The officer's words made Lola whip her head around.

"That's impossible!"

"How could she possibly own a necklace of that quality? She's nothing but a—"

Lola caught herself, softening her tone.

"Joanna has always been so frugal. She pinches pennies on her own daily expenses. How could she afford a necklace like that?"

Paddy frowned and walked over to Joanna's side, glancing at the shattered jade fragments on the table.

The jade was dull and lusterless, cheap-looking in every way.

Paddy sighed. "Joanna, that's enough."

He pulled out a card and held it in front of her.

"There's a million dollars on this. Is that enough?"

Joanna stared at the card, and all she felt was the absurdity of it.

Paddy actually thought she was using this as an excuse to shake him down for money.

The officer looked at her. "Ma'am, the other party is willing to compensate. Do you accept the settlement?"

Joanna lifted her eyes. Her voice was soft, but unwavering.

"This was a keepsake from my mother."

Paddy froze for a moment when he heard that.

"I won't settle. I want to go through the proper legal channels."

Lola's voice cracked with a sob. "Paddy, I really didn't mean to... It's just a necklace. I can have someone buy Joanna an even nicer one..."

"But twenty-eight million dollars... There's no way that necklace was worth that much."

Paddy's frown deepened. The flicker of unease he'd felt a moment ago vanished entirely beneath Lola's crying, and his voice turned hard.

"If you insist on pressing charges, I'll hire the best lawyers for her. You won't see a single cent in damages, and you'll be on the hook for legal fees on top of it. Think carefully."

His words cut like a knife, driving straight into her chest.

Joanna drew a long breath. Her gaze swept over the two of them, cold as winter.

"I've thought very carefully."

"No matter what it costs, I will pursue this case."

Paddy watched Joanna's retreating figure, and the restlessness churning inside him refused to settle.

He had never seen her like this.

The way she'd looked at him just now. Like he was a stranger.

A sudden pang of regret hit him over what he'd said.

That night.

Joanna stood outside the door of her rental apartment, suitcase in tow.

Her phone rang.

It was the director's number.

She answered, but the voice on the other end belonged to a young girl, choked with tears.

"Joanna! Something terrible happened at the orphanage! Someone filed an anonymous report claiming we've been abusing the children... They're going to shut us down, and the land is being reclaimed..."

A sharp ringing filled Joanna's head.

"What happened?"

The girl only cried harder.

"Mrs. James hit her head during the confrontation. She's in the ER now, and the blood bank is running low... Joanna, please, you have to do something."

Joanna gripped the phone until her knuckles went white.

She'd crossed Lola today. And that very evening, the orphanage was under attack.

Only one person had the power to make that happen. Paddy.

Years ago, after Paddy was welcomed back into the Floyd family, he had voluntarily given up two percent of his shares in exchange for permanent land-use rights for the orphanage.

That day, he'd held her and said, "Your family is my family. I'll never let anyone drive them out."

He had genuinely cared for those children.

He had genuinely respected the director.

And now?

To vent Lola's frustrations, he'd torn it all down without a second thought.

A sting hit the bridge of her nose. Joanna forced herself to stay composed, but her voice still trembled.

"My blood type matches the director's. I'm going to the hospital. She's going to be fine."

Joanna burst through the hospital doors and headed straight for the blood transfusion department.

She had barely rounded the corridor when a gut-wrenching wail stopped her in her tracks.

Denise Sullivan was on her knees, clutching a doctor's hand and refusing to let go.

Paddy leaned against the wall nearby. He sensed someone watching and looked up. The moment he saw Joanna, his expression turned to ice.

Before Joanna could react, Denise had already charged at her and slapped her across the face.

Denise's eyes were bloodshot. She seized a fistful of Joanna's hair and held on tight.

"You vicious woman, how dare you show your face here! It wasn't enough to spread lies about what happened at the police station and frame my daughter—you had to drag her name through the mud online too, calling her a bully, saying she tried to buy someone off with a million dollars! She has her pride! How is she supposed to live with people talking about her like that?"

Pain seared across Joanna's scalp. Her thoughts scattered. She struggled to pull free, trying to explain.

"I didn't—"

"Enough."

Paddy stepped forward and pried Denise off her.

