Chapter 784

Gianna hated every second of it.

The shame, the helplessness, the feeling of being forced to bow her head in front of Anneliese-it all sank into her bones.

Only then did Adrian's expression soften a little.

He turned to Anneliese. "Gianna understands what she did wrong this time. Since she caused this trouble, the Malone family is willing to make it up to you. Name your conditions. As long as they're reasonable and within our power, we'll try our best to meet them."

His meaning was obvious.

Gianna had already apologized. The Malone family had also offered compensation. In Adrian's mind, that should be enough.

For a matter like this, he had personally come to the Fullbuster estate to apologize. That alone was already showing the Fullbuster family plenty of respect.

If Anneliese still refused to let it go, then she would be taking things too far. It might even damage the relationship between the Fullbusters and the Malones.

Anneliese looked at him for a moment, then gave a small smile and shook her head. "Mr. Malone, Gianna didn't target me only this once. We haven't even talked about the competition yet, when she set me up and got my registration canceled.

"Now she has spread rumors about me again. If my husband, Grandpa, and Grandma hadn't trusted me, my marriage might have been affected.

"Oh, and since she mentioned my best friend 'stealing' Zane earlier, that reminds me. I still haven't settled the matter of her and her mother hiring someone to kill my friend."

Adrian went still.

His head throbbed.

The first mess isn't even settled yet, and now there's another one? This one sounds even worse. Hiring someone to kill?

Adrian's expression darkened as his gaze moved between Gianna and Pepper.

He wanted to think Anneliese was exaggerating or making things up. Yet the moment those words came out, both Pepper and Gianna reacted in a way that was impossible to ignore.

"What exactly are you talking about?" Adrian asked, his brows pulling together.

Steven and Wendy were also surprised.

However, Steven had already gone to the police station about what had happened between Gianna and Jessica. After a brief pause, he understood what Anneliese was referring to.

His eyes settled on Gianna, cold and sharp. "So the trip to the police station taught you nothing."

Gianna's heart dropped.

She had not expected trouble to come one after another like this. Before the current matter could even settle, Anneliese had dragged Jessica's incident back into the open.

From the way Anneliese spoke, does that mean she already knows everything Mom and I did?

Panic rushed through Gianna again. She instinctively turned toward Pepper, only to see the same shock flash across Pepper's face.

Jonathan glanced at Adrian and

clarified, his voice steady but sharp. "What my wife is saying is that Msz Chalment impersonated Mrs.

Shayman to visit Jessica, who is my wife's friend. Jessica is also Zane's girlfriend. Pepper threatened Jessica and tried to coerce her into leaving Zane."

Adrian stared at him, almost unable to accept it.

He was aware that Gianna had liked Zane for many years and had been pursuing him for quite some time.

Not long ago, Zane had gone straight to the Malone family and rejected Gianna in front of him.

At the time, Adrian had only felt that Zane was arrogant and disrespectful. Still, something about the situation had bothered him.

He thought, So this is what was really going on behind the scenes?

His furious gaze snapped toward Pepper. "You pretended to be Mrs. Shayman and went to threaten Zane's girlfriend?"

For a moment, Adrian felt as if the woman in front of him had become a stranger.

He wondered, How many more reckless, shameful things has she done behind my back?

Pepper would never admit to something like that.

Her face went pale, and she shook her head at once. "That's impossible. never did anything like that Ms Claude, why are you accusing me like this?

"Gianna did misunderstand your relationship with Steven and made a mistake, but

that doesn't give you the right to turn around and frame us.

"Besides, if your friend is really Mr. Shayman's girlfriend, then she must have met

Mrs. Shayman before. How could I pretend to be her?

"At least make the story sound believable, Ms. Claude. As for hiring someone to kill your friend, that's even more absurd.

"Adrian, you know me. I can't even bear to kill a chicken or a fish. How could I ever do something as terrible as taking someone's life?"

Gianna quickly wiped away her tears and followed Pepper's lead.

"Dad, I admit I was upset. I was jealous because Anneliese's best friend took Zane away from me. But how could Mom and I ever try to kill her?

"If something that serious had really happened, why didn't Jessica go to the police?"

The mother and daughter stood there, looking deeply wronged, each more pitiful than the other.