Chapter 82

Candy Wilson's fingers clenched the bedsheet until her knuckles turned white. She didn't understand why Vincent King suddenly asked that question, but her instincts told her she had to give the perfect answer.

"Of course!" She forced a sweet smile. "The three of us grew up together. Susan is like a sister to me."

A faint, chilling smirk curled at Vincent's lips, making her heart skip.

"Then why..." He suddenly leaned in, his long fingers gripping her chin. "Did you keep trying to harm her?"

Candy's pupils shrank. All color drained from her face. She instinctively tried to pull back, but Vincent held her firmly in place.

"Vincent, what are you talking about? I would never—"

"Look at this." He tossed a tablet onto the bed. The screen displayed clear footage of her secret dealings with Nicole Capra.

Candy trembled violently, tears instantly welling up. "You've been spying on me?"

"That's not the point." His voice was ice-cold. "Why did you tell Nicole to feed Susan's severed finger to the dogs?"

"I didn't!" she shrieked, then immediately caught herself, replacing her panic with a pitiful expression. "I was just... scared..."

She clutched his sleeve, tears rolling down. "I was afraid you'd fall for her!"

Vincent frowned.

"That night..." She choked back a sob. "You know what you did to Susan after being drugged! I tried to help you afterward, but you pushed me away..."

Her voice grew more frantic, nails digging into her palms. "Four years, Vincent! I've given you everything, yet you'd rather touch her than me!"

A flicker of emotion crossed his face as he recalled Susan's delicate fragrance that night. His Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously.

"Candy..." He sighed and pulled her into his arms. "I won't love anyone else."

Resting against his shoulder, a shadow of malice flashed in her eyes. She knew his weakness too well—guilt.

"Promise me..." She looked up with tearful eyes. "You'll never leave me."

The moment Vincent nodded, his phone rang sharply. It was the hospital—Susan had been admitted to the ER again.

Meanwhile, Susan Thompson stared at her phone screen. Andrew Lucas's text contained only one line:

"8 p.m. The usual place."

Her fingers shook as she deleted the message, unaware that someone hidden in the shadows had captured everything with a camera.