Joanna steadied herself and met Paddy's cold stare. The words left her mouth before she could think.

"Paddy, it wasn't me—"

"Joanna, when did you become like this?"

His voice was thick with disappointment.

"Are you so desperate for money that you'd stoop to something this low? A million wasn't enough—you had to get greedy and demand twenty-eight million?"

"Do you have any idea that because of you, Lola tried to kill herself?"

Joanna stared at him, frozen.

All these years, he was the one who knew exactly where every penny she saved went. He was the one who knew she never kept anything for herself—that every dollar she scraped together was so those children at the orphanage could live a little more comfortably.

And now the person who knew her best had said the words that cut the deepest.

"Paddy, after all these years, is that really what I am to you? Someone who'd do anything for money?"

Paddy frowned. His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something.

The emergency room doors swung open.

Lola was wheeled out, her face white as paper. The moment she saw Joanna, tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Joanna..."

Her voice was barely a whisper. "I'll pay the twenty-eight million. Just please stop dragging my name through the dirt... I really can't take any more..."

Joanna listened to those words—so carefully wrapped in victimhood, so precisely aimed to destroy—and clenched her fists.

"I didn't do any of it. You're welcome to investigate."

"I have something urgent to deal with right now. I have to go."

She turned to leave.

Several bodyguards stepped forward immediately, blocking her path.

Paddy's voice came from behind her.

"You made a mistake, and you need to own it. You owe the Sullivans—and Lola—an explanation."

Joanna drew a deep breath and turned around.

"Paddy, Director James was attacked. She needs a blood transfusion urgently. I have to get to her right now—"

He hesitated.

He knew better than anyone what that orphanage and its director meant to her.

Joanna would never lie about something like that.

She saw that flicker of hesitation in his eyes and seized it like a lifeline.

"Paddy, I'm begging you. Let me give blood first. After that, you can do whatever you want with me."

Her eyes were rimmed red, but she fought with everything she had to keep the tears from falling.

Seeing her like that, something complicated stirred in Paddy's chest.

Neither side would yield. Then a poised, elegantly dressed older woman walked over.

Lillian Floyd glanced at Joanna, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

"Joanna, I always thought you were a sensible woman. I never imagined you'd turn out to be such a liar."

"I had the admissions checked. There is no director among tonight's patients. Not a single one."

Joanna's pupils contracted. "That's impossible—"

Lillian cut her off and turned to Paddy.

"I told you from the start. Women like her put on an act at first—pretending money doesn't matter to them—but give it enough time and the mask always slips. Now do you finally believe me?"

Lillian had never once shown Joanna a kind face. But every single time, Paddy had shielded her. He never allowed his mother to say a single word against her.

He had even moved them both out of the Floyd family estate to spare Joanna from the hostility—the two of them squeezing into a small one-bedroom apartment together.

But this time, Paddy said nothing.

His silence hurt more than any words could have.

In that moment, Joanna heard something inside her shatter completely.

Paddy's voice was flat, utterly devoid of emotion. "Take her home. I'll deal with this later."

The bodyguards closed in. They seized Joanna, and no matter how she struggled, they dragged her back to the Floyd residence.

She was hauled to the ancestral hall. The head housekeeper stood before her, his voice cold.

"Mrs. Floyd has given her orders. As a daughter-in-law of this family, you've made a grave mistake and must be punished accordingly. Since her son can't bring himself to do it, she'll give the command herself."

"Thirty lashes. Afterward, solitary confinement in the cellar."

The whip came down on her back, splitting skin and flesh.

She clenched her teeth and didn't make a sound, but consciousness began slipping away from her.

She couldn't pass out. She still had to save Mrs. James.

When it was over, they dragged her to the cellar.

Her body was a ruin of wounds. She struggled to her hands and knees, then crawled to the door and pounded against it.

"Open the door... please..."

A wrenching cramp tore through her lower abdomen, wave after wave. Joanna looked down. A pool of blood had gathered beneath her.

Her vision darkened. Joanna collapsed.

The door burst open.

Someone rushed in and scooped her into their arms.

She forced her eyes open and saw a face.

"Paddy...?"

When Joanna woke, the wounds on her back had already been treated, wrapped in thick layers of gauze.

