CHAPTER 8: CHAPTER 8: SHE IS JUST HIS FIG LEAF

The man didn’t look back at her, wiping his face while walking toward his car, signaling to the assistant who came to consult.

The assistant approached Juliana and softly asked, "Ma’am, do you need an ambulance?"

Juliana was wrapped in a towel, having just had a brush with death, her throat scorched with salt and stomach acid, unable to make a sound, she just shook her head.

The assistant was a bit stunned that she refused.

In the end, they found a ride-sharing car and sent her to the hospital.

Before leaving, the assistant handed her a note with a license plate number on it.

"This is the license plate of the off-road vehicle that knocked you into the sea."

Juliana looked at the note in her hand; if they could disguise an explosion as an accident, they could also hide this car accident from the police.

At the brink of life and death, it was a stranger who saved her, while the person who promised to protect her was now going to another woman.

Sea water dripped from her hair tips, resembling the sound of a part of her heart turning completely cold.

"Oh, ma’am, why are you soaking wet?"

Mrs. Young was startled standing at the hospital room door and hurried forward to support her.

Exhausted, Juliana didn’t want to talk and slowly walked to the bathroom.

Mrs. Young knew she wanted to take a bath and quickly found her a clean hospital gown.

But after the bath, Juliana looked even paler.

Concerned, Mrs. Young called the doctor to check on her again.

She was lucky enough not to have any visible injuries, and the doctor didn’t find anything, recommending further observation.

When Ethan Carter arrived at the hospital ward, Juliana was already asleep.

Since she had instructed not to tell anyone about going out, Mrs. Young didn’t say anything to Ethan.

Ethan assumed she was dispirited and left the room to report to Evan Grant.

"I just saw her, ma’am is fine, but surely in a bad mood."

Evan Grant didn’t speak, just hung up the phone.

By evening, Juliana developed a fever; Mrs. Young gave her physical cooling following the doctor’s advice.

While wiping Juliana’s hands, she was shocked.

"Ma’am, where is your ring?"

Only then did Juliana realize the ring that hadn’t left her finger in four years was gone.

It must have fallen into the sea.

Along with the evidence she found at the cake shop.

Marriage, opportunity, luck—all stood against her.

Juliana felt miserable, stayed silent, and closed her eyes again.

Seeing her return in such a sorry state, having barely eaten dinner and unwilling to speak, Mrs. Young became a bit anxious.

"Ma’am, I’ve worked at the old house for over ten years. Before you married into the Grant Family, President Grant and Miss Grant interacted like normal family members. To be honest, we never saw President Grant favor Miss Grant, so if he left today, it’s definitely because something urgent happened with Miss Grant."

"President Grant is always cold to everyone, but he treats you differently. You should believe that you hold a place in President Grant’s heart."

"Living together as a married couple is like brewing tea; if the heat is too much, it’s bitter; if it’s too little, it’s bland. You’re angry now, don’t make any decisions just yet; wait till President Grant comes back to explain, then you can decide how to deal with him."

As Mrs. Young finished speaking, Lily Windsor pushed the door open and came in.

Clothed in a luxurious outfit, holding "gifts" in her hand and wearing a face full of schadenfreude.

"Deal with him? It’s only right for a brother to see his sister. What right does she have to trouble Evan?"

Lying on the hospital bed, Juliana turned her eyes towards her.

Lily feigned surprise, "Oh dear, look at your complexion... Didn’t the doctor give you the best medicine?"

After saying this, she glared at Mrs. Young.

"Looking after someone to this sorry state, if outsiders see, they’d think our Grant Family mistreated her."

Mrs. Young didn’t dare refute her, "Madam, the doctor said it’s mainly emotional distress, plus the injuries..."

Lily laughed lightly, interrupting her, "Emotional distress? Indeed, anyone would feel bad being abandoned twice."

"Why are you here?"

Juliana asked her, her voice hoarse.

Lily put on a look of suddenly remembering something, "Weren’t you fighting with my daughter for a man? You lost again, so I’m here to give you a consolation gift."

As she spoke, she walked to her bedside and took out her "gift".

A framed wedding photo of Evan Grant and Stella Grant.

But it was obviously a composite.

Nonetheless, Juliana still felt her anger rise.

Lily squeezed out between her teeth, "Wish you die soon."

"Madam..."

"Shut up!"

Just as Mrs. Young was about to speak, Lily snapped at her to be silent.

She continued to look at Juliana.

"Though I Photoshopped it, soon the real wedding photos of them will hang in the living room of the old house. As long as Evan likes my daughter, the old lady’s obstruction means nothing."

"Juliana, face the reality. From the moment Evan boarded the plane, you were already out."

The turbulent whirlpool in Juliana’s eyes suddenly calmed.

Pointing at a spot on the frame, she asked unemotionally, "What’s this?"

"Where?"

Lily bent down to look, and Juliana raised her hand, causing Lily’s head to hit the frame.

The impact was not strong but landed right where she had been injured before.

Lily shrieked, but Juliana didn’t let go.

"You b***h, let..."

Lily hadn’t finished speaking when Juliana coughed up blood onto her face.

"You’re dying!"

After a moment of shock, Lily fled the room in a frenzy.

Mrs. Young was also shocked, but Juliana waved her off.

"I injured my stomach from swallowing seawater; I’ll be fine tomorrow."

Heartbroken and speechless, Mrs. Young asked, "Why on earth did you drink seawater when everything was fine?"

With the room so silent it seemed cut off from the world, Juliana’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

She had a burning fever, but her heart felt cold.

...

Three days later, as planned, she was discharged from the hospital.

Evan Grant hadn’t returned but had arranged everything for her.

Yet, when Ethan Carter saw her, he seemed a bit nervous.

He handed Juliana a pair of sunglasses.

"Ma’am, there are reporters outside. We’ll have to trouble you to leave through the fire exit."

Evan Grant always acted discreetly and disliked having family affairs spoken about by others.

Juliana cooperated with him but was curious.

"Why are reporters suddenly interested in me?"

Ethan’s expression shifted slightly, "Ma’am, let’s leave first."

Seeing he didn’t want to speak, Juliana didn’t press further.

Just as she smoothly got into the car, her phone chimed.

It was an old friend sending her a message, this time with a screenshot of a trending topic.

The headline read:

[Sensational Drama! Cortexa Group’s President’s Secret International Meeting with a Mysterious Woman: The Loving Husband’s Persona Crumbles; Is the Legitimate Wife Just a ’Fig Leaf’?]

Less than a minute later, the old friend sent the photo from the screenshot separately.

The background was late at night; Evan Grant was driving into a villa with a woman in the passenger seat.

It was hard to make out her face due to the lighting.

But Juliana knew it was Stella Grant.

Wasn’t she supposed to be too ill for even Dr. Shaw to handle?

Yet here she was, going around with Evan Grant.

She felt as if a dagger had stabbed her heart, the sharp pain piercing through.

"Your husband is clever, but what can suppressing the trending topic do? The whole world knows about his infidelity; people are guessing who the mysterious woman is and wondering when you’ll step down. How does it feel, having sacrificed your dreams for love, only to be ridiculed as a laughing stock?"

After sending this message, the former friend posted a few photos in the alumni group, showcasing her thriving company and made comments about how women should have ambition, though unnamed, Juliana could hear the veiled taunt.

Ignoring the childish antics, she clutched her phone tighter.

In just a few days, the happiness once in her grasp turned into shards of glass cutting into her flesh. She couldn’t even cry out in pain before being pushed into the abyss again.

Trying hard to calm her emotions, she looked at Ethan, who was driving, and deliberately asked, "How is Stella Grant?"