Chapter 227

That day, Brandon and Millie had a vicious argument.

By the time it was over, her cheeks were wet with tears, while he felt nothing but annoyance.

Wanting to put distance between them, he turned to walk out. But before he could leave, she called out after him, "Brandon, after all these years, after everything we've shared, is that truly what you think of me? That I'd forge documents and lie just to frame someone else and get your attention?"

He stayed silent in that moment. Then, he just grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

Yet right as he reached the entrance, the sharp crash of breaking glass echoed from behind him.

It wasn't until later that the maids told the details.

"Mrs. Watson's hands were trembling so much she

dropped the glass."

"She felt nauseous and started vomiting, but the doctor said nothing serious was wrong."

"Mr.Watson, Mrs. Watson has been in low spirits and crying. Would you like to check on her?"

Back then, he'd written it off as nothing more than a ploy to make him soften.

But now...

Brandon's gaze locked on the bold letters stamped across the medical report-"Psychosomatic Symptoms." The truth slammed into him, and he realized he'd been completely wrong.

The truth now stood exposed, knocking the wind out of him as though the room had been stripped of every last breath.

He knew all too well that after her father's death,Millie had gone from a pampered heiress to an ordinary woman. Even after her mother married Hayden, Hayden had treated Millie with relentless

cruelty.

When Hayden ended up in prison, Millie's relationship with her mother only grew colder.

Brandon had always knowvn Millie leaned on him for everything, her one source of love, her anchor, her family.

And still, he had betrayed her.

He couldn't begin to imagine what went through her heart the moment he walked away that day.

Maybe it felt like her entire world had crumbled beneath her feet.

Yet back then, he hadn't seen it.

Back then, his attention was entirely consumed by looking after Vivian.

Overhead, the corridor light buzzed and flickered,casting the space in an unsteady glow that made it feel unreal, as if he'd stepped into a scene from a nightmare.

How Brandon wished it was a nightmare, one he could wake from to find her still there, with everything unbroken and time left to make it right.

But the sharp sting from his fingernails digging into his palm made it painfully clear this was no dream.

A single image flashed in his mind.

It was the profile picture of the mysterious sender when Millie had shown him those provoking messages.

Back then, he gave it only a passing glance,dismissing it because the profile wasn't Vivian's, and deciding Millie must have been lying.

Now the truth slammed into him-he'd seen that profile before.

It had been at the charity gala. When he returned to his seat, his eyes had drifted to Vivian's phone, and there it was... Vivian's alt account.

Brandon shot to his feet.

The abrupt movement sent a wave of nausea through him, his vision dimming for a split second, yet that image in his mind only became clearer.

Clarity hit him like a man gasping for breath after nearly drowning.

He stormed into Vivian's hospital room, closing the distance between them in long, determined strides.

At that very moment, Vivian was in the middle of messaging Oakley.

Oakley was the one who had arranged her attending doctor, and now, feeling betrayed, she was furiously firing off texts demanding answers.

Thinking Brandon had already left, she didn't even glance up when he walked in.

It wasn't until Brandon, eyes blazing red with fury,pulled the phone from her hands that she reacted,lunging for it. "Brandon,give me my phone!"

She was using her alt account to talk to Oakley,and there was no way she could let Brandon see what

was on it.

Normally, she was meticulous, deleting her messages right after each exchange, but this time,the most recent ones were still sitting there since they were still in the middle of their conversation.

Vivian lunged forward and attempted to grab the phone,but Brandon pinned her in place with one firm hand.

His eyes flicked over the screen, catching her insults toward someone named "Blade Joker," and let out a cold,humorless laugh.

Without pausing, he began scrolling through her contacts.

"What are you doing, Brandon!" Vivian screamed."You can't go through my phone like that. That's an invasion of my privacy!

Brandon brushed her off.

Soon,he found the contact he was looking for, Millie and opened the chat.

The conversation thread held nothing but the automatic greeting message after the friend request was accepted.

Brandon understood instantly that the messages were gone because Vivian had erased them.

When Millie had shown him the chat logs, the timestamp on the greeting message matched this one perfectly.

And when he'd looked through Vivian's conversation with Blade Joker, the earlier exchanges were missing entirely. Still, from the tone and context of her recent messages, it was obvious this wasn't their first conversation, hinting that Vivian routinely deleted her messages.

"What are you doing, Brandon?" Vivian's voice pitched higher, her panic spilling over into a desperate shout meant to hide her unease.

Without warning, Brandon pushed her back against the wall, his gaze blazing. "Did you send messages to stir up trouble for Millie?"

"No, I didn't!" Vivian blurted automatically.

"I've already seen the proof!" Brandon shot back, his jaw tight. For the first time, he looked at her and felt nothing but disgust.

"That was all her lies-"

"Vivian!" Brandon's voice cracked like a whip. "Don't think wiping them locally makes them vanish. I can pull the cloud backups. I can recover every single file from your phone. So are you going to admit it now,or should | dig it all up myself?"

Confronted with this version of Brandon, Vivian's bravado faltered completely.

She knéw exactly how vicious her messages to Millie had been.

And if Brandon uncovers them...

Upon seeing that Vivian refused to come clean,Brandon's expression hardened as he pulled out his phone and called Eugene.

Eugene wasted no time showing up.

"You can't do this!" Vivian screamed. "It's my personal privacy!"

Brandon let out a cold sneer. So now she thought throwing around privacy rights would intimidate him?

"Mr. Watson." Eugene greeted as he arrived.

Brandon extended the phone toward Eugene.

"I'll talk!" Vivian broke down, her voice shaking through her sobs.

There was no way she could let Eugene get his hands on her phone.

Even though she usually used a different device for things like this, this one still held plenty of dangerous secrets.

She knew Watson Group had top-tier data recovery specialists.

She preferred to reveal only what she chose, rather than risk Brandon taking her phone, digging through

its data, and uncovering everything she'd been hiding.

Tears streamed down Vivian's face as she reached toward the phone.

This time, Brandon didn't block her and simply watched with a cold stare.

Vivian unlocked a hidden folder, fingers trembling as she keyed in the password.

Before she could open anything, Brandon snatched the phone right back.

His eyes flicked to the folder name-"Trophies."

The implication couldn't have been clearer.

Brandon leveled Vivian with a stare so cold it felt like it could freeze the air between them.

Vivian didn't dare meet his gaze; she kept her head bowed, her crying soft and pitiful.

Inside the folder was a collection of images, neatly arranged by date.

It was obvious she had taken screenshots before erasing the messages every time.

The first read, "You should know who l am. Do you like the flowers in your living room today? I sent them. He said they were beautiful."