Gideon ignored the whispers around him. He just quietly picked up the bowl and began to eat. “This is wonderful. Scarlet truly knows me best. She remembers this is my favorite.”

“For all these years, she’s been the one organizing my birthday banquets, managing everything inside and out with such care.”

“Having her as my daughter-in-law is the greatest gift I could ask for.”

At his words, the guests quickly changed their tune. One after another, they praised me, saying I was not only beautiful but also graceful, capable and the perfect daughter-in-law of the Gardner Family.

Yuna’s face twisted with jealousy. Her nails dug so deep into her palm that her skin nearly broke.

Then, out of nowhere, the giant screen on the main stage flickered. A series of indecent photos suddenly filled the screen.

In them, Yuna was completely naked, posing in all kinds of shameful positions. The men’s faces were blurred, but hers was shown clearly for everyone to see.

“Didn’t expect this from the Gardner Family’s adopted daughter. It turns out she’s got quite a wild side.”

“Look at that skin, so fair… think she’d let me have a taste too?”

“I thought the Gardner Family had such strict morals. Guess that was just for show.”

The hall burst into vulgar laughter. Jason and Yuna’s faces went completely white.

Yuna let out a sharp scream, her voice trembling with panic. “Turn it off! Shut it down right now!”

“This isn’t me! Someone’s framing me!”

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, the screen wouldn’t respond. The photos kept looping again and again, filling the room with humiliation.

Jason’s face turned so dark it was almost frightening. Finally, unable to take it any longer, he smashed the power source himself.

Yuna burst into tears, her whole body shaking as she pointed at me with a trembling hand.

“I know you hate me. You’ve always hated me because Jason loves me, because Timmy likes me more. But you can’t ruin me like this, not on Father’s seventieth birthday!”

“This day means everything to him. Do you have no shame at all? Don’t you care about the Gardner Family’s reputation?”

I met her glare calmly, my voice steady. “It wasn’t me.”

Yes, I hated Yuna, but out of respect for Gideon, I would never do something so vile, something that would humiliate the entire family.

Then, suddenly, Timothy ran forward, tears streaking down his small face. “I saw it! Mommy gave the hotel man a USB drive!”

The room fell silent for a beat, then every pair of eyes turned on me, sharp and full of accusation.

Jason’s face twisted with fury. He grabbed my collar and roared, “You witch! What else do you have to say? Even your own son exposed you!”

A hollow pain spread through my chest. I never imagined the deepest cut would come from my own child.

Still, I repeated quietly, “I said, I didn’t do it.”

However, no one believed me. Even Gideon’s expression wavered, his eyes full of sorrow and doubt, but he said nothing.

Jason’s eyes were bloodshot when he raised his hand. “Vicious woman!”

I moved aside and my hand struck his face before he could touch me. “Did you really think I’d just stand there and let you hit me again? Keep dreaming.”

Taking out my phone, I called the emergency number. “Since we both insist we’re right, let the police find out the truth.”

At the word police, Yuna’s face went pale. She quickly grabbed Jason’s sleeve, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Jason, if this becomes public, how can I ever face anyone again?”

Jason gently patted her hand, comforting her. “Nothing to be afraid of. Once the police investigate, the truth will clear your name. No one will dare speak against you then.”

Yuna lowered her head obediently, but sweat glistened on her palms.

When the officers arrived and saw her, their faces instantly darkened in annoyance. “God! You again?”

“Last time we caught you at that nightclub, hiring male escorts for an orgy. You’d barely been released and your record is still fresh, but now this?”

“So, what is it this time?”

Yuna’s face turned deathly pale, her whole body shaking, yet she still forced an awkward smile. “Officers… you must have mistaken me for someone else, right?”

The policemen chuckled at her words. “In all our years on the job, this is the wildest thing we’ve ever seen. Hard to forget, even if we wanted to.”

I couldn’t hide the flicker of surprise in my eyes. She had always claimed to love Jason, yet here she was, cheating on him behind his back.

She threw herself into Jason’s arms, eyes shimmering with tears. “Jason, they’re lying. I didn’t do any of this. Someone must be trying to frame me.”

Jason tightened his arm around her shoulders, his expression soft and steady. “Yuna, you don’t need to explain. I’ve always believed you. There’s no girl in this world kinder and purer than you. I know you’d never do something like this.”

At his words, the officers and I looked at him like he was a man determined to be fooled. Well, if Jason himself wanted to play the willing victim, who was I to stop him?

I turned to the officers instead, urging them to investigate how the photos had been uploaded.

Their report came back quickly. The hotel’s surveillance footage had been deliberately wiped and the data couldn’t be recovered. In short, the uploader remained untraceable.

The moment the words left the officer’s mouth, Jason’s eyes snapped to mine, blazing with anger. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“You set this up, bribed the police and dragged them into ruining Yuna’s name!”

Seeing his blind trust, Yuna’s shoulders relaxed. She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, sobbing harder. In one swift motion, she snatched a fruit knife from the table and pressed it to her throat.

“My reputation is completely ruined now. How can I ever face anyone again?”

“Better to die than live in humiliation. Jason, please just let me die.”

She made to slash her neck. Jason lunged forward, tearing the knife from her hand and gathering her into his arms, his voice thick with pity. “Yuna, what are you doing? Don’t be foolish.”

“None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that you’re here with me. Did you hear me?”

At that moment, Gideon slammed his cane to the floor with a thunderous crack. His voice cut through the chaos. “Enough. All of you, stop this nonsense! Has the Gardner Family not lost enough face tonight?”