The door opened. Percival walked in carrying a glass of water, and when he saw she was awake, he crossed quickly to the bedside.

"Don't move. You're hurt."

Joanna looked at him. The memory of that night flashed through her mind, and she instinctively edged away.

Percival was quiet for a moment. "The baby's gone. When did you find out you were pregnant?"

Joanna's hand trembled. She lowered her head and didn't look at him.

"A little over three months."

Percival's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression hard to read.

Three months. The timing didn't quite add up.

He was about to say something else when the door swung open.

Paddy stood in the doorway. The moment he saw Percival, his brow furrowed tight.

"What are you doing here?"

Percival's lips curved into a smile that held no warmth.

"If I hadn't come, she would've died in that cellar and nobody would've known."

Paddy's gaze shifted to the figure on the bed.

Joanna was propped against the pillows, her face white as paper, her lips completely drained of color.

Something slammed hard against the inside of Paddy's chest. "What happened?"

The next second, he watched Percival reach over and tuck the blanket more snugly around her. An inexplicable wave of irritation surged through him.

He strode forward and yanked Percival's hand away.

"Hands off." His voice dropped cold. "She's your sister-in-law. Show some respect."

Percival looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"She's your wife, Paddy. Mom had her whipped and locked in that cellar. Did it never occur to you to send someone to look after her?"

Paddy froze. "What? I only told them to bring her home and wait until I dealt with it. Who gave them permission to touch her?"

Percival let out a short, derisive laugh, gave Paddy a mocking pat on the shoulder, and walked out.

Only the two of them remained in the room.

Paddy stood beside the bed, looking at Joanna. Something he couldn't name churned inside him.

"Joanna, don't worry. I'll make sure this—"

"Is there something you need?" She cut him off. Her voice was soft, but there was nothing warm in it.

Paddy pressed his lips together.

"Lola's out of danger, but the backlash online hasn't died down."

"I need you to record an apology video. Admit the necklace was a fake, that you got greedy and tried to extort more money."

Something finally rippled behind Joanna's eyes. She repeated his words slowly.

"You want me to record an apology video?"

Paddy rubbed the bridge of his nose, visibly agitated.

"Lola had the necklace appraised afterward. The necklace and the certificate were both fakes."

"Asking you to apologize isn't exactly asking too much."

Joanna almost laughed at the absurdity.

"I'm not doing it."

Paddy's expression darkened.

"Fine. But the land the orphanage sits on? I'll have it seized immediately."

Joanna's eyes stung.

"Paddy, you've held those children in your arms. They all called you 'big brother.' Can you really do that to them?"

Paddy's jaw tightened. "Joanna, my patience has limits."

Joanna managed a smile that looked worse than crying. The last thread of feeling she'd held for him snapped and dissolved into nothing.

"Fine. I'll do it."

She eased herself upright, took the phone from him, and began recording.

"The necklace was fake. I just… wanted to squeeze out more money."

"I'm sorry, Lola. I'm sorry, everyone. I was wrong."

Before he left, Paddy delivered one final ultimatum.

"Joanna, if you'd just listened sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this. You brought all of it on yourself."

After he was gone, Joanna dragged herself out of bed and rushed to the hospital to see Mrs. James.

But when she burst through the door of the hospital room, the answer she received rooted her to the floor.

"The patient didn't receive the transfusion in time. Prolonged oxygen deprivation to the brain. She's in a vegetative state."

A high-pitched ringing filled Joanna's skull.

She collapsed at the bedside and seized that ice-cold hand.

That hand had given her warmth more times than she could count.

Now it would never move again.

"Mrs. James… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

The tears finally broke free, unstoppable.

One by one, they fell onto that cold, still hand.

If it weren't for her, the orphanage would never have been targeted.

If it weren't for her, Mrs. James wouldn't be lying here.

All because she'd loved the wrong person and refused to bow her head.

She buried her face against the edge of the bed, her whole body shaking with sobs.

"I'll save you, Mrs. James… I'll find a way. I promise I'll find a way…"

The next second, her phone rang. Joanna answered, and Mandy's sobbing voice came through the speaker.

"Joanna, a bunch of people came and smashed up everything at the orphanage. I'm so scared…"