Chapter 767

Gianna turned toward the sound.

Steven's secretary walked in first. Behind him, two bodyguards dragged a slightly overweight man into the room. His face was badly swollen, covered in bruises, and smeared with blood.

Gianna recognized him at once.

It was Thomas Quimby, the second son of the Quimby family.

Shock hit her so hard that her eyes widened. As she stared at Thomas, disbelief quickly twisted into panic.

She bit down on her lip until it almost bled, barely holding back the scream rising in her throat.

"Gianna, why do you look so surprised?" Steven's voice came from above her. "Why do you look so nervous?"

Gianna snapped her gaze back to him.

Only then did she realize that Steven had crouched down in front of her at some point. He was only inches away, watching her with a calm, unreadable expression.

That gaze made her blood run cold.

It seemed as if he had already uncovered all her lies, schemes, and secrets she attempted to conceal. To him, she was nothing more than a toy caught in his hand.

Gianna instinctively stepped back, her face turning pale.

"Steven..." Her voice trembled. "Who is he? Why would you..."

Steven had no patience left for her performance. He glanced at Thomas, then gave one of the bodyguards a look.

The bodyguard quickly delivered a strong kick to Thomas' back of the knee.

Thomas fell with a loud thud, his knees hitting the marble floor sharply.

He landed right in front of Gianna. A scream ripped from his throat, and his bloodstained, distorted face nearly collided with hers.

"Ah! Stay away from me!" Gianna shrieked. "What are you doing?"

The stink of blood and sweat surged toward her. Fear drained the color from her face. She kicked frantically, trying to escape.

Thomas lunged forward and grasped her legs with both arms.

Gianna exclaimed, "Let go! Ah!"

"No! Ms. Malone, help me!" Thomas cried out. "I only shared those pictures in the group and said that woman is Ellie's mother because you asked me to! Mr. Malone has me now, and you won't escape either. You're still part of the Malone family, right? Please, beg for me!"

"You're lying!" Gianna's voice sharpened with panic. "I don't even know you! Why are you trying to drag me into this? Get away from me!"

She refused to admit anything.

No matter what happened, she could not admit it.

When she failed to kick Thomas off, she lifted her tear-filled eyes toward Steven.

"Steven, I really don't know him. I don't know why he's framing me! Please don't believe him. I'm still the daughter of the Malone family. The family's reputation is my reputation, too. Why would join hands with an outsider to ruin my own family's name? What would I gain from that? Steven, please believe me!"

Steven watched the tears slide down her face. Her expression was full of grievance, innocence, and desperation.

A cold laugh escaped him. "Still lying? Since I brought him here, I already have

enough proof. Do you really think denial can save you now?"

Gianna froze from head to toe.

A chill swept through her entire body. For a moment, she could no longer keep her act together.

Thomas did not stop there. He

exposed the rest, "Ms. Malone, I recorded our secret meeting at the bar. You orchestrated the entire scheme, and I was only threatened and paid off by you. Now that everything has unraveled, don't even think about blaming me!"

Gianna's vision blurred as her strength deserted her, and she fell to the ground. / chose the wrong person. D*mn it. How could I have trusted someone like him?

She had clearly told Thomas from the beginning that once the job was done, he had

to leave the country immediately and hide for a while.

Who would have thought that this b*stard would send her a photo of his plane ticket never actually board the flight, and secretly record their conversation just to cover his own *ss?

Her eyes reddened with hatred and fear, yet she did not dare look up at Steven.

Now, she could only pray that things were going well on her mother's side. Mom has to win Adrian over. As long as he still chooses Mom and me, there's still a way out of this mess.

In Adrian's office lounge, Pepper, the woman Gianna relied on completely, was weakly holding Adrian's hand.

"Adrian, I... I can take care of this burn myself. Please don't call your secretary in. What if she sees me like this, and more nasty rumors start spreading?

"If people misinterpret our relationship, your reputation could be damaged, similar to

the rumors about Steven. Such issues are difficult to prevent.

"If Wendy finds out about this, I'll feel even worse. I'm really okay. I can handle the burn on my own... Ah!"

Pepper could hardly believe it.

She had already exposed so much. Adrian had carried her out of the bathroom and placed her on the bed in the lounge.

Yet, he still had not looked at her twice.

He simply straightened, turned away, and prepared to leave the room to call in a female secretary to help her.