At once, the hall fell silent. Not a single guest dared to move an inch.

His gaze swept the room, cold and commanding, as he spoke, “Tonight ends here. Whoever spreads another word will be an enemy of the entire Gardner Group!”

And just like that, under the old man’s iron will, the spectacle collapsed into uneasy silence.

By the time the banquet broke up, the night felt heavy and still. No one dared stir up more trouble. I followed Gideon back to the old house to rest.

Before I went to bed, my phone lit up. It was a message from Yuna. [Recognize who this is?]

Attached to it was a photo of me in bed, AI-generated, face-swapped.

My face perfectly pasted onto Yuna’s naked body. The image was vulgar. Her text dripped with cruel delight and I could almost see her twisted smile behind the screen.

[When these photos hit the internet, do you think my brother will believe you the way he believes me?]

I gave a soft laugh and typed three short words: [Go ahead. Try.]

A moment later, Yuna spread the photos across the major social sites.

[My dear sister-in-law, prepare to lose everything.]

But the instant her upload went live, my countermeasure program triggered. Pixel by pixel, the image began to reconstruct itself.

An AI deep-reversion algorithm deployed, stripping my face from her body and restoring the original pictures. Within seconds, the real images of Yuna Gardner flooded the internet.

I was, after all, an elite field agent. I knew as much about hacking as I did about fieldwork. By contrast, Yuna was clueless, yet still dreaming of my ruin.

The morning I planned to leave, I went alone to Gideon’s study to thank him for his care all these years and to bid him farewell.

But the moment I pushed open the door, Gideon lay on the floor in a pool of blood, a knife driven deep into his chest.

Trained as a special operative, I dropped to my knees and checked his pulse with steady hands.

The blade had missed his heart by only two centimeters. He needed immediate help to stop the bleeding, or he might not make it to the hospital.

Without thinking, I pulled the knife free, ripped open my shirt and pressed down hard on the wound. My hands moved quickly and carefully, every motion practiced and exact.

At that moment, the door crashed open and Jason stormed in, fury written all over his face.

He had come to confront me about the incident in the banquet, but he didn't expect to see his father lying in the study, bleeding on the floor.

"Father!"

His eyes blazed as he saw me clutching the knife with blood in my hand.

Yuna immediately shrieked, screaming accusations. “Jason, she must have done this. She’s afraid Father will punish her for leaking fake photos online, so she tried to silence him.”

I let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Yuna, you are quick to cry ‘thief’ before you think.”

“I have proof of who sent those photos. I just don’t think you have the guts to let your dear brother see it.”

“As for Father’s injury, the truth will come out when he wakes up.”

Guilt flickered across her face and she shrank behind Jason like a frightened mouse. But Jason’s anger only grew when he saw me stand my ground.

“Scarlet Blaine!” he roared. “Do you know how your actions ruined Yuna’s name and put our family in crisis?”

“And now you dare harm Father to avoid blame? You deserve a lesson!”

He shoved me aside, lifted the unconscious old man into a car and ordered his bodyguards to take me to the basement and lock me up.

“Wait here! I'll take Father to the hospital first and then I'll deal with you when I get back!”

I could have fought back, but no word had come yet from Silver Wolf about finishing the arrangements. Until then, it was safer to wait and buy time. So, I simply let the guards to drag me down to the basement.

Yuna gave me a taunting gaze, the look of someone sure she had truly won. The look that said, “See? You could never beat me.”

At three in the afternoon, my communicator finally buzzed. An encrypted message from Silver Wolf blinked on the screen. [Divorce finalized. Helicopter arriving at the Gardner Family estate.]

After receiving the message, I slid a thin metal hairpin from my bun and, in one smooth move, turned the lock’s core.

At that exact moment, Silver Wolf and an elite strike team smashed through the windows. With our practiced team fight, we managed to take down the dozen bodyguards outside just in less than thirty seconds.

“Long time no see, Crimson Hawk. We’re here to pick you up.” Silver Wolf greeted and behind him, my old comrades pulled off their masks one by one.

I looked around, seeing familiar faces that filled my sight. My eyes suddenly welled up and for a second, I almost cried.

They were all here.

I bumped fists with each of them, then pulled them into tight hugs, one after another.

When I reached the last man—Sean Alcott, the one who was always quiet and distant—he surprised me. He wrapped me briefly in his arms and said softly, “Come on. Let’s go home.”

I grabbed the rope ladder dangling from the helicopter and climbed up into the roaring wind, swinging myself into the cabin.

Before we left, I told the pilot to circle once over the Gardner Family villa—the place where I had spent seven long years of my life.

Below, Jason had just returned with Yuna and Timothy. Perhaps, Gideon’s condition had gotten better.

I took out the freshly stamped divorce papers and let them fall. The document fluttered through the air and slapped Jason right across his stunned face.

“Jason. Timothy. You wanted to be with Yuna? Fine. I’ll give you your perfect little family.”

“Oh, and here’s a farewell gift. Enjoy.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I pressed the detonator. Explosions echoed throughout the villa, painting the sky bright red.

Jason, Yuna and Timothy were blasted to dust and fled to the door in a panic.

No one was hurt, but the home immediately burned to ashes.

The helicopter turned toward the horizon and I didn't once look back, leaving the past completely behind.

“Goodbye, Jason Gardner.”

“Goodbye, Timmy.”

“Farewell, the home I once had.”