "Why not sleep a little longer? I was going to call you after breakfast was ready!"
"It’s fine, Aunt Tawny, I have to meet a very important client, so it’s tough for you to take care of Joy at home. Later, Dr. Sullivan will deliver medicine for Joy."
While speaking, Tanya Sinclair had already reached the hallway, Aunt Tawny hurriedly went to the kitchen to get bread and milk and chased after her.
"Madam, take these for the road..." Aunt Tawny’s words were cut short, her face turned pale, and the milk bottle fell to the ground. She suddenly blacked out, spun around, and stumbled backward.
"Aunt Tawny!" Tanya Sinclair’s expression changed, tensed, and she rushed up to support Aunt Tawny, helping her sit on the sofa.
She immediately examined Aunt Tawny and quickly took out silver needles from the medicine box, inserting them into several acupuncture points.
In just a few minutes, Aunt Tawny was back to normal.
"Aunt Tawny, how are you feeling?" Tanya Sinclair asked with concern.
"I’m fine, madam, just gave you a fright." Aunt Tawny said weakly, "This is an old issue for me; when I get a little anxious, I tend to have insufficient blood to the brain and faint."
Tanya Sinclair comforted Aunt Tawny, "Don’t worry, Aunt Tawny, your anemia isn’t severe; it can be managed."
Saying this, Tanya Sinclair suddenly thought of another person.
"When I was in college, Vincent Hawthorne’s cousin had anemia due to excessive blood loss from a car accident, a severe pathologic condition. I brewed medicine for her for two years, and later Vincent said she fully recovered..."
"Wait!" Aunt Tawny seemed confused, she sat up, "Madam, you’re saying that back in your college days, you brewed medicine for Vincent’s cousin who had a car accident for two years?"
"Yes." Seeing Aunt Tawny’s expression, Tanya Sinclair sensed something amiss, "What’s wrong?"
Aunt Tawny frowned deeply, looking conflicted, "Madam, I’ve worked at The Hawthorne Family for twenty years. As far as I know, Mr. Hawthorne only has two cousins—one immigrated overseas with her family when she was in elementary school, never returned, and reportedly married a duke; the other fell off a horse at ten and passed away... Mr. Hawthorne has no cousin who had a car accident."
Tanya Sinclair’s already haggard face turned pale as paper.
It turned out from that early time, Vincent Hawthorne... had been deceiving her, using her!!