Chapter 5

Vivian's POV

When I woke again, I was in a guest room at the old mansion. Helen sat beside my bed.

"Awake?"

Helen brought water to my lips. I took a small sip.

"I told them to hold back. They're all minor injuries. They just look scary. There won't be scars."

Helen set down the water and opened a drawer, taking out a document and handing it to me.

"Divorce papers. Attorney Lewis couldn't reach you, so he sent them here."

Looking at the document in my hands, I couldn't help crying.

"Thank you."

I thanked Helen softly.

Honestly, my feelings about Helen were complicated. She was the one who initially opposed my marriage to Ethan, but both times I wanted a divorce, Helen helped me.

When I was with the Carter family, Helen never targeted me. She even taught me a lot about running a business.

Sometimes I even felt a kind of kindred spirit connection with Helen.

Helen held my hand and spoke softly.

"I apologize on Ethan's behalf. I knew his nature, which is why I opposed your marriage so strongly."

"The elite circle is a cesspool. Everyone in it is already set in their ways. When girls from ordinary families enter, they can't get out without being torn apart."

I smiled bitterly.

"I was too young then. I thought love was enough."

Helen patted my hand gently.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. In two days it's my fiftieth birthday banquet. Can you attend the banquet before you leave?"

Helen paused.

"News of your divorce from Ethan can't be revealed to the outside world yet."

"Just show your face at the banquet. I'll handle everything after that."

I thought for a moment and agreed. Showing my face wouldn't take much effort.

Helen had helped me so much. I should repay her within my means.

I spent these two days recovering at the Carter mansion. Occasionally I'd hear news about Ethan from the servants.

That child had ultimately been entered into the Carter family registry as Ethan's eldest son.

After learning this news, Ethan disregarded his own injuries and invited his close friends from their circle to a celebration.

Grace attended throughout as his female companion.

When the servant reached this part, I clearly sensed her looking at me with a complicated expression, schadenfreude mixed with sympathy.

I didn't feel much about it. I just ate, slept, and recovered normally.

The day before Helen's birthday banquet, she brought me a gown.

"This gown is a Carter family heirloom. Ethan's grandmother passed it to me. If you wear it and make an appearance at the banquet, everyone will understand what it means."

I nodded and silently accepted it.

The next day, the family driver took me to the banquet hall.

I picked up a glass of red wine and walked around the venue, making sure enough people saw me before returning to a corner to wait for the banquet to end.

Helen, as the guest of honor, would make her grand entrance at the end.

At the banquet, Ethan was escorting Grace around, greeting guests.

The two were intimate, as if they were a real married couple.

Everyone tactfully refrained from asking about their relationship, only casting inquiring glances at me.

"What's going on with the Carter family? The wife is right here, yet the mistress is so brazenly accompanying him?"

"Did you see what Vivian is wearing?"

"Now that you mention it, I remember that's a Carter family heirloom! Looks like this mistress still can't surpass the wife."

Many of the guests had good judgment. Soon they'd recognized the origin of my dress and naturally drew their conclusions.

Grace also sensed the shift. From the initial respect to undisguised contempt later on.

Her eyes darkened as she looked at me with a trace of malice.

In my corner, I was oblivious to all this. After receiving Helen's notice that I could leave, I drained the red wine in my glass and turned toward the back door.

Just as I was about to leave the banquet hall, an unfamiliar middle-aged man blocked my path.

"Miss Rivers, why did you donate toxic stationery to children? Where is your conscience?"

The man in front of me had bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. He grabbed my hand, his voice hoarse with accusation.

I struggled to pull my hand free, gently rubbing my wrist as I looked up at him.

"Who are you?"

"Me? You're asking who I am? I'm the principal of Sunrise Children's Home! Paul Walker!"

My brow furrowed as my brain rapidly searched for any information about Sunrise Children's Home.

I was certain I'd never had any contact with anything related to this children's home. Principal Walker must have found the wrong person.

With this thought, I spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong person."

This sentence seemed to ignite Principal Walker. His voice suddenly rose, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"I'm looking for YOU! Vivian Rivers, Miss Rivers. You donated a batch of stationery to our school two days ago. We thought you were a good person, but it turned out to be toxic stationery!"

"Three hundred and twenty-two children in our school were hospitalized because of this. Fourteen children are still in intensive care."

"How can you act like nothing happened?"

Principal Walker gripped my hand so tightly it felt like he'd crush my wrist.

But two days ago I'd just woken from unconsciousness at the Carter mansion. How could it have been me?

Donation... charity...

Ethan and Grace, who heard the commotion, walked over.

The moment I saw Grace, all the clues connected in my mind.

It was that charity foundation Ethan took from me to give to Grace!

Ethan stopped in front of us, his face dark.

"Vivian, what are you making a scene about now?"