?Chapter 389:


    For years, Trinity had perfected the role of a good girl, piecing together an immacte persona and basking in the glow of their affection. But with just a few cutting remarks, Hailee had stripped her facade bare, scattering her painstaking efforts like ash in the wind. Panic surged—she couldn’t let everything unravel now. The unblemished reputation she’d worked so hard to maintain in their eyes couldn’t be allowed to crumble, not like this.


    Teetering on the edge, Trinity forced herself upright, every instinct urging her to fire back, to refute Hailee’s ims with venom and denial. Yet, as her gaze brushed over Merlin’s expression, all her fury withered, snuffed out in an instant. She knew better than to cross Merlin.


    Hailee had spoken nothing but the truth. And with Merlin present, even if Hailee’s words had been pure invention, Trinity understood she’d have no choice but to bow her head and shoulder the me. To protest now would only drag the entire Craig family down with her. Trinity’s eyes turned red and ssy. She pressed her eyelids together for a moment, fighting to keep herposure, then blinked back tears and managed another apology, her voice trembling with raw sincerity. “I’m sorry, Ms. Loftus. I know I was in the wrong. Truly.”


    Hailee stood across from Trinity, radiating unshakeable calm. Not a single emotion flickered in her eyes, her lips curved in a faint, icy smile. “Miss Craig, I sincerely hope you’ll start behaving like a decent person from now on,” she replied, her voice gentle butced with unmistakable contempt.


    Though the words came quietly, their impact cut deeper than anything she’d said before. In front of everyone, she had just reduced Trinity to something less than decency.


    A sharp, wrenching pain tore through Trinity’s chest. Would the Evans family still ept her after tonight’s disgrace? Did she have any hope left of marrying into their family? Hailee had ripped her carefully built image to pieces. Bitterness boiled inside her. She loathed Hailee, the woman from humble beginnings who refused to show an ounce of leniency even after crushing her.


    Still, rage gave way to cold necessity. Trinity bowed her head, her voice quivering. “Thank you for your advice, Ms. Loftus.”


    Heavy tears tracked down Trinity’s face, washing away thest remnants of her pride. As she cried, she darted a covert nce at Lance. What was running through his mind now? After all, he had once adored her without question.


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    Lance furrowed his brows, his eyes fixed on her with a shocked, disappointed expression that twisted the knife deeper.


    Crushed, Trinity tore her gaze away from him and sought out Jason. Did the Evans family’s esteemed second son see her as pathetic too? What judgment lingered in his eyes?


    Jason, half of his features obscured by the mask, dropped his gaze and kept his expression shuttered, giving nothing away.


    Trinity pulled her eyes from him, anxiety wing at her chest. Jason was simply unreadable—his silence imprable, his thoughts a ck box.


    As tense words passed between Hailee and Trinity, Elliana remained on the sidelines, quietly taking in the spectacle.


    Watching Trinity unravel with no hope of redemption, Elliana cheered for Hailee in her heart. Atst, Hailee had found the steel within her softness—herpassion now edged with resolve.


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