?Chapter 199:


    Katie abruptly remembered the article she had posted online. With all the chaos surrounding her illness, she had nearly forgotten about her plot. She hadn’t even checked the public reactions.


    “It’s nothing, really,” Ynda shook her head, but her reaction only drew more attention.


    Brendon narrowed his eyes. “Ynda, are you onto something?”


    A calcted tremor ran through Ynda’s voice. “I have no idea…” She bit her lip and avoided everyone’s gaze.


    Brendon didn’t back down. “You know I’ll dig up the truth, whether you tell me or not,” he said, his tone icy.


    Finally, Ynda revealed, her voice softening as if she were defending Christina. “It’s not that I don’t want to say, but I think the online usations against Christina’s nder. ims of her cheating during the marriage and being kept by an older man after the divorce should all be false…”


    With a perfectly timed sigh, Ynda managed to drop every detail right into theirps, feigning innocence even as she spilled the whole story.


    Rage red in Joselyn’s eyes as she mmed her hand on the table. “That woman has no shame whatsoever! After everything my son did for her, she turned around and betrayed him. Marrying into our family was the best thing that ever happened to her. Even when they divorced, she walked away with a small fortune—and still, she refuses to show any gratitude!”


    Disgust crept across Brendon’s face, the memory of Elliott defending Christina stinging far more than he’d admit. That wound felt raw again. Never had it crossed his mind that Christina could have been so skilled at wrapping men around her finger.


    His lips pressed into a thin line. He snatched up his phone and started scrolling through headlines, searching for anything about Christina. Every article and spitefulment only fanned the mes of his anger.


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    “Christina doesn’t strike me as the frivolous type. Brendon, you can’t believe those rumors.” Ynda made one more subtle attempt to smear Christina.


    “That’s enough. I have my own judgment,” Brendon replied, his tone colder than ice.


    Ynda couldn’t hide her delight as she watched Brendon’s expression darken. She secretly hoped resentment would take root in his heart.


    Sprawled out on her hospital bed, Katie found it nearly impossible to suppress her joy. Watching the scandal she had set in motion gain momentum and seeing Christina dragged through the mud almost made herugh out loud.


    Brendon reached for his phone and dialed Christina’s number. But the phone rang several times before being hung up. Unwilling to give up, he dialed again. Call after call ended with her hanging up, and eventually, she switched off her phone.


    Frustration threatened to boil over. Brendon gripped his phone so hard that his knuckles turned white, and the urge to hurl it across the room gnawed at him.


    “Still couldn’t get through? How will we get Dr. Emmett to treat Katie then? Maybe Christina’s avoiding us because of all the chaos online?” Ynda said, her brow furrowed as she stressed once more Christina’s supposed scandal.


    A deadly calm settled over Brendon as he ground out his response.


    “Even if she won’t take my call, I’ll find a way to make it happen.”


    As the sun dipped lower, Christina prepared to leave, nning to meet Lauretta at the designated spot to collect the Woodfort. Ignoring Brendon’s attempt to reach her, she switched off her phone and left it that way, determined not to be interrupted.


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