“Brendan? Brendan!”Colors were drained off Deirdre’s face. She pounced at him, throwing her arms around his thigh the exact moment she understood what he meant. He was going to blame it on Sterling again!“I-If you’re mad because Lena almost died, I… I can apologize for that! I will swallow those pills so I can suffer the same pain she’s undergoing right now! But please, stop taking your rage out on innocent people!”“Innocent people?” Brendan scoffed. He lowered himself to her height and grabbed her by her jaw, examining her tears-stricken cheeks. “Here I thought you didn’t believe in concepts like leaving the innocent alone. Isn’t Lena innocent? Christ, Deirdre. You could have come clean with me. Things would have ended much sooner… much better. But you had to accuse her of doing something she didn’t do! You just had to lie to me!”He rose apathetically and kicked her away. Deirdre’s head knocked on the side of the bed. She felt a buzzing shockwave coursing through her brain lik

“That’s enough!”Brendan stormed forward and snatched Deirdre’s hand away from its motion. The entire spectacle was just so grating to him that he gnashed his teeth and snarled, “Are you done playing the victim!? You’re so into it! So into trying to make yourself look like the most tragic woman in the world that nothing is below the belt, isn’t it? God. You keep proving me wrong when I think you can’t stoop lower!”Playing the victim? How blind was this fellow to think this whole thing was an act to ‘play the victim’?Her injury stung so much her arm was shaking despite herself. She had not finished the task Brendan had ordered her to do, so she simply muttered, despite her ashen expression, “Can you please let me go? I’m not done cleaning up…”“To hell with cleaning up!” Brendan bellowed suddenly. He kicked the garbage bin so hard that every fragment from the broken bowl spilled back to the floor. He glared at the nurse and thundered, “You clean this up! And I want you to do it

“You’re here to drink in his place, right?” The young man started. “Time to do your job! Chug this!”“Chug! Chug! Chug!” The crowd began to clamor excitedly.Deirdre had always been alcohol-intolerant. Just the stench of beer triggered a gag reflex, and she pushed the pint away, to the young man’s displeasure. His smile stiffened. “Hey, what’s this supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me that since you’re Mr. Brighthall’s b*tch, you wag your tail only for him? Boooooo! You’re no fun!”Brendan watched the exchange from his seat. He crossed his legs and fiddled with his ring, his frigid onyx-black eyes boring straight through Deirdre’s face. His lips were curved when he chided placidly. “Now, now. What did I tell you about your attitude when you were at my party? Have you forgotten already?”He did not sound particularly angry, but that nonchalance was a front to the biting chill only Deirdre understood. He was warning her. “Defy me, and I’ll take it out on Sterling.”“Um, I…” D

“Oh, you’re really thoughtful, Mr. Brighthall. This woman is indeed too skinny to look at. It’s better to look for other fun than to disgust all of us here.”“You’re right. Such a skinny woman won’t look beautiful when dancing.”The group repeated in agreement. It was only Sofia who furtively clenched her fist.‘How did Mr. Brighthall know when he said this woman was too skinny to look at? Can it be that he has seen this woman naked? Didn’t he feel disgusted?’The alcohol kicked in, and Deirdre began feeling hot and cold. Brendan dragged her forcefully to sit on the sofa.Deirdre was drunk and devoid of energy. She could only rely on Brendan for support. But when she sobered up, she would strive to hold herself up, unwilling to even touch Brendan.Brendan was infuriated when he became aware of it. He harshly grabbed Deirdre by her jaw as he barked, “Deirdre, are you a psychopath who doesn’t even know how to be thankful? Why didn’t you appreciate my kindness in saving your life at

Brendan said in an icy-cold and condescending tone, “It’s because you can do such a thing. Anyway, I’ve made a concession. If you are still stubborn, don’t blame me!”Brendan went out and slammed the door behind him. Deirdre was freezing. However, her disappointed heart was far colder than the freezing cold water itself.Deirdre’s teeth chattered from the cold. She climbed out of the bathtub with difficulty, used her touch to locate a bath towel, and wrapped herself in it. When she opened the door, she felt an unfriendly gaze.Sofia was sizing up Deirdre before she said dismissively, “Your figure is nothing more than that. I thought even if you looked ugly, you might have a good body shape. Now it seems that I’m wrong.”From the voice, Deirdre knew who the person was. However, she didn’t want to argue with her because her hair was still wet, and her head was in pain. She simply asked, “Anything?”Sofia threw the bag she had been carrying at Deirdre’s feet. “These are the clothes M