Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Consider Him Dead
With a grim expression, Tristan rejected the idea without a second thought.
Hearing him, Holly’s heart turned to ice.
"Are you deaf?!" she fumed.
’Manager Langdon accused Vivian to her face, and he’s still going to side with her so shamelessly?’
"You believe the words of a scumbag?" Tristan sneered.
"I do!!"
Holly’s words were delivered with steely conviction.
’Those words hinting that she "likes to take shortcuts" and was "up for anything" must have come from Vivian Linton.’
’Only a pig like him, blinded by love, would think Vivian was some innocent little angel who knew nothing of the world.’
"I’ll say it again. Vivian would never harm you."
Tristan’s expression grew even colder as he snapped in displeasure.
"What makes you so sure?" Holly’s eyes were bloodshot as she roared uncontrollably.
She was furious and indignant.
"Because she’s not that kind of person," the man said coolly.
Though his tone was nonchalant, it conveyed his complete trust in Vivian.
This was the kind of biased affection that Holly had never received, no matter how hard she tried.
Her heart couldn’t help but ache with bitterness.
"Tristan Sterling, do you really think she’s as wonderful as you imagine?" Holly laughed through her rage, the corners of her eyes so red it looked as if they might weep tears of blood.
"Holly, stop hounding Vivian," Tristan said, his expression impatient, his tone turning even colder.
"Me, hounding her? Heh... Heheheh..."
Holly let out an irrepressible, cold laugh, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous fairytale.
’The filter of his "white moonlight" hadn’t just clouded his vision; it had clouded his heart.’
’For Vivian Linton, he seemed to have endless tolerance.’
’But when he faced her, there was nothing but impatience and annoyance.’
’Since he disliked her so much, why couldn’t he just sign the divorce papers so they could go their separate ways?!’
"Holly, this is what you owe her!"
The young woman’s laughter made Tristan feel inexplicably irritated.
"What do I owe her?" Holly scoffed, her eyes full of mockery.
The man’s eyes were frigid. "If it weren’t for you, her life wouldn’t be like this."
Holly’s breath caught in her throat.
’He was bringing up that incident from two years ago again.’
’She had explained it countless times. She wasn’t the one who drugged him.’
’But he simply wouldn’t believe her!’
She would never forget—
That day, she received an anonymous message saying her brother was in trouble at The Sovereign Grand Hotel.
She rushed to Room 1088, but just as she pushed open the ajar door, a scorching hot hand yanked her inside.
It was Tristan Sterling, who had already lost control of himself.
She had tried to refuse at first.
But the irrational Tristan was too forceful, and besides, she had always secretly admired him...
So when he kissed her like a man possessed, her heart pounded like thunder and her body went limp. She tried to push him away several times but couldn’t, ultimately sinking beneath his fierce assault.
The memory of that night wasn’t actually pleasant.
It hurt so much!
But it was a mix of pain and pleasure.
To be with the man she worshipped—at that moment, she felt so happy.
The next morning, before they had even woken up, they were "caught in bed" by reporters and Grandpa Sterling.
Grandpa Sterling was furious and ordered them to marry on a chosen date.
Tristan Sterling refused.
The grandfather and grandson had a huge fight and parted on bad terms.
A month later, Grandpa Sterling saw her vomiting.
Grandpa Sterling thought she was pregnant and threatened to kill himself to force Tristan Sterling to take responsibility for her.
Tristan Sterling married her unwillingly.
At the time, she too had been possessed, thinking that feelings could be cultivated, that one day he would see her sincere heart.
Heh~
She had been a fool dreaming an impossible dream!
When Vivian Linton learned they had registered their marriage, she couldn’t handle the blow and left the country.
Not long after, however, it was discovered that she had a false pregnancy.
And so, in Tristan Sterling’s eyes, she logically became a vicious, scheming woman.
He was convinced she was the one who drugged him. Convinced she was the one who notified his grandfather and tipped off the reporters. Convinced she was the one who faked a pregnancy to trick his grandfather into forcing him to marry her.
She was utterly unable to defend herself.
If she had known that the "happiness" of that night was just arsenic coated in honey, she would have jumped out the hotel window rather than spend a night of passion with him.
But she didn’t know at the time!
For the past two years, Tristan Sterling had resented her for breaking him and Vivian Linton apart.
But in reality, she was a victim too!
She had no idea why any of it had happened!
Lost in her memories, Holly clenched her fists so tightly that her body trembled uncontrollably.
Tristan, thinking his tone had been too harsh, pressed his lips together, and the hard lines of his face softened slightly.
"This is the call Vivian made to me. If she wanted to harm you, why would she have me come and save you?"
He took out his phone, showed her the call log, and tried to reason with her in a gentle tone.
He had been at a business dinner when he received Vivian’s call.
Vivian was frantic on the other end, crying and begging him to go save Holly.
But when he arrived, he heard Brandon Sterling claim to be her boyfriend...
And she hadn’t denied it.
’Boyfriend?’
’Does she think I’m dead?!’
’He hadn’t even questioned her about being flirty with Brandon, and now she was the one relentlessly going after Vivian?’
"Because she saw Brandon come to save me! She knew her plan was about to fail, so she called you to absolve herself of any blame!"
Holly snapped out of her memories and said resentfully.
’Vivian Linton’s motives weren’t hard to guess.’
’She must have taken the opportunity while I was in the restroom to tell Manager Langdon I was "up for anything," with the goal of having him defile me.’
’But something unexpected happened—Brandon arrived. Afraid of being exposed, Vivian directed her own little show and threw the blame onto Manager Langdon.’
"With an imagination that wild, you should stop being a qipao designer and become a screenwriter," Tristan said, glancing at her coolly.
A sharp pang shot through Holly’s heart.
The blazing fire of her rage was extinguished as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head.
It was out.
But her heart had become a barren wasteland.
She looked at him and smiled, a smile that made her eyes redden. "Tristan Sterling, you don’t believe me, do you?"
Seeing her grief-stricken expression, the man’s heart tightened slightly.
But in the end, he didn’t give her the affirmative answer she sought.
Holly was utterly disappointed.
With a cold smile, she nodded slowly. "If you don’t believe me, then stay away from me. Stop disgusting me."
With that, she pushed open the car door.
But she had barely gotten one leg out before he viciously yanked her back.
"Don’t touch me!!"
Holly roared, struggling to wrench her arm from his grip.
Her emotions finally shattered.
"If you won’t let me touch you, who do you want to touch you?"
He pinned her directly against the seat, holding her down as he leaned close to her lips, his breath cold and sinister as he spoke.
’Holly knew Tristan’s twisted logic all too well.’
’She knew he was alluding to Brandon.’
’What kind of person did he think she was?’
’Her relationship with Brandon was completely innocent, but in his eyes, it was something sordid.’
’And what about him?’
’He keeps Vivian by his side every day. Anyone who didn’t know better would think *they* were the married couple.’
’So it’s fine for him and Vivian to be seen everywhere together, but it’s not okay for someone to rescue her?’
’He can openly cheat, but she commits an unforgivable sin just by speaking a few extra words to another man?’
’How can a person have such blatant double standards!’
"What? Is Mr. Sterling going to make a false counter-accusation again?" She curled her lip into a sneer, her voice dripping with maximum sarcasm.
Tristan’s dark eyes narrowed, a cold glint overflowing from their depths. He spoke through gritted teeth, his voice sinisterly close to her lips, "You think he’s some kind of good guy—"
